Health Bulletin - 3rd November 2020

Healthy Schools Bi-weekly Bulletin – 3rd November 2020 Fire Safety Leaflet for Parents and Carers The UIP lead has developed a leaflet for parents/carers, giving guidance on injury prevention around fire safety at autumn time. It offers top tips for safer celebrations if using fireworks and being safe around candles.

With organised fireworks displays cancelled due to pandemic restrictions, the risk of serious injuries is greater than ever this year. More people than ever will likely to be holding displays at home (often for the first time) and the availability of discounted fireworks makes this a worrying time for injury prevention. The leaflet aims to give guidance on how to have a happy, but safe time, to be thoughtful to pets and neighbours and safety advice on dressing up clothes and candles.

The leaflet is available to download from the website here: Fire safety leaflet

Road safety week Sign up to Road Safety week supported by the Road safety charity Brake. This year the campaign is No Need to Speed and the resources are centred on this key message.

You can use Road Safety Week as an opportunity to reinforce key road safety messages, reminding pupils to look and listen carefully before crossing roads in safe places. It’s an ideal time to talk to them about the health and environmental benefits of walking and cycling too.

The UIP lead will also be developing a PowerPoint to be used in class or at Assembly time to help deliver this important message. If you are interested in this resource please contact the UIP Lead: Helen.johnstone@mft.nhs.uk The UIP lead would like to highlight that, in addition to the up and coming I Matter curriculum lessons, Lancashire Highways and Oak academy have made a year 6 short road safety lesson. This film can work in a classroom or home schooling. Please have a look here: https://classroom.thenational.academy/lessons/king-of-the-road-6mu36t

Young People with SEND - survey about their experiences Greater Manchester Youth Network and the Changemakers young ambassadors have created a survey to find out the experiences of young people with SEND during the Covid-19 pandemic. Please fill in the survey if you are a student with an EHCP, and those with SEN Support. Or pass this on to any relevant young people. For those children/young people who may not be able to complete the survey independently, it would be appreciated if you could provide support to complete it.

Survey for Young People with SEND Closing date: 20th November.

Write Christmas Please see below regarding a project that Wood Street mission are running for schools and community groups for children aged 4 – 17 years.

Write Christmas was devised to bring some positives in a potentially difficult holiday time. The aim is to inspire, involve and share brand new, fictional stories, from all boroughs of Greater Manchester across our social media platforms, involving GM schools/groups for young people and actors and writers from all backgrounds. 24 stories will be filmed and 2 shared on each of the 12 days leading up to Christmas - a story written by a young person from our local schools and an adult writer. The project will be running to raise awareness and funds for the Wood Street Mission, a charity helping children and families living on a low income in Manchester and Salford.

We're looking for actors, story-writers and schools/young community groups (4-17) to take part in the project. If you know of anyone, please steer them our way. If you are one of the following or if you want more information, then please do follow the links below. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to email us.

To take part, please visit: https://form.jotform.com/202954094949367 and complete the form.

Caution urged regarding misleading email to schools on RSE guidance Some schools may be aware of a misleading e-mail that has been circulating about the new RSE that contains many inaccuracies. The message begins ‘Good morning. I’m writing regarding the Department of Education’s (DofE) new guidance on relationships and sex education (RSE), published 24th September 2020 (link below)’. It appears that this identical message has been sent to numerous schools.

The message urges schools to ‘pause teaching of RSE’ until schools have reviewed their policy and warns against using content from some named specific organisations. You can read a statement that the PSHE Association have released to clarify these inaccuracies here.

Healthy Schools would like to highlight in particular:

· If a school’s policy recognises statutory responsibilities, then there is no requirement to ‘pause teaching’ of the curriculum nor update policy. · The DfE has not warned schools to avoid any named organisations. The guidance suggests using caution when choosing resources and external speakers. · The non-statutory guidance introduction stresses that ‘Schools have the flexibility to design their own curriculum to ensure it meets the needs of pupils and the community, as well as the statutory requirements’.

This email has been sent in a personal capacity and has no authority whatsoever, so we strongly advise that you disregard its content. If you have received this email or you would like some support about the topics in this article, please contact Healthy Schools.

Make your Mark!

Manchester Youth Council (MYC) would like to invite schools, youth groups and young people to take part in the 2020 national UK Youth Parliament Make Your Mark Consultation. This year due to covid 19 the annual Make Your Mark ballot will take place as an online consultation.

Stage 1 Teaching resources to run the vote in lessons, tutor groups and assemblies will be shared on 1st November 2020.

Please note that this year we are asking all primary Year 6 groups to take part to enable our Manchester Primary Schools to feed into the consultation. Youth groups and organisations will also be invited to take part. To receive resources we are asking school leads and youth leads to sign up: https://www.byc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/1b.-Make-Your-Mark_-Sign-up-to-accessresources.pdf

Stage 2 Run the vote from 1st to 30th November 2020 Voting will run through the UK Parliament week.

11-18 year olds will vote directly through the website, vote once for the topic they think is the most important to young people across the UK. Young people can cast a second vote for the topic they care about most locally.

Stage 3 The results will be announced in early December ahead of Members of Youth Parliament Debating topics in the House of Commons in 2021 ( Subject to a vote by MP’s) www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk

Manchester Youth Council recruitment 2020 Manchester Youth Council are recruiting young people aged 11-17 to join them.

We are asking all schools to share information with young people and encourage them to join and represent their school. All MYC members will be offered a full induction, training and the opportunity to work with and shadow MCC Executive Members and Leads, to complete a Councillor Shadow Award. MYC members will be able to access opportunities to represent Manchester at the British Youth Council, Youth Focus North West and Greater Manchester Youth Combined Authority meetings.

MYC will be hosting local meetings in North, Central and South Manchester to enable more young people to get involved at local level and feedback to schools. Due to Covid-19 some training and meetings may take part online via Zoom or Microsoft Teams. All MYC members will have a wide range of opportunities to learn skills for life, lead campaigns and have the chance to join groups to represent Manchester at a local, regional and national level - including Parliament.

Young people can sign up to join via the website: www.manchesteryouthcouncil.co.uk or email Joanne Aungier - Engagement Coordinator joanne.aungier@manchester.gov.uk

Delivering the Thinkuknow Introduction Course: a guide for Ambassadors Thinkuknow have developed a short guide to help you to deliver the Thinkuknow Introduction Course online or access a downloadable version (pdf).

To access the course materials, please visit: https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/account. You will need to sign in or register first.

Thinkuknow – Home Activity Packs If you're delivering remote learning during this time, you can access activity packs, including video guides and family activity sheets for parents and carers to support online safety at home.

Thinkuknow – Online Safety Toolkits Download online safety toolkits which contain short activities designed to be delivered by professionals across all education settings.

The activities help children to:  

understand healthy and unhealthy behaviours within online and offline friendships and relationships understand the importance of permission and consent, in particular in relation to sharing images and videos

 

identify signs of manipulative, pressurising or threatening behaviour and respond safely to it understand the importance of seeking help from a trusted adult when they need it

Download the resources here.

Get your resources for Alcohol Awareness Week - 16th-22nd November on the theme of 'Alcohol and mental health'.

Alcohol Awareness Week (16-22 November 2020) is a chance for the UK to get thinking about drinking - this year, the theme is Alcohol and mental health. It’s a week of awareness-raising, campaigning for change, and more. Download your free digital resources today and put those final touches to your alcohol awareness week campaign. There are lots of materials on offer for you to use online or to download and print.