Did you know that June is International Accordion Awareness Month?

....and that it's also Celibacy Awareness Month!

Despite being celibacy awareness month (!) as long ago as the early Roman times the month of June was considered to be the best month for marriages.  Judging by the increase of 'hat-wearing' activity at the Registry Offices opposite my office window this month - it still is!  So why is June such a popular month for weddings?  Is it due to good weather?  Is it because Debenhams replenish their selection of 'big' hats; or Sainsbury's stock up with Strawberries and Champagne this month? 

No not really!  According to the ancients, the Summer Solstice marked the peak of the summer season and it also marked the peak of fertility and sexuality (excuse the pun!)

But that still leaves me with the puzzling question of why June has then been chosen as the Celibacy Awareness Month!?!  

Perhaps it oddly related to being the International Accordion Awareness Month?  Just take a very quick peek at The Accumulated Accordion Annotations and you might just understand my train of thought.

We also traditionally celebrate Father's Day in the month of June. But this leaves me even more puzzled.   Why is it that in Britain we buy our dad socks on Father's Day...then on the Summer Solstice they throw-off their socks and dance around naked at sunrise; supposedly at the peak of their fertility and sexuality...

...and possibly playing an accordion (if they are terribly careful with the position of their squeezebox!)

What a very peculiar month!

It appears that in Germany there is no such thing as Father's Day, but on Männertag (or Man's Day) it is tradition to do a males-only hiking tour with one or more small wagons (Bollerwagen) pulled by manpower. The wagons are stocked up with wine or beer (according to region) and traditional regional food.   

Wow!  That certainly beats a pair of socks or a novelty tie!

So, in the absence of an accordion to serenade the month of June, or any wedding invites  - and until we have completed the consultation event with father's from Harrison Primary about engaging dads in their child's education, let's lighten brighten things up with a favourite childhood poem about 'summer' by Robert Louis Stevenson:

"In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people's feet
Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?"
Robert Louis Stevenson, Bed in Summer 

At this time of year many parents will be hearing endless questioning from their children "Why do I have to go to bed...it's still daytime".  The park is full of children, young people and their families enjoying the glorious summery weather that we experienced at the beginning of the month.  Many parents would have been enjoying their children's sports day, schools were busy planning their summer fairs and year 11s donning their Prom dresses and saying their final goodbye to their schooldays forever.   In Portchester we were hastily putting the finishing touches to our floats and costumes for Gala Day (please go and have a look at my News page for some of my photos - and our prize)  and I even managed a weekend away across the sea this month to celebrate the start of the festival season.  Okay - it was only the Isle Of Wight, but it did entail a journey on a ferry, an unfortunate encounter with a folding camping stool (whilst holding a mini bottle of red wine) and some seriously ghastly festival toilets. 

It has also been a busy month for extended services with many, many meetings in my role as a coordinator.  Firstly I visited most of my schools to discuss our area audit questionnaire.  This gave me the opportunity to discuss individual requirements at each school and how, as a cluster, we could improve.  Yet again PARENTING was a key target for the area and also ensuring that parents and carers knew what was available to them.  As a result, and in partnership with HCFF, we are hoping to supply schools in our cluster with a summer activity leaflet in the very near future.  At the same time Fareham Borough Council are planning to distribute a leaflet with details of all summer play-schemes in the borough.  As soon as I receive an electronic version I shall pop them on my news page for general use.  If you wish to develop parenting course provision (such as Triple P) at your school or community setting then please feel free to get in touch with myself or Fareham Locality Team about sourcing a parenting facilitator.  Please don't forget that you can also download a copy of my Starting School Information Sessions for ideas of how to engage parents at key transition points here too.

In June I also presented a network lunch on the subject of building stronger school communities at Fareham Community Church, using my sunflower spinoff logo from Fareham Community Action.  If you missed the presentation and are interested in viewing the PowerPoint slides from this networking lunch then please feel free to view them below:

Building Stronger School Communities Presentation 2008

Then there was a visit to Crawley for a regional networking event with Continyou (who will be paying us a visit in July), a sneak preview of Merryfields Children's Centre at Neville Lovatt, a fabulous presentation by Fareham Youth Council at the Community Action Team Meeting and even a chance for your ESCO to dress up a little for the Rainbow Centre's Masquerade Ball.  If you are one of the lovely people who kept me supplied with biscuits, cups of coffee or lovely lunches (or didn't laugh at me trying to dance in high heels) then many thanks for your kind hospitality.

The tail end of the month saw a fabulous turn-out for the Portchester Community Centre Annual General Meeting.  Mark Hoban (MP) opened the meeting and introduced Annelise Cornelius and some of her volunteers who were accompanying her on the evening to promote the Portchester based volunteering project.  More details of this meeting can be viewed at my news page.   Annelise is busy working alongside her young volunteers to provide lots more opportunities for children and young people in the area.  This includes a new FREE drama group at Odyssey Young People's Centre in Portchester 4pm - 6pm called Leading Lights that will start on Friday 18th July 2008.  If you are in contact with young people aged 11-18yrs who may be interested in this exciting new opportunity then please feel free to contact Annelise on 07530 660571 for more details.

For children in Year 6 who are leaving their primary schools and making that big step up to secondary you may be interested in a free publication from the DCSF.  In consultation with teachers, teaching unions and Local Authorities, the Department has produced a short magazine entitled 'Moving On Up' to help children now who are transferring to secondary school in September. Copies can be ordered from the Online Publications website.   Subject to the successful passage of the Education and Skills Bill, children joining Year 7 in September will be continuing in learning or training until at least 17. The Department wants to encourage schools to use opportunities when talking to pupils and their parents about the future to set their expectations of staying on.  Many schools send out newsletters or have transition information sessions and may want to include information on the raising of the participation age (or references to the above magazine) in them.  Some suggested text for newsletters can be found here.

Also for those young people moving on up to secondary - Booked Up is a national programme funded by the DCSF and run by the independent charity Booktrust to encourage and support reading for pleasure at Year 7 level. Each student in England will be provided with a free book from a list of 12 specially selected titles. Last year's programme was a huge success with over 630,000 books being given out and nearly 5,400 secondary schools taking part.  To register your school simply visit the Booked up website for more information.  Orders close on 31 July 2008 so register quickly and get your new year 7s Booked Up!

More information has been prepared for this transition period from Parentline and a couple of these are available to download below:

Moving onto Secondary School

Starting School

There are plenty more resources that schools may find useful to support children and their families at the Parentline website (click this link to view the full list of publications and order details).

Lastly for this month; and a feature of our area action plan - cycle training!  Transition from Year 6 into Year 7 is often a time when children are thinking about how to travel those few extra miles to their new schools in September.    Many of them turn to their trusty old bikes that have perhaps been rusting away in garages over the winter months and taking to their saddles now that the summery weather has finally arrived.  It need not be said that cycling around the park and taking a bicycle onto the open road are very different experiences; the latter requiring the necessary training and awareness of personal safety on those vulnerable two wheels. 

As my mother often said throughout her years of cycling: "It's not me dear; it's all of the other idiots on the road!"

If individual schools are finding it difficult to find volunteers to undertake training courses then cycle training can be undertaken through Hampshire Cycle Training.  For more information about what service they can offer your school then please visit:

Hampshire Cycle Training

As accessible cycle training for all children is a priority for our area, please contact Susie about accessing extended services funding to support this in your school or community setting.  Please remember that Saturday morning or after-school cycle workshops may be offered in conjunction with grandparents, parents, members of staff or anyone who could do with a refresher and lets get everyone on their bikes! 

I'm also always more than happy to source and supply schools with free safety resources to support cycle training so please feel free to ask.   For more information about Hampshire road awareness and cycle training please visit the Hantweb pages at:

Road awareness and cycle training for children

Just a final reminder to keep checking back to my News page as I am constantly updating the information as it arrives.  There are far more documents in my inbox than I can possibly hope to upload here on the website, but if you require any specific information, help or guidance then please feel free to contact me.  I'm always happy to hear from old friends and new contacts.

This has been doing the rounds via e-mail, but those of you still the front lines of education might appreciate the humour:

Obituary of the Late Common Sense

It's almost the summer holidays!

Susie Higgs (ESCO)