Fw: Current Awareness 13 January 2010

[Guest guest]

I thought some of you may be intrested in this. Netmums will be at the Parent Know How Shoxcase Even on Jan 26th.

Best wishesMaggie

Current Awareness 13 January 2010

Announcements

Parentchannel.tv is here! Parentchannel.tv is a new online service, brought to you by Parenting UK and partners, designed to support and encourage parents and carers of children aged 5-19, with a collection of videos addressing day-to-day questions and concerns spanning wellbeing, behaviour and learning.

Parental Engagement - Call for evidenceThe Department of Children Schools and Families is undertaking research on what practitioners and settings can do to support and encourage parental engagement in children's learning. If you want to feed into this research, you can do so by commenting on our Policy Debate before the end of January 2010.

News

Youth Workers’ Union calls for youth work to be statutory The Community and Youth Workers' Union has urged the political parties to commit to making youth services statutory in order to protect them from the stinging impact of local authority cuts.

Children’s alcohol risk warnings Following a survey suggesting that parents do not rank alcohol as a high risk to their children, Ed Balls has stated that parents worried about their children's safety need to start recognising the connection between alcohol and "risky behaviour".

Mothers who struggle with breastfeeding may be governed by hormonesA Norwegian study concludes that difficulty feeding a newborn may be down to higher levels of the male hormone testosterone during pregnancy and that mothers should not blame themselves for difficulties.

Government

Conservatives to help develop parenting skills, says Cameron Conservative leader Cameron has said that we need to create a more responsible society by helping to develop parenting skills. He has outlined plans for 4,200 more health visitors to help families get more support, and to return Sure Start to early intervention, helping the families most in need to access it.

Parenting lessons for childrenSchool pupils aged 14 will have compulsory parenting lessons from 2011 under curriculum proposals from Ed Balls, the Children's Secretary.

DCSF extends access to childcare programmeFollowing a successful pilot of the Disabled Children’s Access to Childcare Programme across 10 local areas, the DCSF has announced a £12.5 million cash boost to improve childcare access for disabled children across the country.

carers in Scotland demand minimum wage The ing Network Scotland has published figures showing the "true cost of looking after a fostered child", which reveals many carers are not receiving enough. They have criticised the ish government for failing to introduce a national minimum allowance.

Viral video encourages small businesses to employ parents The government's child poverty unit is to launch a viral video campaign designed to dispel the myth that employing parents on a flexible or part-time basis is bad for business.

Childcare diploma changes will not affect enrolled students Following concerns from colleges regarding the CWDC’s new Level 3 diploma for the children and young people's workforce, it has been announced that students already enrolled on diploma courses will not miss out when the replacement qualification comes into force in September.

MPs back home educating familiesMPs who support the requirement that home educating parents should provide a statement of their "intended approach" to their child's education have said that local authority registration for England's home educators - planned as compulsory - should be voluntary.

Events

Parent Know How showcase eventThe Parent Know How Showcase will help you understand how to maximise new free resources such as telephone helplines, online support groups, mediation, and online videos, to help in your work supporting families. 26 January, London

The Future of Parenting Strategies: What works in supporting vulnerable families?Parenting UK & Care Matters Partnership Conference - key speakers include Nick Lawrence, Families at Risk DCSF, Prof , King’s College London, Bartlett, Fatherhood Institute and many more. 2 March, London

Research, resources and training

Relate for ParentsNew – free support, advice and interactive resources for parents and families.

How well do you know your family? A new report covering key issues around the changing face of the family, including the decline in the rate of marriage, and the growth in cohabitation, lone parenting and step families.

Child welfare needs and rightsA report on relocation, leave to remove and shared custody by thecustodyminefield.com

Autism trainingDiploma programme from the Parent Infant Clinic, training professionals to identify autism in children under 5.