Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) was a department of the UK government, between 2007 and 2010, responsible for issues affecting people in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
up to the age of 19, including
child protection
Child protection is the safeguarding of children from violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect. Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child provides for the protection of children in and out of the home. One of the ways to e ...
and
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...
. DCSF was replaced by the
Department for Education
The Department for Education (DfE) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England.
A Department ...
after the change of government following the 2010 General Election.
The department was led by the
Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families
The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
The post was created on 28 June 2007 afte ...
Ed Balls
Edward Michael Balls (born 25 February 1967) is a British broadcaster, writer, economist, professor and former politician who served as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families from 2007 to 2010, and as Shadow Chancellor of the Ex ...
Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills
The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) was a UK government department created on 28 June 2007 to take over some of the functions of the Department of Education and Skills and of the Department of Trade and Industry. Its h ...
, since merged with
Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) was a United Kingdom government department. The department was created on 28 June 2007 on the disbanding of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and was itself disbande ...
).
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
Charlton Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is an English television presenter, writer, producer and satirist. He is the creator and co-showrunner of the sci-fi drama anthology series ''Black Mirror'', and has written for comedy series such as ''Bras ...
, 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.
Upon learning that the programme was used at hundreds of UK state schools, Dr
Ben Goldacre
Ben Michael Goldacre (born 20 May 1974) is a British physician, academic and science writer. He is the first Bennett Professor of Evidence-Based Medicine and director of the Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science at the University of Oxford ...
of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'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
proper noun
A proper noun is a noun that identifies a single entity and is used to refer to that entity (''Africa'', ''Jupiter'', '' Sarah'', ''Microsoft)'' as distinguished from a common noun, which is a noun that refers to a class of entities (''continent, ...
. It was reported in ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
'' 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 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 which included a "contemplation room". 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.
See also
*
Department for Education and Skills (Wales)
The Minister for Education is a Cabinet minister in the Welsh Government who leads the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) (Welsh: ''Yr Adran Addysg a Sgiliau''). The current officeholder is Jeremy Miles.
The Department is responsible fo ...
Department of Education (Northern Ireland)
The Department of Education (DENI) ( ga, An Roinn Oideachais; Ulster-Scots: ''Männystrie o Lear'') is a devolved Northern Irish government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The minister with overall responsibility for the department ...