Glossary - A
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A&E - Accident and Emergency Department of a hospital.
ABC - Anti-Social Behaviour Contract.
Absconded - A child missing from a residential care home.
Academy - Public funded independent school established under Section 482 of the Education Act 1986.
ACCESS - The main aim of ACCESS programmes is to prepare adult learners from non-traditional backgrounds and under-represented groups for admission to undergraduate education. They often lead to GCSEs and A levels and are run by Colleges of Further Education. ACCESS to Teaching would offer GCSE Mathematics, English and Science and appropriate A levels for Initial Teacher Training degree entry.
Activist - Open minded, flexible and spontaneous learner.
Accommodated - Children who are looked after by their Local Authority but are not subject to Care Orders.
ACE - Advisory Centre for Education.
ACEO - Association of Chief Education Officers.
ACLF - Adult and Community Learning Fund.
ACO - Attendance Centre Order.
ACPC - Area Child Protection Committee. Multi-agency, developing and reviewing local child protection policies.
Acute - Short term crisis phase of an illness.
Acute Services - Medical and surgical treatment provided mainly in hospitals. Acute Trusts are management units in charge of hospitals providing these services.
Acute Trusts - Management trusts in charge of providing Acute Health Services.
ACVT - Advisory Committee for Vocational Training (European Union).
ADD - Attention Deficit Disorder.
ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
Admissions Authority - Local Education Authorities (LEAs) are admissions authorities with responsibility for admissions to community and voluntary controlled schools. Schools that handle their own pupil applications are also admissions authorities. They send out information about the school and pupil application forms, giving a deadline for receipt.
Adoption - A process by which parental rights and responsibilities are transferred to an adoptive parent by a court. The child legally becomes part of the adoptive family.
ADSS - Association of Directors of Social Services.
Advanced GNVQ - Advanced General National Vocational Qualification. This is similar to BTEC and the equivalent of 2 A levels. The subjects offered have a vocational element such as childhood studies.
Advanced Supplementary - Broader-based sixth-form studies, the same standard as A levels.
Advisory Centre for Education (ACE) - Is a registered charity providing national advice for parents of children aged 5-16 in state education.
Advocacy - Advocates support and argue the case for a service user or help them to put across their point of view.
AEA - Advanced Extension Award.
AEN - Additional Educational Needs.
AGCAS - Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services.
Aggregate data - Numerical or statistical data collated in such a way that individuals to whom it relates cannot usually be identified.
Agreed syllabus - A syllabus of religious education that is not specific to one religion adopted by an LEA for teaching in community and controlled schools. The course is developed by SACRE.
ALD - Adults with Learning Difficulties.
Allocated Case - A family or young person who has been made the responsibility of a named social worker or other key worker until the case is closed, transferred or managed in another way so that the named worker is no longer responsible for it.
Anonymised data - Data from which the name of the person concerned has been removed.
Annual Review - Annual review of a pupil’s Statement of Special Educational Needs by the school, usually in conjunction with other professionals and the parents, with the aim of ensuring the pupil continues to receive the most appropriate education.
APIR - Assessment, Planning, Implementation and Review. Connexions assessment framework.
APL - Accreditation of Prior Learning.
APO - Action Plan Order.
Appraisal - The process of assessing how well a member of staff is carrying out his or her job.
APS - Alliance of Parents and Schools.
AQA - Assessment and Qualification Alliance.
ARM - Annual Review Meeting (typically of Social Services by SCIE).
Article 12 - Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child:
"1. States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child."
ASBO - Anti-Social Behaviour Order.
ASD - Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Sometimes referred to as autism. Also includes high functioning autism and Asperger Syndrome.
Assessment - Measuring the circumstances of an individual, a family, a group or community against agreed benchmarks leading to informed analysis upon which to base delivery of appropriate services.
Assessment Framework (DoH 2000) - A systematic multi-agency approach to analyse and record what is happening to children and young people within their families and in the wider context of the community in which they live.
ASSET - Assessment framework developed by the Youth Justice Board and used nationally by Youth Offending Teams.
Associate Member - A person who is appointed by the governing body as a member of a committee established by it, but who is not a governor.
AST - Advanced Skills Teacher.
ASW - Approved Social Worker, qualified (in England and Wales) to carry out statutory duties in mental health services.
ATL - Association of Teachers and Lecturers.
Attachment Theory - Bonding between babies, children and their parent(s)/carer(s).
Attainment targets - The knowledge, skills and understanding which pupils of differing ability and maturity are expected to have by the end of each Key Stage of the National Curriculum, i.e. assessed at ages 7, 11, 14 and 16.
Audit Commission - Independent body set up by Government to monitor the use of funds by local authorities and certain other bodies.
Attention seeker - A learning style where the individual displays overt behaviour and needs constant feedback.
The information contained in this glossary has been sourced from various external sites in good faith. Therefore, CYPSP assume no responsibility for any errors, omissions or inaccuracies contained within this glossary.