Mental Health Awareness Week

It is Mental Health Awareness week and this year the theme is mindfulness. The Mental Health Foundation (MHF) have once again produced a number of publications including posters and leaflets to support their campaign, including a dedicated page on resources for mindfulness. Resources for topics covered in previous years are available on the MHF website, such as last year's report 'Living With Anxiety', which highlights how prevalent anxiety is in everyday life. 

There is also still time to watch 'A Stranger on the Bridge' - the true story of Jonny Benjamin; suffering from mental health issues, his attempted suicide was thwarted by a stranger who stopped him from jumping off Waterloo Bridge. The documentary follows his quest to find the person who saved his life. 

Study: Child Obesity

A new study has revealed that Ireland and the UK have the highest rates of childhood obesity in Europe, putting us not far behind the US. It suggests that one of the reasons for this is the low level of breast-feeding in these countries and goes on to recommend that early intervention before a child's fifth birthday is crucial. 

The Guardian has set out evidence-based guidance for parents on how they can help prevent their child becoming obese.

Supporting Parents

A couple of presentations to make you aware of: Jacqui Hardie, Early Years consultant, delivered a recent presentation on supporting parents. She talks about what parents should expect during the various stages in their child's learning and development.

This presentation discusses 'Early Words Together', a programme aimed at empowering parents to help them support their pre-school child's communication and language development. The National Literacy Trust provide the resources and training to the volunteers who run the 6 week programme.  There's more information about it in the video below.

Party Policy Guide

Election Day is tomorrow and if you have been left feeling a little 'pledged-out' and perhaps none the wiser, then this might help - CYPNow have published a concise policy guide, which clearly sets out the proposals made by the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats on key issues for children, young people and families.

The guide covers 14 key areas: careers advice, child health, child poverty, children’s rights, crime and youth justice, early years and childcare, families and parenting, joint working, post-16 learning, public spending, safeguarding and care, schools, welfare, and youth services. 

Nurseries influence reading ability

The Read On. Get On. campaign have highlighted that half of independent nurseries currently do not employ a qualified early years teacher, failing disadvantaged children in need of skilled support. They are asking for the next Government to ensure all nurseries are led by a qualified early years graduate and as an incentive, to increase the early years pupil premium for those nurseries that do. Their report, 'The Power of Reading', details how early years investment and the quality of staff in nurseries must be prioritised, or the gap in reading ability between England’s poorest and better off children will remain one of the worst in Europe. 

The recommendations come as research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) links the value of strong reading skills in school-age children to future earnings as an adult.

"I wish my teacher knew..."

Had to share this story that went viral recently .... Kyle Schwartz, a new teacher at Doull Elementary in an underprivileged area of Denver, Colorado, decided to try a different strategy to help her understand her pupils better. She asked them to share their worries by completing the sentence,  “I wish my teacher knew…” She received a variety of responses, ranging from 'too much homework' to genuine 'heartbreaking' notes as the tough struggles that the children faced every day, were revealed. 

Parental Engagement

 How can technology help teachers, parents and students connect and communicate? For those unaware of what’s out there, here’s a handy guide to the five best apps for engaging with parents.