I made a promise to myself that I was going to change the subject completely and avoid any reference to frisky Hares this month.  But that was until I stumbled upon an article that saying that May is probably the sexiest month of the year! When Guinevere sings about the month of May in Lerner and Loewe's 'Camelot', she's not only singing the praises of ancient pagan festivals and traditions, she could also be singing about the modern day mating game...

"Tra la! It's May!
The lusty month of May!
That lovely month when everyone goes
Blissfully astray."

Despite the ironic reference in the song to things going "blissfully astray", I have also chosen not to mention the May 2010 General Election.  It goes without question that a change of Government raises questions and uncertainties for anyone working on the periphery of education and training.  But my views must remain politically neutral during my working day (to avoid any potential libel lawsuits) therefore I have locked my soap box away in the garden shed. 

Aha..but did you know that May is intrinsically entangled with politics?  Indeed the first May Day Bank holiday was dreamed up by Michael Foot in 1978 (our then Employment Secretary).  In my personal opinion (and you are welcome to argue otherwise Mr Foot) springtime seems to be an orgy of holidays, so it may have been far more useful to pop a bank holiday at the end of gloomy October. 

But let us go back to happier times when May was associated throughout England with all things fertile, green and juicy. In some of the smaller villages of England, especially here in the south, May Day is a time for letting one's hippy hair down and celebrating the most primal forces of life.  Some rather unusual May Day celebrations that have roots firmly planted in pagan times still exist today.  Take the following example I found at 'About Britain' web site...

Dancing on The Rude Man

The month kicks off at dawn on May 1st in Cerne Abbas, a small village north of Dorchester in Dorset, when the Wessex Morris Men, along with various new agers, neo-pagans and other mystical types dance on the Cerne Abbas Giant, the UK's most 'suggestive' landmark (sometimes also called The Rude Man).  The Cerne Abbas Giant possesses legendary powers regarding fertility - so childless couples seek the help of the local White Witch to perform ceremonies around 'certain parts' of the Giant's form (I shall leave the finer details to your imagination!)  The procession of celebrants then dances down to the village where, at 7.00am, there's more dancing in the square followed breakfast at the pub. 

With spring in the air and the weather growing milder, the days are growing longer and skirts getting shorter - our thoughts turn to lazy summer holidays.  And we poor parents are very aware, the travel companies bump up the prices during the school holidays.  Frazzled parents and stressed-out teachers arguably deserve a relaxing holiday, but they have to pay through the nose for the privilege.  So it is hardly surprising that even the most 'engaged' parent may be tempted to take their child out of school a couple of weeks a year to save a few hundred pounds. Some parents may even protest that holidays themselves are educational!  It is not for me to argue against this (although it is no secret that I am very much in favour of outdoor education and modern foreign languages), but both schools and parents should perhaps point an accusatory finger at the travel companies for some recent absentee rates.  They raise the prices of flights and package tours in the school holidays sometimes by as much as 100%.

The former government's line (and I can imagine that this will remain unchallenged by the new coalition) is that such absences, even when authorised by headteachers can damage a child's educational progress. 

   

Now, what many parents do not give a thought about when planning their 'educational trip' abroad, is the huge impact on their child's schooling.  For example, take an average ability child who is in year 5.  Let's take a week off here and there for his family holidays, add to that three week's illness with his recurring bout of tonsillitis, then add a few visits to the doctor and a trip to hospital to see the ENT consultant, then a couple of routine dentist appointments, and of course not forgetting that day when the family hopelessly overslept and decided to have a Pyjama Day...and this little chap has amounted a hefty absence rate throughout the year; especially if you bear in mind that a child is only in school 15% of the time! 

Irrespective of any personal feelings about school holidays and blood-leeching tour companies, and however much of a political football school absence rates has become over recent years, The Every Lesson Counts Campaign launched in February 2007 aimed to raise awareness of the importance of regular attendance.  The idea was to help schools, parents and children to implement simple working practices to cut out absenteeism. 

Absenteeism is a such hot political potato because of its social and financial implications for our country.  We have an ageing demographic, increasingly dependent upon a declining taxable workforce.  It is well documented that NEETS (Young people that are not in Employment, Education or Training) have poor school attendance records, so consider the following costs to society when young people disengage from education: 

‘A study by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) conservatively estimates that each new NEET (not in employment, education or training) at 16 will cost taxpayers an average of £97,000 during their lifetime, with the worst costing more than £300,000 apiece. Their impact on crime, public health and antisocial behaviour was so marked that the study found that a single 157,000-strong cohort of 16 to 18-year-old Neets would cost the country a total of £15 billion by the time they died prematurely in about 2060. They are, says the study, 22 times more likely to be teenage mothers; 50% more likely to suffer from poor health; 60% more likely to be involved with drugs and more than 20 times more likely to become criminals. ‘

SUNDAY TIMES

“Children excluded from school and persistent truants are at greater risk of
growing up to become vulnerable adults living on the edges of society. They will not only become less able to form relationships or find jobs but they will also go on to make huge demands on the NHS, social services and the criminal justice system. “

Misspent Youth. New Philanthropy Capital Report June 2007

To find out more about the Every Lesson Counts campaign, and to view the communications toolkit and some useful resources for schools who wish to work with pupils and parents, then please click the links below (click the back button to return to this page).

Every Lesson Counts Communications Toolkit (pdf)

Every Lesson Counts - Information Letter for Parents (word)

Super Attendance Challenge - Primary Assembly Powerpoint (ppt)

Don't forget that Direct.Gov.UK contains some excellent advice for parents, including their legal obligations regarding their child's education.  CAPP schools may find this site useful for signposting to parents or using the information at key transition points. 

Also the HantsWeb pages contain a parents' guide to our Local Authority Exclusion Process that you may find useful for signposting at: http://www3.hants.gov.uk/education/parents-info/education-exclusions.htm

May 2010 also marks the six month evaluation period for some of our extended services projects.  If you happen to live in the Fareham area, unless you have been hiding in a cave for the past six months, you could not have failed to have read something, or seen a leaflet about the Cams Community Club?  As you are probably aware our Community Club for the over 50s takes Silver Surfers strides ahead by offering a comprehensive selection of activities (not just IT) for older residents during the school day.  To evaluate this wonderful project and to help develop future plans, Cams Hill School hosted a Cams Community Club Celebration Event (cream tea).

If you would like to find out more about this event then please take a visit to the: Cams Hill Weekly Bulletin.  Can I also take the opportunity to Alex Burns (Head of Older Persons' Well-being) at Hampshire County Council for the start-up funding to make this all possible.  Following liaison with HCC, I would now urge partners to keep an eye out for the 2010 summer edition of Hampshire Now (Special Edition).  There will be an article in the next edition about how schools are working with their local community with the Cams Community Club as an example.

Another project we are planning to look at this month is our new partnership with Portsmouth Relate.  They have been kindly delivering our Family Support Service (via Parent Support Adviser Referrals) across the borough for our first joint extended services project for the past six months.  As we are a large area with 40 schools (including 4 Special Schools) it vital that we reflect and evaluate at key points in time.  We need to ensure that not only the service is needed and it is making a difference to vulnerable families ... but also whether it is effective use of extended services funding.   Can I please quickly remind our lovely PSAs that I shall be providing a lunch for you all at Community Action Fareham on Tuesday 15th June from 1.00pm onwards, so please leave your sandwich boxes at home that day!

Normally my biggest worry during the 'sexy month of May' are the weeds that take over my lawn.  When I look out of my patio windows each morning, John Wyndham's "Day of the Triffids" springs to mind!   But there was an additional horror lying in wait for me this month; and this gruesome entity came in the form of a Quality Development Framework Report.  This QDF Framework is  our extended services partnerships' equivalent of a school self-evaluation.  Bearing that in mind it could therefore be a useful document for CAPP schools prior to carrying out their own SEFs or SIPs.  I have put a copy of our completed QDF on the secure Meetings area of this web site for CAPP partnership members to view, but if you would prefer me to send this very useful report to you directly then please feel free to request a copy.

I took a short break from report writing to attend Diana Warburg's Retirement Celebrations event this month.  It was a fantastic send-off for an amazing woman who started Oak Meadow and Strawberry Meadow Children's Centres from scratch; she will be very much missed.  On behalf of the partnership we wish you an enjoyable retirement Diana (photos to follow) although I am absolutely certain that we shall still Diana doing her good work on behalf of the children and families in Fareham.  may I say a warm welcome to Debbie Simmons, the new Centre Manager.

Before I finish this month can I please kindly ask that partners signpost Young People to a consultation about THEIR services in Hampshire. The proposed 'Integrated Youth Support Services' are looking at how to improve young people’s services in Hampshire and need the participation of 13 - 19 year olds across the county. Please respond before Wednesday 30 June at:

Youth Tube or Download a Printable Version of the Survey (pdf)

Also the new flyers are now available for the Fareham Young Peoples' Summer Events.  Please feel free to request hard copies for distribution at your organisation, but I have also included a downloadable version below:

Lazy Summer Sunday & Park Life Event

So that brings me to the end of sexy May and it is now time to finish up with my traditional amusing ending.  Having spent hours looking out at the Triffids on my lawn whilst trying in vain to contact to my Broadband supplier by phone, I thought I would share these call centre conversations. They certainly made me chuckle:

Real Call Centre Conversations

"The first day of spring was once the time for taking the young virgins into the fields, there in dalliance to set an example in fertility for nature to follow. Now we just set the clocks an hour ahead and change the oil in the crankcase!"

~E.B. White, "Hot Weather," One Man's Meat, 1944