I woke up at 1.40am this Sunday morning, don't know why, possibly partner creeping upstairs after coming in from a Beach Boys tribute concert. Whenever one of us is going to be dead late home or getting up, one of us sleeps in the spare bedroom, if there is one free. Partner went with pals but without me because one of our current foster children is not yet able to be babysat. Maybe she is maybe she...
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Sunday, July 21, 2013
When they ask "What's the point?"
Looked-after children are usually acutely aware that their lives are worse than most other children.
Many foster children have given up trying before they come into care. Their parents have let them down; neglected or abused them, they have no reliable extended family, no dependable siblings, no solid friendships. Their teachers and schools have often admitted defeat. They don't trust the police...
Monday, July 15, 2013
School Dinners and Fostering
Every so often the business of school dinners comes up.
Sometimes it's TV chefs banging on about them, sometimes it's an official pronouncement of some sort. Recently there have been calls to ban packed lunches because too many parents make rubbish ones.
Foster carers have to be massively tuned in to their children's food needs, and I suspect I speak for every one of us in stating that the more...
Tuesday, July 09, 2013
RESILIENCE
Blue Sky put on lots of training sessions, you always get some nuggets of practical use. The one we were all most looking forward to was on "Resilience". Most of us, myself included, hoped it was going to be about how to help us Carers maintain our resilience. Actually it turned out to be about how to help the child's resilience, which is an interesting feature of looked-after children. Take yesterday.
I'm...
Wednesday, July 03, 2013
Don't tell Cliff....
Summer Holidays are scrapped.
Michael Gove says so, from next year 70% of Primaries, and 30% of Secondaries can choose their own holiday dates, and the main freedom is to knock a couple of weeks off the summer break and stick them elsewhere.
So you could get a 7 term year, like at some private schools, with fortnight holidays every seven weeks.
It's up to Heads and governors.
Don't know about...