Fair school admissions: What is the contribution of the Choice Advice initiative

This paper assesses the contribution of Choice Advice to making admissions to English secondary schools fairer. The initiative characterises the unfairness of admissions as unequal opportunity for poorer parents to access good schools because they are less able to negotiate the admissions process. A major objective of Choice Advice is to enable more poor parents to gain access to popular and high performing secondary schools. The results of an evaluation in 15 Local Authorities are presented showing that Choice Advice provided a valuable service to some families but the proportion of poorer families helped was too small to make a significant impact on the numbers of poorer parents gaining access to popular schools. The characterisation of the problem is, we argue, flawed and, as a consequence, so is the way this policy was designed. Choice Advice is an example of a discursively complex initiative that is ambivalent in its effects. It provides a symbol of political will and is of real benefit to some parents, but it sustains a way of characterising the problem that plays a part in labelling poorer parents as deficient while making no significant impact on the unfairness of admissions

Personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education: A mapping study of the prevalent models of delivery and their effectiveness

In October 2008, then Schools Minister Ji, Knight announced that Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education would become compulsory (for Key Stages 1-4). Following this, In November 2009, Sheffield Hallam University was contracted by DCSF (now DfE) to conduct a mapping exercise of PSHE education in primary and secondary schools in England. This resulted from a recommendation in the Macdonald Review, whcih identified the need for research to establish and report on the prevalent models of delivery for PSHE education and their effectiveness in improving outcomes for children and young people (Macdonald, 2009:8)

The growth of faults and fracture networks in a mechanically evolving, mechanically stratified rock mass : a case study from Spireslack Surface Coal Mine, Scotland

Fault architecture and fracture network evolution (and resulting bulk hydraulic properties) are highly dependent on the mechanical properties of the rocks at the time the structures developed. This paper investigates the role of mechanical layering and pre-existing structures on the evolution of strike–slip faults and fracture networks. Detailed mapping of exceptionally well exposed fluvial–deltaic lithologies at Spireslack Surface Coal Mine, Scotland, reveals two phases of faulting with an initial sinistral and later dextral sense of shear with ongoing pre-faulting, syn-faulting, and post-faulting joint sets. We find fault zone internal structure depends on whether the fault is self-juxtaposing or cuts multiple lithologies, the presence of shale layers that promote bed-rotation and fault-core lens formation, and the orientation of joints and coal cleats at the time of faulting. During ongoing deformation, cementation of fractures is concentrated where the fracture network is most connected. This leads to the counter-intuitive result that the highest-fracture-density part of the network often has the lowest open fracture connectivity. To evaluate the final bulk hydraulic properties of a deformed rock mass, it is crucial to appreciate the relative timing of deformation events, concurrent or subsequent cementation, and the interlinked effects on overall network connectivity

Core surprise : what's inside a plate boundary?

Despite the fact that 90% of global seismicity occurs at plate boundary faults, our understanding of their internal structure is lacking. It’s not easy to see inside a plate boundary fault – typically composed of a high-strain fault core surrounded by a fractured damage zone – and when we can, it often requires expensive drilling projects that yield limited information on the internal structure of the whole fault. Understanding the internal structure of large faults is crucial, because their chemical and mechanical properties control how and where earthquakes rupture, nucleate and propagate. This in turn limits the size of the earthquake or the amount of radiated seismic energy, and consequently the severity of surface damage. The 1999 magnitude 7.7 earthquake along the Chelungpu plate boundary fault, for example – the second deadliest earthquake in Taiwan’s recorded history – saw significant variations in slip and ground motion at different locations along the fault which resulted in large local variations in casualties and damage. Subsequent field investigations related these variations to changes in the fault’s structure (i.e., clay width, geometry), which in turn controlled how the fault moved

Core surprise : Characterising the internal structure of an ancient plate boundary fault in Scotland

Knowledge of the structure and rheology of large, earthquake-hosting plate boundary faults is lacking as they are normally poorly exposed or difficult to find on the surface. Recently, several drilling projects have been undertaken to explore the internal structure of active plate boundary fault zones at depth to understand how this constrains seismic slip behaviour. All of these projects highlight the presence and importance of clay-rich rocks within the fault core in controlling slip behaviour along these large faults. The Highland Boundary fault (HBF) in Scotland, provides a rare opportunity to study the internal fault architecture of a well-exposed along-strike section of an ancient plate boundary fault. The HBF extends for over 240 km, however, is only well-exposed along a 560 m section at Stonehaven. Here, serpentinite juxtaposes quartzofeldspathic crustal rocks, a common feature at many plate boundaries (e.g., sections of the San Andreas fault and Alpine fault, New Zealand). We collected six across-fault transects aiming to capture the internal structure of the HBF and its along-strike variability. Within the fault core we discover four mechanically and chemically distinct clay-rich units, which have sharp contacts. Despite evidence of internal strain within the clay-rich fault rocks, relatively intact clasts of wall rock and microfossils are preserved. From mineralogical observations it can be interpreted that the clay-rich rocks along this section of the HBF, formed through fluid-assisted, shear-enhanced chemical reactions between wall rocks of contrasting chemistry. Our field evidence also demonstrates that plate boundary faults can be structurally variable along strike at various scales. The total thickness of the fault core varies from 3 to 10.7 m over an along strike distance of 560 m. Not every unit is laterally continuous along strike, and each unit varies in thickness. We compare our observations with studies on other plate boundary systems. For example, the HBF has analogous thickness and mineralogy to drill core recovered from the San Andreas fault. Highly variable fault core structures and related properties such as mineralogy, may exert significant control on earthquake rupture and slip behaviour at large plate boundaries

Why organizational and community diversity matter:Representativeness and the Emergence of Incivility and Organizational Performance

Integrating sociological and psychological perspectives, this research considers the value of organizational ethnic diversity as a function of community diversity. Employee and patient surveys, census data, and performance indexes relevant to 142 hospitals in the United Kingdom suggest that intraorganizational ethnic diversity is associated with reduced civility toward patients. However, the degree to which organizational demography was representative of community demography was positively related to civility experienced by patients and ultimately enhanced organizational performance. These findings underscore the understudied effects of community context and imply that intergroup biases manifested in incivility toward out-group members hinder organizational performance

What can be done to mitigate the persistent social segregation of secondary schools in England?

The most coherent explanation of segregation is in terms of classed practices but not crudely as the middle class abandoning the working class. The great social distance between the most advantaged and the least, the benefits of solidarity and the restrictive effects of social policing lead the majority of both affluent and poor parents to opt for segregated schooling. School segregation first expresses and then sustains great social distance and the lack of mutual respect and civility that it engenders. It is more symptom than cause

Developing Ethical Guidelines for Safeguarding Children during Social Research

working party of academics from both professional safeguarding backgrounds and research backgrounds developed and wrote ethical guidelines on safeguarding children in research on behalf of their faculty research ethics committee. The working party encountered a lack of useful precedents while developing the guidelines leading to a lengthy process of debate and consideration of the issues. This paper explores the various issues and dilemmas arising during this process, particularly the tension between safeguarding children from abuse and maintaining research confidentiality. One of the main areas of discussion was how to establish the limits of confidentiality without compromising the research in hand. The role and responsibilities of researchers in supporting children's welfare, and the development of procedures for ensuring that safeguarding is effective are discussed as key elements. In addition, the issues researchers may face when determining thresholds for intervention are considered alongside the uncertainties created by considerations of the extent to which children can give informed consent in research contexts. The paper reflects the process of considering these issues and the conclusions the working party drew as to how best to support children's welfare during research. It also outlines the key elements of the guidelines and the structures developed to ensure researchers could get advice if suspected child abuse became an issue in their research. The paper includes a short version of the guidelines which were eventually approved across the Higher Education Institute