Meeting the Educational, Social and Personal Needs of Mixed Parentage Children
North - Autumn 2008
Is there any greater, more taxing challenge than this? Yet surprisingly few of us know enough about tackling it.
Here’s welcome help from someone who does.
The facts are these.
Mixed parentage children and mixed race young people in public care are the fastest growing ethnic minority group in England.
They comprise 2.5% of all school children - 7.3% in inner London.
The largest group has a White/Black Caribbean background.
For many reasons they tend to do badly both at school and in care; their educational
achievements are below average in primary and secondary schools; exclusion rates
for mixed race children is double the national average.
These are statistics - but behind them are young lives and emotions which are important and
difficult to deal with.
However, before we can do anything, we must understand the many reasons how this state of affairs
has come about.
Too often teachers have low expectations for mixed parentage children; they do
not stretch them academically and so get the results they expect rather than the
results the children are capable of. Stereotypical views that such children probably come from fragmented families don’t help.
There’s also a belief - often ill-founded - that these children are confused about their heritage. On top of this, peer group pressures can cause them problems.
You know the misunderstandings, the anger and frustration that lies behind the cold figures.
Many young lives are being wasted. So isn’t it disturbing that staff development and training in meeting the social, personal and educational needs of mixed parentage children usually gets so little priority.
How much professional development, personal guidance or advice have you and your colleagues had on how to meet the unique needs of mixed parentage children and their families? Care providers and staff seldom if ever do. Yet there is a host of tricky things to think about, which is why we are delivering this one day training course.
The Training
The training is focussed on what carers, teachers and other service providers can do practically to help, support and encourage these children and young people. It covers many vital areas including:
• How to meet and value the needs of mixed race children
• How to engage with their parents, involve them and enlist their help
• How to ensure development and learning reflect the heritage of the children and their families
• How to understand the impact that being in care has on their learning and chances of success in life
• How to help them understand and value their backgrounds
• How to help them to develop, grow and take pride in and celebrate their histories, backgrounds, cultures and customs
• How to ensure their needs form part of staff training – at all levels
• How to provide good role models for these children
Amidst all the wrangling about how we are supposed to deal with our multi-cultural society, this is a really important course. It's about something that is happening now - and will happen
increasingly.
Yet this whole subject is mystifyingly neglected. I urge you to try to find the time to attend! You’ll find it well worth it, I'm sure. Why not book now, while it's fresh in your mind?
Book now
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About the Trainer
 Your course tutor couldn’t be better qualified. Alyson Malach, as former Senior Manager across a range of public organisations and with a background in social work,
brings not only professional experience to the programme but shares her personal experience and passion around meeting the needs of children and young people in education and care.
She feels extremely strongly about the crying need for a huge improvement in
this area.
Alyson speaks with passion - and from personal experience brought from her previous work in children's homes, schools and nursery education. Alyson is also a carer involved in working with mixed parentage children so she has been on the receiving end of training and support on these issues.
She has a vast range of knowledge.
Her portfolio includes education, management, Sure Start and Early Years, work with the voluntary and community sector, the
Metropolitan Police, all the way through to work-based learning organisations, prisons, 14-19 and post 19 education.
Who is it for?
The course is suitable for all those with responsibility for teaching or
caring children and young people of mixed parentage.
The course is designed to appeal both to individuals and to organisations of all sizes, whether in the private
or public sectors.
Book now as places are
limited
Please complete the booking form as soon as possible to guarantee your place onto your chosen workshop.
Attendance at the conference costs £350.00. This includes lunch, refreshments, all conference materials and a CD-ROM of presentations, workshop materials and additional resources.
If you require further information about the above seminar please
contact us
To book onto one of our seminars,
click here.
To find out how to join the
Equality and Diversity Network, click here
To find out more about the Black
Carer's Network, click here
Seminar follow up
Our responsibilities go beyond the training programme and training days to ensure that what is learnt is actually implemented. To facilitate this transition, we invite everyone who attends one of our training programmes to
join the Equality and Diversity Network and to access our resources, advice and guidance.
Membership of the equality and Diversity Network allow participants to contact us following a programme if they have any questions or are having difficulty putting into practice what they have learnt.
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