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NEW MEASURES TO TACKLE CHILDHOOD OBESITY

Every year children in Reception and Year 6 have their height and weight measured in schools as part of the National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP). The Government is seeking to improve the effectiveness of the programme by informing all parents of children who take part in the NCMP of their child's results, unless they request not to receive them. Parents will still have the opportunity to withdraw their child from the programme and children can also decide not to participate on the day. Depending on the parliamentary timetable, we hope these changes will be in place for September 2008.

When parents are given their child's results, they will also receive information about healthy eating and lifestyles, and details about where they can go for further information, advice and help.

The NCMP is an important programme in our efforts to tackle childhood obesity. Without accurate data local areas can not plan and commission the children's health services they need. We therefore encourage parents to let their child participate, and not withdraw them, even if parents are not interested in receiving their child's results. There is further information about the programme at: www.dh.gov.uk/healthyliving.

An information booklet Why your child's weight matters, can be downloaded at: www.dh.gov.uk/healthyliving or ordered for free by quoting 277810 from DH Publications Orderline: 08701 555 455 or by faxing 01623 724 524 or emailing dh@prolog.uk.com

There is also an online child height weight calculator, which will help parents interpret their child's results at www.direct.gov.uk/childweight.

HELP PARENTS AND CHILDREN HAVE THEIR SAY ABOUT USING THE INTERNET AND VIDEO GAMES SAFELY

Dr Tanya Byron has been asked by the Prime Minister carry out an independant review looking at the risks to children from harmful or inappropriate content in video games and the internet. She has launched a consultation including a special 'call for evidence' aimed at children and young people and is asking all those with an interest in parenting and children's issues to make sure that their voices are at the heart of her review. Click here to find out more.

BBC POLL ON FAMILY LIFE

Three-quarters of people in Britain are optimistic about the future for their families, a BBC poll suggests.

Despite dire political warnings about family breakdown, that figure is 24% higher than when the same question was asked in 1964. And of 1,001 adults surveyed, 95% said their families were close - a rise of 4% since 1999.

However, 70% of people still believe family life was more successful in their parents' generation. And asked what lifestyle they would prefer, 7% more people would like to live alone today than in 1999.

BRINGING UP BABY

The following letter was published in the Daily Telegraph on Tuesday 16 October 2007:
Sir

As a group of academics and professionals we are alarmed that Channel 4 is broadcasting such an exploitative parenting series as Bringing Up Baby – the last part of which is to be shown tomorrow. Many techniques used in these programmes are outdated and completely fly in the face of our scientific knowledge about brain development in very young babies.

That anyone should be billed as an expert and allowed to promote ideas such as not making eye contact with babies and not comforting them when they are in distress is at best irresponsible and at worst dangerous. And to see these theories being put into practice with real babies in the name of entertainment is deeply worrying.

Last year, the Family and Parenting Institute surveyed parents to ask them their opinions on TV parenting programmes and some 83% of the respondents said that they found a technique in these programmes helpful to them. So with these programmes having such an influence on parents it is shocking that broadcasters are not exercising more responsibility.

Sadly the exploitation of both babies and children in the pursuit of high ratings is becoming ever more common: the BBC3 programme Baby Borrowers earlier this year was another case in point where babies and young children were "lent" to teenage couples in a programme that was intended to bring in viewers by being shocking.

We call on all production companies to stop making television programmes which give parents irresponsible advice and turn the suffering of tiny babies and children into adult entertainment.

Mary MacLeod
Chief Executive
Family and Parenting Institute

Penny Mansfield
Director
One plus One

Dorit Braun
Chief Executive
Parentline Plus

Dr Shirley Gracias
Chair
The Association for Infant Mental Health UK

Dr Cheryll Adams
Acting Lead Professional Officer
Unite-Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association

Christine Bidmead
Chair of Health Visiting Forum
Unite-Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association

Stephen Scott BSc FRCP FRCPsych
Professor of Child Health & Behaviour
Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist
King's College, London

Helen Dent
Chief Executive
Family Welfare Association

The paper also carried an article on the subject.

SURVEY ON CHILDREN'S FREEDOM

The Children's Rights Alliance for England's 'Get Ready for Geneva' project has posted an online survey on the theme of 'freedom'. They would like to find out what children and young people think about their privacy, whether they can get information they need, if they know how to make complaints, and if they feel they can express themselves. This is the third survey in the children's rights investigation, so please pass this link to the survey on to any child or young person you think would be willing to spend 10 minutes filling it in.

'IN WORK, BETTER OFF' WEBCHATS

DWP Ministers will be taking part in webchats to answer questions about the 'In work, better off: next steps to full employment' consultation paper.

Tuesday 9 October at 10.40am
Peter Hain, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, will be taking part in a live webchat on the Number 10 Downing Street website. Go to Number 10 Downing Street website to post your questions to the Secretary of State.
Monday 15 October at 2.30pm
Caroline Flint, Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform, will be answering questions about helping single parents find work on the [xlink=http://www.parentscentre.gov.uk]Parents Centre website. Email your questions for Caroline Flint to welfare.reform@dwp.gsi.gov.uk .

'In work, better off' was published on 18 July and sets out proposals to help people who have found it most difficult to find work back into sustainable employment.

OFSTED GUIDANCE ON PARENTAL COMPLAINTS

Ofsted has produced guidance for parents and carers whose children's school is giving them causing for concern on when and how to complain to Ofsted, the type of complaints that can be considered and the action parents can expect Ofsted to take in response to a complaint.

MONEY, RELATIONSHIPS AND LAW - UNIVERSITY OF EXETER SEEKS CO-HABITEES TO COMPLETE SURVEY

"Money touches many aspects of our lives - and this often includes our relationships. This survey is part of a larger project that looks at how people organise or manage money in their relationships and the implications this might have for family law. How do you and your partner deal with money in your everyday life?

"The Law Commission for England and Wales is currently considering whether some aspects of cohabitation law should be reformed. We are therefore particularly interested in unmarried couples, their views on money and on living together more generally. Previous research has mostly focused on married couples - this is one of the first studies that is concerned with people who are not formally married." The survey takes 25-35 minutes to complete and cover a range of topics - from views on money, relationships and living together to more general views on domestic life. It is anonymous and there is a prize draw.

NARROWING THE GAP BETWEEN RICH AND POOR MUST INVOLVE SCHOOLS, FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES

– Monday 3 September

A new report released (Monday 3 September 2007) by the National Children's Bureau, Family and Parenting Institute, and the Institute of Education sets out new ideas of how we can 'narrow the gap' between rich and poor.

Coming at a time when many disadvantaged children in our country do less well than their innate abilities should allow, Reducing Inequalities: realising the talents of all, explores what happens to children at home and in school, and explains the complex dynamics of inherited disadvantage.

The report reveals that it is the middle socio-economic groups who have the highest number of children who, without additional help, will face disadvantage later in life. It highlights that universal services are needed for all children, not just targeted services for the poorest children or those that score worst on risk assessment.
Barbara Hearn, deputy chief executive of the National Children's Bureau and one of the report authors, said: 'The government has said that ensuring every child achieves their potential is one of its highest priorities. This report is groundbreaking in its exploration of the link between children, schools and families and the impact that schools, families and the community have on children's outcomes. We believe that it will inform the work necessary to achieve this laudable aspiration'.

'Evidence tells us that able but disadvantaged children are not doing as well as they should be. This can be changed. If we work to strengthen parent's ability to support learning, children's ability to regulate their own behaviour, rethink the goals of the school experience and extend learning deep into every community, we will see improvement. Without action, schools will remain part of why social disparities pass from generation to generation and children's externalising behaviours* will simply be treated as a problem of discipline'

Findings from the report state that children's chance of success in later life depends on their ability for self-control in stressful situations, not only as has been suggested before on their reading or mathematical ability. The publication also reports that if parents - regardless of their social class, education or wealth – support their child's learning they can reduce inequalities and increase their child's chances in life by having a positive influence at every stage of their development.

-ENDS-

See also: Crack down on inequality - Fiona Millar, September 11, 2007

This use of 'externalising behaviour' is based on a teacher report of how children behave in class in terms of being naughty, bullying and not paying attention.'

Notes for editors:
1. Reducing Inequalities: realising the talents of all by Leon Feinstein, Barbara Hearn and Zoe Renton with Caroline Abrahams and Mary MacLeod is available from www.ncb-books.org.uk, price: £10 (the report is available as a free download for NCB members)

2. NCB promotes the voices, interests and well-being of all children and young people across every aspect of their lives. As an umbrella body for the children's sector in England and Northern Ireland, we provide essential information on policy, research and best practice for our members and other partners. For further information visit www.ncb.org.uk

For further information on this release contact:
Clare Quarrell, Jessica Singh or Clare Lilley at NCB Media Office
Tel: 020 7843 6044/6045/6047 Email: media@ncb.org.uk

Balancing family and work?

Monday 06 Aug 07

A report last month by the Children's Society raises concerns about whether parents in Britain are spending enough time with their children. Children said a happy home was where they spend time as a family.

17 July 2007

Meanwhile the Daycare Trust has spoken to lone parents who say they can't go back to work because there is no-one to look after their children in the school holidays – a problem which extra investment in extended schools - The Department of Children Schools and Families has announced an extra £1.3 billion of funding - is trying to address (see below). Daycare Trust: School's out - but for lone parents holidays are not...

If you are rich you can buy your way out of most problems: the Times No kidding, we'll take care of your child -- and your ironing reports on luxury nurseries which do the ironing and the drying cleaning as well as looking after the children, but less well-off working parents find themselves pulled in too many directions according to the Guardian. Free to work even harder.

For more facts and statistics on work-life balance see our fact sheet .

JRF drive to identify modern 'social evils'

Chief Executive Mary MacLeod spoke at the recent Royal Society of Arts/Joseph Rowntree Foundation Event 'What are the 21st Century's Social Evils?' (19 July 2007). An 18-month project set out to explore what people judge to be today's social evils.

'I applaud the Joseph Rowntree Foundation for embarking on this debate that takes us out of the narrower framework of social science into a wider questioning about how we are as a society.'

Her speech highlighted the different social problems and pressures that cause problems in society today.

To read the full speech click here .
To download the full lecture visit the JRF website

Calling practitioners and all parents, children and young people

The DfES is asking for your views on ContactPoint.

This consultation is on the draft guidance for using ContactPoint (formerly called the information sharing index), set up under section 12 of the Children Act 2004. This database aims to make it easy for a practitioner to find out who else is working with a child or young person and will contain basic information on every child in England. It will be accessible to an estimated 330,000 practitioners working with children and young people

Please read the guidance carefully and fill in the consultation response form - the Contactpoint will affect all families:

Family and Parenting Institute chief executive Mary MacLeod said: "Now that the draft guidance has been issued, it is important that as many parents, children and young people should be consulted as possible."
DfES

Safeguarding Children from Abuse Linked to a Belief in Spirit Possession

This guidance provides advice to practitioners and managers to help them identify and deal with abuse that may be linked to a belief in spirit possession. The guidance is aimed at all agencies working with children.
Full document

Consultancy for Respect Action Areas

The Family and Parenting Institute consultancy team has been hard at work with the 47 local and district councils who have been successful in attaining RESPECT action area status. Our job has been to help them all in acquiring additional money on offer from the DfES to boost parenting resources for the hardest to reach and hardest to help families in their areas. It is a confusing world as they have lots of different initiatives to hold in their minds, all with curious acronyms like FIPS and SPPs.

We have cracked the code and so can you, a FIP is a Family Intervention Project, based on the idea that families in the most trouble (and often causing trouble to others) need intensive support focusing on improving parenting to reduce anti-social behaviour. A SPP is a Senior parenting Practitioner (the so-called SuperNanny) but responsible for co-ordinating parenting services and leading on the new parenting programme initiatives.

We are interested in practitioners' experience of these new attempts to change the ways parents parent their children so if you are working in a RESPECT Action Area and have thoughts you'd like to share with us then do contact Honor Rhodes at rhodes@familyandparenting.org
We would also like to hear from all practitioners who are involved in helping their local authority develop its Parenting Support Strategy, again email Honor at the email above, we'd be very interested to hear about any training you are receiving or offering.

NEW ACADEMY TO IMPROVE PARENTING SUPPORT FOR PARENTS FACING CHALLENGES

The Family and Parenting Institute, with King's College and Parenting UK, have won the £30m grant from the Department for Education and Skills to provide a new Academy for parenting practitioners.

Parenting Leads in Local Authorities

In October 2006 guidance was issues by the DfES to local authorities and Children's Trusts on delivering parenting support. By now all local authorities should have a single commissioner with responsibility for assessing need and co-ordinating delivery of services to parents.Local authorities had until 31 March 2007 to apply for small DfES grants to help them put their strategic approach to parenting support into effect over the next few months.

Budget

The Institute welcomed the Budget as being good news overall for families, but we did voice concerns that the Budget offered little for families who were unable to work and that while there was an increase in Child Benefit for the first child, there were no increases for subsequent children.
Press release

Every Parent Matters

Every Parent Matters was published by the Government, setting out the roles of parents and how Government can help them raise their children. We were pleased to see such emphasis placed on solid, research based initiatives such as the Family and Parenting Institute led Early Learning Partnership Programme. It was disappointing, though, that the report didn't seek to resolve the differences between policies which aim to intervene and help those families most in difficulty and policies which offer support to everyday families who face everyday problems.

Maternity Care

The Independent Midwives Association is fighting Government plans to require them to have professional indemnity insurance despite the fact that no such insurance is currently available to them.
The National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit has produced a survey of women's views about maternity care. The results of the survey can be found here (link). In response to the findings, the Healthcare Commission has announced a major review of maternity provisions in England.
Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has published 'Maternity matters', the Government's new vision for maternity services which will offer all expectant mothers a choice over where they want to give birth.
Finally, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has launched a consultation on the recommendations relating to women's choice of where to give birth.
The consultation runs until 3 May 2007, but NICE requests that comments are fed in through the stakeholders listed on its website.

SETF Families Review

The Social Exclusion Task Force, based at the Cabinet Office, is currently undertaking a review to identify how services for excluded families can be improved. This
Families Review is one part of a programme of work which will inform the
policy of the SETF and the implementation of their Social Exclusion
Action Plan
Reaching out.
A particular focus of the review will be the extent to which adults' services (both mainstream and specialist) respond to the needs of their clients as parents or carers and family members. The review aims to capture the views of a broad range of stakeholders about the advantages and disadvantages of a 'whole families' approach, as a means to addressing the needs of some of the most disadvantaged families in society.
Inclusion, has been commissioned by the SETF to distribute a call for evidence, comprising approximately ten open ended questions and a request for additional evidence or research which is relevant to the review.
To contribute to this review please click here.
Closing date April 4, 2007

The Money Programme: The Cost Of Kids, Friday 2 March 2007, 7pm, BBC TWO.

From the bbc website

Money Programme: Rising costs causing couples to delay starting families

Category: News
Date: 02.03.2007

A survey for BBC Two's The Money Programme suggests that nearly half of all people who plan to have children are delaying starting a family because of the expense.

The survey commissioned exclusively for The Money Programme: The Cost Of Kids - broadcast on Friday 2 March at 7pm - also found that more than a quarter of women polled say they returned to work before they were ready - with 80% saying the reason for this was financial.

The survey suggests that 43% of people who plan to have children are delaying starting a family until they have saved money.

When asked to identify a reason, or reasons, why they had not yet had children 20% cited wanting to have a bigger house first before starting a family, while 36% wanted a better job.

The cost of raising a child until the age of 21 is estimated to be £180,000* and this figure is rising.
The survey carried out for The Money Programme by YouGov found that just over a quarter (28%) of women polled said they returned to work before they were ready, and 80% of this group said the reason for going back early was financial.

Mary MacLeod, Chief Executive of the National Family and Parenting Institute, is worried that children are becoming a commodity and says if children did not cost so much people would have more.

She told the programme: "We are making it seem as if you have to be in this wonderful perfect position before you take on the responsibility of having children and I find that a great shame.

"I think it kind of buys into the sense that children are a becoming a commodity."

It is estimated that full-time childcare for a child aged two to five costs £13,969.

But the National Day Nurseries Association told the Money programme "quality doesn't come cheap and there is a cost towards that quality".

The survey also suggests that one in five parents (19%) buy products such as toys and gadgets for their children after pressure from them; a further 19% pay for such items on credit; and 32% of parents admit to paying for such products for their children by "going without" themselves.

********************************

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,253 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 8 and 10 January 2007. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+). YouGov plc make every effort to provide representative information. All results are based on a sample and are therefore subject to statistical errors normally associated with sample-based information.

Based on figures from Liverpool Victoria.

Marriages decrease.

from the national statistics website:

In 2005 there were 283,730 weddings in the UK, down nearly 10 per cent since 2004 when there were 313,550 weddings. Marriages fell in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for the first time in three years. In England and Wales marriages fell by 10 per cent in 2005 to 244,710, which is the lowest number of marriages since 1896. In Northern Ireland marriages fell by 2 per cent to 8,140, while in Scotland they dropped 4 per cent to 30,881.
National statistics

McCreaddie won't be taken into care

Conor McCreaddie, the 8 year old boy who weighs 14 stones will not be taken into care according to his local authority. The story brought into sharp focus the fact that many children eat the wrong foods and do not receive enough exercise and it has also demonstrated the need for universal health and social services who are able to intervene to help parents and their children.

Johnson rejects marriage as the only way to raise children

Education Secretary, Alan Johnson, challenged the belief that marriage is the best way to bring up children saying ""That does not mean that all children from married couples fare well, nor that every other kind of alternate family structure is irretrievably doomed to fail." He also attacked opposition plans for tax breaks for married couples saying ""It's wrong to suggest that tax and legislation makes relationships, it's not, it's love."

Working mothers still face discrimination

The Equalities Review has shown that working mothers still face job discrimination. It cites a survey of 122 recruitment agencies that revealed more than 70% of them had been asked by clients to avoid hiring pregnant women or those of childbearing age. The report also showed that a partnered mother with a child aged under 11 is 45% less likely to be in work than a partnered man.

Progressive Inequality?

Child poverty in Britain is not inevitable, but it can only be truly solved by a government prepared to take more radical measures – that was the conclusion of a seminar of leading thinkers in the field of social exclusion. The Commission on Families and the Wellbeing of Children seminar hosted by the Family and Parenting Institute tackled the subject Progressive Inequality? Difficult Questions for the Next Decade.

The event took place in the wake of the UNICEF report which seemed to show that children in Britain were some of the unhappiest in the developed world. The speakers included Professor Sir Michael Rutter, Chair of the Commission on Families and the Well-Being of Children, Professor Jonathan Bradshaw, Professor Leon Feinstein and Lisa Harker. International comparisons demonstrated that the high levels of child poverty and inequality in Britain were not inevitable, and that there were real alternatives.

UK is accused of failing children

The UK has been accused of failing its children, as it comes bottom of a league table for child well-being across 21 industrialised countries.

Unicef looked at 40 indicators from the years 2000-2003 including poverty, family relationships, and health.
Child Poverty in Perspective: An overview of child well-being in rich countries UNICEF

TIS Pilot 'Lessons Learned Event'

TIS Phase 1 is coming to an end – and it is time for the 'Lessons Learned Event', the 26th January at the Botanical Gardens in Birmingham.

It is a chance for all local authority partners who have been involved in the TIS pilot to draw breath, feed back and provide experiential guidance on how to move forward. Researchers from ECOTEC will attend the event to feedback preliminary results from the evaluation, with particular focus on the impact of the session on parents.

This will be compiled as a lessons learned report and published on the web for future local authorities who will run TIS.

Care Matters

Our response to the consultation Care Matters: Transforming the lives of children and young people in care .

Child Trust Fund Week

15th-20th January 2007 is the first ever Child Trust Fund Week – and it's your chance to get free materials to explain the Child Trust Fund to parents.

Child Trust Fund Week will have significant media, celebrity and PR support to encourage parents to open their children's Child Trust Fund accounts or start saving regularly into them. Where you can give invaluable help is in reaching out to the parents you work with and ensuring they have the extra information they need.

Free support materials
HM Revenue & Customs is offering free materials to help you run activities for parents during the Week, including a comprehensive and easy-to-read practitioner's workbook on saving and the Child Trust Fund, plus accompanying leaflets specifically designed to help less financially confident parents. There are also posters, editorial for your newsletters, savings tips, PR materials and children's activities.

If you would like to receive a pack, or get more information and ideas, please contact HM Revenue & Customs' partnership marketing agency today via ctf@23red.com
For more information see our money on Child Trust Funds visit our parents' information money topic.

Phase 2 of the Transition Information Sessions in Schools

The Family and Parenting Institute has been awarded a contract by DfES to deliver Phase 2 of the Transition Information Sessions in Schools project in partnership with 4Children. This will see training in delivering parent information sessions rolled out across every local authority in England over the next 15 months. A huge number of local practitioners will be trained in facilitating the sessions which deliver information to parents at key transition stages in their child's school career, covering child development, supporting children's education and accessing local services.

For job vacancies please click here.

CSA White Paper- Thursday 14 Dec 2006

The Family and Parenting Institute has welcomed the Child Support Agency White Paper but is warning that the pace of change might be too slow and that some of the punitive measures outlined may harm children.
For more details read our full press release

Marriage alone won't deliver family stability - Monday 11 Dec 2006

The Family and Parenting Institute agrees that families are at the heart of all our lives and that children thrive in stable families as set out in the Conservative report from the Social Justice Policy Group.
For more details read our full press release

Children's rights - tell the Government what YOU think!

For the first time ever, the Government is running an online children's rights survey to find out the views and experiences of children and young people (under 18 year-olds) in England.

The survey results will be included in the Government's next children's rights report to the United Nations.

There are questions about children's and young people's health, education, experience of violence and discrimination, and the right to be heard and taken seriously.

The survey is anonymous and should take about 10 minutes to complete online (longer for young children). It closes at midnight on January 31st 2007.

We want children and young people all over the country to take part – HAVE YOUR SAY NOW! Visit http://www.direct.gov.uk/youngpeoplerights

Meet the parents!

Mary MacLeod meets David Cameron

One of the most important functions of the Family and Parenting Institute is empowering parents and giving them the chance to put their views and questions to political leaders and opinion formers.

Our "Meet the Parents" events give parents the chance to put the big questions to political leaders: How do I make ends meet? How can I find child care that fits with my work? Will my boss let me take time off if my child is ill? How can I keep my child safe and out of trouble with drugs on the streets and all the pressure on young people to be cool? What do I do if my child is bullied?

So far, parents have had the chance to discuss these issues with Conservative Leader, David Cameron MP, Education Secretary, Alan Johnson MP and Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Menzies Campbell MP.

The series has been very successful and we are planning many more.

click here to go to google

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Last updated: 21st April 2008 at 09:04:35

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