October 2007

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• HGCA Farmhouse Breakfast Week 2008
• Early Years Professionals
• Registration of minibus drivers and driver trainers

• ContinYou, Swift and Easy access and parenting support toolkit
• Plan-Ed School Links
• ContinYou, Catalogue supplement
• National Evaluation of Children's fund resource
• NCSL ECM Leadership Direct launched
• TDA, School Improvement framework
• ContinYou, What's coming up in Schools ETC Issue 7

• ContinYou conferences
• CSN/LGIU Good Practice Seminar: closing the achievement gap in schools
• Third Sector Extended Services Networking Event
• A positive childhood for all children

• CHANGEit prize for young community campaigners
• The Cooperative foundation, funding opportunities new guidelines
• Guardian Unlimited, Small changes, big differences
• TalkTalk Innovation in the Community Awards 2007

HGCA Farmhouse Breakfast Week 2008 

With just over 4 months to go until Farmhouse Breakfast Week 2008 (January 20th - 26th 2008), plans are well underway. HGCA have adopted the theme 'A Great Start!' for 2008 and they've posters, resources, recipes and competitions on the menu. So, there is no better time to get involved! Visit www.farmhousebreakfast.com or call 020 7520 3968 to find out more about the nation's most popular breakfast celebration!

ContinYou (together with Serco) has been awarded a contract by the Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) to develop local support for Early Years Professionals (EYPs). In partnership with

Serco, ContinYou will be working with all local authorities in England to help them develop and deliver the support they offer to EYPs. For further information please go to: http://www.continyou.org.uk/news_article/continyou_serco_
partnership_wins_early_years_project

We have recently been made aware of some conflicting advice and information surrounding the registration of minibus drivers and driver trainers.  This primarily concerns members of MiDAS.  Full information about minibus driver registration and regulation and other community transport solutions can be found at http://www.ctauk.org/.  You can view the official letter outlining the current position from CTAUK - Community Transport Association UK at http://www.continyou.org.uk/files/midas%20letter.doc

This toolkit offers guidance, support and resources for professionals involved in the delivery of the core offer in extended schools and children’s centres.  The Toolkit introduces the core offer and has whole sections dedicated to swift and easy access and parenting support. Each chapter of the toolkit includes:

• Content sections describing particular areas of work, followed by key questions, and a simple self evaluation and planning tool.
• Up-to-date practice examples through case studies of developments in individual schools, clusters, children’s centres and localities.
• Detailed references of useful material and websites.

The toolkit is available to download from the ContinYou website: http://www.continyou.org.uk/what_we_do/children_and_young_people/ extended_services_and_around_schools/core_offer_toolkit .

Founded 70 years ago, Plan is one of the largest child-centred community development organisations in the world. They work in 62 countries on projects and initiatives that address the causes of poverty and its consequences for children's lives. They work with children, their families and communities to build a world where children are safe, healthy and capable of realising their full potential.

They have just introduced a new school links project connecting UK schools with schools from Malawi, Kenya and Sierra Leone. Your school will be linked to an overseas school where your students will have the opportunity to exchange letters and emails with students from your linked school. Both schools will be given lesson activities and resources which will enable students to gain a good understanding about each others' countries. Teachers will be given INSET twice a year on how to get the best out of the link as well as access to a telephone helpline.

http://www.continyou.org.uk/uploads/documents/doc_1385.pdf

A handy free (downloadable – just over 4mb) resource packed full of practical evaluation tips and tricks. Builds on Children’s Fund findings and is therefore aimed at 5 – 13 year olds, but has been used more widely too.

A new and dynamic open access online resource for leaders specifically designed around the leadership challenges associated with the Every Child Matters (ECM) agenda has been launched by the National College for School Leadership in England. Although aimed at the England policy agenda, it has a useful resource bank for sharing knowledge and activities that can be applied across the system and build leadership capacity and understanding of the agenda.

This includes think pieces - stimulating thinking and encouraging leaders to take a different perspective; tools - to use in team and leadership development and community engagement; case studies - drawn from a variety of schools and localities at different stages of the ECM journey and in different contexts; and publications - related to various aspects of leadership relevant to the changing context of ECM and standards.

It can be accessed through a flash or http://lmscontent.nscl.org.uk/ECM/flash.cfm or html website http://lmscontent.nscl.org.uk/ECM/ .

The school improvement framework offers an approach to enhance school improvement planning activities that emphasises the needs of the whole child.

You can download the framewwork from the TDA website:

http://www.tda.gov.uk/leaders/schoolimprovement_framework.aspx

ContinYou, What's coming up in Schools ETC Issue 7

The regular four-page pull-out – the ETC Know How Series – focuses on how to reach marginalised groups through extended services. In Issue 6, we focused on the step before working with these groups – that is, looking at who they actually are and how to go about identifying them.

We’ll feature Paddy’s conversation with Robson Davison, Deputy Secretary – Schools and Youth Policy, Department of Education, Northern Ireland. She talked to him about school improvement in Northern Ireland and where extended schools are fitting into the picture.

The lead feature cover community cohesion as it’s being tackled in and around extended schools. We’ll feature the two Schools ETC Award winners for 2007 that have been recognised for their work on this important issue. We’ve also asked a number of other people to background the community cohesion issue with their thoughts.

In the regular profile, Tom Sheppard talks to Ted Cantle. You will all remember the December 2001 ‘Cantle Report’ after the bleak, unhappy summer in northern towns and cities that year. Ted now overseas the development of IDeA’s work on sustainability. Tom will explore community cohesion with him, and may also touch on the link between community cohesion and sustainability.

Stan Terry, Head of Sustainability at HTI in Coventry will cover this urgent issue for extended schools and how they can build it into their whole-school development. Wales and Northern Ireland schools feature too. And the feature will promote the new How to mini guide on sustainability.

Tim Atkins of the Gatewayclusters in Birmingham, will write how Gateway addresses the needs of teenage mums.

Sarah Kinsman will be reporting.

And, along with the usual news stories, country updates and resources, there’ll be more funding news and on pages 22 and 23, you’ll find our pick of the best out-of-school-hours activities we’ve come across in this quarter.

Section three: conferences 

Diversity, Success and Partnership - supplementary schools and stakeholders working together

27 November 2007 – Paragon Hotel, Birmingham

This conference will focus on recognising and supporting the diversity and success of supplementary schools and promoting mutually beneficial partnerships between all stakeholders. For further information visit the ContinYou website: http://www.continyou.org.uk/nrcconference .

Championing children, families and communities – putting their needs at the heart of your work

18-19 March 2008 – Hilton Metropole, Birmingham

This unique conference will share innovative examples from across the UK of people, projects and organisations who are championing the voice of children, families and communities. It will highlight for managers, planners and practitioners how policies and practice can connect together across boundaries to maximise outcomes for all. For further information visit the ContinYou website:

http://www.continyou.org.uk/championing .

LGIU Offices, 22 Upper Woburn Place, London WC1H 0TB

As you know this is an important national and local issue and you will see that we have a good line up of speakers.

Suitable for:- Local authority staff / partner organisations who are involved in work around Closing the Achievement Gap in Schools, including appropriate elected members and senior officers.

For enquiries about the event please contact Georgina Roudette on 020 7554 2800 or georgina.roudette@lgiu.org.uk

Third Sector Extended Services Networking Event

Our next event is on the 14th December and the theme is "Effective Working Practices At the National and Local Level. Meeting Children And Young People's Needs. There will be discussions on Volunteering and the ECM Agenda, developing a Children & Young People's  Forum and the opportunity to hear about good practice from Place2be, a voluntary organisation.

Please go to the ContinYou website for further information.

www.continyou.org.uk/esevents .

A positive childhood for all children

Children’s Services Network Conference, Wednesday 28 November, London.

The theme A Positive Childhood for all Children is particularly topical, with the latest report from the Cambridge University Primary Education Review, which found that primary school children were generally pessimistic about the future. Speakers include Professor Judith Dunn, Chair of the Childhood Inquiry set up by the Children’s Society to examine evidence on the themes of friends, family, learning, lifestyle, health and values. She will present emerging findings from the Inquiry. Other speakers include Anne Jackson, Director of Strategy, DCSF, and Roger Morgan, The Children’s Rights Director for UK, Ofsted. There will be a choice of five breakout sessions on: children’s mental health services; commissioning for prevention; pupil and family engagement with learning; closing the achievement gap; and staying safe.

For further details and booking forms see www.csn.info or call 0207 554 2810.

Section four: funding

CHANGEit prize for young community campaigners

A new prize, CHANGEit, is being launched to celebrate the contribution young people make towards their community. CHANGEit will be an annual prize run by international leadership organisation Common Purpose which wants to recognize young people who have campaigned for change. All types of campaigns are welcomed, from an alcohol awareness campaign to a fundraising initiative for a local hospital. There are two categories: the Innovation Prize is to enable young campaigners to get their idea off the ground. The Performance Prize is for young people who have run a successful campaign that has made a positive change in society. The scheme is open to nominations until 15 December 2007. If you would like to make a nomination of either yourself or a young person that you know, please contact Common Purpose on 020 7608 8148.

The Cooperative foundation, funding opportunities new guidelines

The Co-operative Foundation has issued new guidelines in response to the growing number of applications that it has been receiving since it was established in 2000. The Foundation operates in areas covered by the United Region of The Co-operative Group, which includes north Wales. The newly focussed Community Support Programme will give grants to projects within communities defined by geography or by communities of people. Grants can cover one year only, and can be for capital or revenue needs excluding salaries. You can call 01706 202032 or e-mail foundation@coop.co.uk. The deadlines are: 7 December 2007, 7 March, 6 June and 5 September 2008.

Small changes, big differences environmental bursaries

Guardian Unlimited, the online version of the newspaper, has launched Small Changes, Big Differences, a bursary scheme to encourage local groups to use small amounts of money to make significant changes to their local environment. £10,000 is available overall, and bursaries can range from £50 to £5,000. The bursaries do not have to be used for charitable purposes. Application is really easy, you simply have to provide your contact details and write up to 400 words about what you would do with the money you need. Ideas do not have to be especially inspiring; the judges are simply looking for ‘small but thoughtful improvements that will make a big difference to you and your community’. Examples cited include: buying devices to place in a community centre’s toilets to save water; putting up hanging baskets; buying solar panels for a school.

TalkTalk Innovation in the Community Awards 2007

A funding opportunity inviting charities and community groups to apply for grants that will help them use the power of internet technology. Thirty projects will benefit from £2,000 each, plus a year's subscription to TalkTalk. The deadline for applications is September 28 2007. Please click the link for further information.

Further information .

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