Government Green paper
Family and Parenting Institute's response to the Government's green paper
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Welcome to February's issue of the Family and Parenting Institute's newsletter – Family Focus.To subscribe to this newsletter click here
1. News
2. Family Policy Digest
3. Horizon scan
4. Forward look
5. Notice board
6. Consultations
News
Government promises more Health Visitors
The Government’s plan to increase the number of Health Visitors was described as a ‘windfall for families’ by the Family and Parenting Institute.
The Department of Health pledged ‘stronger and better joined up support during the crucial early years of life including more Health Visitors’ and additional money and help for disabled children in the Child Health Strategy.
Wish lists should be banned
Children’s websites should not carry wish lists and companies should label their advertising on the internet. They are just two of the many recommendations made in the Family and Parenting Institute’s new report, Business thinks Family, written by Dr Agnes Nairn who is a Professor of Marketing.
The Good Childhood report, released by the Children’s Society, also blamed commercialisation for poor childhood, alongside poverty.
Improving child protection
ContactPoint
The database that will store details of every child in the country is up and running for the first stage of delivery. Seventeen local authorities in the North West of England and two national voluntary sector partners, Barnardo’s and KIDS, can now train their ContactPoint management teams on how to use it.
Moira Gibb, Chief Executive of Camden Council, will chair the new Social Work Taskforce. The Taskforce is looking into barriers to effective social work. It will meet for the first time in February this year.
The Conservative’s Shadow Children’s Minister, Tim Loughton, has said that social work in this country needs a “massive shot in the arm” and that “we need to strengthen and support social workers to best protect the most vulnerable children."
Family Policy Digest
This month's family policy digest includes: guidance on physical activity in schools, the Government’s plan to make its offer of free childcare more flexible and findings from the National Statistics’ general household survey.
Horizon Scan
Being safe online
Protecting children online will be a priority for parents and business thanks to Safer Internet Day and a new paper from the Advertising Standards Association.
Safer Internet Day was a Europe-wide event which took place on February 10 2009.
The Advertising Standards Association will be monitoring online promotions from March.
Parents’ involvement in their children’s learning
How to build better relationships between schools and parents will be up for discussion next month as the Family and Parenting Institute hosts an event about school parent partnerships. Findings from its research, funded by the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, will also be released.
Early years
Kick starting children’s learning early will be a focus for the sector over the coming months as the Department for Children, Schools and Families has funded a project called Supporting Parents in the Early Home Learning Environment. The project will use research, a new handbook and a website to help the Government to plan and initiate the next stage of work around early learning.
The Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young People's Services (C4EO) has launched a major new knowledge resource on early years.
Youth Justice
Both adults and the media commonly associate young people with problems such as anti-social behaviour and discussion tends to focus on the avoidance of problems like teenage pregnancy, rather than positive youth development.
The Family and Parenting Institute will be publishing a series of articles online looking at a range of issues affecting youth and the range of policies that have been developed pertaining to youth.
Forward Look
Here you can find listings of events in the sector including the ‘Families for our Times Conference’ on March 23 and the ‘Parents Matter International Conference’ on March 26-27. If you want your event to be included, please email info@familyandparenting.org
Notice board
Parenting Fund report
A new report outlining the achievements, challenges and successes of the projects involved in the Parenting Fund round two – including ideas and suggestions for best practice – is available now.
Consultations
Consultations due to close in February and March include those on home education, school report cards and the Children and Young People’s Workforce Strategy.
Emma Brennan Press & PR Officer
www.familyandparenting.org
February 2009
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