Now I have to confess that November 2009 has been a little bit of a mishmash, hotchpotch, chaotic month. So I've been in a bit of a quandary...

The question being - what on earth should I choose as a theme for this month's blog?

So I thought I might spread myself a bit thin and explore a fairly general theme this month...living life beyond expectations.  The reason for this month's theme choice came about for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, I received a fabulous, heart-warming DVD titled: "The Bucket List" (see above) starring Jack Nicolson and Morgan Freeman.  In brief, the film is about two gentlemen who meet on an oncology ward and decide to live out their lives to the full while they still have the opportunity. I would highly recommend it - both the film and living life to the full!  But if you have never heard of the term 'Bucket List' before (and I hadn't until I asked my mother over Sunday roast), then please take a visit: Squidoo.com where there is an enormous amount of ideas to create your own list of "Things To Do Before I Die". 

Then I was interested to read that Dave Freeman, the man who co-wrote the best-selling adventure travel guide "100 Things To Do Before You Die" ...died last year at the age of 47.  To my great envy, the co-author had visited more than half the places mentioned in his book and done things like running with bulls in Pamplona, Spain, and participating in the centuries-old South Pacific tradition of leaping off tall towers with just a vine attached to his leg (although this 'original bungee jumping' experience does not appear on my bucket list).  Then, quite sadly and unexpectedly he died after tripping on a carpet and hitting his head in the hallway!

The moral of this little story is that we never know what is round the next corner (or carpet)...and extended services is no exception to this rule.  We are still unsure of what the future holds beyond 2011, but while I'm still here and still typing these increasingly lengthy blogs (and to cover all eventualities wearing a cycle helmet while I'm walking around my hallway), then we may as well put together our own 'bucket wish list' for the children, young people and their families. 

Now, one item that has appeared on my work-based "Bucket Wish List" since taking up this position, has been to assist children and young people who can't afford some of the wonderful opportunities accessible to their peers; not because of low motivation, but because of their low household income.  We have such a rich and varied selection of activities available on our doorstep from ice hockey to street dance, but this is of little use if financial barriers to participation prevent a child from discovering their talents. 

The fantastic news is that from April 2010 we will be able to help support some of these children and young people to achieve their hope and dreams beyond expectations.

I could now go into detail about this new funding source for children and young people who may be at economic disadvantage to access extended services from April 2010.  But I think that the finite details should be saved until I've had a chance to discuss this properly with the other Fareham Extended Services Coordinators.  We are looking collectively towards an equitable and simple system for distribution of resources and evaluating the impact across the borough.  In the meantime, if you wish to order the latest subsidy resources for a sneak preview over the Christmas break then please visit: http://www.tda.gov.uk/remodelling/extendedschools/howtodeliveres/subsidy.aspx.

I also have our partnership folder containing workshop materials, useful resources and a delightful, smile-inducing DVD produced in Hampshire from the three pilot projects (Rushmoor, Andover & Gosport) to share with you all after Christmas.  So please watch out for an invite to discuss this exciting development for extended services in the New Year.

Before I leave this subject, I'm going to briefly travel back in time to 2007, when I was just starting out in this role and full of drive and enthusiasm.  There was a true story I used to tell partners during my presentations to 'sell' the idea of extended services and how it could make a difference to life chances of some of our most vulnerable children, and subsequently their attainment.   The story is a one about a disaffected Year 6 with moderate learning difficulties (Level 1 English and Maths), who 'accidently' found his talent when a temporary support assistant taught his class how to dance.  For the first time this child found the approval of his peers and teachers.  The impact of his achievement had enormous benefits to the rest of this pupil’s life.  He begins to smile, enjoyed working with the support assistant and performed an individual dance for the end of year concert.  The pupil eventually gained Level 3 in English and Level 4 in Maths at the end of KS2 tests. During his time at secondary school this confident young man started performing with a large production company and was being hailed as the next Billy Elliot.  

I've put this little story here because a true case to show how extended services can make a REAL difference; and with the new Advantage Subsidy, schools will be able to access even more opportunities for children and young people to find their talents, follow their dreams, and achieve beyond expectations. I am truly excited that from spring 2010 the projects we have up and running may now be accessible to all children; irrespective of their circumstances.

For children and young people who may be at a disadvantage because of physical barriers to participation, I am encouraged to see that it is becoming easier to find out what is available, and that inclusion is steadily becoming mainstreamed.  For parents with a disabled child we have the new Parent Voice site, with a list of providers and activities that may be of interest.  A useful starting point for sport co-ordinators and coaches is to visit Sport Hampshire and IOW Disability Sport to find out how to access training, support and information. This site also has the most concise question and answer section for Aiming High for Disabled Children that I have found to date - so it may be of interest to our partners who are looking for additional funding from this source to increase the range and reach of activities for disabled children.

Which leads me nicely to another important news item this month.  We are attempting to forge much closer links between the Hampshire Healthy Schools Team and Hampshire Extended Services Team as our objectives and outcomes are very much inter-related. As you may already be aware, new revalidation arrangements for healthy schools commenced from September 2009 and this means that by the January 2011 all schools with existing Healthy Schools Status will be expected to revalidate as their current status will cease to apply.  And as our area Action Plan has a target that all of our CAPP schools shall be fully validated Healthy Schools by 2010 this new validation process will impact upon us all.  To see the November 2009 newsletter update from the Healthy Schools Team and a useful presentation of the new revalidation process please click below:

Hampshire's Health, Personal Development and Well-being Newsletter – Issue 9, July 2009  505kb

The National Healthy Schools Programme - Update Presentation, September 2009  149kb

I also had the pleasure of attending a training day during November with our Quality Performance Officers and Healthy Schools Team called: 'Making Sense of Data'.  It is becoming essential that we link our local strategies to reflect local need - and to do this we need to 'drill down' and find out what local issues affect our children, young people and their families.  For instance we are already aware that somewhere around 29.1% of our children aged between 10 to 11 living in Fareham are overweight or obese (2009 data from the National Child Measurement Survey). We may presume therefore that this should be one of our a priority areas for improvement as we have a small boiling pot of children at risk of developing life threatening illnesses such as cancer, coronary heart disease and stroke in later life.  But to get a clearer picture of our local area, essentially we need up-to-date, comprehensive and clear data that can be compared nationally. 

Now this isn't rocket science you may say, but actually sourcing that data isn't quite as easy as you may expect; as it comes from so many different sources, is presented in so many different ways, and unfortunately it isn't always 100% reliable!  Therefore, we were fortunate to receive a presentation from a representative from ChiMat (Child and Maternal Health Observatory) on this training day, who kindly introduced us to an interactive data set for healthy schools on their fully comprehensive web site.

An essential early stage in the process of revalidation for Healthy Schools is to undertake a needs assessment in order to identify priority health and wellbeing issues.  ChiMat has developed these Healthy Schools Local Area Profiles to support this needs assessment by presenting local data in a format that allows schools and local programmes to see at a glance how children and young people in their (top level) local authority compare nationally.

Although we could argue that Hampshire has a diverse population and the needs and priorities differ across the county (for example teenage conception rates are considerably higher in our neighbours in Gosport Borough than they are in Fareham), the profiles are a useful guideline as they usefully arranged using the five outcomes of Every Child Matters and can be compared against national figures. Please click here to view the

Interactive Healthy Schools Local Area Profiles

Another source of data comes from Local Health Profiles.  These useful documents are produced annually by the Association of Public Health Observatories and funded by the Department of Health.  For the latest 2009 copy of the Fareham Health profile, please click below:

Fareham Health Profile 2009

Please don't forget to keep an eye on my Resources Page on this web site.  Wherever possible I try to post any local data reports on this page.  Scroll down and the research documents appear about halfway down the page.

I shall keep this blog brief this month as December is always a very busy month in the calendar.  I am aware of the additional workload leading up to the Christmas holidays, but could I take this opportunity to remind schools to please return your audit documents to me by Friday 18th December.  This is essential information required by the DCSF for grading your extended services and it will help our partnership to indentify any gaps in provision, or areas for improvement/development.  Please note that I shall be working right up until Christmas Eve, so please feel free to ask for any help or advice - or contact me if you require an extension until the first week in January. Thank you to the schools who have already returned their completed audits or asked for assistance at filling in the necessary information.  

But I can't leave this month without extending a very big and warm message of  thanks to Gay Shelley.  Gay has been not only a great source of help and support in my role as your coordinator, but has also been a driving force behind extended services and the early development of Keepsake Children's Centre in Portchester.  Gay, may I take this opportunity to say a big thank you and your warmth, patience and kindness - you will be missed by us all.  I hope that you will continue to take a keen interest in our partnership developments over the coming year.   Which leads me to say a very warm welcome to our new CAPP Chairperson Jude Ramshaw, Head Teacher at Uplands Primary School and to our new Strategic Board Representative, Rena Randall, Head Teacher, at Red Barn Primary School.  I am very much looking forward to working with you both in 2010.

Due to my fairly hefty workload leading up to the end of term, sadly I may not get the chance to see all of our partners before the start of school Christmas holidays.  Therefore I wish you all a peaceful and happy Christmas and look forward to fresh beginnings and exciting developments for our partnership in 2010. As usual, for your final chuckle this month.  Please feel free to have a sneaky peek at the first draft of my own 'alternative' Bucket List...

Susie's Bucket List

REMEMBER...

So throw off the bowlines

Sail away from the safe harbour

Catch the trade winds in your sails

Explore

Dream

(Mark Twain)