Tag Archives: Young people

Little People, Olympic Achievement

Village Primary School’s Song on National Television This Week!

When a quiet Warwickshire village school decided to record an original song inspired by the London 2012 Olympics, little could they know how far their voices would carry!

The 106 children (aged 4-11) of Ilmington Primary School only released Rings Around The World on 21st April, yet it has already been filmed to be shown on BBC1 TV’s iconic Songs of Praise.  The programme will be broadcast nationwide this Sunday, 13th May, just days before the Olympic Torch begins its journey around the UK.

The song has been played on regional radio, will be featured on BBC Radio 2 and has attracted attention from far and wide.  On hearing the single, legendary magician Paul Daniels immediately tweeted the link to his 41,000 followers!

”Rings Around The World” is a rabble-rousing, heart-pumping, world-uniting anthem that demands to be listened to. Its message of global love and hope will bring tears from a nation standing proud, not just soppy mums and dads.  (Forget the bygone image of a cutesy kids’ choir, like St. Winifred’s School Choir’s “Grandma We Love You” in 1980.)

In this most amazing year, with a once-in-a-lifetime global sporting event at its heart, how much further will these children’s dreams carry them?

The CD (which includes a video of the 106 singers) is currently available at HMV Stratford-upon-Avon and via the website www.ringsaroundtheworld2012.co.uk.  The song is also available on iTunes.

“Rings Around the World is the kind of going-for-gold, inspirational anthem that makes you want to jump, cheer and do a triple somersault with a half pike. A perfect song to celebrate the Olympics,” said Steve Sutherland, former NME Editor.

Warwickshire’s scheme to help young people get sorted! wins award

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‘Sorted! It’s all about me’, the follow up scheme to Books on Prescription, has been honoured with an award at the West Midlands Public Health Excellence Conference.

‘Sorted!’ is a scheme in which the main public libraries and some school and college libraries hold collections of self-help books.  Aimed at adolescents, they deal with common situations and problems that arise in this age group that can affect mental health such as parents separating, the loss of someone close, stress, anger management and self-esteem.

 

The scheme won the Innovation in Public Health category. Young people were involved in the development of the service at every stage, including the selection of the books, which are also endorsed by health professionals.

The books are available for anyone to borrow through Warwickshire’s public library network, including parents and carers and anyone working with young people.  They are also available in 14 schools and colleges at present as well as four libraries.

Procedures have been devised to make books easier to borrow such as a recommendation form for use by professionals working with young people being the equivalent of library ID, removal of charges and e-books are also being looked at to make the books more accessible to young people.

‘Sorted!’ is funded by a County Council Mental Health Capital Funds.
It follows the highly successful Books on Prescription scheme in which doctors and other health professionals can prescribe self-help library books to adults experiencing low-level mental health issues.  In the two years since its inception it has seen over 10,000 book loans across Warwickshire.

Cllr Bob Stevens, Warwickshire County Council’s portfolio holder for health said:
“My heartiest congratulations go out to all involved.  This award justly rewards a scheme which is a blueprint for how the public sector should work by seeking to prevent problems rather than cure them.  It makes limited resources go further and, more importantly, can save a lot of young people from the anguish of mental health issues.”

John Linnane, NHS Warwickshire and Warwickshire County Council’s Joint Director of Public Health, said: “Sorted! builds on the hugely successful Books on Prescription scheme, The Sorted! scheme is an excellent example of joint working across the local authority and health sector to provide community based resources with the potential to help many young people and families in Warwickshire”.

For more details of ‘Sorted!’ visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/sorted

Books on Prescription was developed by Libraries and NHS Warwickshire, working together with the IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) Service, Adult Social Care and Warwickshire’s Wellbeing Centres,

 

Katy B to play Rugby Library

The Get it Loud in Libraries series of concerts has announced the latest performer to appear at Rugby Library with UK garage star Katy B next in line to perform.

The singer whose debut album Katy on a Mission was released last year is a major coup for the Get it Loud in Libraries project.  As well as enjoying her own chart success, she has supported Tinie Tempah and has collaborated with producer Mark Ronson to create a song for the Olympics’ advertisement.


Get It Loud In Libraries was originally created in 2005 by Stewart Parsons of Lancashire County Council, to engage young people with libraries through great live music.

Warwickshire Libraries have enthusiastically supported the venture as part of the service’s drive to engage a new audience to its libraries.  Katy B follows other bands and performers to perform at Rugby Library including Plan B, The Crookes and Spark.

Paul MacDermott of Warwickshire Libraries, said:  “In Warwickshire, we are looking to develop an audience of young people who are traditionally harder to engage and this is a wonderful opportunity to do so.  With the variety of activities on offer, libraries are becoming cultural hubs for all sections of the community and all age ranges.”

Katy B will appear at Rugby Library on 6 June with tickets priced at £16.50.  They are available directly from Rugby Library or by logging on to http://katyonamission.com  or www.seetickets.com

Ministers’ praise for Warwickshire teenage pregnancy results

Warwickshire’s teenage pregnancy strategy has been praised by the Minister of State for Children and Families and the Minister for Care Services in a joint message.

Sarah Teather and Paul Burstow issued the message to local authorities and agencies across the country as the 2010 data was published and showed a decline in both the number of teenage births and abortions.

Some local areas had their good practice highlighted with Warwickshire joining Blackpool, Croydon, East Sussex and Enfield in being mentioned by the ministers and case studies sent to other regions showcasing what had worked.

Key to Warwickshire’s success in bringing the number of teenage pregnancies down has been the commitment of all partners.  The ministers said:

“(Warwickshire has a) locally-led partnership, responsive to local need.  It delivers seamless and integrated support for teenagers.  We want to see this happening in every local area.”

Amy Danahay, Respect Yourself campaign manager, said:  “We have been pleased at the reduction in the number of teenage pregnancies.  Ministerial endorsement is invaluable as it shows how we are doing against a national backdrop and it is good to see our approach – a multi-agency approach with a focus on prevention through education – being identified as a benchmark for other authorities to work towards.”

 

 

Supporting excluded pupils

Warwickshire County Council Cabinet last week (Thursday 15 March) agreed proposals to establish a framework for alternative education for pupils at risk of exclusion.

In December 2011, Cabinet authorised proposals to close the county’s Pupil Referral Unit and adopt a new approach to prevent permanent exclusion from school. Unless any serious objections are lodged by 13 April the unit will close as scheduled at the end of the summer term.

Under the new approach funding is devolved to schools who will work together in Area Behaviour Partnerships (ABPs). These partnerships will use the funding to provide support earlier and where appropriate, secure alternative education. As a result it is expected that the number of permanent exclusions will reduce.

On Thursday, Cabinet agreed to open a process to invite education providers to be on the county council’s framework contract. They are now being asked to submit their plans and procedures for delivering alternative provision to pupils at risk of exclusion.

ABPs will choose from providers who meet local authority requirements where they feel a pupil will benefit from alternative education. The process is scheduled to start this month with provision in place from 1 September 2012.

Funding has been devolved to partnerships as part of a pilot since September 2011. Warwickshire County Councillor Heather Timms, Portfolio Holder for Children, Young People and Families said: “Our focus is on engaging young people in a varied curriculum and managing behaviour so excluding children can be avoided.

“We have been trialling this approach with success since September 2011 when we devolved funding to schools to allow them to play a more active role in managing exclusion. This time last year, 60 pupils had been permanently excluded, this year for the same period the new methods have brought exclusion rates down by over 60 per cent with only 22 pupils excluded.

“Keeping children in school and engaging them with a relevant curriculum is our goal. The use of alternative providers is already common practice and the framework approved by Cabinet will just formalise this.”

This week the Children’s Commissioner, Maggie Atkinson, published a report encouraging schools and policymakers to focus on preventing exclusion from school, just as the council is doing.

 

Building confidence brick by brick

Warwickshire Children in Care Council recently launched Brick by Brick, a professionally produced track and music video inspired by their experiences in care and some of the stereotypes they have had to battle against.

The young people from the council were supported in the process by Warwickshire County Council and Community Arts Workshop. They were directly involved in every stage of of production and even raised the money for the project themselves by successfully bidding for grants from Awards for All and the Big Lottery Fund.

Matt Langsford from the CICC spoke on behalf of the 25 youngsters involved about what they gained from the exciting project. He said: “I’m really pleased with the final cut of our video – the result of a summer’s hard work from all of us. We all come from diverse backgrounds with different skills but we all pulled together and everyone gave so much to the project.

“We learned new skills, uncovered hidden talents, and all grew in confidence. We think Brick by Brick is a fitting way to get our voices heard. I hope lots of people will enjoy it and really hear our message which we hope will go some way to breaking down the stereotypes about children in care.”

Chris Bradley from Community Arts Workshop was commissioned to lead project. He added: “This project presented a unique opportunity for the young people on the council to express themselves through arts producing a contemporary film which tackles some of the perceptions of being in care.

“Over the course of the project it has been interesting to see how much they have grown. Most got to try things they had never done before like singing, acting and rapping and engaged with each other in different ways.

“They were involved in every step, supported by professional choreographers and composers to devise scripts, write music and lyrics and perform. They all worked really hard and should be very proud of themselves.

“The resource they created will have a huge impact and will benefit many other young people in similar situations.”

Dr Roger Morgan, Director Children’s Rights UK lent his support to the CICC and officially launched Brick by Brick. Dr Morgan was impressed with what the youngsters had achieved and put into perspective how important their voices are. He said: “Children in Care Councils have only been in existence for a couple of years but their work has already resulted in a real recognition that young people’s views do count and make a contribution as they are beginning to make a difference to people’s lives.

“At this time when resources are getting scarcer and decisions tougher it is even more important that Children in Care Councils get involved in difficult decision making processes to ensure their voices are heard and their needs are met. Brick by Brick does this perfectly.”