"Be the change that you wish to see in the world"
Events this week:
June 1st- June 30th- Pride Month 2024
June 3rd- June 9th- National Volunteers Week 2024
June 3rd- June 9th- Child Safety Week 2024
June 3rd- June 9th- Garden Wildlife Week 2024
June 5th- World Environment Day 2024
June 7th- Tourette’s Awareness Day 2024
Legislation/Regulation of the week
The Children Act 1989
Before the Children Act came into effect in 1989, there was no piece of legislation that covered child protection in the UK. The Act states that a child’s welfare is the paramount consideration of their upbringing. It details what local authorities and the courts should do to protect the welfare of children and charges local authorities with the duty to investigate.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 20 mins)
Please remember to review this in your policy/legislation review workbook)
Videos of the week
Lily: A Transgender Story
Filmed over five years, this is the story of Lily Jones and her transition from male to female – a journey which began when she was 15 and living with her farming family in mid-Wales.
Lily's life has been captured throughout, including this new chapter in which she is preparing for her next step, gender reassignment surgery, as well as making the big move of leaving behind her rural family home in Aberystwyth for a new life in Birmingham.
City life is just one change for Lily, who is loving her first job and has started a brand new relationship. Everything is thrown into chaos by the unexpected and sudden complications of the Covid-19 pandemic.
(Watching this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 90 mins)
Event of the week/month
Pride Month 2024
Pride is celebrated in the month of June, as that was the month when the Stonewall riots took place. The Stonewall riots were important protests that took place in 1969 in the US, that changed gay rights for a lot of people in America and around the world. Pride is a celebration of people coming together in love and friendship, to show how far LGBTQ+ rights have come, and how in some places there's still work to be done.
Pride month is about acceptance, equality, celebrating the work of LGBTQ+ people, education in LGBTQ+ history and raising awareness of issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community. It also calls for people to remember how damaging homophobia was and still can be. Pride is all about being proud of who you are no matter who you love.
(This can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Safeguarding & ED & I
The Influential Role of Social Media, Music, and Celebrities in Teen Drug Culture
Explore the powerful influence of social media, music, and celebrities on teen drug culture in our latest article. Discover how platforms like YouTube and TikTok, along with musicians like Lil Wayne and Future, contribute to the glamorisation of substances like lean. Learn about the composition of lean, its health risks, and the importance of media literacy in empowering youth. Join us in navigating this complex issue and promoting a safer environment for today's teens
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 60 mins)
Instagram's Fight Against Sextortion: New Tools and Measures
Instagram is rolling out new tools to combat "sextortion," a form of online blackmail involving intimate images. These tools, including "nudity protection" that blurs explicit images in direct messages, will be tested soon and default for users under 18. Pop-ups guiding potential victims to support services will also be trialled. Instagram's move comes amid global concerns about sextortion's threat, highlighted by recent cases of sexual extortion leading to tragic outcomes.
The platform emphasizes the severity of this crime and unveils measures to detect and deter potential sextortionists, alongside providing support for users affected by such incidents. Additionally, Instagram pledges to share data to combat sextortion and child abuse through the Lantern initiative. The announcement coincides with WhatsApp reducing its minimum age to 13 in the UK and Europe, a decision criticized by some advocacy groups.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Government Takes Action Against 'Deepfakes' Creation
Despicable individuals creating sexually explicit 'deepfake' images now face prosecution under a new law announced by the government. The offense targets those producing these harmful images, aiming to cause alarm, humiliation, or distress to victims. Offenders can be fined unlimited amounts and may face imprisonment if images are shared. This law bolsters existing legislation, criminalising both creation and sharing of 'deepfakes.' The move is part of a broader effort to protect individuals from various forms of abuse, including online exploitation.
Other initiatives include reclassifying violence against women and girls as a national threat and introducing new criminal offenses to punish those taking or recording intimate images without consent. Notably, the government is prioritising safeguarding women's safety online, responding to concerns raised by campaigners and media outlets. These measures underscore the commitment to combatting gender-based violence and ensuring justice for victims
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
How can we support the mental health of children in our setting? A 6 step guide.
The Department for Education (DfE) in England has announced several initiatives to support children's mental health. These include expanding Mental Health Support Teams in schools, emphasising mental health and wellbeing in Relationships, Sex, and Health Education (RSHE), and providing assistance to pupils and their parents/carers dealing with issues affecting school attendance.
Schools and colleges are vital in promoting and nurturing the mental health and wellbeing of pupils by fostering safe, calm, and supportive learning atmospheres. Acknowledging the importance of pupil voice, the mental health guidance for educational institutions highlights the significance of incorporating pupil voice into decision-making processes. This involvement can positively impact pupils' mental health and wellbeing, fostering a sense of belonging within the school, college, and broader community. Here are six ways the Government are actively supporting the mental health of children and young people.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 40 mins)
Tiny Happy People
With a renewed focus on Practitioners working creatively in the early years with children and parents to support development in the early years, the BBC have produced a new series of resources on their website ‘Tiny Happy People’.
Tiny Happy People is full of advice and activities that is useful for early years practitioners, both for use in settings and for sharing with parents and colleagues. They offer a range of topics linked to children's development from 0-4, with a specific focus on children's pre-literacy skills and language learning, ideal for school readiness.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 40 mins
Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)
ARFID is the second-most common eating disorder in children under 12 years old.
Symptoms include being a very selective eater who may have strong negative reactions to smells, tastes, textures, or colours of foods. The common signs are food refusal, anxiety, being underweight, or growing slowly. This can lead to weight loss, nutrient deficiencies, growth disturbances, and social anxiety.
The onset of ARFID may be due to a form of food-related trauma, including a negative experience with eating, such as choking, gagging or vomiting.
Charity Beat received over 2,000 phone calls in 2023 in relation to this little known about eating disorder and describe the rise as ‘worrying’. Only medically recognised in 2013, it can affect people of any age though typically begins in childhood.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 20 mins)
Health & Safety
Breathlessness and difficulty breathing
Breathlessness is an unpleasant sensation of uncomfortable, rapid or difficult breathing. People say they feel puffed, short of breath or winded. The medical term is dyspnoea. Your chest may feel tight and breathing may hurt.
Everyone can experience breathlessness if they run for a bus or exert themself to an unusual extent. But it is important to seek medical attention if you experience breathlessness, as it may be due to a serious underlying problem.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 20 mins)
How to manage stress
This leaflet gives some general tips on how to manage stress. However, contact a doctor if you develop persistent anxiety symptoms.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 20 mins)
How to deal with stress through exercise
There’s strong evidence to suggest that staying active helps us cope with stress - and as the cost of living rises, so does the prevalence of burnout. Exercise and other techniques can help deal with signs of stress while you get to the root of the problem.
Stress is a major public health issue in modern times, and the cost of living crisis hasn't helped. A 2024 survey found that 4 in 10 people feel more stressed or anxious due to rising costs, and 2 in 10 had experienced mental health problems as a result1.
While stress might manifest as anger, irritability or feeling overwhelmed, it might also leave you feeling unable to enjoy yourself, worried you've lost your sense of humour, or even lonely.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
How to support someone with depression
The World Health Organization estimates 1 in 4 of us will have a mental health issue such as depression in our lifetime. Even if you’re not affected, the chances are someone close to you may be.
Here we look at how to spot the often-hidden signs that someone you know is feeling depressed and how you can help them.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
Wider Curriculum
What the 2024 general election means for social care
Rishi Sunak has called a general election for 4 July.
The prime minister made the announcement in a statement in Downing Street today, firing the starting gun on a six-week campaign.
The news comes with the Labour Party roughly 20 percentage points ahead in the polls (source: BBC), strongly suggesting they will end 14 years of Conservative rule on polling day. Announcing the election, Sunak referenced global security, defence spending, NHS investment, funding for local transport, schools standards, welfare reform, immigration levels, sending asylum seekers to Rwanda and his plans to prevent future generations from buying cigarettes.
However, there was no mention of social care, and the two parties’ plans for the sector in England* remain thin despite many pressing issues facing the sector.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
How staff support ensures fantastic outcomes for children and families
“In order for practice to thrive and meet children’s needs, you have to have a highly skilled, stable and consistent workforce across the whole of a children’s service,” says Ann-Marie Matson, the new director of children’s services at North East Lincolnshire Council.
Since assuming the role in mid-December 2023, Ann-Marie has successfully recruited a permanent senior leadership team, including a team of service directors, deputy service directors, service leads and a principal social worker.
She is actively recruiting to frontline practice supervisor roles, while also ushering in a revamped programme that prioritises career progression for social workers.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 20 mins)
Dr Mike: The Hidden Side Effects Of Vaping! The Dark Side Of Being A Doctor! We Need To Stop Medical Misinformation!- Podcast
He might be known as the ‘Sexiest Doctor Alive’ but his true talent is fighting against the ugly side of medical misinformation. Doctor Mike is a family medicine doctor and YouTube’s #1 Doctor. He has over 25 million followers on social media and is also the host of ‘The Checkup with Doctor Mike’ podcast. In this conversation, Doctor Mike and Steven discuss topics such as, the errors in the biggest online health trends, which popular diets are destroying your health, the real truth about calorie counting, and the one thing that helped Dr Mike cure his depression.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-diary-of-a-ceo-with-steven-bartlett/id1291423644?i=1000657248201
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 60 mins)
Jaz Sawyers helps young women tackle period anxiety: Videos
European long jump champion Jazmin Sawyers is leading a campaign to help young female athletes overcome the challenges of their menstrual cycle.
The 29-year-old from Stoke-on-Trent visited her old athletics club in the city to talk to young girls about the physical and emotional impact that periods can have on their performance.
Research by sanitary products company Always suggests that 66% of girls and women believe the time of the month puts them at a competitive disadvantage.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 40 mins)
Sustainability
Let’s make our workplaces more sustainable
As the impacts of climate change and nature loss increase, it is a good time to re-evaluate our office spaces and business practices, and set a path to a more sustainable future. We’ve put together tips below to encourage businesses and organisations, no matter how big or small, to start embedding sustainability into business as usual.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 mins)
The food chain: Can beef be carbon neutral?
Cows emit greenhouse gases when they eat, which contributes to global warming. But is it possible to produce meat in a climate-friendly way? Grace Livingstone visits a carbon neutral certified ranch in Uruguay, where farm manager Sebastian Olaso shows her around. She also meets Javier Secadas, a small farmer who raises cattle on natural grasslands, and agronomist Ignacio Paparamborda, from the University of the Republic in Montevideo.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 20 mins)
The roadmap to a sustainable future for adult social care
Care England’s latest publication, Care For Our Future: The roadmap to a sustainable future for adult social care, strikes a balance between addressing the urgent needs of the adult social care sector and remaining pragmatic and deliverable amid a challenging economic and political landscape. Care For Our Future represents a comprehensive and ambitious programme for the next Government.
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 30 min)
An Idiot’s guide to change the world- We need to talk about money (S2: E7)
The fight to eradicate extreme poverty has been fought for years. But despite this, over 700 million people still survive on less than $2.15 a day. So is it time we talk about cash?
(Reading this can be counted towards your 20% off the Job learning – Approx. 60 min)
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