Department for Children, Schools and Families

History and responsibilities

DCSF was created on 28 June 2007 following the demerger of the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). The department was led by Ed Balls. The Permanent Secretary was David Bell.

Other education functions of the former DCSF were taken over by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (originally the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, since merged with Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform).

DCSF was directly responsible for state schools in England. The Minister of State for Schools and Learning was the minister in charge.

The Department employed over 2,500 staff.

Locations

In May 2010, DCSF had four main sites:

• Castle View House, Runcorn
• Moorfoot Building, Sheffield
• Mowden Hall, Darlington
• Sanctuary Buildings, London

Criticisms

Brain gym

Charlie Brooker, writing in The Guardian, expressed incredulity that the department was supportive of Brain Gym, despite its broad condemnation by scientific organisations, and despite it being apparently nonsense. |access-date = 2008-09-01 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141205001625/http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/apr/07/education |archive-date = 5 December 2014

Upon learning that the programme was used at hundreds of UK state schools, Dr Ben Goldacre of The Guardian's Bad Science pages called it a "vast empire of pseudoscience" and went on to dissect parts of their teaching materials, refuting, for instance, claims that rubbing the chest would stimulate the carotid arteries, that "processed foods do not contain water", or that liquids other than water "are processed in the body as food, and do not serve the body's water needs."

Child friendly identity and branding

The department adopted a "child friendly" visual identity, known as "Building the Rainbow" shortly after it was established. The main features of the brand identity were a rainbow logo and images of cartoonised children carrying blocks to build the rainbow logo. The lettering on the logo was all in lower case despite being a proper noun. It was reported in The Daily Telegraph that several thousand pounds were spent on adopting and implementing this visual identity. The Conservatives, then in opposition, nicknamed the department the "Department for Curtains and Soft Furnishings", a nickname that was often used by the media.

Refurbishment of headquarters building

The Department also came under criticism during the 2010 General Election, after it was revealed that the Department's offices had a refit. Other features include a grand glass and steel staircase and imported Italian designer furniture. The total cost of the refit was estimated to be three million pounds, at a time when the department needed to make two billion pounds of savings.

References

References

1. "The Children, Schools and Families Committee". UK Parliament.
2. Baker, Mike. (24 December 2007). "A year of changes in education". BBC News.
3. Norman, Jesse. (1 July 2009). "Loosening the state's hold on schools". The Guardian.
4. "Direct.gov.uk press release".
5. "Department for Children, Schools and Families departmental report 2008".
6. [http://www.DCSF.gov.uk/contactus/wheretofindus.shtml DCSF Contact Us Webpage] {{webarchive. link. (3 June 2012 accessed 7 May 2010)
7. Ben Goldacre. (2006-03-18). "Brain Gym exercises do pupils no favours". [[The Guardian]].
8. (2010-05-13). "Gove renames Department for Children, Schools and Families the Department for Education".
9. Coalition Government: Michael Gove Restores the Department for Education. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/7719631/Coalition-government-Michael-Gove-restores-the-Department-for-Education.html The Daily Telegraph]
10. "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 13 Nov 2007 (pt 0013)".
11. (2011-10-23). "Education Diary: Confusion over flagship diplomas".
12. Mulholland, Hélène. (2010-04-30). "General election 2010 live blog - Friday 30 April". The Guardian.