February 2009

Due to my temporary Alpine absence, it has to be a rather brief blog this month - sadly there's no folklore and no funnies!

However, before I get inundated with complaints that your ESCO has suffered from a springtime sense of humour failure - the reason for this deviation from the norm is because I'm literally 'snowed under' with work (and I WAS indeed 'snowed under' when I landed in a pile of fluffy snow in the Alps last week) and something eventually needed to give way so that I could ensure our Area Plan was completed (and fully costed) before Hampshire's submission date.  But for the partnership this short blog should be seen as good news, as we have had lots of wonderful things to celebrate during the month of February....and you have considerably less to trawl through before you get to the juicy bits!  Therefore, lets get this blog going with a bang.

It was one of the key priorities that came out of the Portchester Extended Services and Children's Centre Consultation Report published in November 2007, so I am now very proud to announce..

...drum roll please...

The Portchester People Web Site is now live!

There are still a few little teething problems to soothe...with the IT equivalent of Calpol (other junior analgesics are available) but I think you will agree that Jane, our young web designer, has done a marvellous job of copying the distinctive style of the Portchester People Extended Services and Children's Centre quarterly publication and produced a user-friendly web site.  When you click on the site, you will see that it has a searchable database full of community information for all generations of people living in and around Portchester.  It also includes an exciting feature that allows partners to add News Items (such as one-off events).  We shall shortly arrange some familiarisation sessions so that selected community partners can become administrators for the site and start adding those important community news items. 

Look out for an article to launch the site appearing in the spring edition of the Portchester People publication, which is delivered to all of our Portchester homes. 

Please could I also kindly ask all of our partners to include a web link on your own sites at:  www.portchesterpeople.org.uk and promote the community web site as widely as possible.

Another exciting new web site is being launched this week - and I was privileged to have an early preview.   It's taken a wee while, but Oak Meadow and Strawberry Meadow Children's Centres will finally launch their new web site by Friday 6th March. 

Please take a look at the new site at: www.oakmeadowchildrenscentre.co.uk

Another celebratory event took place in February.  It was the final presentation day of the pilot Trailblazers project at Harrison Primary School.  Debbie Pook and Jim Baxter from Fareham Locality Team certainly planned to go out with a big encore.  They very kindly arranged a whole year six final celebration event run by Not All Bad Ltd. 

Richard Nauyokas (or Nooky) pictured on the left you may recall starred in the programme Bad Lads' Army and he has also appeared in Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway.  Richard kindly travelled down to Fareham to put the whole of year six at Harrison Primary School through their military paces including initiative tests, team work and exercises in lateral thinking. Who would have believed there was so much fun to be have with a simple hula-hoop!

The team games ended just before lunchtime with a presentation to the ten young people who have worked incredibly hard to achieve their green trailblazers award.

Congratulations to all of the children at Harrison who took part in such good spirits on the morning.  You were a real credit to your school.  And on behalf of the CAP partnership, may I say a huge thank you to Debbie, Jim and Sarah for making this project possible. 

Hopefully each school will have received an e-mail (to my named representative) reference your Grants 4 Schools subscription and an attached How to Write a Successful Grant Application document?  If you have not yet received your login details, or heaven forbid deleted my e-mail because it was yet ANOTHER one from your ESCO (I promise that I do try and keep my e-mails to a minimum), then please get in contact. 

Your login can now be used to access the online database of funding sources available to schools, the Grants Directory & a Funding Mind Map - and you will also receive the bi-monthly newsletter from Grants 4 Schools.  I hope all of our schools will find this a really useful resource and try to utilise external funding sources as much as possible.  Good luck with your fund finding!

Log in now at: www.grants4schools.info

At the beginning of February that pesky snow also stopped us in our tracks right across the district.  Some schools in my cluster shut, others kept going on shivering skeleton staff, often trekking to work in sturdy snow boots.   My most delightful sight during those snowy few days was  a visit to Wicor Primary where I saw children wrapped up in gloves and hats, making a snowman on the school field. 

However due to the extreme weather conditions, the initial Fareham West partnership meeting at Neville Lovett School had to be cancelled.  But undeterred by this temporary blip, all of the extended services coordinators/cluster managers across Fareham managed to get together before half-term.  Thank you to Fareham West for inviting me to join them, and we all seem very keen on forming a much closer cross-cluster partnership and planning more borough-wide initiatives.  If we gain partnership approval, some of these cross-cluster projects may include: a Family Relate Service, a Children's Information Directory for all families living in Fareham, A Pyramid Club Scheme for children with low-self esteem/shyness issues that may feel isolated in the school community; and a Fareham Coordinators' team-building trip to the Maldives!

(I just couldn't resist putting in one teeny-weeny joke)

As the year progresses and we form closer school and community relationships, I have no doubt that there will be more additions.  But if you have any suggestions or ideas for a whole community project where we can pool our resources, then please feel free to contact me to arrange a chat.  

As you may be aware, I am on a mission to promote Extended Services across the borough.  It may not be on the par with a lunar landing or discovering penicillin, but one of these promotional projects was an article for Fareham Today (Fareham Borough Council's quarterly publication) in an attempt to reach every home in Fareham.   If you haven't had a chance to read the article about extended services then please feel free to view the pdf version below:

Fareham Today Spring 2009 Edition

If schools haven't already done so, please could I kindly request that you order enough DCSF "Extended Services - extra support for you and your children" flyers to distribute to every parent.  These are free and there is no limit to the amount that can be ordered.  Visit: www.teachernet.gov.uk/publications to place your whole school order.  I have an order for the new childcare booklets (for all age groups) on the way so I shall distribute these for signposting as soon as they arrive.  Please remember that  schools in the CAP partnership are still more than welcome to send me an invoice for their extended services display board.

In the meantime, the CAPP Area Plan is about three-quarters complete (to be finished during a bumper typing session this weekend) but if you would like a sneak preview of the revised 2009 plan then please click below:

Draft Revised CAPP Area Action Plan 2007/10

Again, you are more than welcome to offer your ideas, suggested projects and partnerships for the coming year or point out any dreadful typos - please take the chance to have your say!

Although I may be dreaming of warmer climates (or ANY holiday that doesn't involve wearing thermal long-johns), the time is now getting closer that I shall be moving my boxes and files of "stuff" to the brand-new office building on the corner of Trinity Street (see photo on the right), so I can predict be an extremely busy month of March. 

Can I please ask for your patience during my moving month.  The boss reassures us that normal business will resume by the 23rd March, but please be advised that I can be contacted during this transient period on my mobile on: 07814 307012, or please feel free to e-mail my remote account at: shiggs@farehames.org.uk

Now as I'm just off to pack an imaginary suitcase for my imaginary trip to the Maldives, I shall leave you as I started....in the snow!  As a little treat following my holiday (!) here is a very useful and very light-hearted Dictionary for Skiers...

The Skier's Dictionary

(if only I had only read this before descending the Alps on my bottom)

 Finally...

What's an Ig?

An Eskimo's home without a loo

Susie Higgs

ESCO