Children - Jobsgopublic

Children &
Issue 12 Spring 2009
Young People’s
Department Newsletter
Dear Colleagues,
David Lund
Executive Director
of Children’s
Services
Email: exec.dcs@
blackpool.gov.uk
Welcome to the spring edition of
our newsletter. Since my last input
we have seen major issues emerge
with the downturn of the economy.
The exact implications of this for
our Department are still coming to
light and I am working closely with
other Directors in order develop a
range of support strategies.
I would be very interested to learn
of any particular issues or ideas
that you would like me to take
forward.
I would like to thank all the colleagues
that have supported the development
of our new Children and Young
People’s Plan. This will shortly be
taken to the Council for approval. The
details of the Plan will be given at the
launch event on 30th April. Some of
our new work over the next few years
will focus on the issues surrounding
child poverty, particularly the barriers
which this causes and prevents our
young people achieving as they
should. Another area for work is that
of domestic violence.
We were delighted recently to receive
the news that more than £4m has
been earmarked for us following a bid
under the My Place programme. This
will provide much needed investment
in facilities for our young people,
particular in the south of the Borough.
Well done to Mike Taplin and his
colleagues for this achievement.
At the point of writing we are also
awaiting the result of our bid to open
a Studio School following close work
with the Young Foundation.
Following the Baby “P” case
in Haringey many colleagues
within Targeted Services and the
Safeguarding Board have been
working hard to ensure that any
lessons learnt are translated into action
within Blackpool. We must continue
to do all we can to ensure that our
children and young people remain
“safe” by identifying and reducing key
risks, remembering that Blackpool
presents additional issues compared to
many other towns and cities.
And finally, this month has seen
the levels of teen-age conceptions
reduce. You will be aware that this is
a key priority within our current Plan.
Well done to Claire Gilmore and her
colleagues who do a great job with
this challenging agenda.
Children’s Teeth Get a Painting!
Sure Start Grange Park Children’s
Centre has recently carried out a
new pilot as part of an Oral Health
Project. The Centre was chosen
as it is in an area of deprivation
with poor dental health. The pilot is
aimed at a study group of children
2½ – 5 years old. This was open
to all within the Grange Park
area regardless of attending the
Centre’s Nursery and whether they
had a dentist or not.
This scheme is in line with the Oral Health
Strategy to reduce tooth decay in the
under 5’s. This is done by painting Durafact
Fluoride directly on to the children’s teeth.
The dental health promotion team came
into the centre to promote the scheme to
the staff so they could raise the profile by
word of mouth (!) to the parents and carers
as well as displaying posters and leaflets.
The pilot commenced on Friday 28th
November 2008 which was the first of
three sessions for
the coating of the
fluoride, the remaining
two sessions will be
held at four monthly
intervals.
All the children involved
were assessed by
the dentist before
the treatment. This
checked for any
abnormalities to the lips
or mouth or any severe
Smile!
dental problems. If
there were problems
they were referred to another dentist. If the
child’s teeth were satisfactory then the dentist
carried on with the fluoride treatment.
The children from this study group were all
given a dental pack containing a toothbrush
and toothpaste. If the child did not have a
dentist they were signposted to one and
emergency treatment appointments were
made if needed.
1
Everyone who took part in this scheme
supported it from the beginning and were
very excited that the children’s teeth could
be saved from decay. All was a success on
the fluoride painting day!!
By Alicia Grant (Sure Start Grange
Park Specialist Health Visitor) & Becki
Giddings (Sure Start Children’s Centre
Marketing & Publicity) 01253 476488
Valuable volunteering
Blackpool Council strengthen support to families through a quality volunteer programme
Portage work offers support in the home to
parents who have young children with special
needs, strengthening relationships and skills
through weekly home visits. Named after the
American town where the practice was created,
Portage is delivered by trained workers skilled in
working with parents and children on all aspects
of child development and parenting skills.
Who?
Blackpool Council Early
Years Service
What?
‘On the job’ training for volunteer
Portage workers who support
families who have young children
with special needs
Aimed at?
Volunteers
Why?
To add value to a small
staff team
Play work, communication skills, and emotional
and social development are all part of the role
of a Portage worker, who will support parents
to help their children develop emotionally,
socially, educationally and physically. Blackpool
Council’s Portage team offer initial training
in Portage to a wide variety of early years
employees and volunteers across children’s
centres, nurseries, health workers, childminders
and parents. This training offers basic good
practice in engaging with young children with
special needs and their parents, the potential
for volunteering developed.
The Portage team adopted a model of ‘on the
job’ training, linked to the National Portage
Association’s Core Competencies for workers,
which carefully links volunteers with families
and experienced Portage employees. Learning
through practice, coupled with dedicated
support and supervision for volunteers has
proven an excellent way of developing skills
and enabling learning. “There’s nothing like
doing the job – it teaches you in small steps
and gives you confidence through working with
someone who’s been there and done it all,”
says a volunteer.
Headlines from the work include:QQ The benefits of observation on the job
learning allows;
QQ The volunteer to observe and be observed;
QQ The need to invest in training. The Portage
Team work with small numbers of volunteers
to ensure a concentration of input and
support;
QQ The added value of volunteering. The
investment in people has increased the
capacity of the team and added experiences
and knowledge;
QQ The employee development benefits. Paid
employees have opportunities to support
and supervise the learning process for
volunteers;
QQ The flexibility of learning and development.
Each volunteer can work at their own pace
and in a style which suits them within an
established framework.
“It alters our way of thinking and working”,
says Audrey Cooper, Senior Portage Worker,
“volunteers become part of what we do and part
of the team working every day with parents and
children.”
How do I find out more?
Contact: Audrey Cooper
Early Years Coordinator for
Children with Additional Needs
Phone number: 01253 476594
Email: audrey.cooper@blackpool.gov.uk
ContactPoint is here!
On 26 January 2009 the first phase of ContactPoint began throughout
England with a ministerial announcement to Parliament.
This first phase of
delivery enables 17 local
authorities and 2 national
voluntary sector partners,
Barnardo’s and KIDS, to
train their ContactPoint
management teams.
Shielding
Training is almost complete to
enable all local authorities in
England to start to shield some
records on ContactPoint. This
is an additional precaution for
individuals who might be at
increased risk of significant harm
if their whereabouts are known.
Many organisations, including
the Royal College of Nursing,
the Child Exploitation, Online
Protection Centre and the Youth
Justice Board for England, have
welcomed ContactPoint marking
this as a positive achievement.
Here in Blackpool we have been
working with key partners, both
internal and external, to identify
those children and young people
whose record needs to be
shielded.
It took a lot of hard work for us to
prepare for ContactPoint, and this
would not have been possible
without the support and hard
work of many colleagues. A big
thank you to everyone who has
helped us reach this important
stage.
All of the 17 local authorities
that will receive access to
ContactPoint first will run a pilot
with a controlled number of
users. This pilot will enable us
to gather valuable feedback on
training and support tools at a
local level as well as feedback
on the system itself to inform
national development. The
School Admissions Team and
Children Missing Education Team
in the Pupil Welfare Service will
be the first users in Blackpool
Council to access the system.
Next Steps
The hard work doesn’t stop
here…
Two members of our ContactPoint
team have received their training
and the work to shield the
identified records is underway.
Work continues with our partners
to make sure that they will be
ready for ContactPoint and our
training plan is in development.
We aim to start training in the
autumn of this year.
Pilot
Once this shielding work has
been completed, the next stage
will be to train a small number of
users for our pilot.
2
ContactPoint will
help improve
services to
children with a
strong emphasis
on early
intervention and
prevention.
There’s a long way to go until all
of our identified users are trained
and have access to ContactPoint
– we’ll keep you updated.
More Information
Further information can be found
on our website at www.blackpool.
gov.uk/contactpoint.
We also provide an update in
the Blackpool Early Action for
Change (BEACh) Newsletter
every quarter – look out for this
on the council intranet.
If you have any questions,
please contact the team at
contactpoint@blackpool.gov.uk.
Outdoor Leaders
The young people of Blackpool
can now benefit from eleven
more newly qualified outdoor
leaders working in schools
within the town. The nine
school staff and two volunteers
from St Mary’s, Collegiate,
Palatine, The Grange and the
Speedwell Centre have just
completed an intensive 90
hour Basic Expedition Leader
Course with Blackpool Youth
Service.
The course, run by the Outdoor Team’s
Tim Deighton and Palatine’s Graham
Little trains staff to lead groups of
young people in the outdoors and
is essential for those leading Duke
of Edinburgh’s Award expeditions,
personal development programmes,
field trips and outdoor residential
courses.
“We have had a really good crop of
leaders this year”, said Tim. “They
have shown that they can get to grips
with situations and manage the risks
associated with this kind of activity.”
The course looks at developing
personal skills such as navigation,
managing groups in a range of
situations, how to organise trips
including risk assessments and the
associated paperwork.
Participants rate the course highly:
“Brilliant delivery – very relaxed,
easy going and enjoyable”
“I learnt a lot through experience
– including mistakes I will never
B-inspired!
make again! I can anticipate errors
and hazards now…”
“I picked up so many tips and ideas
from other members of the group…
Tim and Graham draw you in…the
situations that we were placed in
encouraged us to bounce ideas off
each other.”
“I always felt supported…but
was allowed to make my own
discoveries and decisions…”
“I would definitely recommend this
course – it was very worthwhile
– it got me thinking about exactly
what a trip with the kids involves.”
If you are interested in joining the
next course scheduled for the
summer term, contact Tim on tim.
deighton@blackpool.gov.uk
created puppets and costumes
and joined in the procession for the
opening of the centre.
B-inspired is an exciting,
new Big Lottery funded
venture to encourage
families in the south of
Blackpool to get creative.
The project focuses on
family learning, offering
opportunities for children
and adults to learn
together to develop
confidence, learn new
skills and improve family
relationships.
The project has also enabled
families to learn animation and
filming skills at the City Learning
Centre. In the animation workshop
families created a story and used
animation to create a short film.
They learnt how to add sound
effects and music to produce a
DVD. Other families have taken
part in a filming workshop and
learnt how to use video cameras,
developing technical ability and
interview skills.
At the time of going to press,
families are busy preparing for the
Showzam Parade.
Working with community artists,
families created puppets at the
launch of the project on Playday
in August last year. Some families
took part in the opening of the
Houndshill Shopping Centre and
B-inspired has held workshops
at Thames Primary School, St
Cuthbert’s Children’s Centre
and Clifton Sure Start where
families have made giant dragons,
3
fireballs, shakers and fiery crowns.
Our budding filmmakers have
attended the puppet workshops
to film the events and are filming
the preparation for the parade.
Families will then take part in the
Showzam Parade to show off their
costumes and puppets, while the
families who have been developing
filming skills will capture the event
on camera.
The project is managed by a
partnership of the Adult and
Community Learning Service, the
Arts Service, Barnardo’s, SureStart
Clifton and Grumpy and runs for
three years.
For more information on
the project and to keep up
to date with forthcoming
events contact Jackie
on 478112 or Eleanor on
01253 626480.
Are you looking for a new way to save and borrow?
Blackpool Fylde and
Wyre Credit Union
could be the answer!
Whether you are saving for retirement, a
major event such as a wedding or your
child’s university education, a holiday or
Christmas, the Credit Union can meet
your needs and your money is 100% safe.
Open to all employees of the Council
and its partner organisations*, the
Credit Union is a not for profit financial
co-operative, offering a variety of
services to members, such as:
QQGeneral Savings accounts
QQChristmas saving accounts
QQLoans
It’s very easy to use. Members choose
the amount they wish to save (from
as little as £5 a week or £20 a month)
which is then taken direct by payroll
deduction.
In addition, after a period of saving
for 13 weeks (or 3 months for those
who are paid monthly), members may
apply for loans – from small to larger
amounts – and all with no set up or early
repayment fees.
Throughout January, employees
received a membership application form
attached to their payslip. To become
a member, simply return the form in a
sealed envelope to:
Blackpool Fylde & Wyre Credit Union,
c/o Blackpool Council, 3rd Floor
Municipal Buildings, Blackpool FY1 1NA.
For more details, or extra application
forms, contact the Credit Union Team
on 478827 or e-mail us at bfwcu@
blackpool.gov.uk
*Partner organisations include:
• Blackpool Coastal Housing
• Blackpool Fylde & Wyre Hospitals
Trust
• Blackpool & the Fylde College
• Hilton Hotel
• A I Claims Solutions
• Northerncare
Texas Trip of a Lifetime!
ravel
Thwaites T
50th
Scholarship
y 2009
Anniversar
Congratulations to
Josh Connolly, a
student at St Mary’s
Catholic College Sixth
Form, who has been
chosen to represent
Blackpool on a trip of
a lifetime to Dallas.
Josh will be part of a group
of twelve students and two
leaders who will experience
two weeks of Texan culture,
including visits to the Rangers
Ball Park in Arlington, Fort
Worth and to Thanks Giving
Square.
Although some leisure
activities are included, this is
not a holiday.
to tell him that he had been
successful!
Josh is very excited at the
prospect of the visit which is
from 23 July to 6 August this
year and he has promised to
come and tell us all about it
later in the year.
Members of the group will
be involved in a community
service project at the BRIT
(Botanical Research Institute
of Texas) in Fort Worth. Here
they will learn about water
conservation and ecology and
may be involved in working
with Master Gardeners in
gardens at schools, within
the community, or in tending
grounds at a homeless
shelter or teen challenge
rehabilitation centre.
Blackpool Council is
proud to participate in this
annual scholarship, which
is organised by Thwaites
Brewery, Blackburn,
in conjunction with EIL
(Experience in International
Living) Ltd.
Councils across Lancashire
are invited to nominate
students to represent them
and it has been customary
for the Mayor and the School
Admissions Manager to
select, on behalf of the
Borough, a suitable student
Group members will each
enjoy a home stay with a
local family.
I spoke to Josh recently, and
he admitted to thinking it was
a hoax when I contacted
him by phone in December
4
ambassador, who will benefit
from this exciting scholarship,
and who attends a Blackpool
college or youth setting.
This is the seventh year in
which I've had the privilege
of supporting the Mayor in
the selection process and I
know that Josh will have a
great time and be a wonderful
ambassador for Blackpool.
Fran Fothergill
School Admissions
Manager
Progress House
Here in Blackpool she is responsible for
operational management within Targeted
Services, this includes responsibility for
frontline Social Work Teams, Fostering,
Adoption, Residential Care, Pupil Welfare
and the Youth Offending Team. She has
to ensure that the services are safe and
effective. The effect of the “Baby P” case
in Haringey has caused staff morale to be
affected throughout the country. Blackpool is
no different, even though inspectors recently
praised our work to keep children safe.
A Day In The Life …
JANET HAMBLY
“Never a Dull Moment!”
Janet’s day to day routine involves lots
of meetings, responding to e-mails and
supervising her Service managers.
Meetings and paperwork are the hardest
part of the job for someone who likes to
be active!
Janet is the Senior Service
Manager in our Targeted
Services Division and is
deputy to the Assistant
Director Sheila Sutherland.
Janet joined the Department in December
2007. Before this she managed
Cumbria’s County Fostering Services.
She has worked in Leeds, Lancashire
and Strathclyde always with children and
families who need extra support.
She particularly enjoys working in a small
authority, for the first time in her career.
This means that day to day contacts
enable decisions to be made promptly.
Janet says “I do enjoy being here and
working with a really good group in social
care. I look forward to being here for a
long time”.
In her spare time Janet enjoys fell walking
in Cumbria. She is also learning Spanish
and loves reading.
Tackling Child Poverty Bike Project!
Eradicating child poverty is critical to providing children and
young people with the best start in life and to breaking the
cycles of deprivation that affect some of our most vulnerable
communities. The government is giving out a very strong
message that “child poverty is everyone’s business”.
Blackpool is one of ten local authorities who successfully bid for the Children’s
Centres and Jobcentre Plus Work Focused Services Pilot. The Pilot is about
identifying new and innovative ways of working together to reduce child poverty,
and there will be an external evaluation to find out what works.
The Pilot started in January 2009, and will come to an end in March 2011. Under
the Pilot, three Jobcentre Plus Personal Advisers are based in Children’s Centres,
Sure Start Grange Park, Sure Start Mereside and Clifton and Sure Start Talbot and
Brunswick. The Personal Advisers are working with Children’s Centre staff, as part
of multi disciplinary teams, and engaging lone parents and non working parents in
a two parent family and encourage and supporting them to become work ready.
The Pilot includes courses in self esteem and confidence building, basic skills,
training, volunteering opportunities and support into employment. There is a
commissioning budget which will be used for any identified gaps, including
childcare.
A multi agency steering group has been set up to develop the Pilot and will be
organising a Blackpool wide marketing and publicity campaign to raise awareness.
There will also be a Blackpool Child Poverty Conference on 20th March, for
operational managers and practitioners. Please watch out for more publicity and, if
you know of any parents with young children who would benefit from being part of
the Pilot, please contact one of the three Children’s Centres involved:
Sure Start Grange Park Children’s Centre:
01253 476480
Sure Start Talbot and Brunswick Children’s Centre: 01253 651190
Sure Start Mereside and Clifton Children’s Centre:
01253 839739
If you would like any more information about the Pilot please
contact Rosemary Hanmore, Extended Services Development
Co-ordinator: 01253 476459
5
Cycling to Success
The Connexions Community
Personal Advisors in the North
Locality and youth workers have
designed a new project aimed to
engage young people who are
not in education, employment or
training.
The project will run over six to eight weeks and
be based at the Grange Youth Centre. It will
be for six young people who will have chance
to take part in two sessions during the day.
The first session will be learning skills on bike
maintenance, safety and road use. The bike
maintenance workshop is designed to let the
young people, dismantle, maintain, spray paint
and rebuild their own bike.
The second will be taking part in career information and guidance, where they will get to explore the world of work and training. It is hoped
that all the young people will have the chance
to visit learning providers, such as Blackpool
and the Fylde College, NLTG, Beneast and
Myerscough College. They will also receive
information, advice and guidance on a variety
of subjects such as CVs, career profiling, training opportunities, job searches, interview skills,
budgeting and volunteering opportunities.
At the end of the project each young person
will be able to take his or her own designed
bike home once a qualified inspector has
signed it off.
A Hymn
by Pauline Wilson
News from the A Team!
I was in Tenerife (part of
convalescence after heart
operation). I was awoken
at 2.50a.m with the first
two lines of the hymn
going through my head.
Consequently I had to get up
and write down the verses
below before I could go back
to bed.
The hymn can be put to the
tune 'Cwm Rhondda' (usually
associated with ,'Guide me
O thou Great Jehovah') when
you would repeat the last line
of each verse.
Call to arms all ye that love Him
Bear the standard ‘Christ is King’;
Share the love of Christ with others,
Tell them, he has conquered sin.
Only through the blood of Calvary
Can the sinner come to Him.
Oh what love, what mighty
conquest,
God the Father’s greatest gift,
Sinless Son, His sweet devotion,
In the place of sinners stood.
All our praise and adoration.
Cannot match His grace and love.
Sinner, have you claimed His
mercy?
Have you from your sin been freed?
Have you claimed from Him
salvation?
Life eternal, rich and free.
Holy Father, Righteous Saviour
You have done all this for me.
Worst of sinners, now repentant
Hear that still small voice within.
Oh how gentle is Christ Jesus,
When he calls us from our sin.
Oh what honour! Great salvation!
When the sinner flees to Him.
Hear the angel hosts of heaven
Sing in pure and matchless tone.
Joy unspeakable and glory
For each sinner now brought home.
Ransomed sinner, now forgiven
Clothed in beauty not your own.
Now in Christ are we accepted,
Robed in His own righteousness.
Now we fear no condemnation,
Christ has paid the price for us.
Holy Spirit, dwell within us.
Fill our hearts with praise and love.
Jacqui Ghigi Is the
Coordinator for the Complex
and Severe Learning
Difficulties Service and the
A Team club is a youth club
for young people with autistic
spectrum conditions. Here is a
report of their weekend away
at Ormside Mill.
“On Friday 16th January we got on the minibus
to take us to Ormside Mill near Appleby,
Cumbria. There were 10 young people from the
A Team youth club and 4 youth workers. Jacqui
came with us. We stayed in an old mill with
a lovely log burning stove and a beck running
alongside the house. We had a night walk with
torches when we arrived on Friday night.
On Saturday the sun shone and we did lots
of outdoor activities including using a zip rope
to get across the beck. In the evening three
people chose to go to the cinema and the
rest stayed at the Mill and played games. We
cooked our own food and made our own beds
and washed and dried the pots. On Sunday
we had a scavenger hunt and a walk and fed
the ponies.
These are some of the comments from the
A Team when we did our evaluation session
before we left on Sunday afternoon:
We had fun
Lots of laughing
Everything was good
It was brilliant
Michael did the river crossing
Boys and Girls Club are brilliant – we
had the time of the century
I liked it when the tractor splashed
all the water
I enjoyed the night walk because it
was scary
Jacob never stopped laughing
The best time ever
I think you’ll agree that the comments speak
for themselves and yes, we did have a great
time! The weekend was filmed and lots of
photographs taken and the young people
took part in a Big Brother style video diary,
recording their comments about the activities.
For more information contact
Jacqui on 01253 476642
Whiteholme Youth Club re-opens!
Blackpool Youth Service has re-opened the Whiteholme youth club on
All Saints Road, Bispham. The club is for 12 – 19 year olds and will be
open on Tuesday and Thursday, between 7.00 and 9.30p.m.
The club will offer young people many new and exciting opportunities to take part in activities they might not have tried before, such as archery, quads, inter-club competitions,
Summer Camp, football, mountain cycling, babysitting, as well as award schemes such as
Duke of Edinburgh, Achievement Award.
Everyone will be made welcome at the club, it’s an opportunity to make new friends, and
take part in activities that will take you to new places and provide opportunities you would
never have imagined!
So remember, if you think Whiteholme Club is for you make sure you tell all your friends!
For more information please contact Kevin on 07925 382517 or Amanda on 01253 476203
6
THAT’S A
WEIGHT OFF
YOUR MIND!
(and your hips…)
Yes it’s that time of year! We
are all watching those pounds,
not just the ones put on over
the festive spell but the ones in
our bank balance too. I hope
this recipe gives you inspiration
to take care of both.
Try my dish of the day and
crunch – I mean munch your
winter blues away!
Jane Valentine
Fish Crumble
Serves 6
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
turns into Muddy Mayhem!
While the rest of the country was awash with rain and snow,
a planned fun filled day of watery fun soon turned into muddy
mayhem on a sunny day at Blackpool’s Stanley Park.
An event organised
by the Early Years
and Childcare
Team’s Childminding
Development Workers
based at Progress House
invited local children
and their childminders to
splash about in the rain in
Stanley Park, using water,
rain and puddles as a
basis for activities.
After singing nursery
rhymes and songs, using
a play parachute and
doing lots of energetic
dancing the plan was to
splash in lots of puddles
and experiment with water
whilst wearing the wet
weather clothing that each
child had been given.
The weather was lovely
and sunny and due to the
overnight frost everything
was frozen – even the
lake! The Parks Education
Inclusion Officer, Justine
Hall and a Park Ranger
Jenna Trewartha came to
the rescue and set up a
special spot in a very wet
area of the park and with
their expert knowledge
they carefully exposed the
soil beneath the grass turf
allowing the children to
explore worms and wildlife.
Water was poured into
the holes as the children
experimented with lots of
natural materials such as
seed pods and cones.
explore in the soil and mud.
It was nice to get together
with other childminders and
as there was such a big
group of us, it made it more
fun."
Bev Peacock, a central
Blackpool registered
childminder who attended
the event, said: "The day
was absolutely fantastic.
The little boy I brought,
Blake had a wonderful time.
He found it interesting to
Any enquiries for
parents and carers who
need flexible childcare
in a home environment
can contact the Family
Information Service on
0800 092 2332.
All registered childminders
work to the new Early
Years Foundation Stage
and this activity was an
ideal opportunity to explore,
experiment and observe the
natural environment under
one of the six areas of
learning named Knowledge
and Understanding of the
World.
7
•
•
450g / 1lb white fish
300ml / half a pint of milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
75g / 3oz margarine or butter
1 medium onion peeled and
chopped
2 leeks, trimmed and cut into
small slices
1 medium carrot peeled and
diced
175gm / 6oz plain flour
300ml / half a pint of whipping cream - optional - you
could use milk
Crumble top
• 75g / 3oz margarine or butter
• 175gm / 6oz plain flour
• 75g / 3oz grated Parmesan
cheese
_________________________
1. Preheat the oven to 200 c /
400 F / Gas Mark 6
2. Place the fish in a saucepan
with the milk and salt and
pepper. Bring to the boil and
simmer for 8-10 minutes until
the fish is cooked.
3. Remove the fish from the pan
with a slotted spoon and flake
the fish into a casserole dish.
Keep the fish liquid.
4. Heat the oil and 1 tablespoon
margarine or butter in a frying
pan and add the vegetables.
Cover with a lid and fry gently
for about 10 minutes until they
are soft.
5. Spoon the vegetables over
the fish.
6. Melt the remaining butter in a
saucepan; add the flour and
cook for 1 minute stirring all
the time.
7. Whisk in the reserved fish liquid
to the pan and cook until the
mixture thickens.
8. Stir in the cream or milk. Remove from heat and pour over
the fish.
9. To make the crumble rub the
butter and flour together until
the mixture looks like bread
crumbs. Add the cheese and
sprinkle over the top of the fish.
10. Bake for 20 minutes
Transforming S
Carl Baker is the newly appointed Assistant Director
for Transforming Schools and has been working in
Blackpool since January.
Carl joins us from Lincolnshire County Council where he has spent the previous eight years
as Head of Contracts and Partnerships. Carl had responsibility for strategic partnering
arrangements, public private partnerships and children, adults, corporate and fleet contracts.
Carl is also a former teacher and member of the school improvement service.
Leading the Transforming Schools Division within CYPD involves directing the Building
Schools for the Future (BSF) and Primary Capital Programmes (PCP) and leading
the Property and Development unit. Carl is delighted to be working with the teams
at Blackpool and is looking forward to the challenge of delivering BSF and PCP and
making a difference to the children and young people of Blackpool.
The Transforming Schools
Division is now all located
under one roof!
New Team Members
Alongside Carl Baker we have three additional
new members of the Transforming schools
Division.
Susan Strother joined the P&D team from The
Corporate Asset Management Team.
Paul Sharples is our new Project Accountant, joining
the team from the Tourism & Re-Generations Finance
Team and Carol Lambert is our new administrative
support officer in her first role within the council.
The Portacabin closest to Tesco in Progress
House car park is home to the Property
& Development Unit and the officers
responsible for the delivery of BSF and PCP.
Primary Capital
Programmes (PCP)
The Authority’s Strategy for Change for
the Primary Capital Programme (PCP) was
approved by the DCSF late last year.
This means that our first wave of funding will be released in
April 2009. The first schools to benefit from the funding are
Layton and Norbreck and the team are working closely with
the schools to discuss development plans with schemes to
begin in summer 2009.
Team HQ
Carl Baker – Assistant Director and
Programme Manager for BSF and PCP
Jane Clayson – Senior Officer, overseeing
BSF and PCP delivery
Digby Moulden – Principle Officer Property &
Development
Ian Morris Iliffe – Assistant Property &
Development Manager
Deborah Makin – Programme Support Officer
Susan Strother - Property & Development Officer
Paul Sharples – Project Accountant
Jenny Halpin – Suitability Officer
Carol Lambert – Administrative Support Officer
8
Schools Division
Building Schools for
the Future (BSF)
The BSF team successfully submitted the
Authority’s Outline Business Case (OBC) in
November last year and are now awaiting
formal approval from Partnerships for
Schools (PfS) and the DCSF.
Work is currently focused on the preparation of our
procurement documentation to be published later this
year to attract private partners to Blackpool. We are also
taking the opportunity to support schools in reviewing
their “Strategy for Change” documents and developing
a design brief for each school. This work is being
supported by DEGW who have been recently appointed
as the teams Client Design Advisors.
February saw the BSF team exhibit at BSEC 09
(Building Schools Exhibition and Conference) at
Manchester Central.
The Team at the BSEC Exhibition
A significant amount of interest was expressed from
a number of consortia who are considering bidding
for the Blackpool programme as well as supply chain
partners wishing to support the delivery of our school
buildings. Significant work has been done on developing
the partnering strategy for Blackpool which has been
positively received in discussion with potential bidders
and ratified by SMT.
Further details on the BSEC exhibition can be seen
on our new and dedicated BSF website –
www.blackpool.gov.uk/bsf. Additional news items
and events will be published here so please check
back regularly for information.
Property & Development
The Property and Development Unit is responsible for ensuring that all
buildings within the CYPD portfolio are safe, secure, watertight and fit
for purpose for the children and young people of Blackpool.
The team commission projects and oversee their delivery whilst working closely with the relevant
CYPD Division. Recent projects include Kincraig Primary expansion to IFE, new infant provision
at Beacon Hill for the Claremont/Beacon Partnership, minor remodelling at Whitegate Manor and
toilet refurbishment at Claremont Primary School.
The team includes Jenny Halpin, who monitors the suitability of CYPD facilities to assess fitness
for purpose for schools. Jenny works to the DCSF guidelines regarding special requirements
which can vary depending on core activity or number of people.
9
Youth Matters!
New health funding for
young people’s services!
Blackpool Young People’s Council and
NHS Blackpool are teaming together to
commission services to improve young
people’s health in Blackpool.
A group of young people will be in charge of a sum of
£150,000. The funding is for young people aged 5 – 19
around five important topics young people face; smoking,
weight management, alcohol, substance misuse and teenage
pregnancy.
The process is young person led and members of Blackpool
Young People’s Council and other youth groups received a total
of 30 applications. These have been shortlisted at stage one to
17 and will go through a second short-listing process to whittle
them down to 10. The final stage will consist of an interview
process to take place in early March.
All go for the 5-11s!
With the employment of a new
Junior Participation Worker,
young people aged 5 -11 have a
few things to get really excited
about and a lot to look forward to
in the near future.
Alongside this the young people will also be quality assessing
the successful projects. Simon Sullivan (16) one of the young
people involved said ‘it’s really exciting to be involved in a project
like this; we get to make decisions that will change the lives of
our friends and family’
Applications have totalled the sum of £250,000 and projects
should start to run from April onwards. Watch out for information
on what projects are successful at www.rubothered.co.uk
if you’d like more information or are interested in applying
for this funding In the future, please contact Stuart Dunne,
Positive Contributions Manager on (01253) 754840
The re launch of Blackpool’s Voice is getting closer and we
are working hard to make sure as many children can get
involved as possible. This group is dedicated to getting the
voices of all Blackpool’s children heard. It will be open to
every 5 – 11 year old in Blackpool and will give them the
chance to amplify their voices in aid of their community.
Based around Blackpool’s locality settings children will
get the chance to change aspects of their immediate
community.
‘Our Voice!’ is a group of
young people who are in
care or have recently left
care in Blackpool. They
aim to make life better
for all young people in
care in Blackpool by
representing their views.
Alongside Blackpool’s Voice, we are launching the Junior
Opportunity Fund. This £3000 fund is available for any
group of 5 – 11 year olds in Blackpool, who can apply for
up to £100. The fund will be split equally over the three
localities and welcomes group or singular applications.
Another exciting project is the search for the three
Junior Ambassadors of Blackpool. Inspired from the
success of Blackpool’s UK Youth Parliament (UKYP)
elections, we have decided to get children involved in the
democratic process. A Junior Ambassador will be elected
to represent their locality and will work alongside the
UKYP representative to better the lives of all children in
Blackpool.
Using different methods they hope
to get their ideas across to people
who make decisions.
‘We want to help send out good
messages about young people in
care and change other people’s
attitudes to them. We hope that by
giving all young people a voice we
will help to change things for all
young people in care in Britain.’
If you would like more information on any of our
participation activities for young people aged 5-11
years please contact Emily Berry at Emily.berry@
blackpool.gov.uk or visit www.rubothered.co.uk
They also want to have fun and be
able to socialise with other young
10
people with similar experiences,
learn new skills and stand out as
a group.
‘Our Voice!’’ meet on the third and
fourth Wednesday of the month
either at the Town Hall or at the
Connexions centre on Market
Street.
At the moment they are planning
a trip to a regional event for all
the North West’s Children in Care
Councils in April, organising a
conference for Blackpool’s Young
People in Care and Care Leavers
in May and continuing to work on a
video about young people in care’s
experience of education.
If you want more information
please call Jamie Murphy on
01253 754845 or go to www.
rubothered.co.uk
Your Space wins POP Award!
Congratulations to the team.
The Blackpool De Vere POP (Problem Orientated Partnership) Awards
celebrate and reward successful examples of partnership working
across Blackpool and Fylde. This year saw the ninth annual awards
ceremony co-coordinated and facilitated by BSafe Blackpool.
The initiative received
worthy praise and
recognition from the
independent judging
panel which comprised of
a police Chief Inspector,
the mayors of Blackpool
and Fylde, the Senior
ASB Crown Prosecutor
for Lancashire and the
Manager of the De Vere
Hotel in Blackpool.
Your Space is a project that
was initially funded by BSafe
and was set up by Integrated
Youth Services Youth
Worker Rachel Day and
Lancashire Constabulary’s
Community Beat Managers
Sarah Darwen and Nicola
Bingham. The project aimed
to engage young people in
South Shore aged between
11 and 17 years in sports
Your Space has provided out
of school opportunities for
young people in Blackpool
South, increased positive
activities and promoted
good health. The project
has broken down the
barriers between young
people, police and the other
organisations involved.
and educational activities
each Wednesday evening
throughout last summer at
Palatine Leisure Centre.
During the 12 week
project the young people
successfully applied for
funding through the Youth
Opportunities Fund. This
enabled them to buy
their own sports and DJ
equipment, run a street
dance project, go on trips
and hire the Sports hall
at Palatine for another 12
months.
Your Space has gone from
strength to strength; over 600
different young people have
accessed the project with a
regular attendance of around
seventy young people who
now also have access to
the Xbox room at Palatine
Library during the 2 hours. It
has its own link on the BSafe
website which gives young
people information on a wide
range of issues such as
bullying, Internet security and
Rachel Day, Youth Worker
said on receiving the award
“It’s been great to have
had the opportunity to work
alongside the Police to
develop the Your Space
provision and for our work to
be recognised”.
11
drugs and alcohol. Another
positive development has
seen Integrated Youth
Services working closely with
Leisure Services to develop
Friday evening provision
at Palatine Leisure Centre
which will offer Your Space
and other young people
access to free swimming,
use of the gym, canoeing
and other activities.
For more information
contact Geoff Brand, South
Shore Locality Manager
01253 478798
Steps To Quality
The Early Years and Childcare Team is committed to developing
the best quality early years services for Blackpool’s youngest
children and their families and has just launched a new toolkit
offering best practise advice to Blackpool early years providers.
Every parent knows that a child’s
experiences, in their first few years, are
crucial to providing a good foundation for
later life. Although much has already been
achieved by working with local nurseries,
pre school playgroups and childminders
the Early Years and Childcare Team aims
to focus on continued quality improvement
to make sure that young children have a
high quality experience.
To help providers on this journey
to offering the very best services to
Blackpool children and their families,
The Early Years and Childcare Team has
developed ‘Steps to Quality,’ a tool to
help providers reflect upon and question
the service they provide in order to
continuously improve quality.
handouts and information provided were
excellent and it will be good to implement
at our settings - especially the action plan”
Referring to ‘Steps to Quality’ Hollie
Mattinson, Manager at Clifton Children’s
Centre Nursery, said “A good tool
to highlight where your setting is at
the moment and where to go next.  It
covers lots of the things we are working
on at the moment”
Julie Machin, a registered Childminder in
Marton added: “It will help me to reflect
more on what I am doing. I love the
document”
The launch of the document took place
on Wednesday 28th January with 130
Blackpool practitioners attending the event
showing the provider’s commitment to
quality services for children and families.
Councillor Don Clapham, Cabinet Member
for Children’s Services said: “All our young
children deserve the very best start in life
and we aim to ensure that they receive
the highest quality provision and services.
Care providers who commit to Steps to
Quality will prove that they have our young
children’s best interests at heart”.
Sarah Loughran Operations Manager
for Happy Days Childcare who has
four provisions in Blackpool said: “The
If you would like to know more about
‘Steps to Quality’ please contact
Jennifer Lewis on 476589
12
Diversity
Events
A term of endeavour and
enterprise in Educational
Diversity culminated in two new
and exciting events. They were
organised and led by Sam Reeves,
the new HERO Enterprise coordinator for the Service.
Students and staff from all Key
Stages created and were actively
employed on stalls at the Winter
Market to which 120 parents and
friends visited. The guests spent
their money on articles that the
young people had made in their
Enterprise lessons. Each of the five
Centres donated their stall proceeds
to charitable institutions, which
include the Children’s Hospice and
Victoria Hospital.
The City Learning Centre provided
their large meeting room to enable
the first ever Diversity Christmas
Concert to take place. The room was
full to capacity and over twenty pupils
sang, played instruments, acted and
enjoyed themselves in an extremely
convivial atmosphere. Talented young
people and skilful teachers combined
to create a memorable spectacle for
the audience.
The HERO Enterprise scheme has
enabled young people in the Service
to acquire new skills and reveal their
talents and abilities, of which there
are many.
Indoor Athletics Finals
The New Year has brought
three indoor athletics finals
held at Blackpool Sports
Centre, with 240 children
attending in total.
This programme is run by Blackpool School Sport
Partnership but is heavily dependent on the volunteers
from the local high schools, and of course Blackpool,
Wyre and Fylde Athletics club who not only support the
Finals but are a major influence on the growth of Athletics
in the area. Athletics is a fantastic sport for developing
children in the fundamentals of sport, and the club will
be running their successful Athletics Satellite Centres
again this Spring - details of this will be distributed to your
schools.
The Primary Events are the finale of the programme
which started before Christmas. There are 8 families of
primary schools throughout Blackpool, four schools in
each family, and each hold their own Indoor Athletics
Final. The winners and runners-up represent their school
in the indoor athletics final and plate event. The overall
winner of the primary schools was Anchorsholme, who
will go forward to represent Blackpool at the County
Finals on the 10th February in Chorley.
There is also a Gymnastics County Final being held in
Hyndburn on the 12th March, so we will be holding the
Blackpool Festival on the 2nd March. All Primary schools
will be entering a team from Year 3 and 4, so we are
hoping for a mass of children experiencing Gymnastics
and competition! Again, the winner of this event will be
representing Blackpool at the County's! Good Luck!
Also, the next stage of Sport Unlimited is upon us. This
time we have teamed up with Blackpool Sports Centre,
and are offering Climbing sessions to 200 Blackpool
Young People to engage them in an alternative, yet very
positive, sport!
The secondary schools all are represented in the final
at the sports centre, with Beacon Hill coming out on top.
They will also represent Blackpool in the Secondary
Indoor Athletics County Final in Chorley next week.
Congratulations to all the 650 children that took part,
and good luck to the teams from Beacon Hill and
Anchorsholme.
We will report back on this and the
Gymnastics Event in the next article!
13
Snooker ace helps frame Blackpool Young People for success!
Snooker ace Shaun
Murphy 2005 World
Champion and current UK
Champion in conjunction
with the Paul Hunter
foundation helped
Blackpool Young People
to get a Lucky Break.
Snooker roadshows are being
organised by Connexions
Blackpool and North Lancs
Training Group in association
with the Paul Hunter Foundation,
which was set up in the memory
of snooker player Paul Hunter
who, at 27 tragically died of
cancer.
The charity aims to encourage
disadvantaged able bodied
and disabled Young People the
opportunity to play snooker.
tournament. Shaun awarded
prizes to all of the winners.
In an interview with the Evening
Gazette Shaun commented
“This event is just fantastic. The
Young people here are really
enthusiastic and certainly have
an eye for the ball.
On the 21st February 2009
Shaun played over 40 young
people at Q’s Snooker Club on
Lytham Road, South Shore.
Q’s hosts the Roadshow every
Monday evening 6:30 – 8:30.
All unemployed 16-18 year olds
are welcome to attend free of
charge.
I used to play snooker with Paul
Hunter and he would have loved
events like this.
Snooker helps with maths and
literacy and the team who run
these weekly sessions are
amazing at providing good
guidance.
The lucky young people got to
play against Shaun in a range of
fun snooker activities including
the 60 second challenge,
snooker relay and a snooker
I just wish that more professional
sports would take part in
events like this, it makes such a
difference to teenagers and gets
them off the streets.”
Michael Harris, 16, commented
“This Monday club is brilliant. If
it wasn’t for Connexions I would
not be doing my course at North
Lancs, and I love it”.
Connexions are holding another
Snooker Day with Snooker
Legend Steve Davis on the 16th
March and a Lucky Break 4 U
opportunities event on the 17th
March at Blackpool Football
Club 5 – 7:30.
Former snooker player Tony
Knowles will be attending Q’s on
the 19th February 6:30 – 8:30.
Places are limited!
For more information/book
a place please contact Julie
Parkinson at Blackpool
Connexions on 01253 47 82 99
Diversity Fortnight
This month Diversity Fortnight becomes Blackpool Council's official campaign for
anti-bullying week. An exciting prospect – but also a daunting task with the age
range extended to include Primary Schools.
Diversity Fortnight is a multi agency
project created in 2006/2007 in
partnership with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual
and Trans (LGBT) young people. There
was a general concern that homophobia
and homophobic bullying were not being
challenged and that young LGBT people
felt isolated and alone.
The aims of Diversity Fortnight are:
•
To raise awareness of hate crime
and surrounding issues.
•
To raise awareness of the diversity of
communities in Blackpool.
•
To explore and raise awareness of
the impact of discrimination.
•
To promote social inclusion
– acceptance, tolerance and
understanding.
•
Encourage individuals to explore
their attitudes and behaviours.
•
Promote relevant services in
Blackpool for minority groups.
To incorporate the younger ages and to
maintain the quality of work we achieved
with Diversity Fortnight 2007 the project
is split into different components:
Primary Schools: Creative Writing
Competition: More than 2000 children
from approx 20 of Blackpool's Primary
Schools took part. The winning entries
will form a book to be released back into
schools as an anti-bullying resource.
14
Secondary Schools: Music Composition
and Festival: There were superb
performances from young people at
Bispham High School with a song called
"Diversity University".
Conferences: and the Anti Bully Tip Card:
The card was designed in partnership
with children and young people for both
primary and secondary ages. The cards
give comprehensive advice to young
people about what bullying is and top tips
on what to do if you are being bullied.
iI you would like to order some anti
bully tip cards please get in touch
with Hayley Mills on 01253 474841 or
hayley.mills@blackpool.gov.
Primary Schools Orchestra conducted by Mrs Kate Fard
Blackpool Music
Service Ends the Year
on a High Note
Blackpool Music Service has just been
presented with one of only 3 Awards
offered by The Performing Rights
Society for their extensive work in
Creative Music Making.
Transition Day for
Children Looked After
The Virtual School held its annual transition day at
Thames Children’s Centre in August last year. A group
of six children came together with adult helpers and
enjoyed a fun-filled day. The purpose of the day was to
help the young people with the transition from primary
to secondary school by providing them with the
opportunity to meet and make friends with peers and
to work with a variety of unfamiliar adults.
This is the fourth consecutive year they have
received a national award and it endorses the
massive support from pupils and parents and the
high standard of teaching delivered by our school
based staff and peripatetic teachers.
The last event of 2008 was at the Pleasure
Beach Ice Arena where 1,300 pupils sang and
played instruments to a capacity audience. The
Annual Christmas Festival is always enjoyable
and is a perfect event to see our ‘Every Child
Matters’ policy in action. Pupils’ participation in
this celebration creates a wonderful, friendly,
supportive environment and the event’s 1,000
choristers is visually breath-taking.
The day began with drama activities led by Diane Carson. These
encouraged the young people to work together as a group and broke
the ice very successfully. The time together led to the creation of a
masterpiece of drama which was filmed at the end of the day. After a
break for drinks and snacks Glenn Mascord got the young people to
write and perform some ripping raps. We were lucky with the weather
so the young people went outside and had a go at tri-golf. Looked
much too difficult for me!
On an earlier occasion the youngsters had requested pizza for lunch
which they duly demolished with gusto! To let lunch go down we had
a go at a craft activity, making masks which could be used later during
filming. Sequins, feathers and glue went all over the place! While some
of the adults cleaned up the young people had a chance to exercise
their musical talents with drums, keyboards and percussion instruments.
Amazingly the sounds they produced were great! Then it was on with
the masks; lights, camera, action and the production was performed
and filmed with much hilarity. Before leaving with their foster carers, the
youngsters got a chance to decorate cookies to take home.
Having signed the Music Manifesto last month
Blackpool Music Service is now promoting
‘Schools Alive’ which takes place on 4 consecutive
nights starting on 9th February at the Grand
Theatre. 2,000 pupils from 38 schools will be
performing in this initiative which is the start of yet
another enjoyable but extensive music making
programme.
All in all a great day was had by all. Many thanks to those who
helped make the day a success and to the staff at Thames
Children’s Centre who made us feel so welcome and cleaned up
after us.
15
Going over the top!
A group of Year
9 students from
Collegiate High
School Sports College
gained a better
understanding of
life in a World War
1 trench at the City
Learning Centre
(CLC) in January.
As part of their English
work on WW1 war poetry
and to appreciate some
of the conditions endured
by soldiers the students
spent a cold morning in
a specially constructed 5
foot deep trench writing
letters home to loved ones,
experiencing a simulated
gas attack and finally
going over the top to the
accompaniment of smoke
and noise.
They filmed the experience
and are using the footage as a
stimulus for further writing in
school and at the CLC.
Business Support Division (BSD) –
What do we do?
There have been a number of changes recently
in our Division. We are pleased to welcome
three new members of our Management Team:
Nicola Stubbins - Senior Children’s Officer,
Planning and Performance
Jon Williams - Principal Management
Information Officer
Gill Beer - Business Modernisation Manager
What Do We Do?
The Business Support Division (BSD)
Administration Team is able to provide a wide
range of support services for the specialist
teams within Children & Young People’s
Department (CYPD).
Our duties cover providing a receptionist for
CYPD and Culture & Communities Department,
dealing with incoming/outgoing post, payment
processing, e-procurement, “petty cash”
Contact
DETAILS
payments, issuing travel warrants, maintaining
staff absence records, loaning equipment,
ordering stationery/furniture, archives, health &
safety issues, facilities management and a variety
of other tasks too numerous to mention.
The secretariat team organise and minute
meetings, meet and greet visitors to the Senior
Management Team, plan and co-ordinate
diaries, type reports and letters, liaise with
councillors and other service providers and
provide general administrative support to
the Executive Director and the six Assistant
Directors within CYPD.
We pride ourselves on the fact that most
team members can cover most of the duties
and whilst we do not profess to know “all the
answers – all the time”, we probably know “a
man who can” or in this politically correct age
“someone who may possibly be able to assist”.
Welcome
An appreciative
welcome to
Charlotte Marshall
the long awaited
Administrator for
the integrated Child
Health Division
based at Progress
House.
Charlotte came
into post early
January 2009 and
is looking forward to
developing this new
role.
Our next newsletter will be published in the Summer. If you would like to
contribute articles, pictures or news please contact Julie Needham Ext 6734 or
Email julie.needham@blackpool.gov.uk
Deadline for articles is the 11th June.
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