Please share this information with your families:

If you’re more than 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under 4, you may be entitled to get help to buy healthy food and milk.  If you’re eligible, you’ll be sent a Healthy Start card with money on it that you can use in some UK shops. Money will be added to this card every 4 weeks.
You’ll get:

• £4.25 each week of your pregnancy from the 10th week
• £8.50 each week for children from birth to 1
• £4.25 each week for children between 1 and 4

You will also be entitled to FREE healthy start vitamins for yourself and children.

Who can apply?
In addition, you must be receiving any of the following:

• Child Tax Credit (only if your family’s annual income is £16,190 or less)
• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Pension Credit (which includes the child addition)
• Universal Credit (only if your family’s take-home pay is £408 or less per month from employment)

You will also be eligible for Healthy Start if you’re under 18 and pregnant, even if you are not claiming any benefits.

How to Apply
You can apply online:  Please visit here .

The Education Endowment Foundation has launched a suite of evidence based resources dedicated to early years. The evidence gives information about how effective different approaches are likely to be on children’s learning and development. It can help you make decisions about how to make the most of the adults in your setting to create great learning opportunities for all your children, particularly those from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The evidence includes strong support for physical development approaches, parental engagement, self regulation strategies and social and emotional learning strategies.

To view these resources click here .

Racism can present itself in different ways in a young child’s life. A child may have direct or indirect experiences of racism, but the impact can be felt all the same. Our new early years resource has been written by Dr Pamela Hamilton and Dr Bisi Showunmi, two Child Psychologists. Both have delivered anti-racism sessions for schools and local authorities, with the second author writing her thesis on race and identity development in school children.

This booklet introduces the idea of racial socialisation and how it supports child development. It identifies some ways to facilitate your journey in supporting racial socialisation in an early years setting.

View and download the resource here .

This webinar was held in February and was recorded and will be available to watch back on the Anna Freud Centre YouTube channel in a few weeks. You can subscribe for new content notifications.

Useful links from the session

• Value, Money and Me - online books, games and resources for families to learn about money: Click Here.
• Love Food Hate Waste - put the name of the food that you need to use up, and it will give you a list of recipes to use that food:Click Here.
• For low-cost recipes: Click Here
• Join the National Centre for Family Learning for Free: Click Here.
• Money Helper high-quality support and advice: Click Here.

FREE mental health and resilience training for schools

Mindapples has been promoting public mental health and wellbeing across the UK since 2008. Over the years they’ve received lots of similar feedback from adults “if only I was taught this at school”. The vision at Mindapples is of a world where taking care of our minds is natural and normal for everyone – and this should start with children and young people.  Since mental wellbeing and resilience became a statutory part of the curriculum, Mindapples want to help schools deliver on this promise to young people. Working with schools across the UK, they have developed a package of training and classroom resources to support teachers in delivering the new curriculum and developing an approach to mental wellbeing that can benefit the whole school community of staff, pupils and parents.  The training equips school staff with the awareness and understanding they need to take care of their own minds, and the tools to help them facilitate positive conversations about mental health and wellbeing with pupils, school communities and families, to build cultures which promote healthy habits and open conversations.

“It was a really well run, well-delivered, well-resourced and useful course which I thoroughly enjoyed.  I will be delivering training on this to our whole student body and I only hope I deliver it half as well as you did and inspire our staff to make a difference as you have me!"
Judith Firth Assistant Head Mayfield School Portsmouth

Mindapples recently took part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge and reached their fundraising target so can now provide their schools programme to more schools in the UK for FREE. They are now looking for schools to receive our training so if you would like more information on the programme, course dates and registration please visit here. If you have any questions please email Michele Worden at schools@mindapples.org.

Young Minds know how important it is for young people to have mental health advice that takes into account their faith, and cultural background. For young Muslims in particular, finding tailored support can be challenging.  For a young person who’s struggling, it can feel very difficult to talk about what you’re going through and reach out for support especially if you’re worried that the people around you won’t understand. But Young Minds want young people to know that they don’t have to struggle alone, and that they deserve to feel proud of who they are. Whoever they are. That’s why Young Minds have teamed up with Muslim Youth Helpline, and worked directly with young Muslims from across the UK, to create a range of faith friendly information and mental health advice.

Download Young Minds Faith Friendly resources here .

Younger generations now grow up entwined in the digital world, always just a few clicks away from the online galaxy of gaming and gambling. This training will:

• Increase awareness of advertising and sponsorship along with an understanding of in game purchases (microtransactions), social media and the blurred lines between the online / offline world
• Equip you with the knowledge and confidence to spot the signs of harm, start informed safeguarding conversations and signpost to support when needed.
• Enable free access to award winning complimentary, downloadable, and cross-curricular resources. These include lesson plans, schemes of work, PowerPoints, tutorials (all aligned to the PSHE curriculum from KS2-5), and over 100 youth activities as well as awareness sessions on topics such as age-appropriate content. You can view sample resources here

Register below for one of four FREE online workshops: Sessions are suitable for safeguarding staff, teachers, wellbeing staff, heads, support staff, youth workers and any staff member who may have direct contact or deliver to children and young people.

• Wednesday 15 March, 3:45pm–5:45pm: To Book Click Here
• Thursday 16 March, 4pm-6pm:  To Book Click Here
• Tuesday 28th March, 3:45pm – 5:45pm: To Book Click Here
• Wednesday 26th April, 3:45pm – 5:45pm: To Book Click Here

YGAM can also run private sessions (online or face to face) for your school should you have a date that suits better (minimum 12 delegates). These are also fully funded as part of our national programme, so free of charge.

Xplore is a Family Lifestyle Programme aimed at helping children and young people who are over the healthy weight range and between the ages of 4 and 13 to move more, eat well and feel good. This free 8 week programme supports families to make sustained lifestyle and dietary changes. For more information and to book on, please contact Xplore.Barnet@gll.org

DfE research has indicated that the UK still experiences many challenges regarding stigma and taboo relating to periods. In addition, learner's feedback has shown that there was still a significant amount of stigma relating to periods and asking for products.

Barnet Council’s Positive About Periods aims to support children and young women throughout the Borough by raising awareness of period poverty to address the stigma and making it ok to talk about periods. Positive About Periods aims to enable all children and young people of school age to have stigma free access to free period products in school and at home without shame. As part of their efforts, Barnet Council will be holding a Positive About Periods Conference in July. The Positive About Periods Conference will be a culmination of awareness raising campaigns in the Borough and its schools. The conference will include PSHE sessions for schools to deliver and a logo competition. The conference will offer an opportunity to celebrate what’s been achieved and to plan for future action

Positive about Periods Conference:

• Date and time: 11 July 2023; 10.30 – 2pm
• Venue: Stone X Stadium

To reserve your place, please RSVP using this Eventbrite link.

If you have any questions, queries or would like more details on the Positive About Periods campaign or conference, please send an email to: kevin.lukau@barnet.gov.uk

Brook offers sexual health and wellbeing services across Barnet to young people and professionals.

We offer the following services:

• Relationships and sex education in schools and community settings
• One-to-one early intervention programmes with young people
• Health promotion stalls and events
• Peer education programmes
• Trainings for professionals
• C card training and drop-ins

Please contact barnet.education@brook.org.uk to make an enquiry.