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Welcome to the March 2007 Children's Workers' newsletter. |
Looking for some thoughtful stimulation during Lent? Paul Butler, Bishop of Southampton, has written a Lent Course called Children Matter.Each Wednesday afternoon during Lent, the week's talk will be published on the Winchester Diocese Web Site . Bishop Paul has the role of Advocate for Children amongst the Church of England Bishops. Visit the site and read his thoughts.
We have a packed e-news for you this month and we hope that some the articles will encourage you to respond in some way where you are.
5 Bites at the Apple/ Design & Deliver
Download the flyer for 5 Bites at the Apple/Design and Deliver here(pdf). For further details on the CORE weekend for workers contact jenny.lambourne@sheffield.anglican.org and for the Trainers part of the weekend contact martinlambourne@btinternet.com Visit the CORE skills website for more details on CORE www.coreskillsforchurches.com and some advance notice of another great opportunity.....
Details and a booking form from children@methodistchurch.org.uk |
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You can't get too much of a good thing, and as good things go in the world of training for children's work you cannot beat CORE Skills! There are many courses available across the country but in case you cannot get to your local course those clever people at CGMC thought they would offer a residential in June this year that will enable you to complete 5 modules of CORE Skills for Children's Work. 
Dr James Ritchie is the author of 'Always in Rehearsal' an exciting book about how authentic Christian worship happens when the whole community gathers. The book's subtitle, 'The practice of worship and the presence of children', reveals the worth of the book - it is visionary and down to earth at the same time.Friends and Heroes
The current BBC schedule for the show is - |
A great new way of enjoying Bible stories hits television screens on March 12 (CBBC).Building Strong Towers The first event was held on Wednesday 7th March in Milton Keynes. It was a wonderful evening attended by a variety of workers from very different churches. The evening was stimulating and a great opportunity to talk about some very sensitive and difficult areas. The groups we met there were energised by the experience and took a lot from what they heard and also shared very openly about their own concerns. Many commented on the usefulness of working together with partners from others areas of children's work, such as NCH. It was wonderful to welcome a number of people at the door on the evening so if you have not booked in yet do not worry - just turn up! Hopefully the bookshop and the donuts will be just enough to push you to attend! Download the Information and Booking Form here
Giving children equal legal protection from violenceYou'll know that we have been campaigning for some time for changes in British law to give children the same protection from violence that adults receive by law. We have hopes of a debate in Parliament soon. This week, on March 6, a new law prohibiting all corporal punishment by parents and carers was passed in the Senate in the Netherlands. This means that the Netherlands becomes the 18th country to ban all forms of corporal punishment. This is now the list of states which have prohibited all corporal punishment in all settings: Sweden 1979, Finland 1983, Norway 1987, Austria 1989, Cyprus 1994, Denmark 1997, Latvia 1998, Croatia 1999, Germany 2000, Bulgaria 2000, Iceland 2003, Romania 2004, Ukraine 2004, Hungary 2004, Portugal 1994 (Supreme court only), Italy 1996 (Supreme court only), Greece 2006, Netherlands 2007. |
The Methodist Youth and Children’s Workers Conference February 07Methodistchildren and MAYC made history and together held a joint conference for Children and Youth Workers. Thirty nine people gathered to share stories, network, support each other and to explore together issues relating to management. The Conference was facilitated by Sam Monaghan and Mark Jarvis. Sam was a speaker from last year’s conference. Can you help? |
Amazing Grace
You can find out more about the film by visiting the official UK site to find out more http://www.amazinggracethemovie.co.uk/ |
You have no doubt heard about the new feature film about William Wilberforce and the slave trade. As with most new films there is a variety of opinions about how the film deals with the issues. One viewpoint has come from some black community leaders which see the film as misrepresenting history. Lee Jasper, secretary of the Assembly Against Racism said the film 'prettifies' the suffering of African slaves and 'negates' the part slaves played in securing their own freedom. The film's director, Michael Apted, responded that the film is from Wilberforce's perspective and about the political situation of the day. The film, to be released on 23 March (certificate PG), is one of the many ways the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in Britain will be marked. Other projects include books, TV programmes and the highlighting of issues surrounding modern-day slavery and trafficking. If you see the film then let us know what you think! VCS Conference VCS Engage is an 18-month programme for engaging the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) in Every Child Matters (ECM). The purpose is to engage the VCS in the new framework for planning, commissioning and delivering services for children, young people and families. This will be achieved through tailored training packages, equipping the voluntary sector with the skills and knowledge we need to engage with Local Authorities and work within the ECM agenda. The programme is funded by the Department for Education and Skills. An interesting piece of work due out soon from VCS is the Baseline study of Children and Young People's Plans which looks at and compares the plans prepared by around 50 Local Authorities. There is a launch event in London on 28 March, an opportunity to learn more about the programme, share thoughts and communicate with colleagues. There will be sessions on parenting & the parenting work plan; extended schools; the youth service and training needs analysis. This could be helpful to many church groups looking at engaging with the opportunities that LA and ECM links bring, so please pass on details. More about the event at http://www.vcsengage.org.uk/events/event2/ |
Every Disabled Child Matters Disabled children, young people and their families have struggled for too long to get the right to the services and support they need to live ordinary lives . The Every Disabled Child Matters campaign aims to put this right. If you want to know more and to support the campaign do so by visiting http://www.edcm.org.uk/ Although the Disabled Children (Family Support) Bill failed to get it's second reading in parliament the Every Disabled Child Matters campaign has been successful in raising awareness that the vast majority of families with severely disabled children don't get the short breaks they so desparately need. Responding to the Bill, the Government told the House that: 1) there will be a national target on disabled children Contact a Family is one for the founder member of the Every Disabled Child Matters campaign. Contact a Family is the only UK wide organisation providing advice to parents of children with any kind of disability or medical condition. Call the Contact a Family freephone helpline on 0808 808 3555 for further information. |
District Link Day It is with a heavy heart that we have had to postpone our District Links Day at Methodist Church House on Saturday 10th March 2007. There was a very limited response to the invitation we sent to every District and it was felt that it would not be good stewardship for us to go ahead with this Day. We have high hopes that once Methodist Conference has made some decisions around Children's and Youth work that there will be in invigorated interest from Districts about where the work goes in the future. |
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you require any further information please contact us on children@methodistchurch.org.uk MethodistChildren is part of the Connexional Team of the |
