News Archive
Mini athletics at Withdean Archived
A new mini athletics course for children aged four to eight runs at the Withdean until 8 July.
Mini athletics involves a wide rang of activities, including running, jumping and throwing skills, all taught by experienced coaches.
From 13 May to 8 July Brighton & Hove City Council’s sports development team will be providing two sessions each week from 4-5pm and 5-6pm every Tuesday at the Withdean Sports Complex. The cost of the course will be £25 for the eight week period.
Councillor David Smith, chairman of the culture, recreation & tourism committee, said: “The Withdean is at the heart of athletics in the city and has great facilities, so what better place to get your first taste of track sports and get active for summer?”
If you are interested in the course, contact sports development as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. Email jonathan.child@brighton-hove.gov.uk or call (01273) 292570.
Fundraising Walk for MOSAIC Archived
A 3 mile fundraising walk is being organised by MOSAIC on 20th July 2008.
MOSAIC is a Black, Asian & Mixed Parentage Family group supporting more than 2,200 members locally. MOSAIC membership is growing steadily and is seeking to increase its ability to raise funds to serve its membership better.
The walk, open to MOSAIC members and the wider community, will finish with a Bring-A-Dish event. So hopefully you will have worked up an appetite by then!
Naima Nouidjem, Project Director of MOSAIC, said: "Get your friends, colleagues and neighbours to stand for the MOSAIC cause."
Call or email Naima on 01273 234 017 or 07949 222501 (naima@mosaicbrighton.org.uk) to register.
How do your children travel to school? Archived
We therefore invited the Travel Team to give us some details .of their thinking thus far, as we were sure they would be .keen to seek parents' views.
Although we do not have space for their entire .response, we have printed some key extracts below.
Please do accept their invitation to feedback, either via .our discussion boards or directly to the contacts given .below. Remember- if we do not feed back our concerns or .views, we may end up with a strategy that won't work for us - .this is your chance to make a difference!
"To help parents and children choose a sustainable journey to and from
school the School Travel Team at Brighton and Hove City Council has
developed a Sustainable Travel Strategy for Schools...
The Strategy provides a whole range of information on services and measures that help promote sustainable travel to schools...
With Road Safety often being cited by parents as one of the main barriers to walking and cycling the Strategy also includes details of how the Road Safety Team provides Road Safety Education, engineering measures and other services to try and make the journey to school as safe as possible...
The Strategy action plan (pages 40-45) outlines what we are proposing to undertake or investigate over the next year...we are considering ways in which parents can contribute to its future development."
That last sentence is vital - they are clearly prepared to listen to us, so don't pass up this opportunity. To view the strategy, follow the link here. To talk directly to the Travel team, ring Lisa Simmonds, Suzanne Plumb or Stephen Kelly on 292357 or 292475.
Updated - Free Family Fun Day Archived
Wednesday 26th March 11.30am-6pm
The Children and Young People's Trust in partnership with the Brighton & Hove Parents' Forum is holding a free family fun day at the Dome to launch the city's first parent support plan. You will be able to pick up a free copy on the day and there will be information sessions about the plan so you can find out more about how the services in the city will help to support you as parents.
Fun Day PosterAt the event there will be:
- a marketplace of services that support parents, such as Children Centres, Extended services in and around schools, AMAZE, Mosaic, Family Information Service and lots more!
- a 'chillout' area for parents, with free therapies provided by Holistic Health Clinic,
- Triple P - parenting programme information and seminars,
- a chance to go LIVE onto the parents' forum website, the CYPT e-induction and the FIS (Family Information Service) directory.
For the kids there will be lots of activities for all ages including; arts and crafts, face painting, badge making and a free creche. Rob Hughes from Ball Games for Learning will be there entertaining everyone with his juggling. The fire service are bringing a fire engine along at 2.30pm and there will also be circus skills from 3.30pm by Trickswop, so bring your children along anytime!
Refreshments will be available throughout the day.
Come along and join in the fun!
More information to follow...
Parents Forum website tops 10,000 hits Archived
Kuen-Wah Cheung, the editor of the site, said: "This is a good start for a website that hasn't been going for that long. Over the coming months, you can expect more articles and features, making the website even more relevant for parents in Brighton & Hove.
"We are hoping the Family Fun Day this coming Wednesday will enable more people to discover and use the website."
As well as reading news and finding out about events, readers can currently participate in the website's discussions
dad.info gives dads a permanent source of info Archived
The company Dad Info Ltd seeks to "give dads a permanent source of all the information they're likely to need - from pregnancy, birth and babies to financial, legal and education info - from a dad's perspective."
According to the dad.info team, "All the information and services available for 'parents' are usually aimed at mums and, as we’ve found ourselves, it’s all too easy for dads and dads-to-be to end up feeling sidelined."
The website features articles such as "New dad: Petr Cech" about the Chelsea goalkeeper, "The biggest myth about dads", "Top ten rock and roll dads", as well as essential guides on subjects such as pregnancy and paternity leave.
The website also has a Facebook group at www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8257437590
Treehouse supports young women who have experienced abuse Archived
The group will be looking at all aspects of relationships including:
- what a healthy relationship is
- what makes a good relationship
- how to tell if a relationship is unsafe
- what to do if a relationship is abusive
Suzanne O'Leary, Young People's Support Worker at Treehouse, said: "The group is open to any young woman who in the past or at present has been affected by abuse at home or in a personal relationship."
The group is for 6-8 young women, run at the Women’s Refuge Project, late afternoon, once a week for 8 weeks.
To ask questions or refer a young person for an initial appointment, please e-mail Suzanne and Marie at treehousewrp@googlemail.com
Or call 01273 623 279
Sufficient childcare? Over to you Archived
Current findings are that:
- The mixed market of private, voluntary, independent and maintained providers as well as family and friends and other activities currently meets most demand for childcare. Parents would like more choice of childcare.
- In general there are high levels of satisfaction by parents using childcare
- Most parents who use childcare do so because they are working, though a significant number use it so that their children can be with other children.
- Parents think that childcare is expensive. The take up of the childcare element of working tax credit is above the national and regional average but could be increased.
- In general there is sufficient childcare supply of childcare with 75% of parents using childcare stating it was either very or fairly easy to find.
- There is more full day care provision in the what the Children & Young People's Trust defines as its Central area compared with the child population, than in the rest of the city. There are fewer after school and holiday play scheme places in the CYPT East area compared with the child population than in the rest of the city.
- The Brighton & Hove average day rate for day nurseries for a child aged 0 to 4 is £36.54. This is based upon figures from day nurseries which provided a cost for a full day’s childcare (i.e. 8 am to 6 pm). As a weekly rate (excluding any discounts given for a full week) this is £182.70. This compares with the England average of £154, the South East average of £172 for 50 hours a week in a nursery. .
Can Brighton & Hove be 'best for babies'? Archived
"The vision is to provide an environment where mothers, fathers and other carers find it easier to look after their babies' health and well-being," says Lauren from Brilliant Futures. "We want to hear your views and ideas as to how we can make Brighton & Hove best for babies."
Breast-feeding in public and returning to work is the first area under debate. A workshop for council staff is being organised to ensure as many people as possible have their say.
Good experiences, bad experiences, why women should or shouldn't be entitled to feed their babies in public or at work - all comments are welcomed.
- When? The session takes place on 20 March 2008.
- How long? However much time you can give! The workshop will last up to two hours
- Who? Anyone who might be interested in the debate!
- What is involved? You will be encouraged to express your thoughts, feelings and opinions in any way you wish - drawing, writing, verbally, through poetry, or graffiti - there is no limit!
- Why should I get involved? Because it is about your city and so you can help shape policies, facilities and services around your needs.
Refreshements will be provided!
You can also register your views, post a blog or comment on the website - www.brightonandhovebestforbabies.org
Call 07884 050857 or email lauren@brilliantfutures.org to sign up!
Coming up: Half-term round-up Archived
So where can you take your children this week?
Jubilee Library and City College both have fun programmes of events during half-term.
Soundscapes, a treasure hunt, tai chi and film-making are some of the things offered by City College at an exciting week of activity and exploration for different levels of participation at the Connaught Centre, Connaught Road, Hove.
Meanwhile, Jubilee Library will be providing notebook binding, a drama workshop,T-shirt designing and printing, graffiti sketching and a pub-style quiz.
You can read about these events and more on our Events Calendar
