Childcare

A Government report provides information on a survey of parents with children aged 0 to 14. It covers parents’ use of childcare and early years provision along with their views and experiences. This presentation looks at the 30 hours childcare offer and what it would mean for children and also aims to understand how providers see the child’s experience.

Child Safety Online

A practical new guide has been produced for providers of social media and interactive services to encourage businesses to think about “safety by design” to help make their platforms safer for children and young people under 18. It is based around six principles, namely: Content, Parental Controls, Dealing with Abuse/Misuse, Child Abuse or Illegal Contact, Privacy and Control, and Education and Awareness. Advice and industry examples of good practice are used to build on these principles.

Body Image

If any of you are researching children and body image, the resources mentioned here may help; this report by Central YMCA discusses the various challenges faced by young people in Britain today and highlights youngsters concerns about being considered too fat or not attractive enough; the report also highlights the influence that celebrities and the media have on young people and on this issue, the all-party parliamentary group on body image is hoping to push for legislation to ban underweight and under-age models; campaigners are calling for new laws for health standards health experts and a models' union in the fashion industry. 

The Dove Self Esteem Project provides a range of free curriculum-related resources and workshops for teachers working with children aged 11 to 14 years old, with an aim to raise self-esteem and body confidence. Face-to-face pupil or teacher workshops are delivered through Dove's charity partner, BEAT. 

Mental Health update

The Department for Education has announced plans to help young people set up online advice networks and workshops so that they can offer peer support on mental health issues.

A recent issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry included a supplement in which the editors make the case for a transformation of mental health care for young people based on early intervention and a priority focus on emerging adulthood.

The Mental Health Taskforce has published a report, which takes a strategic approach to improving mental health outcomes and makes recommendations for the NHS. 

Place2Be and NAHT give a picture of primary school counselling provision across the country. They believe that all schools need access to or the ability to host professional mental health services, in order to effectively support children and build their resilience for the future, 

The Institute of Health Visiting is calling on local authorities, to ensure that all health visitors have the training, capacity and support to provide “sufficient advice to all new parents”. They stated that an increased focus on the first two years of a child's life would help the NHS to reduce the impact of maternal depression and other perinatal mental health problems on babies’ mental wellbeing. The responsibility for the commissioning of public health services for under-fives was handed to local authorities last October.

Webinar: Child Protection

Webinar: Keeping children safe online

Led by the NSPCC's Child Protection in Sport Unit, this free webinar takes place
on 18 March 2016 at 11am. 

Register to attend