Glossary - P
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PACE - Police and Criminal Evidence Act. 'PACE interview' is a police interview of a vulnerable person or child accompanied by an adult.
Paediatrician - Children's doctor, may be based in a hospital or work in the community.
PAF - Performance Assessment Framework. Performance indicators are published for the 150 council-run services departments in England.
Palliative Care - Giving temporary or partial relief from pain and discomfort.
PALS - Patient Advice and Liaison Services. Offering help and guidance to NHS patients, base in Acute and Primary Care trusts.
PAN - Published Admission Number. The fixed number of children (which may not be less than the standard number) which a school must admit if sufficient applications are received, as published in the annual prospectus.
PANDA - Performance and Assessment Reports produced by the Office For Standards in Education (OFSTED) and issued annually to schools.
Parent - Includes any person having all the rights, duties, powers, responsibility and authority (see Parental Responsibility) which a parent of a child has by law, or who has care of him or her. Depending on the circumstances, therefore, a 'parent' may include not only the child’s natural parents but also others such as step-parents, relatives, co-habitees of either natural parent and foster parents.
Parent Governor - A parent elected by other parents of children at a school to serve on the governing body.
Parent Partnership - Service independent of the Local Education Authority that can advise and support parents of children who have special educational needs.
Parental Responsibility - All the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which a parent of a child has by law. More than one person may have parental responsibility for the same child at the same time, and a person does not cease to have such responsibility solely because some other person subsequently also acquires it. Both parents have parental responsibility if they were married to each other at the time of the child's birth and they have since separated or divorced. If the child’s parents were not married at the time of the birth, the mother always has parental responsibility and the father may have by agreement or by order of the Court. Parental responsibility passes to the adopter when an adoption order is made. Although a residence order or care order may confer parental responsibility, a local authority will not be treated as a parent for certain purposes under the Education Acts. A Care Order grants parental responsibility to a local authority but does not remove it from the child's parents.
Partnership - One or more people/services/organisations working co-operatively together for the benefit of service users. Can also mean professional(s) keeping service users fully informed in work with them.
PAS - Post Adoption Support.
PAYP - Positive Activities for Young People.
PSP - Pastoral Support Plan. A plan put in place for pupils at a high risk of imminent exclusion from school. The school brings together the pupil, parents or carers, and other agencies to develop and implement a time-specific plan to support the child's continuing attendance.
PAT - Professional Association of Teachers.
Pathfinder - A project which is testing out a Government policy over a defined period prior to its full implementation.
Pathway Plan - A plan set up for Looked After Children before their 16th birthday setting out the support for transition to independence.
PALS - Patient Advice and Liaison Service.
Patient Forum - Created as public representative body in Acute and Primary Care Trusts to replace Community Health Councils. Will monitor effectiveness, consult patients and oversee patients advice and liaison committee.
PCR - Post Court Report.
PCG - Primary Care Group. Forerunner of Primary Care Trust.
PCT - Primary Care Trust. Evolved from PCGs, PCTs are free-standing statutory bodies that provide primary and community services and commission secondary (hospital) care on behalf of their local population.
PD - Physical Disabilities.
PE - Physical Education.
PEC - Professional Executive Committee.
PEP - Personal Education Plan. Education plan for a Looked After Child.
Performance Assessment Framework (PAF) - Performance indicators are published for all 150 council-run services departments in England. The indicators are known collectively as the Personal Social Services Performance Assessment Framework (PAF).
Performance Tables - The Department for Education and Skills publishes comparative secondary and 16-18 performance tables each year. The tables report achievements in public examinations and vocational qualifications in secondary schools and Further Education sector colleges. Primary school performance tables are published by local education authorities and report the achievements of pupils at the end of Key Stage 2.
Peripatetic Teacher - One who gives specialist instruction in a number of schools, for example in music.
Permanent Exclusion - Banning a pupil permanently from school by the headteacher, on disciplinary grounds.
Personal Child Health Record (PCHR) - A health record (red book) of a child aged 0-5 years which is retained by the Prime Carer but is the property of the secretary of State for Health.
Personal Data - Relating to a living individual who can be identified from the data.
PHCT - Primary Health Care Team. GP, Health Visitor, District Nurse and other staff who provide health services to a community, usually lead by a GP.
PSHE - Personal, Social and Health Education.
PGCE - Postgraduate Certificate of Education.
PI - Performance Indicator.
PID - Project Implementation Document. Defines what a project is for, what is is expected to achieve, how it will do it and the timescale.
PICU - Paediatric Intensive Care Unit.
PIG - Professional Interest Group.
PLA - Pre-school Learning Alliance.
Placements - Arrangements made by Social and Caring Services for a person to be placed in foster, residential or nursing care on a short or long-term basis.
Plenary - The time at the end of a lesson in which the teacher finds out what children have learnt and re-emphasises the main points of the lesson.
PLO - Police Liaison Officer.
PMLD - Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties.
PMS - Personal Medical Services.
PNC - Police National Computer.
Portage - Service to for pre-school age children who have special needs. Works with parent and child in the family home.
PPO - Police Protection Order.
PQSW - Post Qualification in Social Work. An advanced social work qualification.
PR - Parental Responsibility.
Pragmatist - Practical and realistic learners, keen to test ideas, theories and techniques.
Pre-school Playgroups - These generally take children between the ages of three and five and most offer half-day sessions. Usually non-profit making and managed by volunteers and parents. There must be at least one adult for every eight children and at least half of the adults must be qualified leaders or assistants.
PRG - Pupil Retention Grant.
Primary Care - Services provided by family doctors, dentists, nurses, midwives, health visitors, pharmacists, optometrists and ophthalmic medical practitioners.
Private Nursery Schools - These take children between the ages of two and five and offer half or full-day sessions and some stay open in the school holidays. There must be at least one adult for every 13 children and at least half of the staff must be qualified teachers.
Professionals meeting - A meeting where professionals involved with a family come together not only to share information, but to also help determine the direction of the case and the plan for a child. Parents/carers and young people are not invited to this meeting but are usually informed of the meeting.
Positive Futures - Organisation running sports and leisure activities to divert young people from anti-social behaviour.
Prospectus - A school's prospectus is a brochure containing useful facts and figures, which the governing body must publish each year for parents and prospective parents. Ministers set minimum requirements for content, so that parents can easily make comparisons between different schools. Copies will be available at the school for reference or free of charge to parents on request.
PROtect - A police database.
Proxemic Rules - The amount of physical distance that different cultures prefer.
POCA - Protection of Children Act 1999.
PRT - Performance Review Team.
PRU - Pupil Referral Unit. An establishment maintained by an LEA, which is specially organised to provide education for children who are excluded, sick or otherwise unable to attend mainstream school and is not a community or special school.
PSA - Public Service Agreement
PSB - Potential Schools Budget.
PSE - Personal and Social Education.
PSP - Pastoral Support Plan.
PSR - Pre Sentence Report.
Psychiatrist - A doctor who specialises in the treatment of people with mental health problems. They can prescribe medicines and have the power to detain people in hospital for their safety if they are mentally ill. However, child and adolescent psychiatrists work largely through talking with families, and providing consultation and advice to other professionals.
PTA - Parent Teacher Association.
PTR - Pupil Teacher Ratio.
Pupils on roll - Pupils registered at a school.
Pupils with Statements of Special Educational Needs - These statements describe any learning difficulties which pupils have, and specify the extra help or equipment they need. Around 3% of school pupils nationally have statements. Some pupils with special educational needs are academically able. But schools face challenges in achieving Level 4 at Key Stage 2 for many pupils with SEN. The information on the numbers of pupils with SEN in each school helps you take this into account when looking at the school's results.
Pupils Without Statements - These are other pupils registered as having special educational needs but whose schools meet the pupils' needs without statements.
PYO's - Persistent Young Offenders.
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.