Are you aware that according to tradition, May is considered to be the unluckiest month of the year?  For instance, if your child is unfortunate enough to be born in May then they are likely to be sickly.   Cats born this month are also poor rodent catchers and may possibly bring snakes into your house (and we don't see many of them in Castle Street do we?)  And how about these other harbingers of doom for May:

"Marry in May and you'll rue the day"

"Wash a blanket in May, wash a dear one away"

"Those who bathe in May will soon be laid with clay"

If I had any sense and I would have hidden under my duvet and stayed there until June!  But as the eternal optimist I had a good soak in the bath with a book on Saturday morning  (with a liberal slathering of 'CLAY' face-mask), washed the duvet covers (the closest I get to blankets in my house) and looked forward to a busy month casually observing the civil wedding ceremonies out of my office window.

But my blog for 'optimistic' May has been inspired by some completely random incidents:

Firstly I watched Steve Martin starring in the film "Parenthood" which made me think more about parenting styles.  Secondly I held a conversation at a local cafe with a woman holding a plastic baby  - and the final incident involved a baby bird. 

I shall not go into too much detail about the film (...especially the incredibly cringe-worthy bit featuring a family dinner, a power-cut and a 'torch').  I shall also save the tale of the delightful lady with her synthetic baby for later.  But the baby bird story is a little more intriguing.  Here's what happened...  A baby blackbird had obviously made an attempt to fly out of its nest but landed in a big, fluffy ball of feathers in the middle of my garden.  My incredibly cute (but eternally stupid) dog had decided that a baby bird was something well worth investigating, so mother blackbird was squawking noisily from the top of the trampoline and periodically trying to dive-bomb my poor little hound.   Wracking my brains what I should do with the baby bird to protect it from danger, I recalled from my young ornithologist club that you shouldn't touch a baby bird with feathers as the mother would reject it.

 "Oops!" said my little girl and her friend,  "It was cute so we stroked it!!!" 

The baby bird responded by hopping off to the end of the garden and hiding under a hedge. 

So can you imagine my surprise when three days later, and pretty fed-up by this stage with the adult blackbird's constant chirping every time my poor dog put a paw out of the back door, the mother bird flew under the hedge and gently popped a worm into the mouth of her baby.  It was a really sweet and inspiring moment.  This little helpless bird had managed to survive a multitude of feline hunters (four houses; seven cats) a rather floppy-eared, stupid dog who likes nothing better than to chase birds up trees, the local colony of foxes and two curious, animal-loving eleven year olds.  More amazingly - despite taking off prematurely from its nest, the mother continued to fend for her baby until it was strong enough to fly away.

I wondered are these the normal steps a mother will go too in order to protect her off-spring?  Do I presume that this protective nurturing streak is an innate element in all birds and animals?   As my dog was chased across the garden by a three-legged fox protecting her cubs a few years ago, I guess that it must be.  However, working with some of our parents do we sometimes wonder if this innate 'mothering instinct' has mysteriously passed a few individuals? Why, with all of our modern appliances, gadgets and gizmos, does this seem to be the hardest time ever to bring up a child?

We all must admit that modern life is stressful; children and families are incredibly stressful.  Added to this stress, living in Fareham is also very costly, often leading to both parents working long days (and the necessity for good quality wraparound childcare).  The LSP (Local Strategic Partnership) Children and Young Peoples' Group have been discussing the SIPSE (Social Inclusion Partnership for the South East) briefing paper for local authorities:

Tackling Child Poverty

Many useful points were raised from our group discussions so I thought you may welcome the opportunity to download the paper for discussion in your own organisations.  How we can influence and shape local plans to counteract child poverty by 2020?  Can schools play a crucial part in this by educating young people about money management?  I would be interested to hear your views.

I then wondered why schools no longer have RSPB young ornithologist clubs?  Or do they still exist in our schools?  

Answers on a postcard please!

If you would like more information for schools about the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds see:

RSPB: Teaching

In addition, for more links to environmental education sites, I would recommend visiting:

Naturenet

This leads me to the aforementioned plastic "baby".   You may recall that the childcare element of our Area Action Plan places teenagers at the very starting point of raising childcare standards.  I was particularly keen to ensure that ALL young people in our cluster groups who have the onerous responsibility of caring for younger (including siblings) have, at the very least, a first aid qualification.   I thought this would be even more effective if I could source an accredited babysitting course for our young people too (as most mothers are not prepared to put our little babies 'under a hedge' ...metaphorically speaking...and then pay for the privilege!)    So I was delighted to be in contact with Anita Taylor from Teen Angels Babysitters and we arranged a meeting at Darcy's Coffee Shop to discuss what could be available to our schools as an extended services opportunity.    Anita not only brought along her virtual reality baby to our meeting (fortunately with the crying feature switched off) but she left me with plenty of resources to share with schools across Fareham.   I would encourage our schools to utilise Anita and her team of qualified tutors.  Please ask if you would like more details, speak to Anita directly on 0800 083 6635, or visit the website at:

Teen Angels Babysitters

In response to the staggering (excuse the pun) figures surrounding 'binge drinking' in young people, I have been searching for a suitable resource for our secondary schools to address this problem and try and raise the awareness amongst young people of the effects on alcohol.  Particularly as doctors warned that children who start drinking before the age of 14 are more likely to become alcohol dependent in later life (read the whole article: ... Addiction Danger For Young Drinkers)

The term 'Binge drinking' appears to have been coined as a useful catch-phrase for describing drinking too much, too quickly - and often too young.  So what's new about binge drinking?  Haven't teenagers always sneaked into their parents cocktail cabinet and made themselves ill on leftover Christmas cherry brandy?    But in the flourish of documentaries showing teens vomiting blue alcopops, and young pop stars staggering out of cars without  underwear, something really has to be done....and at a much earlier preventative stage.  Therefore I had a very interesting conversation with the Solomon Theatre Company about their production "Last Orders" which has been shown extensively at schools throughout Dorset and Wiltshire.  I've also read some fantastic feedback from performances at schools in Chichester and the IOW.   "Last Orders" aims to deliver a powerful message in a performance that is both entertaining and educational; particularly if it is delivered in partnership with outside agencies to support the sexual health and anti-social behaviour element of the production.

Based on real life events recorded by the author Mark Hyde in Wiltshire during the late 1990’s, the three young characters (15-17 yrs old) suffer a series of consequences as a result of their drinking.  Following the performance the audience then have the opportunity to interview the three characters 'Jerry Springer style'.  I have just received some DVDs (and quote of costing for a team of professional actors) from the theatre company which I shall distribute to our secondary schools shortly, but I would highly recommend performing arts as a fabulous vessel to deliver a powerful message through an accessible and interactive format.  It also links to anti-social behaviour and sexual health education and could be utilised as a fantastic opportunity to work in partnership with outside agencies in Fareham such as the Neighbourhood Policing Team, Fareham Youth Team, Connexions, The Community Safety Team, The Primary Care Trust and Trading Standards in our schools.  Visit the website link above to the theatre company above for more details or call Forest on 01725 518760 to book a performance this autumn term.

Of course, I always think that it's important to offer a completely balanced view, so here's a light-hearted response from Jeremy Clarkson why binge drinking is good for you:

    Binge Drinking - Clarkson's View

Perhaps best not share that article with young people though! 

Something that may also appeal to young people (particularly if you are trying to engage dads and lads) that can be used as an extended school activity is a Fantasy Football league. For more details of how to set up your league very simply and inexpensively for the 2008/09 season then please see:

Schools Fantasy League

Now onto another target outcome for our area action plan: Cycle Training for Children.  For those schools having problems sourcing willing volunteers to undertake the cycling proficiency trainer training, the following Hampshire based cycling trainer may be the solution to our problem. 

Traditionally, cycle training has only been available to children in certain schools where the local authority has managed to recruit volunteers; not always possible and not always cyclists (would you want a non-driver to teach you to drive?).   But schools no longer need to rely on the availability of parent volunteers or the lottery of being pulled out a hat for a limited number of places, Hampshire Cycle Training can tailor courses to the individual setting and their trainers have undertaken a comprehensive course at a recognised training centre.

For more details about Hampshire Cycle Training please take a visit to their website at:

 http://www.hampshirecycletraining.org.uk/

I was also requested to produce a small article for school websites to introduce extended services.  I thought it would be useful to keep this as short and sweet as possible - and something that each school could adapt to their own setting.  For ease of use the document is downloadable as a Word Doc by clicking below:

EXTENDED SERVICES” FOR INCLUSION ON SCHOOL WEBSITES

Finally

Please find my extended services contact flyer to download for signposting to parents below. 

(please note that this will open in MS Publisher) 

Extended Services Publicity Flyer

If you require hard copies of any documents included on this site, or you would like to see a particular subject included then please contact:

Susie Higgs (ESCO)

Kind Regards