children's services scrutiny forum agenda - Hartlepool Borough ...

Children’s Services Scrutiny Forum – 31 January 2011
7.3 (d)
that, apart from the getting to know y ou activ ity at the beginning, energizer games and
supplementary activ ities were not required.
The c hildren s hared a lot of information as they were engaged in the consultation ac tiv ities which
was not formally rec orded during the workshop in order not to disrupt the flow of discussion. They
were also keen to take home their family sheets and consequently this feedback is a summary of
the discussion that took place.
The children represented at the workshop clearly felt sec ure and confident in ex pressing their
views about both their families and themselv es.
The initial part of the disc ussion inv olv ed the children sharing together the mak e up of their
families. The families that were represented involved quite a considerable complexity, 2 of them
with the number of children in the family being over 5. Families represented also included
situations where c hildren from prev ious relationships of both parents were liv ing together with
children from the current relationship. All the c hildren were v ery frank in sharing some of the iss ues
that resulted from this c omplex living arrangement. There was open acknowledgement of the part
that other agencies play ed in this to help their families. In the c ases of the families repres ented
there was also clearly a particular awareness of the role play ed by health professionals in the
shape of hos pital, GP, nurses and health visitors.
All the children were positiv e about the inv olv ement that they were aware of from other agenc ies
with their families. The feedback was that it was an awareness of how other people helped their
parent or parents who was then able to help them. This was what the children had ex perienc ed
and what they expressed as the way they wanted things to continue:
“…she helps my mam and I know I can go to my mam and ev ery thing is alright…”
One of the c hildren related difficulties that had happened in the past when his parent had been in a
prev ious relationship, but that this had now changed for the better in a new relationship, with new
step brothers and sisters and how they had been helped, although he wasn’t able to identify what
help they had had specifically . He knew the first name of the worker but not where they were from.
2 of the children were keen to share what they had been doing with the res t of the groups when
they returned to the main room. This was cleared with mum. I n the ev ent only one of the children
stood up in front of ev ery one finishing with the highly effectiv e statement:
“This is my life”
11 01 31 - 7 3 (d) - CSSF - CS Scrutiny Think Family workshop (5-11)
2 Elizabeth Hawkridge
Children’s Serv ices Manager
Barnardo’s Hartlepool