UK – Men attracted by recruitment drive

A campaign to encourage more men to work in early education and childcare has generated interest from thousands of people in Surrey.

The campaign, being run by Surrey County Council, has a dedicated website which has had more than 3,000 visitors and almost 100 direct enquiries. Campaign organisers have so far held information sessions for 37 men.

The council says this is the first time that any men have attended childcare recruitment events in the county (News, 21 April).

Of 10,716 childcare workers in Surrey, just 385, or 3.5 per cent, are men. This is slightly higher than the national average of 2 per cent.

Cheryl Marie, recruitment and retention outreach officer in the early years and childcare service, said, ‘We are delighted with the results so far. As well as hundreds of calls, e-mails and visits to our website, the roadshows we held in shopping centres in Woking and Camberley proved popular, with another 47 men asking for more information.’

Lewis Ackerman, co-ordinator of Kids Camp at Fitness Express, who was involved in the campaign, said, ‘I’ve been working with children since 2005 and Surrey County Council asked if I would like to get involved with the campaign.

‘I was part of a group that discussed how to promote childcare to men. I would definitely encourage men to work in childcare – it’s much more fun than a typical job.’

Mary Angell, the council’s cabinet member for children and families, said, ‘As far as we know, this campaign is the only one of its kind in the UK. We are keen to ensure Surrey’s children have positive male role models from an early age, and working with children is both a challenging and rewarding career choice.’

http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/bulletin/NurseryWorldUpdate/article/1018688/?DCMP=EMC-CONNurseryWorldUpdate

UK – Child-led approach to learning to read is blamed for illiteracy

Primary schools are ‘breeding illiteracy’ in children by allowing a ‘child-led’ approach to learning and because they are failing to use synthetic phonics repeatedly, according to the right-wing think-tank Centre for Policy Studies.

The report So why can’t they read?, commissioned by Mayor of London Boris Johnson, to examine why 25 per cent of children in the capital leave primary school with difficulties in reading and writing, discusses the pro-phonics and anti-phonics arguments.

Author Miriam Gross says that while ‘the dispute may never be resolved … there is plenty of evidence which proves beyond reasonable doubt that phonics, “first and fast”, is the most effective way for beginners to learn to read.’

She concludes, ’synthetic phonics is the simplest, the most effective and by far the cheapest way of teaching and learning the basic skill of reading’.

The report also blames teachers for tolerating ’street language’, which has its own grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation, saying that many primary school teachers ‘encourage children to read in poems and stories written in ethnic dialects’ without pointing out ‘linguistic discrepancies’.

But Dr Sebastian Suggate, Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow at the University of Wurzburg, said synthetic phonics ‘cannot be singled out as a cure’.

He said the report overlooked the fundamental problem, that children were starting school ‘without having had the rich play and language foundation children in other countries enjoy, and in earlier times enjoyed. It seems they are physically less active, have less quality time with parents, watch more television and play more computer games.

‘Imposing a regime of mechanistic synthetic phonics on these children is going to do nothing for their language, nothing for their discipline, and probably nothing for their long-term reading achievement or enjoyment.’

http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/bulletin/NurseryWorldUpdate/article/1018686/?DCMP=EMC-CONNurseryWorldUpdate

UK – Review will examine how early intervention can support most disadvantaged children

An independent review into early intervention has been launched by the Government, with the aim of finding out how to break the cycle of disadvantage for the most vulnerable young children.

The review will be chaired by Graham Allen, Labour MP for Nottingham North, who spearheaded early intervention programmes for children and young people in Nottingham.

The review was announced by Iain Duncan Smith, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, and children’s secretary Sarah Teather.

It is the first piece of work to be commissioned under the remit of the Social Justice Cabinet Committee, a cross-departmental committee set up to tackle poverty, chaired by Mr Duncan Smith (pictured).

Launching the review, he said, ‘I am delighted that Graham will be chairing this review. He understands that early intervention means tackling the root cause of social problems rather than ineffectively treating the symptoms. If we are serious about unlocking children from generations of poverty and giving them a real chance to make something of their lives, then we have to make sure the support is there from the start.’

Mr Allen (pictured) – who co-authored with Mr Duncan Smith a pamphlet on the benefits of early intervention called Good Parents, Great Kids, Better Citizens – said that he had insisted that the review would be strictly independent.

He said, ‘Nottingham has proved we can intervene successfully. Now we not only need to prove that we can take early intervention to a national level, we also need to find inventive ways to fund it in a time of economic drought.

‘I have insisted that this work be strictly independent and the lessons shared with all parties. If early intervention is to be a success, it must last a generation and therefore has to be owned and sustained by all parties.’

He added, ‘I have been passionate about early intervention throughout my tenure as an MP. It holds the key to so many of our social problems, and this is especially evident in my own tough constituency. In essence we need to tackle the causes of dysfunction, not just its symptoms. Early intervention is both cheaper and more effective than late intervention. It will help attack the structural deficit by reducing the massive costs of failure – lifetimes on welfare, poor educational attainment, low aspiration to work, drink and drug abuse, vandalism and criminality.’

Mr Allen said the two key questions for the inquiry would be about how to spread best practice on early intervention throughout the country and how to fund projects sustainably. He said that the money markets could be used to raise finance through bonds.

The review will report in January 2011. citing examples of successful early intervention programmes, with an interim report on funding. A final report on funding will be published in May 2011.

http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/bulletin/NurseryWorldUpdate/article/1019105/?DCMP=EMC-CONNurseryWorldUpdate

UK – Government wants to lure back former health visitors

The Government is urging health visitors who have left their jobs to return to the profession, as part of plans for recruiting 4,200 health visitors that are to be unveiled in the autumn.

Speaking exclusively to Nursery World at the Grove Children and Family Centre in Southwark, London, children’s minister Sarah Teather and health minister Anne Milton said that they would urge former health visitors to think about returning to the profession.

Ms Teather said, ‘We will support the increase of health visitors in a variety of ways, and we will be able to give more details of how we plan to do this later on in the year. However, the early message is to urge people to think about returning to health visiting. It’s going to be an exciting time for the profession. Health visitors are hugely important and they offer a unique mix of skills.’

Ms Milton added, ‘I think that there has been a vicious circle with health visitors. There was a shortage, which meant that health visitors would have very high caseloads, which led to more of them leaving the profession. We would like to send the message out to health visitors that we want them to come back and we want people to think about health visiting as a career. We need to make sure families get the right support at the right time. Timeliness is key.’

Plans to the boost the number of health visitors, a pre-election pledge made by the Conservatives, were included in the new Government’s coalition agreement published in May. NHS Information Centre Workforce data, published in July, showed that the number of qualified health visitors in England dropped from 8,860 to 8,705 between September 2009 and April 2010, a fall of 1.7 per cent.

David Munday, professional officer at the union Unite/CPHVA, said, ‘While we are pleased that the coalition Government recognises the importance of health visitors, we are concerned that the number of health visitors is continuing to fall, and the Government urgently needs to address this if they want to increase numbers. It will be cheaper to stop people leaving in the first place than to try to bring people back.’

He added, ‘We are still hearing of health visitors being pushed out of the doors by Primary Care Trusts who are looking to save money, despite the Government pledging to protect frontline services. We would also welcome clarity on whether the funding for increased numbers of health visitors will come from Sure Start or the NHS.’

Ms Milton and Ms Teather visited the Grove Children and Family Centre to meet with health visitors and to see the benefits for families of having multi-disciplinary teams within Sure Start centres.

http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/bulletin/NurseryWorldUpdate/article/1019045/?DCMP=EMC-CONNurseryWorldUpdate

UK – Government presses ahead with nursery education code of practice and Early Years Single Funding Formula

The Code of Practice on the free entitlement to nursery education will be implemented from September, the Government has confirmed, despite pre-election promises by the Conservatives to suspend it.

The news will come as a blow to some nursery owners who were hoping the Tories would fulfil their pledge to postpone the Code and allow settings to charge top-up fees (News, 7 July).

A Government spokesperson said, ‘The new Code of Practice will come into force in September, to ensure that local authorities are working to a clear common framework in implementing the extension to 15 hours. However, we will be looking to streamline this guidance next year.’

When asked about top-up fees, the spokesperson said that primary legislation required local authorities to secure nursery education free of charge.

The Government also announced that the Early Years Single Funding Formula is to be made statutory from April, but a requirement has been added that all local formulas must include a deprivation supplement, which may eventually become a Pupil Premium for the early years.

A consultation on the best way to operate a Pupil Premium for school-aged children, including what deprivation indicator should be used, was launched on Monday by education secretary Michael Gove and children’s minister Sarah Teather. The Pupil Premium is aimed at helping children from disadvantaged backgrounds to improve their school performance.

The consultation also asks whether the policy of funding at least 90 per cent of a local authority’s three-year-old population should be changed to one based on actual take-up of free entitlement places.

A Government spokesperson said, ‘We think it is right that funding should based on actual numbers of pupils and so we are consulting on this issue.’

The National Day Nurseries Association stressed that local authorities would need to have an effective formula in place before April 2011, as there was still a lot of uncertainty around funding, with many nurseries reporting that funding for the free entitlement was not at a sustainable level.

Chief executive Purnima Tanuku said, ‘While it is fantastic that parents have access to the free entitlement, it is not free to a large proportion of nurseries who have to subsidise the cost of delivery and it can be a direct threat to their sustainability. Sixty per cent of providers report that funding for free sessions does not cover their costs.’

Anne Longfield, chief executive of 4Children, said, ‘Providers in all sectors of childcare provision will welcome the certainty afforded by today’s announcement that the coalition government will press ahead with the Early Years Single Funding Formula from April. 4Children has always supported the principle of transparency and consistency in early years funding.

‘What is really important is that children and families have access to high-quality, affordable early education and care. We believe that in the longer term, a single funding formula will support this aim.’

http://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/bulletin/NurseryWorldUpdate/article/1018525/?DCMP=EMC-CONNurseryWorldUpdate

Study: Same-sex couples can thrive as adoptive parents

A groundbreaking study by researchers at the University of Virginia and George Washington University finds that children adopted by lesbian and gay male couples develop just as well as those adopted by heterosexual parents.

The findings, published in the August issue of the journal Applied Developmental Science, are important because of the debate surrounding gay parenting. Same-sex couples are barred from adopting children in Florida, Mississippi and Utah. A similar case is in the Arkansas courts.

All this is rooted in “the deeply entrenched belief that children need one male and one female parent for optimal development,” the authors write. Numerous studies have affirmed the parenting skills of lesbian parents — less is known about the capabilities of gay male parents — but the studies have been criticized for using self-reported data or for lacking comparison groups of heterosexual couples.
There are no such deficiencies in the current study, titled “Parenting and Child Development in Adoptive Families: Does Parental Sexual Orientation Matter?” It was penned by U-Va. researchers Rachel Farr and Charlotte Patterson and GWU scholar Stephen Forssell.

They studied the development of preschool-age children adopted at birth by 27 lesbian couples, 29 gay male couples and 50 heterosexual couples, most in the D.C. and Mid-Atlantic region. The researchers gathered data on child development from parents, teachers and care-givers. Their hypothesis: The development of both child and adult would hinge more on each couple’s parenting abilities — stress, cooperation, laundry skills — than on their sexual orientation.

And that is what they found. Same-sex parents, and their adoptive children, fared just as well as heterosexual families. It’s worth noting that this study apparently represents the first time that independent reports from teachers on children’s development and behavior have been considered alongside the self-reported data from the parents themselves.

“Research suggests that family processes, such as parenting quality and attachment, are more important predictors of child outcomes than is family structure,” the study says. “These associations have been found both in biological and adoptive families, and among families with lesbian, gay parents and heterosexual parents.”

Even the gender development of children adopted by same-sex couples — perhaps the greatest concern of some critics — mirrored that of children adopted by heterosexual couples.

“Regardless of whether their parents were lesbian, gay or heterosexual, most boys exhibited behavior typical of other same-aged boys, and most girls exhibited behavior typical of other same-aged girls,” the authors write.

The implication: From a public policy stance, the study suggests there is “no justification for denying lesbian and gay prospective adoptive parents the opportunity to adopt children,” Patterson, the lead researcher, said.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/college-inc/2010/07/study_lesbian_gay_couples_thri.html

Mother’s love key to dealing with stress

BABIES whose mothers shower them with affection are better at coping with stress when they get older, research shows.

Early nurturing and warmth has ”long-lasting positive effects on mental health well into adulthood”, the US researchers said.

While previous research has sought to assess the impact of a mother’s affection, projects have been based on people’s potentially fallible recollections of their own experiences.

The latest study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, involved psychologists assessing interactions between mothers and their eight-month-old babies, to see how well the mothers coped with their child’s developmental tests and how they responded to their child’s performance.

The psychologists categorised levels of maternal affection as low (combining negative and occasionally negative), normal (warm) and high (caressing and extravagant).

About one in 10 mother-child interactions showed low levels of affection, 85 per cent showed normal levels and 6 per cent showed very high levels.

Of the babies, 482 were followed up until age 34 on average. The researchers analysed the reactions of the participants to different types of distress – including stress, hostility and anger, sensitivity and anxiety.

Children whose mothers gave them lots of affection handled all types of distress better. In particular, they were better at dealing with anxiety than those whose mothers had shown them little or normal levels of affection.

The authors said: ”High levels of maternal affection are likely to facilitate secure levels of attachment and bonding, which then translate to lower distress levels in both childhood and adulthood.”

Research has shown that parental bonding during childhood is linked to lower levels of depression in young adults, higher self-esteem and with greater ability to adapt to distressing situations.

The experts, from North Carolina, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, concluded: ”It is striking that a brief observation of level of maternal warmth in infancy is associated with distress in adult offspring 30 years later.

”These provocative findings add to the growing evidence that early childhood helps set the stage for later life experiences and provide support for the notion that biological ‘memories’ laid down early may alter psychological and physiological systems and produce latent vulnerabilities or resilience to problems emerging later in adulthood.”

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/mothers-love-key-to-dealing-with-stress-20100727-10ues.html

Parent Seminars (many are free)

Please pass onto parents who maybe interested.

http://resourcingparents.createsend4.com/T/ViewEmail/r/F223BBAD24306BDF/69F2F971E4079C40D9767B6002735221

Happy Meals: best-selling children’s menu item ever “Thank You McDonald’s”

Since its debut in 1979, McDonald’s Happy Meal has become the best-selling children’s menu item in history.

Dick Brams, known as the “Father of the Happy Meal,” oversaw its inception while serving as a McDonald’s advertising manager in St. Louis, Mo.

The original Circus Wagon Happy Meal debuted in 1979. It featured a hamburger or cheeseburger, French fries, cookies, a soft drink, and puzzles and games. It was wildly successful, sending competitors scrambling to offer similar meals.

Over the years, the Happy Meal grew to include tie-ins with major film and toy companies. Ty, Mattel, and Lego partnered with the fast-food giant to offer toys ranging from Hot Wheels racecars to Barbies, while Disney and DreamWorks released toys representing characters in movies like “Toy Story” and “Shrek.”

It became a venture worth billions.

But as childhood obesity came to the forefront in recent years, corporate enthusiasm for the Happy Meal waned. In 2006, Disney cut its cross-promotional Happy Meal deal with McDonald’s over concerns about fast food contributing to obesity in youths.

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100727/GJNEWS_01/707279887/-1/FOSNEWS

Mothers who lose weight before further pregnancy ‘reduce risks’

Research shows that retaining even one or two pounds after giving birth can make problems more likely in next pregnancy

Institute also warns against trying to lose weight too quickly after pregnancy.

Women are to be told they should aim to lose all their baby weight before getting pregnant again or face an increased risk of complications, under official health guidance published today.

The advice on dealing with problems of excess weight and obesity before, during and after pregnancy warns mothers-to-be it is a myth they should “eat for two” or drink full-fat milk, with such actions likely to make them put on unnecessary weight they might struggle to shift.

A woman’s energy needs only increase in the last three months of pregnancy, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) says, and then only by around 200 calories a day – less than an average chocolate bar.

Research shows that retaining even one or two pounds after giving birth can make problems more likely in a subsequent pregnancy, experts said, with women who have several children facing a “slippery slope” if they continue to gain weight each time.

But Nice also warns against trying to lose weight too quickly, and says media stories about celebrity claims of “unrealistic and rapid weight loss” after pregnancy were unhelpful. “This may create additional pressure on women to lose weight inappropriately at an already stressful time,” its guidance says. Pregnant women should also be told that moderate physical activity, like cycling to work, will not harm them or their unborn children.

The document, which outlines the importance of achieving a healthy weight and body mass index (BMI) before getting pregnant, is published amid growing evidence of the risks female obesity poses for mother and baby. These include miscarriages, pre-eclampsia, diabetes, and maternal death. Babies born to obese women face a higher risk of death, stillbirth, congenital abnormality, shoulder dystocia – where a baby’s shoulder becomes stuck during birth – and an increased likelihood of childhood obesity.

Statistics suggest 15%-20% of women getting pregnant are overweight or obese, with the number in the obese category estimated to have doubled over the last 20 years. Lucilla Poston, director of maternal and foetal research at King’s College London, said health professionals were dealing with “an epidemic of obesity” among pregnant women that put them at increased risk of “almost every complication in the book”.

She added that implementing the guidance would lead to large cost savings in the medium- to long-term.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/jul/28/mothers-lose-weight-reduce-risks/print