Preparing younger children for going back to school Have conversations with your child about what going back to school might look like. You might have to walk to school a different way, start at a different time, the school might look different and teachers and teaching assistants might be dressed differently.Ask your child’s school if [...]
Make lunchtime or breaktime an event with these boxes of healthy snacks Beetroot bites, cheese fingers and savoury muffins: tasty breaks for young eaters. Courgette, olive and halloumi muffins A savoury muffin that works in a lunchbox, as a grab-and-go breakfast or a nutritious, filling snack. Pictured with apple, plain popcorn and chocolate-dipped apricots (melt [...]
We recently went to Telford, Shropshire to visit Paula and Hezron who have been fostering with Freedom Fostering for a number of years. We wanted to see how they'd been keeping busy during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how they'd managed to keep abreast of schooling this summer. What were your motivations to foster? "My inspiration [...]
Photographer Slater King introduces his latest project focusing on nursery workers, and some of them detail how the pandemic has affected their work During lockdown, there has been a group of people who hug non-household people regularly, without any form of PPE. They casually dish out hugs, wipe tears and help blow snotty noses, all [...]
Countless young people are being pushed to Europe’s margins by hardline border and migration policies We don’t know how many undocumented children are living in Europe. We don’t even know how many children are currently locked up in detention because of their own or their parents’ immigration status. While the European Union requires precise data [...]
Fostering has taken on a whole new meaning during COVID, with school children across the country committed to staying home every day instead of attending in-person. We caught up with Mr & Mrs Smart to see how they had been coping during the pandemic, and what changes they’d made to make sure their family remained [...]
We've been busy at Freedom HQ during lockdown, and this includes our amazing foster carers who have remained positive and motivated during this unprecedented situation during COVID-19. The most important thing to the team has been to maintain consistency for the young people in our care, whilst keeping up with school work and providing a [...]
Research suggests father-child play at an early age could benefit children as they get older Children whose fathers spend time playing with them at a very early age may find it easier to control their behaviour and emotions, which has a beneficial impact as they get older and start school, according to a new study. Research [...]
Two mothers describe their mixed feelings about sending their children back into classrooms Jane, 42, from Derbyshire, has two children – a daughter in primary school and son in secondary. “It’s been really difficult to motivate my kids and keep them focused, because they’re surrounded by home comforts and distractions. I’m working from home, so I can’t [...]
Councils warn they face pressures on ‘staggering scale’ as data shows there were 646,120 referrals to children’s services last year – equating to 1,770 referrals per day A child is referred to social services every 49 seconds in England and Wales, figures show, prompting urgent calls that a lack of funding is leading to “catastrophe” for the next [...]
