October 2008   

It was bound to happen eventually!

I would either run out of words or simply run out of time to dedicate an entire day writing my monthly blog

...and guess which one happened?

C'mon those of you who know me are probably chuckling by now; exclaiming that words are the very last thing I'd run out of.  But time is a different matter altogether. Is it just me, or did that extra hour when the clocks changed actually feel as though we lost three hours? 

It is a well-established fact that ESCOs have very little time to sit back quietly and consider the bigger picture (even if they do have a huge map blue-tacked* onto their office wall), which can be rather problematic when there is still so much to be done to meet the "sustainable" full-offer by 2010.  In fact I’m at home at the moment, attempting to make a roast dinner, sort out the piles of washing and write children’s party invites whilst typing a draft copy of this month’s blog – which just goes to prove that there really are not enough hours in the day (and that women are particularly adept at multi-tasking!) 

Now before I start getting complaints, can I quickly add that I can't parallel park for toffee, and maps remain a complete mystery.  Therefore I bow to the male's superior spatial skills. 

Ok, now let's travel back a fair distance in time.  Back to when Doctor Who had a long scarf and Humphrey was still stealing our milk (anyone over the age of 40 will understand!)  I truly thought that my granny was joking when she lamented that she didn't have time to sew individual sequins (only about 20,000 of them) onto my dancing costume.   She was retired for goodness sake!  But retirement seemed a great excuse for getting up at midday, eating cake and talking on the phone.  How ignorant and selfish I was in the springtime of my life. In hindsight I realise what an amazing (and incredibly busy, dynamic and kind) woman my grandmother was during her lifetime.   

Just to illustrate this misunderstanding between the generations, I can recall an overheard conversation at this time between my mother and my grandmother.  The story goes as follows:  my grandmother's next door neighbour, who was a rather frail, elderly lady, had been brought home in the middle of the night by our kind local bobby.  She’d claimed that she’d been going to church.  But it was after midnight, dreadfully cold and she was wearing only a nightdress (but bless her - I believe that she’d put on a matching hat and handbag!)  Then we found poor ‘Mrs I’ fast asleep with her feet in the gas oven.  It was at that point that my more mature female relatives became a little alarmed and took steps to safeguard our elderly neighbour.  It was the first time I had heard of senile dementia but to an average(ish) 12 year old, it seemed a great way to get away with some really crazy stuff....and not get told-off or arrested. 

Which reminded me of this quote:

"Youth is like spring, an over-praised season more remarkable for biting winds than genial breezes. 

Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits."

Samuel Butler

But now I am approaching the mellower autumnal season of life (I have bought a shopping trolley after all - albeit a pink, retro flowery one) and whilst enjoying a glass of red wine with my roast dinner this evening, I wondered if this ignorance and misunderstanding between the older and younger generation has always been there?  I can clearly recall being made to feel a real nuisance for simply hanging around with my friends at the local recreation ground with our boom box and black eyeliner....attempting to look cool.  After all, that was the definition of 'recreation' for young people living in a small market town with nowhere else to go. 

If it has always been there, have we therefore been guilty of turning a blind eye and allowing this misunderstanding to continue unchallenged and somehow spiral into an increasingly thin thread that holds our communities together. Has the fear of young people been blown out of proportion by all of the negative images portrayed by the media?  These are pertinent questions we should be asking if we are looking towards:

Building Stronger School Community Partnerships

Especially as we are looking at portraying young people in a positive light in the media as our partnership's commitment to the Ditchley Declaration.

In fact I now have in front of me the Older People's Well-Being Strategy 2008-2011, and before you all start scratching your heads and thinking that surely Extended Services is about 0-19 year old and therefore Susie must have lost the plot, then I should quickly mention that Alex Burns (Head of Older People's Well-Being, Hampshire County Council) gave a brief, but valuable presentation at our County Coordinators Network Meeting this week.  Alex was keen to find out how the Extended Services Strategy for Hampshire can link with the Older People's Well-Being Strategy.  She highlighted some valuable ways in which the younger and older generations have been working together in partnership to break down some of the mutual misunderstanding - for instance teenagers volunteering on a gardening project to support the more frail members of the community, or primary school children running a bingo session at a residential home.  These are just a couple of examples, but there are many examples of how children and the elderly can work together and support each other in our community and break down that cycle of fear and misunderstanding...if only they are given the chance. 

I do hope I'm not starting to sound like David Cameron with his infamously tagged 2006 "Hug a Hoodie Campaign"?  (for a reminder, see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5163798.stm) which left in its wake a barrage of responses, reports, jokes, hilarious slogan hoodies (most of them far too offensive to display here), and even a well-known TV advert for a certain brand of mobile phone.  Just pop 'Hug a Hoodie' into Google and see how many search results you come up with (...it's 789,000 in case you were wondering?) 

But just as a sub-note to this hoodie-hugging hilarity, a grandmother in Grantham felt so strongly about tarring all young people with the same brush, that she penned her own poem "Ode to the Hoodie".  Read more about this amazing story and view a video of Jean Wooldridge reading her poem about her own hooded garment by clicking Jean's picture below:

Now back to more serious matters.  I am sure that many of you will be aware that The Education and Inspections Act (2006) introduced a duty on all maintained schools in England to promote Community Cohesion (from September 2007), and now upon Ofsted to report on the contributions made in this area (from September 2008).  If you wish read more about this requirement then please feel free to take a look at: http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/communitycohesion/ .

But how does this community cohesion business relate to extended services I hear you ask?  Well this is how the two link together:

In Fareham East, one of the ways that we hope to provide opportunities for positive interaction between different age groups will be through our community play D-Day, Discos and Downloads.  It shall attempt to map the modern history of Portchester (from D-Day to the present day) through oral testaments from local residents.  The first of three workshops for young people have been planned in partnership with Odyssey Youth Centre and Portchester Community School before Christmas to select our core researchers; with the small select task group of year 10 students taking to the streets with their tape recorders in the New Year.  

It’s all very exciting and we all look forward to the finished production planned for next July.  Well done to all of the amazing work that has already been done by the Portchester Civic Society , Alec Roberts (Deputy Head Teacher, Portchester Community School) and all of the many partners who have contributed to date.   I shall try and get a photo to display here...as soon as I get the time to read the scanner instruction manual!  Hopefully, I may even try and produce a video diary of the journey the young people take from selection to production.

Another way of working toward community cohesion is to enable adults and children to learn alongside each other.  This may be quite a challenge to the traditional classroom environment if schools have never worked with parents in this manner, but nevertheless it can reap enormous rewards.  Family Learning can involve many different and diverse activities, such as Making Christmas Decorations, Cooking on a Budget or Helping your Child with their Homework.  Literacy and Numeracy can be embedded into almost any enjoyable activity and sessions can be flexible around the school day and the needs of your target group (which may include grandparents I might add).   I have lots more information, and also the contact details for accessing Family Learning tutors on your behalf (including Direct Delivery) if any school would like to consider expanding this area of their extended services.  Please feel free to contact me to discuss options; but in the meantime please take a visit to: http://www.campaignforlearning.org.uk/familylearningnetwork/index.asp and join the Family Learning Network for regular updates.

Finally, we look forward to welcoming the Junior Community Team project at Red Barn Primary School next springtime.  The Fareham East Extended Services Partnership are very happy to support this exciting project in any way necessary and we look forward to welcoming them to our cluster.  Interestingly enough, this also links clearly with the Older People's Well-Being Strategy as the children make cakes and run activities (such as Bingo) for the older generation as part of this initiative.  I hope you are impressed by my train of thought and continuation of a theme, even after a wine?

Rosie - "I loved baking cakes for the older residents" (JCT member)

Now imagine a big drum roll.  Keep that drum roll going in your head as I have something really exciting to offer our schools, youth clubs and children's centres. 

How do you fancy going to the circus?

Even better - how do you fancy going to the circus and watching your children and young people perform in the Big Top spinning plates, turning cartwheels, juggling (and possibly even raise a little bit of money in the process?)  Therefore I proudly present...

* other wall adhesives also available