Tag: Children and Families

Coming out to play?

Applications are invited for an Edinburgh Playing Out pilot project which would see residents in eligible streets organise temporary road closures for children’s play events. 

The Council’s Playing Out scheme, which runs from 1 April to 31 August 2017, enables suitable residential streets to be closed [free of charge] for up to five sessions of outdoor play.

An update on the scheme will be considered by members of the Transport and Environment Committee on Tuesday (21 March).

North Edinburgh has held succesful Playing Out days in recent years when Total Craigroyston organised a programme of activities (above).

Councillor Lesley Hinds, Transport and Environment Convener, said: “This Playing Out project is an excellent opportunity for local residents to close their streets for free so that kids can enjoy playing safely in the open air with their friends.

“Play events are also a great way for neighbours to mix and socialise, helping build stronger communities as well as boosting children’s health and wellbeing.

“I hope we’ll see lots of applications coming in so that playing out events can be run as often as possible during the warmer months.”

Lucy Richardson, of local group Edinburgh Playing Out, said: “This is a great initiative from the Council, giving residents up to five free street closures for street play from now until the end of August

“Children love unstructured play close to home and once children are playing on the street, people of all ages come out and chat to their neighbours and join in the freedom of a traffic-free street. It’s healthy and it’s fun.  Let the children play – apply now!”

 Conditions: 

You can close your street

  • only if it is a residential street
  • for up to five sessions

You cannot close your street if it is a

  • bus route
  • main road with a lot of traffic

Applicants should contact their local neighbourhood office to request a playing out session for their streets (if eligible). 

More information can be found on the Council’s website.

 

Youth Work: make your choice

Continue reading Youth Work: make your choice

Keep the kids entertained this Easter

Keep the kids entertained this Easter at the biggest club in town

Looking for reliable and fun holiday childcare this Easter? Keep the family active and entertained with a range of adrenaline pumping and entertaining activities at Edinburgh Leisure’s holiday clubs. Book for a day or a week and there’s even the opportunity for an early drop off and late pick up at no extra cost.

Continue reading Keep the kids entertained this Easter

New law to protect children

Emotional abuse and neglect will be a criminal offence

New legislation to criminalise emotional abuse and neglect of children will be introduced in Scotland, Minister for Childcare and Early Years Mark McDonald has announced. The Children and Young Persons (Scotland) Act 1937 will be updated to recognise the impact of emotional abuse and neglect, as well as physical harm. Continue reading New law to protect children

:’Happy readers make good learners’: reading challenge extended

A challenge designed to instil a love of reading in young people is being extended to reach an additional 173,000 children across Scotland. The First Minister’s Reading Challenge will now be open to children in Primary 1 to Primary 7, after the success of the initial scheme which was for primaries 4 – 7. Continue reading :’Happy readers make good learners’: reading challenge extended

Meet the Police at Tesco Duke Street

Edinburgh police officers are inviting local children to an arts and crafts and face painting session at the Tesco store in Duke Street on Saturday 4th March.

The officers will be at the store between 11am and 4pm giving away wristbands, pencils and pens and refreshments supplied by the store. Children will be invited to dress up as police officers and sit in the police car, and there will also be a DJ and other fun activities provided by Tesco at their 80’s themed event.

This event is a follow-on from two successful community-based ‘Meet the Police’ pilot projects at the Sheriff Court and Stenhouse Primary School aimed at building trust between communities and the police with a particular emphasis on children.

Police Constable Tracey Gunn said: “We want to encourage children and families to think about the ways the police keep them safe but also to raise awareness of the rights and responsibilities of the police towards the public and vice versa.

“We will also showcase our work with offenders and their families, in particular our booklet ‘My Daddy and the Police’ and will gather feedback as to how better to build trust within the communities we serve. I am looking forward to meeting families at Tesco’s on Saturday 4th March and hope they will find it a fun and informative day.”

Tracey is the driving force behind the creation of the Police Liaison Officer position at HMP Edinburgh. It was the first in Scotland and initiatives and ways of working she has introduced have been adopted at other prisons in the country. It’s key in developing positive working relationships between local police and the prison.

If you regularly follow Police Scotland’s Facebook page you may have seen Tracey’s flagship scheme, “Meet the Police”, which is being rolled out in prisons across Scotland and local communities through events at courts, supermarkets, libraries and schools.

Tracey continues to develop her work and is currently working on a short film made with prisoners that aims to steer young people who are involved in low level offending or those at risk of offending away from more serious crime, by showing them the harsh realities of being involved in organised crime and prison life.

Urgent action needed in schools to address childrens’ mental health

Figures produced by the Scottish Children’s Services Coalition (SCSC) have highlighted dramatic increases in the reasons pupils are being identified with additional support needs (ASN) in Scotland’s schools. Continue reading Urgent action needed in schools to address childrens’ mental health