The newsletter is full of useful contacts and websites to provide support and access to services that are available for parents, carers, families, children and young people as well as future activities, workshops and events which will be advertised throughout schools and the local community.

click here  to see Bedlington Newsletter 2009 2.pdf ...

" Getting the best out of our service"

It is important that we gain the views of all of our stakeholders so that we can customise our service to meet the needs of our community. In order to do this we ask for five minutes of your time to complete our completely anonymous online questionnaire by clicking on the link below.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=lCrnDjZoHV7KKSofqu_2biNA_3d_3d

Predominantly White British culturally, there is a small BME community and also 2 traveller sites within the Bedlingtonshire area. Housing tenure is mixed, with a number of new developments, and the parks, green areas and main streets being developed to enhance the area environmentally.

The area is semi rural and quite compact so transport links are generally better than many more rural areas in other areas of Northumberland. There are currently about 3600 children and young people in schools in the Bedlingtonshire area.

1. Map of schools location

List of Schools
Bedlingtonshire High School
Tel: 822625

Cambois First School
Tel: 825218

Choppington First School
Tel: 823197

Cleaswell Hill School
Tel: 823182

Guidepost Middle School
Tel: 822369

Meadowdale Middle School
Tel: 823170

Mowbray First School
Tel: 823198

Ringway First School
Tel: 813463

Stakeford First School
Tel: 8123B69

Stead Lane First School
Tel: 823171

The Station First School
Tel: 822326

West End First School
Tel: 822328

West Sleekburn Middle School
Tel: 823084

Whitley Memorial First School
Tel: 822994

A questionnaire is in the process of being added to our website so we can ascertain the views of parents and young adults

All headteachers have been through an online audit so we can prioritise individual school needs as they work towards full core offer status 2010

Contact Numbers:

Steve Horsfield Strategic Lead
steve.horsfield@northumberland.gov.uk 01670 822625 Ext 274

Kim Green ESC/PSP
k.green@northumberland.gov.uk 01670 822625 Ext 274

In some schools there is enough demand for wraparound childcare and resources, such as staffing, funding or parental contributions, to run a school based breakfast clubs or after school childcare provision. However, in most cases, this is not possible and it is a more practical to signpost families to one of the other organisations in the area who provide out of out of school childcare clubs, some of which is which is based on school sites. In Bedlington, for example, Trinity Youth Association and the Sure Start Children's Centres provide these, with pick ups from all local schools.

For older children, after schools clubs and activities can provide "a safe place to be" when childcare is not appropriate.

One of the important principles of Extended Services is partnership work, both between local schools, and between schools and other organisations and agencies in the area. By developing work together needs can often be met across a geographical area where it would be impossible for each school to provide or resource a service by itself.

Signposting is also important, where structured information and support is given by the school to link a family to an outside service or agency where they can get more specialised services than the school could provide themselves.

Here are some examples of how Extended Services can be delivered, both by individual schools and with other partners in the area:

Wrap around childcare available 8am -6pm all year round
Wraparound childcare is childcare that is available before and after school and during school holidays. All schools need to ensure that they have information available to signpost parents and carers to their local Families Information Service, who can help families to find local childcare that is right for them, whether that is a childminder, daycare of before and after school care.

In some schools there is enough demand for wraparound childcare and resources, such as staffing, funding or parental contributions, to run a school based breakfast clubs or after school childcare provision. However, in most cases, this is not possible and it is a more practical to signpost families to one of the other organisations in the area who provide out of out of school childcare clubs, some of which is which is based on school sites. In Bedlington, for example, Trinity Youth Association and the Sure Start Children's Centres provide these, with pick ups from all local schools.

For older children, after schools clubs and activities can provide "a safe place to be" when childcare is not appropriate.

A varied menu of activities e.g. study support, music, dance, drama, sports, volunteering, enterprise activities etc.
For some time schools have been developing a good range of additional fun and educational activities, including sports, outside curriculum time. Some of these can be provided by school staff and resources, but schools also draw on partnership work through, for example, the Sports Partnership, Wansbeck District Councils Sports Development and culture and arts teams, as well as joint work with a wide range of other local providers. Study support is essentially activities and clubs that support learning, such as homework clubs and additional "catch up" activities, but this can also be broad so that activities can often be offered using fun and engaging approaches.
Schools need to have available information to signpost to local sports and other activities and clubs in the area, especially now that it is being recommended that children and young people take part in up to 5 hours of sport and activity a week.

Parenting support, including parenting programmes and family learning.
Schools usually provide information to parents through regular parents information sessions e.g. around starting the school, SATs, exams etc, and "open door" policies. However, where more intensive specialist support , for example about good attendance, supporting children's learning or parenting issues, schools need to put more structures activities and support in place. This is where its important for schools to work with other organisations and agencies who can provide parenting groups and other support services, for example Parenting Initiatives, School Health, Educational Welfare and Educational Psychology Service. A key person in this will also be our local Parent Support Partner, who works within the Bedlington Partnership specifically around helping schools develop this area of the core offer.

Swift and easy referral to a wide range of specialist support services, e.g. speech therapy, health, behavior support, child mental health etc.
Most schools already work closely with a wide range of specialist support services provided both by the council and a number of voluntary organisations, as well as with their local FACT team ( Social Workers, family health staff and Education Welfare Officers). Developing the use of the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) will help schools meet the core offer more fully, as will developing new and innovative pieces of work within the school and across the partnership area, particularly around providing early intervention when there are problems or difficulties.

Providing wider community access to ICT, sports and arts facilities, including adult learning
Many schools already open their school building and outdoor areas for wider community use, but often there are legal and practical barrier to this which need more work to overcome. While some schools provide some adult learning opportunities it may not be realistic for all schools to offer a full adult learning programme, so they need to ensure that robust signposting is available to other local providers such as the Open Learning Centre, colleges, community education and "pathways to employment "projects.

You can find out in much more detail about the range of work we are doing locally to meet each element of the core offer by following this link.

Schools have to consult with children, young people and families to find out what services and support they need, and with other local organisations and agencies to find out what can be developed together to meet those needs. You can find more about how we have done this locally by following this link about consultation.

Schools in Northumberland are supported by their locally based Extended Services team to consult, and then make links with potential partner organisations and resources to develop new services which address gaps in current provision to meet the core offer.

Follow this link to meet your local Extended Services Team

Each school is accountable at individually around meeting the Every Child Matters and Extended Services Core Offer outcomes, as part of their OFSTED inspection, where they can draw on the evidence of the joint work and the sigposting that they do as well as any direct delivery.

You can find out more about Every Child Matters, the Extended Services Core Offer and government guidence by clicking the links below:

Download Core Offer Guidance (ppt:105KB)

Northumberland County Council Extended Services website (forthcoming)

Training and Development Agency for Schools (extended services page)

Teacher.net (extended services page)

Continyou (extended services page)

Every Child Matters

These are the people who are currently representatives on this committee: (July 2009)

Head teacher representatives

Kieran McGrane
Headteacher : Bedlington High School / West Sleekburn Middle School

Steve Horsfield : Meadowdale Middle School
Strategic Lead/Assistant headteacher

Andy Jones
Headteacher : Stead Lane First School

Joan Riley
Headteacher : Mowbray First School

School Governor representatives:

Debbie Yilmaz
ES and Parent Governor : Ringway First School

Wendy Marchetti
Parent Governor: Cleasewell Hill Special School

Multi agency representatives

Amanda Hartley
Manager : Bedlington Sure Start Children's Centre

Lynne Maughan
Manager: Bedlington FACT Team

Angela Cunningham
Senior Education Welfare Officer

Carol Leckie
Extended Services Advisor LEA

Kim Green
Extended Services Coordinator

Partnership Governance Group

We have been instrumental as part of our management structure to set up a Governors Group which will :

Bedlington Extended Services Governors Forum (July 2009)

Bedlingtonshire Community High School :

Cambois First School : Jeff Sanders

Choppington First School : Ann O'Hare

Cleaswell Hill School : Wendi Marchetti

Guidepost Middle School : Ray Stephenson

Meadowdale Middle School : Marian Gray

Mowbray First School : Michael Marley

Ringway First School : Debbie Yilmaz

Stakeford First School : Jackie Rowell

Stead Lane First School :

The Station First School : Wendy Walker

West End First School : Debbie McFall

West Sleekburn Middle School : as Bedlington High (Federation)

Whitley Memorial First School :

Consultation through multi agency forums

Under the current structure, we have a Multi-Agency Working party set up to initially look at locality training regarding the common assessment form, a Funding group and a Common Communications group

• Appraising members of these forums of any issues around extended services that are relevant to strategic and practical work across the area
• Discussing any issues and taking back ideas, observations, priorities and concerns of workers and organisations from the wider community and inputting these into decisions being made by the Partnership Committee

Have you seen the Information Stand in your school yet? The stand will be near your school reception, and it contains lots of information about childcare, local activities, adult learning, and support for families. There is a range of leaflets on the stand which cover local childcare, sports activities, parenting, specialist family support services and adult learning, all with useful contact details.
Although schools have internal noticeboards we are in the process of buying each school an external noticeboard specifically for extended services, which will inform you about whats happening in your area.

Our first newsletter will be distributed to all partnership schools, week beginning July 20th. We would value feedback as to the content, quality of information and design. As we are a new team we would value any ideas or comments as to how we can improve our service for the community of Bedlington.

Course brochures now available to download.

If you are thinking of learning a new skill or boosting your education, we have something for you.

Download Adult Education Prospectus

Extended Services in Northumberland  - this page has an overview of all Northumberland Extended Services Partnerships as well as how the service works nationally.

Many schools provide some of these things already. The Government want all schools to provide the full core offer by 2010, mainly by developing what they already provide, in partnership with families, other local schools and the wide range of organisations and agencies who already work with children and families in the area. This idea of everyone working together is very important.

Study support is essentially activities and clubs that support learning, such as homework clubs and additional "catch up" activities, but this can also be broad so that activities can often be offered using fun and engaging approaches.

Schools need to have available information to signpost to local sports and other activities and clubs in the area, especially now that it is being recommended that children and young people take part in up to 5 hours of sport and activity a week.

However, where more intensive specialist support , for example about good attendance, supporting children's learning or parenting issues, schools need to put more structures activities and support in place.

This is where its important for schools to work with other organisations and agencies who can provide parenting groups and other support services, for example Parenting Initiatives, School Health, Educational Welfare and Educational Psychology Service. A key person in this will also be our local Parent Support Partner, who works within the Bedlington Partnership specifically around helping schools develop this area of the core offer.

While some schools provide some adult learning opportunities it may not be realistic for all schools to offer a full adult learning programme, so they need to ensure that robust signposting is available to other local providers such as the Open Learning Centre, colleges, community education and "pathways to employment "projects

Download our Newsletters here.

If you would like more in depth information, there are several key documents that you could check out. The main ones are the partnership plans and progress reports that go with these. If you would like to see the full Partnership Plans, please contact us. A word of warning though - they are about 30 pages long.

Partnership Plan 2006 - August 2008
Link to 2006 -2008 Partnership Plan summary (Word:128KB)
Link to Extended Services Coordinators Progress Report Dec 2007
Extended Services Coordinators Progress Report Aug 2008

Partnership Plan September 2008 - July 2009

2008 -2009 Partnership Plan summary

1. School Information Stands
For more details click here.

2. Family Nights and Family Learning
Follow this link to find out more. (Word:118KB)

Family Nights Pilot Report.

3. Parenting Support work

Families Information Service (formally Childrens Information Service)

This is a "one stop shop" for all the information you need on

Childcare - options for you locally

Information about child tax credit you may be entitled to

Other local information on activities and support for your family

For lots of local services, activities and support, also check out the Children and Young Peoples directory

There are a number of local information leafets that Extended Services in the Bedlington Partnership have produced to help you find local sports and activities, parenting and specialist family support, and adult learning opportunities in your local area.

All these leaflets are available from Bedlington partnership schools - you will find them on the Extended Services Information Stand which will be in your school reception area.

1.Keeping Fit and Healthy...and Having Fun!

Sports clubs and activities in the Bedlingtonshire area. Leaflet produced in partnership with Wansbeck district Council Sports Development.
Link to leaflet

You can also get information about sports clubs from Northumberland Sport

2. Parenting Support Services
Link to Parenting Support Organisations

3. Specialist support for families.
Link to specialist support leaflet

4. Local Adult Learning information
Classes and activities at every level for adults in the Bedlingtonshire area. leaflet produced in partnership with WansbeckWorks.
Link to leaflet

As well as the information leaflets above, these are some organisations that can support your family

Every Child Matters!

This is what the Government is saying:

"Every Child Matters: Change for Children is a new approach to the well-being of children and young people from birth to age 19.

The Government's aim is for every child, whatever their background or their circumstances, to have the support they need to:

• Be healthy


• Stay safe


• Enjoy and achieve


• Make a positive contribution


• Achieve economic well-being

This means that the organisations involved with providing services to children - from hospitals and schools, to police and voluntary groups - will be teaming up in new ways, sharing information and working together, to protect children and young people from harm and help them achieve what they want in life. Children and young people will have far more say about issues that affect them as individuals and collectively."

Read more about Every Child Matters

Also check out www.everyparentmatters.org.uk

Here are some useful links for your family:

Northumberland Children and Families Trust

Click on the factsheet links to get up to date information about what's happening for children and families in Northumberland

Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland Mental Health Trust - information on mental health.

www.northumberlandcaretrust.nhs.uk
health care information and how health care is managed locally

www.wansbeckcvs.org.uk
Wansbeck centre for voluntary service.

www.direct.gov.uk
one stop shop of all government linked services and support, including benefits, child tax credits, child benefit.

www.dcsf.gov.uk
Department for Children, Schools and Families

www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk
support around employment and training

Local community organisations, sports clubs, youth groups and adult learning classes! Why not use one of your local school sites for your activities and be right on the doorstep for people to come along and take part!

Find out more by clicking here
School Facilities Directory

To find out more about using Bedlington Partnership school sites click here (PDF:302KB)

1. Everyone ! Read our newsletters and the website, and get in touch with us directly!

2. Children and young people, and parents and carers: Have your say by being involved in consultation and feeding back your views at Extended Services events and sessions. If you are a parent governor you could also consider being the Lead Extended Services Governor for your school.

3. Schools, local agency and organisations: Get involved in the work that is being developed! To assist multi agency work in the area, there are a number of directories that were put together following the multiagency networking events in 2007 which will be useful for you to use to find out about and contact other people and services who are working in the Bedlingtonshire area

4. Governors : keep yourselves informed and have your say through your Extended Services Lead Governor, who will be on our local Governors Forum, and your also through your Headteacher.

5. Local community, sports and adult learning organisations - use school sites!
Link to Directory of school sites (Word: 561KB)

Bedlington Extended services have written strategies to help us look at involving everyone. To find out more click here:
• Participation strategy
• Inclusion strategy

Directories

• Childcare Providers


• Activities, study support and family learning providers


• Parenting and Family Support Services

Developing the use of the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) will help schools meet the core offer more fully, as will developing new and innovative pieces of work within the school and across the partnership area, particularly around providing early intervention when there are problems or difficulties.

• Being healthy
• Staying safe
• Enjoying and achieving
• Making a positive contribution
• Achieving economic wellbeing

Parents and carers, organisations that work with children such as schools, youth services, family support organisations and County Council services and communities, will need to work more closely together to make this happen better.

The government have given us a Core Offer, which is a set of guidance to help schools and other partners to develop this locally.