Month: January 2019

Why not have a class discussion about fairness and inequality? Haringey’s Fairness Commission wants to hear from children and young people across the borough. They are inviting primary and secondary schools and colleges across Haringey to download the Schools Toolkit, which can be used to guide classroom-based activities with pupils stimulating discussions on the topic of fairness and inequality. 

The Schools Toolkit contains a separate activity pack for primary and secondary school students, with a range of activities and a conversation guide to help students explore the topic at the right level for them. We have also created a teachers’ support pack, which provides teachers with background on the Commission, additional guidance on potential activities, and tips on how to get the most out of class conversations about fairness and inequality. Finally, we have included a feedback form, to help you report back to the Commission about what students have said.

If you would like a commissioner or officer to come along to your discussion, please also let us know. While we will not be able to attend all groups, we will try to get someone to come along to hear directly from your students if we can. 

Each part of the toolkit can be downloaded below. Alternatively, if you need them in a different format please contact Haringey’s Fairness Commission by email, fairness@haringey.gov.uk, or by post to Haringey Fairness Commission, c/o the Policy Team, Haringey Council, River Park House, 225 High Road, Wood Green, N22 8HQ.

Please send a summary of your discussion by 15 February 2019. 

Find out more here (external link)

The Schools Toolkit

Fairness Commission Schools Toolkit Teachers Support Pack

Fairness Commission Schools Toolkit Secondary Students Activity Pack

Fairness Commission Schools Toolkit Primary Students Activity Pack

Fairness Commission schools feedback form

Haringey Public Health commissions Protect Our Women (POW) to deliver Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG)  preventative, interactive educational programmes in schools and youth spaces. POW delivers workshops to students and the wider school community and can also train school staff to lead their own workshops. The team has been working in Haringey for over five years and have reached over 600 young people. Please see this leaflet for more information.

POW for Primary Schools

POW is free for schools and youth spaces.

If you usually hold your summer sports day or other sporting events in a Haringey park, you need to know that the booking process has changed. You can now submit your request on a web form (external link).

Please send your request at least 21 days before you wish to hold your sports activity. The team won’t be able to accommodate your request in less time than that if you require a 'mark out'. Official confirmation of your booking will be sent within 10 working days of your request. For further information please contact the Haringey parks events officer  parksbooking@haringey.gov.uk

The NSPCC believes that every childhood is worth fighting for. Their friendly Speak out, Stay safe sessions are designed to equip children with the knowledge and understanding they need to stay safe from abuse and neglect. With the help of Speak out. Stay safe mascot, Buddy the speech bubble, trained NSPCC volunteers and staff lead assemblies and workshops that are lively, memorable and child-friendly – and help children feel empowered.

The service is available free of charge to all primary schools, with the option to build in some fundraising to support the NSPCC as part of the visit. Over 80% of Haringey schools have already taken part – but 20% of Haringey primary schools have yet to take part – so would specifically like to reach those schools.

The NSPCC recently visited Rhodes Avenue Primary School, and deputy headteacher Shane Claridge commented on the Speak out, Stay safe programme:

“I would like to thank you and your team for coming into our school and disseminating such important advice.  You were incredibly professional and sensitive to the needs of our school.  With hindsight, I should have considered watching the programme in another school so that I could have contacted your wonderful organisation earlier.  All my groundless fears about how your essential message was going to be construed were immediately dispelled.   The success of the programme is testimony to your delivery, organisation and sensitivity.  I am thankful for your time and support.”

If your school has not yet taken part, or it has been more than three years since your last NSPCC visit, the NSPCC would  love to hear from you. Contact Jenna Lloyd, NSPCC schools service area co-ordinator, at jenna.lloyd@nspcc.org.uk or visit the NSPCC website (external link) for more information and to request a visit.

Do you know any sixth formers or other young people who might be interested in shaping the future of London’s transport? Transport for London (TfL) is currently recruiting members for its youth panel, with a closing date of Monday 11 February. The TfL youth panel consists of around 25 volunteers aged 16 to 25, who regularly travel in London. They play an important role in helping to create a transport network across London that works for young people.

The youth panel has been around since 2009 and members have helped shape the Mayor of London’s transport strategy, road safety campaigns, and Year of Engineering, among many other initiatives. They also formally submit consultation responses, representing the voice of young Londoners, and take part in some TfL campaigns.

TfL recruits at the beginning of each year and hold elections for executive committee roles in April.

Encourage your students to find out more by emailing youthpanel@tfl.gov.uk

Encourage your junior bookworms to read six books and then vote for their favourite to win the Biblio-Buzz: Alexandra Palace Children’s Book Award.

Haringey Library Services and Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust are collaborating to deliver the award, which is aimed at  inspiring nine to 12-year-olds to read. The shortlisted novels are:

• Will You Catch Me? – Jane Elson
• Tin – Padraig Kenny
• Child I – Steve Tasane
• Kat Wolfe Investigates – Lauren St John
• The Lost Magician – Piers Torday
• Kick – Mitch Johnson

The reading challenge launches on Saturday 2 February at 11am with an exciting programme of activities in Wood Green Children’s Library including readings from the shortlisted authors and a workshop with a children’s book illustrator. The voting deadline closes on Sunday 31 March. Voting cards are available in the libraries.

Find out more about the award and the authors (external link).

Throughout February and March there will be more workshops, opportunities to meet with the authors, reading group sessions and prizes for the children who complete the programme. The winning author of the children’s vote will receive an award at a ceremony to be held at the recently opened Alexandra Palace Theatre on Tuesday 2 April.

Mark Civil, Head of Creative Learning at Alexandra Palace, says

“We are very excited to be delivering Biblio-Buzz and working with Haringey Library Services. As an avid reader I am passionate about promoting the joy of reading and engaging with creative activities. Evidence suggests that young people with a good reading habit have better prospects and are likely to succeed at school, participate in their communities and get good jobs. I’m not snobbish about what kids read from blogs to comic books to novels – I just want to get them reading!”