Monthly Archives: June 2014

CELCIS 2014 conference: “We are Family”

The Centre for Excellence for looked after children in Scotland has written to us to say that Early Bird booking for the CELCIS 2014: We are family is available until 30the June, and there is still have time to book at the discounted rate, with a saving of over 10%.
The conference aims to explore the question ‘how can we ensure looked after children and care leavers feel part of a nurturing family?’. It will consider the reality of what ‘family’ means to looked after children and care leavers; including birth families, adoptive families, foster / kinship / residential families and wider corporate families.
It will also explore what it means to be a corporate parent in Scotland from 2015 and will examine the practical implications of the Getting It Right for Every Child agenda, the new Children and Young People (Scotland) Act and the Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act.
Keynote speakers are Dr Tony Bates, Founding Director of the National Centre for Youth Mental Health in Ireland and Frank Cottrell Boyce, screenwriter and novelist. Parallel sessions include contributions from Aberdeen City Council, St Roch’s Secondary School in Glasgow, and Foster Care Associates. Scotland.
The conference takes places on Wednesday, 8th October, 2014 at the Perth Concert Hall.
Cost: Early bird rate for three or more delegates £100, early bird single delegate £120.

For further information visit the CELCIS website.

Another View on the Intentions of Scotland’s 16 and 17 years old voters

More High School Wins For Yes

Yes Scotland continued to notch up more high school debate wins, with a trio of successes, including victories in Scotland’s biggest cities.

A debate at St Mungo’s Academy in Glasgow saw the Yes side win 59% of the vote, with No on 23% and 18% undecided.

Michael Gray, an activist from the city emphasised Scotland’s firm financial foundations at the Bridgeton school, including how we’re the 14th wealthiest country, ahead of the UK, France and Japan.

Alison Johnstone MSP and Kenny MacAskill MSP led Yes Scotland to overturn a pre-poll shortfall of 17 points into a 56% victory.

Ms Johnstone told her audience that an independent Scotland could create a written constitution, enshrining many of the country’s values and fundamental policies.

Alison Johnstone, Lothian’s Green MSP said: ‘I was delighted to speak at Gracemount High. The pupils had clearly done their preparation so it was a lively and engaged debate, just as it should be.

“The speakers for No kept repeating that we don’t have to change the UK’s constitution to see progress, but I argued that one of the big opportunities from independence for young people was to enshrine values like free education in a modern, written constitution. More and more young people are realising that they can be part of a generation that votes Yes to take control of Scotland’s future.”

This morning, Gavin Lundy, a member of Generation Yes, defeated local MSP Margaret McDougall at Garnock Academy in North Ayrshire.

Gavin increased the Yes vote by 24% to see the pro-independence side win the post-debate poll by 54% for Yes and 46% for No.

Sarah-Jane Walls, Yes Scotland’s Operations Manager said: “David Cameron blundered by saying that Yes hasn’t won a single school debate, which simply isn’t true. These comprehensive victories add to the steady flow of young moving over to Yes.

“Many of Scotland’s young people are realising that we can continue with free higher education and secure the powers needed to grow the economy and create more jobs with a Yes vote.”

Source http://www.yesscotland.net/news/more-high-school-debate-wins-yes

Limbus Critical Psychotherapy Conference

Challenging The Cognitive Behavioural Therapies : The Overselling of CBT’s Evidence Bases

November 1^st and 2^nd, 2014

Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon, England

Programme

Jonathan Shedler – Where is the Evidence Based Therapy?

Hannah Sitter Randen – The Story of CBT in Sweden: Its Rise and Fall

Del Loewenthal – NICE work if you can get it: Evidence and Research as Cultural, Politically Influenced Practices

Oliver James – Happiness, CBT and Apple Pie

Farhad Dalal – Statistical Spin, Linguistic Obfuscation: the Art of Overselling

Sarah Wollaston (MP for Totnes) – Chair of Panel Discussion

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Register now for £115; full fee after June 30th, £130

at www.limbus.org.uk/cbt

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Issue 15 of the goodenoughcaring Journal is served

The 15th issue of the goodenoughcaring Journal is now on the table. Given the interest in the general affairs of Scotland this year, we are serving up a Scottish flavoured goodenoughcaring Journal. Though showing distinct signs of have taken in on its travels, Arbroath Smokies, Cullen Skink, Stovies, Dundee Cake, Deep-fried Mars Bars, and Irn Bru. Issue 15 of the goodenoughcaring Journal contains dishes garnered from the other region of interest in this issue: residential child care.

You will find in this feast , articles dealing with childhood in Scotland, others considering matters specific to residential child care, and still others about residential care and Scotland . We hope this menu has something which you will savour.

The authors providing the fare are Kevin Ball, John Burnside, Cynthia Cross, David Divine, Ni Holmes, Noel Howard, Alan Macquarrie, Jeremy Millar, A.S.Neill, Charles Sharpe, Mark Smith, Laura Steckley, John Stein, R.L.Stevenson, Calum Strathie, and Adrian Ward.

We hope that after taking in the Journal you will feel encouraged to write an article for our next issue in December.

Click here for the Journal and for access to all the articles from previous issues.

Down from the mountain and into the glen comes Issue 15 of the goodenoughcaring Journal

The road from Braedownie, Glen Clova

Issue 15 of the goodenoughcaring Journal will come down from the mountains and into the glens on Sunday, June15th, 2014. Given the international interest in affairs Scottish this year one of the themes in this issue is Scotland and childhood and a spectrum of articles emanating from Scotland written for us by David Divine, Ni Holmes, Jeremy Millar, Mark Smith, Laura Steckley, Calum Strathie, and Charles Sharpe may to an extent speak in different ways of the experience and meaning of childhood, child care and education in Scotland in the past and present but in the main they have an eye to the future of the upbringing of children both in Scotland and further afield. Supporting these are two rarely seen pieces by A.S. Neill and Robert Louis Stevenson and an extract from The Legends of Scottish Saints edited and translated from the Aberdeen Breviary by Alan Macquarrie.

In other articles, Noel Howard critically examines the new Child and Family Agency in Ireland while following the wide interest shown in his first article, Kevin Ball has written us a sequel which considers the principles which guide the Independent Regulation 33 Visitor to children’s homes. Cynthia Cross writes about the enigma of staff relationships in residential child care, John Stein considers relationship with parents in residential child care, Charles Sharpe reviews Adrian Ward’s new book on leadership in residential child care and Adrian Ward tells us how it came to be written.

Leadership in Residential Child Care a relationship-based approach : a new book from Adrian Ward

The Smokehouse Press of Norwich are publishing Adrian Ward’s new book Leadership in Residential Child Care a relationship-based approach. (ISBN 9780957633537)

The book will be the subject of a full review in the June 15th issue of the goodenoughcaring Journal and an article by Adrian Ward telling the story of how the book came to be written will also be published.

In 2007 Adrian Ward was commissioned by the National Centre for Excellence in Residential Child Care to write a paper on Leadership in Residential Child Care. This paper was available for some years from the National Children’s Bureau website and was one of its most popular downloads, but until now has only been available in that form. Adrian Ward has now written a revised and greatly expanded version of this influential monograph, and it is published as a hardback volume for the first time.

Covering a wide range of themes from leadership style to unconscious dynamics of leadership, this is a personally argued account of the critical role of the manager or head of home, focusing also on the leader’s needs for support and consultation. The author illuminates his writing with examples of real life incidents in residential child care.

Although focused very much on the child care setting, the book also has a resonance for those in leadership roles in other professional settings.

Writing about the book Professor Jim Anglin of the School of Child and Youth Care, University of Victoria BC, Canada, says, “Finally we have a book on leadership that is fully congruent with the principles and practice of therapeutic residential child care. It contains an immense amount of insight, wisdom and real life examples in a deceptively concise fashion. It is an instant classic. For managers, directors and supervisors it will be like having an expert personal consultant at your side at all times – this is a GREAT CONTRIBUTION TO OUR FIELD”.

The author and the publishers have insisted on creating a beautifully bound hard back volume. It can only be purchased through the publishers Smokehouse Press at http://smokehousepress.co.uk at the price of £18 plus p & p.