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NCYPE opera night raises over £10,000
The Fundraising Team is delighted to announce that ‘A Night at the Opera’, which took place on Saturday 27 February 2010 at the Ashdown Park Hotel with more than 100 guests in attendance, raised over £10,000 for the NCYPE.
This was a fantastic evening in the beautiful surroundings of the Ashdown Park Hotel with a four-course meal and superb entertainment provided by world-class opera singers, Melisma.
A huge thank you to everybody who attended and helped us to make this evening such a success for the NCYPE.
St Piers, Lingfield’s Sure Start Children’s Centre achieves full core status
Lingfield’s Sure Start Children’s Centre has announced that it has achieved ‘full core’ status only two years after opening.
Full core status is a term of recognition from the government which shows that the centre is offering the local community, in Lingfield and the surrounding areas, a fully comprehensive set of family support services and information and advice.
Karen Pallot runs the Lingfield centre which is part of the NCYPE’s St Piers school, and said of the accolade, “When we started the centre in 2007, we were given two years to be able to offer a certain amount of services, once this level was reached we had to pass a detailed interview and then be told if we were successful or not. Not every Sure Start centre has been successful so I’m really pleased that we have achieved this status.”
“The team here has worked really hard to provide such a varied range of services. As well as the more usual services for parents and young children that you might expect from a Sure Start centre, we run everything from a Dad’s club, to health advice, and even a toy library.”
“We have 190 registered families and have started running outreach services at a second centre in Blindley Heath. We also run a Sure Start Bus that goes to 7 rural communities around East Surrey reaching many more families.”
One parent recently said of St Piers Sure Start Centre, ‘I could not have got through last year without Sure Start’. Many are coping with redundancy and feelings of isolation. Being able to come to Sure Start allows them to forget negativity and chat about issues with others in a similar position.
For more information about St Piers Sure Start in Lingfield contact Karen on 01342 831306, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit the website at www.surestartlingfield.org.uk
We are the champions
TANDRIDGE SCHOOLS LEAD THE WAY FOR PUPILS WITH EPILEPSY
Twenty one schools across east Surrey and in mid Sussex are leading the way to a better future for pupils with epilepsy, thanks to an innovative pilot programme.
The ‘Better Futures’ initiative is aimed at raising awareness of epilepsy.
School staff have been given a day’s specialist training in epilepsy and its effects on young people – and how best to deal with it in the classroom to ensure all these young people reach their potential.
As ‘Better Futures Champions’, they then return to their school and pass on the knowledge and best practice so that colleagues are better able to support pupils with the condition.
The project is run jointly by the NCYPE and the Tandridge Confederation.
It’s hoped the scheme will be rolled out across other schools in the UK and is part of a wider move by the NCYPE to campaign for better education and health services for all 60,000 under 18’s with epilepsy across the country.
Each primary school has on average one child with epilepsy and each secondary school around five pupils with the condition.
While the NCYPE is a strong supporter of inclusion (educating children with health conditions in mainstream schools), the charity believes that proper staff training is vital so that these pupils can be properly supported.
School staff fed back very positive comments about the training given by NCYPE as part of the scheme.
“I have learnt an enormous amount in one day.” said one - and another commented “[This is] without doubt, knowledge everyone working with children should have.”
Participants can also get expert follow-up support from the NCYPE helpline on 01342 831342 Mon-Fri 9am-1pm.
The NCYPE’s Chief Executive, David Ford, said “Epilepsy isn’t just about the seizures that a child might have in class. The condition, and the drugs used to treat it, can have a real impact both on the learning and behaviour of pupils and on their self esteem.
“The role of teachers and support staff is central to helping these young people. We are very keen to encourage other schools and local education authorities to put better training in place for staff, and better partnership working in place with Primary Care Trusts, to give young people with epilepsy a better deal.”
Sarah Davison, Manager, Tandridge Confederation added: “As a Confederation we wanted to ensure that all staff working in our Schools and Children’s Centres in Tandridge were aware of the fantastic work that the NCYPE does in our Community and all over the country. We have already received tremendous support and learning opportunities by working together. As a result of this we have developed the opportunity for better training for our staff dealing with pupils with this condition. This pilot project is a common sense way of providing increased epilepsy awareness and training through a partnership approach.”
List of schools which have Better Futures Champions following training in November 2009 and January 2010:
- Audley Primary School, Caterham
- Clifton Hill School, Caterham
- Downsway School, Oxted
- Hamsey Green Infant School Warlingham
- Hamsey Green Junior School, Warlingham
- Holland Junior School, Hurst Green
- Holy Trinity School, Crawley
- Hurst Green, School, Oxted
- Imberhorne School, East Grinstead
- Limpsfield Infant School
- Marden Lodge School, Caterham
- Moor House School, Oxted
- Nutfield School, Redhill
- St Catherine’s Primary, Bletchingley
- St Peter & St Paul Primary School, Caterham
- St Peter’s CE Infants School, Oxted
- Sunnydown School, Caterham
- Tatsfield Primary School
- Warlingham Village School
- Whyteleafe School
- Worth School, Crawley
Join in on Purple Day, March 26
Are you doing something for Purple Day?
Purple Day is an International Epilepsy Awareness Day thought up by 9 year old Megan Cassidy from Nova Scotia in Canada. It is a fun and really simple way to get involved with promoting epilepsy awareness so click on the pack icon below. In it you will find lots of ideas, information and inspiration to help you get going and paint the world purple!
Download
Purple Pack (161KB)
Parents and Families conference – Manchester 2010
After the roaring success of last year, places are filling up fast for our next Parents and Families conference, which is being held on Saturday 3 July from 9.30 – 17.30 at the Ramada Manchester Piccadilly Hotel in the heart of Manchester. We will again be running some fantastic workshops and have key speakers and other specialists available on the day to give plenty of good advice and help to attendees.
At only £15 per adult and £10 per 12-18 year old, this really is a day not to be missed!
Click here for more details and booking form
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