davidv's blog

Thanks to everyone who helped make the Including Men in Schools Conference on 14th June 2010 such a great day.

Looking forward to the BBC4 Season on fatherhood.

A century of fatherhood, the biology of dads and disappearing dads are some of the programmes scheduled. Wonder what they will have to say about some of the issues we face every day - such as trying to ensure that dads as well as mums are supported in their roles as care givers by family services.

From the historical perspective this ties in nicely with the Family Man through the Ages programme developed by Fathers Plus and the NE Museums Hub.

From the BBC4 website - follow the link below to find out more.

Great to see some of the work of the Dads Transitions Programme in County Durham getting recognition by the BBC. You can follow the link to watch the video.

The project has been running for two years and has supported dads, granddads and other carers to get involved in their children's learning at school.

The children and the dads are enjoying it and teaching staff at the school are noticing a positive difference in the children.

Thanks to Chantalle Edmunds at BBC Tees for this piece.

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Children North East Fathers Plus in partnership with The North East Regional Museums Hub have developed a new exciting website that looks at how dads and family men have lived throughout history.

The Family Man Schools outreach programme has now been running for six months and is very popular with dads, granddads, family men and their children. Schools and teaching staff are also experiencing the benefit of having family men involved in their children's learning.

Richard Moss of the BBC's Politics Show hosts a debate with founder of Kids Company and social campaigner Camila Batmanghelidjh, writer and journalist Beatrix Campbell, Assistant Bishop of Newcastle Paul Richardson and Roger Olley of Children North-East as they argue over the place of men in today's and tomorrow's world.

Follow the link below to hear the debate on BBC iplayer

Improving Outcomes in the Economic Downturn: Free Support for Children and Young People

In the current economic climate many local authorities and partner organisations are facing significant challenges in meeting increases in demand for services. With resources already stretched it is vital that all staff including strategic planners, policy makers, practitioners and volunteers are made aware of a significant, valuable resource that is available free of charge and has been proven to help improve outcomes for Children and Young People.

Interesting article below from Fatherhood Institute.

This change to the law is a great opportunity for children's centres to address the gap between numbers of fathers and numbers of mothers registered and actively engaged in services. We know that early in a child's life is a really good time for services to start building relationships with fathers.

I know of at least one authority that is looking into bringing birth registrations into the children's centres themselves. Is this something that is being considered in other areas?

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The Think Fathers campaign was set up by DCSF in response to a perceived failure of local services to include fathers. What has been your experience of the campaign? Has it made a difference n your area?
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Children North East is the oldest children's charity in the North East. Established in 1891 the organisation runs a number of community based projects and services.

Fathers Plus is one of the leading practice based father work organisations. The service works with agencies and organisation to ensure they involve and include fathers and men.

Fathers Plus’ work with family men in schools and children’s centres has achieved national recognition and was cited as an example of good practice in the Sure Start Children’s Centre Guidance.