Swimming is a life skill, but despite the government backing swimming lessons for all, the reality is many children leave school not meeting the benchmark for competent swimming. In our latest blog, Ellie Liddle, Poverty Proofing Co-Ordinator, explores the barriers some families can face accessing adequate swimming services. Prior to joining the team in November, Ellie was Head of Design & Technology in Secondary Education and boasts 16 years of experience as a teacher. She has a passion for swimming, starting her career in a Saturday job as Pool Lifeguard and, more recently, taking part in the 2019 two-mile open water Great North Swim in Lake Windermere.

Since 1994, swimming and water safety have been a statutory part of the National Curriculum for Physical Education in England. All primary schools must provide swimming and water safety lessons in either Key Stage One or Two. This means every child leaving primary school should be able to swim a distance of at least 25 meters confidently and competently as well as having the knowledge and skills to perform safe self-rescue in different types of water based circumstances.

Swimming is a low impact cardio workout. It helps to develop strong bones and muscles, as well as encouraging flexibility and coordination. Swimming enables children to burn off excess energy and fat. This can help them to sleep, which in turn can help them being more ready for their school day and aid with their learning¹.

Swimming is not only a life skill for children but it can also help them to develop skills such as perseverance as it encourages them to keep working at something until they succeed, providing them with a sense of accomplishment which helps to build self-confidence².

Statistics previously published by Swim England show that swimming helps to save the health services money every year as it can reduce stress, relieve tension and can help to prevent and treat a number of physical and mental health conditions. With the rising concerns of poor mental health in children and young people as well as rising obesity levels in children it would be acceptable to think that swimming is an excellent form of exercise that is accessible to everyone. Sadly, this is not the case.

With council cuts over the past years, many pools have closed or have been sold to private companies who have increased the costs of swimming. Many parents say that they don’t take their children swimming due to the cost, they don’t have time to teach them or that they aren’t confident in water themselves.

According to research into ‘swimming and water safety in schools’ by Swim England, almost one in four children cannot swim the required 25 meters when they leave primary school and it is thought that by 2025-2026 this figure will rise to three in five pupils. The ability to swim this distance is affected by both family location and affluence. Children and young people from more affluent backgrounds have a much greater chance at being active as they are more likely to be able to afford physical activities and therefore have more access to sport opportunities. Only 45% of children and young people going to school in the most deprived areas of the country can swim 25 meters compared to 76% in the least deprived areas. 25% of Year 6 children are unable to swim 25 meters unaided. In low-income families this rises to nearly 50%.

The Covid Pandemic has obviously played its part in this with pools being closed for much of 2020, but many schools say that these statistics are due to a lack of funding within education; the costs involved with swimming are too high. All schools receive a Sports Premium payment from the government to improve the quality and access of Physical Education, but this has to be used for all areas of PE and across all year groups meaning that often there isn’t enough left for swimming. Schools also have to pay for the hire of the pool, the swimming instructors, (a class of 30 children would need 2 or 3 instructors depending on the level of ability of the children) and at least one pool life guard. Due to location most schools have to hire transport to take their pupils to and from their lessons.

Many parents say that they don’t take their children swimming due to the cost

In our Poverty Proofing® the School Day work we often see that schools ask families for a voluntary contribution to help to fund swimming lessons but this something that many families understandably struggle with, but without this contribution schools simply wouldn’t be able to afford to take their pupils swimming. An added expenditure for families is the cost of swimming costumes, towels and swimming accessories like goggles and swimming hats. Many families, especially those who live in poverty will not have this equipment as access to swimming outside of school isn’t an affordable activity.

• There are a number of ideas that we offer to schools to make their swimming lessons more accessible to all of their pupils, some examples are:
• Ensure that all Pupil Premium pupils, and anyone else unable to afford it, have the cost of swimming paid for by the school using the Pupil Premium or Sports Premium budget.
• Ensure that swimming costumes, towels and accessories are available for any pupil without them.
• If voluntary contributions from parents are necessary, ensure that families have plenty of notice (at least a term, more if possible) and that these contributions can be made over a period of time determined by families.
• Consider making swimming lessons longer, e.g. an hour instead of half an hour. The number of weeks needed for swimming lessons could then be halved, reducing the amount of travel needed and therefore reducing travel costs. A child will make more progress in an hour lesson compared to a half an hour lesson.
• Consider using CPD money to train teachers to become qualified swimming teachers. This will reduce the cost of swimming lessons to the school.

We have even heard of some schools hiring a ‘Pop Up Pool’ in which a temporary heated swimming pool and marquee is set up on the school site and is supplied with a swimming teacher, lifeguard and safety equipment. In this way the whole school can benefit from several lessons over a set period of time.

It is a scary reality that drowning is one of the most common causes of accidental death in the UK and is the third highest cause of death in children in this country. School might be the only time that some children get the chance to go swimming and learn these vital lifesaving skills.³

Is it not time that ALL children get the support they need to help them learn to swim?

¹ Swim England, 2017

² One With The Water, 2019

³ National Water Safety

Today is Time to Talk Day, the UK’s biggest mental health conversation!

Did you know that one in four of us will experience a mental health problem in any given year?

Here at Children North East, we believe in the importance of speaking up and reaching out when it comes to looking after your mental health. We share the values of the Time to Talk movement that open conversation can reduce stigma, create supportive communities and empower people to seek support.

To mark Time to Talk Day, we’re highlighting some of the support available through Children North East where a conversation about mental health can be life-changing…

Little Minds in Mind

Becoming a parent or caregiver is often thought of as one of the happiest experiences of our lives. However, we know the reality can be much more complicated, even overwhelming. Little Minds in Mind (previously NEWPIP) is a service for parents and caregivers who are experiencing difficulties in their relationship with their baby, during pregnancy or after their baby is born.

Cara Sydney accessed the service when she found herself battling depression just after her baby was born. She explains her experience of that first conversation asking for help, “I remember feeling worried and thinking, ‘What if they think I’m a bad mam?’ But actually, me seeking help meant the opposite, it showed I wanted to be the best mam I could be.” You can read her full story on our website.

Learn more about our Little Minds in Mind programme, or hear more about how the service has worked with new parents and caregivers overcoming challenges in this Mental Health Week case study.

BU

Our BU programme is delivered in schools. It’s there to provide a safe space for children and young people facing struggling to manage their emotions or facing difficulties with confidence, self-esteem or friendships. The programme explores self-care, relationships and managing negative feelings.

In the story of one participant, Abbie, small steps such as sharing how she was feeling through drawing and hearing the message of ‘it’s OK not to feel OK’ helped her grow the confidence to seek support from her school councillor. Her story shows that the big conversations are made possible by the small ones… making Time to Talk today can help people when it really matters. You can read her full story on our website.

Learn more about our BU programme and other mental health support within schools.

Melva

MELVA is a fun and accessible creative intervention, supporting children and the adults in their lives to talk openly about – and better understand – their mental health, emotions and wellbeing.

Available as a game, play and film to schools and families, it follows the exciting story of adventurer Melva Mapletree, sharing tips and techniques for managing negative thoughts and feelings along the way.

There is a lot that makes Melva special, but if we’re talking mental health, we need to mention “worrits”, the name for worries in the MELVA world. If worries belong to adults, “worrits” belong to children and give them a way to start a conversation about mental health in their own language… something less scary than using the other “W” word.

One young participant explains, “I learned that you should listen to people and don’t be scared to share your feelings and worrits.”

Learn more about Melva via its website or read our case study about our experience of partnering with the innovative intervention in our blog, Melva: The hero every child needs.

Sexual Health Support

The Sexual Health services team create safe, confidential spaces in which to explore the emotional side of sexual health alongside traditional physical health support, tackling themes as broad as healthy relationships, protecting your mental health, pornography and sexual exploitation.

The team are on hand to help young people pursue safe choices as they encounter new emotional experiences, from STI and pregnancy testing, helping them choose the right contraception, and supporting decision-making during pregnancy. One young person explains, “She [the sexual health team member] explained really well, gave us time to ask questions and was very nice to me and my boyfriend”.

Learn more about our Sexual Health services or explore their impact in our case study.

Counselling for young victims of crime

Did you know young people are disproportionately likely to be victims of crime? Often this experience can impact their mental health, incurring anger, denial or depression. Sometimes they may not even know they have been victimised. This impact can make it an incredibly difficult experience to speak about.

We offer a special counselling service for 11 to 25 year olds who have been a victim of crime, covering areas as diverse as domestic abuse, sexual violence or hate crime.

If you think this support could help you, we hope the experience of one young person might encourage you to reach out… “In all honesty, you have moved me both emotionally and mentally from such a dark frightening place to a much happier stable place.”

Learn more about our counselling support for young victims of crime.

Time to Talk is a national campaign run by Mind and Rethink Mental Health, both organisations have great mental health-related advice, information and support resources available on their websites.

If you are experiencing a mental health crisis or emergency, you can get immediate support from the NSH Mental Health helpline on 0800 652 2861. Or, if you would like to speak to someone confidentially, call 116 123 to talk to Samaritans, or email: [email protected] for a reply within 24 hours.

Every year, Children North East reaches thousands of babies, children, young people and families across the North East and beyond… Our new ‘Week in the Life’ blog series will shine a spotlight on some of the amazing people who help make that impact possible, from practitioners working in the heart of communities to teams behind the scenes keeping the lights on.

In our first ‘Week in the Life’, we meet Claudia Pearson, who joined Children North East last year as Business & Funding Development Officer. Claudia helps us find the funding, resources and partners to make big ideas into reality. Let’s learn more…

What’s the first thing you’re doing on Monday morning?

I normally make my ‘to-do’ list on the Friday before (as much as is possible anyway) so the first thing I do come Monday morning is review what’s on for that week and what my priorities are.

What does a typical day look like for you?

This can vary quite a lot as my weeks are structured around different funding deadlines and some weeks are much busier than others. When there is a deadline I spend my time working with managers to pull together project ideas and then as this progresses I review project applications/proposals and advise on what could be changed to strengthen the submission. Other times I am researching new funding opportunities and adding suitable ones to our funding pipeline.

What most excites you about your role?

I love being in a position where I get to see first-hand how ideas are developed to respond to those most in need and more importantly, to be able to contribute to making sure we have the funding to be able to make a difference. Now that I have been here a year it is also exciting to see how different pieces of work develop as time goes on and how we are able to adapt to changing circumstances.

What are you and the team working towards in 2022?

At the end of 2021 we analysed the full year of restricted funding to help us understand where our strengths and weaknesses are. In 2022, we are hoping to increase our success rate on applications for larger funding pots.

What did you do before you Children North East?

I used to work in sales for a manufacturing company, my ambition was always to work in the charity sector but it took a while for the right role to come up (of course I’m glad I waited it out!).

Have you learnt anything interesting since you started your role?

I have found learning about Children North East’s huge number of projects very interesting, as before joining I was not familiar with the charity nor with the level of need within the region.

What do enjoy outside of work?

I am very into food – at home I love to bake, and I really enjoy going out for meals and trying different restaurants. I also love travelling so I am looking forward to hopefully getting away this summer.

In our latest team guest blog, Poverty Proofing Co-ordinator Craig Watson shares his experience of joining Children North East.

Leaving a job that you love is hard, and leaving a role that is all you have ever known is daunting but my short time so far at Children North East has confirmed to me that joining this amazing charity was absolutely the right thing to do for me.

After working in primary schools for almost a decade, eight of those spent in the West End of Newcastle, I felt I knew a little about Poverty Proofing but I had only scratched the surface. Like I said, I knew a little before I found out about the vacancy for a Poverty Proofing Co-ordinator but since getting the post, it has been a whirlwind of new learning and experiences. Even after just two weeks, I can feel myself spotting Poverty Proofing opportunities everywhere I go.

My first day began in the office, getting my head down to read through policies and training, which took way longer than I thought as every few minutes it felt like someone coming in and introducing themselves to me, making me feel really welcome from the off. Day 2 and I was in school taking part in my first Poverty Proofing audit. Talking to the children and hearing their honest experiences was fantastic and from those first few conversations, I could tell that the work I was doing, alongside my colleagues, would help to make a real positive difference to children’s lives.

Week 2 and I was in another school, this time a high school, speaking to students that sometimes seemed to tower over me … it wasn’t like this in primary school! Speaking to these students was just as rewarding though and just as evident that the work I was doing was going to make a difference. We were joined part way though our audit by another new Poverty Proofing Co-ordinator; six days in and I was no longer the newbie.

By the end of the week there were three of us who had all started in the last fortnight. It felt really nice to have our own little group where I could share my ideas and thoughts about the new job with others who were going through it at the same time. Everyone has been so warm and friendly and I already feel comfortable here. My target is to learn at least 15 people’s names and faces by Christmas … so far I think I’m up to nine.

I am excited to develop within my role and continue my work, not just in the North East but across the country helping support disadvantaged children and young people by ensuring they have the best opportunities; accessing everything a school can offer them and giving them the best start to their futures.

Follow Craig and the rest of the Poverty Proofing team on their Twitter.

Sexuality is often intimately bound with our identity. The experiences and support young people access on the physical and emotional aspects of sex can make a lasting impact on their health and wellbeing. Whether it’s understanding how to protect themselves from STIs to having someone to speak to about their emotional responses to intimate situations, engaging with impartial, confidential, and professional support can empower a lifetime of healthy, fulfilling relationships.

Children North East’s Sexual Health service team is committed to delivering an inclusive service that works hard to support diverse communities and provide sensitive, expert advice where it can add value to the lives of young people. In the last six months, through their work in schools, universities and youth settings, they have worked with 394 young people, including 322 who were new to the service.

A safe space for a difficult subject

The team creates safe, confidential spaces in which to explore the emotional side of sexual health alongside its traditional physical health support, which includes the C-Card scheme and STI testing. This approach plays an important role in the impact the team have for the young people they engage with. Trained to deliver workshops, assemblies, and one-to-one guidance on a wide range of issues impacting young people, they tackle themes as broad as healthy relationships, mental health, the law, online safety, pornography, sexual exploitation and sexting.

When we ask the young people about their experience of the sexual health service, the idea of safety crops up time and time again: “they gave us valuable information to keep us safe”, “I feel safer now”, “I finally felt confident opening up”.

Making sure we’re there for everyone

Routinely engaging the expertise of staff across the charity in specialist categories of support and collaborating with its diverse groups of young people, the team have been able to reach underserved communities and those with additional needs. Close links have been made with our LGBTQ+ youth support provision, delivering sexual health talks exploring themes they have shared are important to them. Similar approaches are currently being taken with neurodiverse young people accessing Children North East services and those living with a disability.

Our broader expertise in these areas enables us to signpost young people to additional services, such as peer mentoring or mental health support.

The background of young people can often impact their likelihood of engaging with a sexual health service and Children North East pursue pathways of connecting with those that may be harder to reach. Examples include collaborating with Black and Asian communities in the West End of Newcastle and the Chinese student population.

Feedback from the young people from these groups has been particularly inspiring, for example one university student from China reporting to the team, “It’s useful, it’s good it’s here”, before saying she would highlight the opportunity to her peers from China who had never previously accessed any service of this kind. Sometimes the feedback highlights the gravity of the issues some young people have or continue to face. Another student, who had recently moved to the UK from Poland, fed back to the team that she had never received any support of this kind previously, sharing that her country had recently passed a law abolishing abortion and that sexual health education and services were simply not available to ordinary people like her.

Accessible when young people need us

Our team are often one of the last lines of defence against choices that may have a longer lasting impact on a young person’s life if not dealt with, providing a convenient and discreet way of dealing with existing concerns. These include STI and pregnancy testing, helping them choose and access the right contraception, and supporting decision-making during pregnancy. One secondary school student who used our STI testing service commented, “I didn’t feel uncomfortable. I wouldn’t have gone anywhere else”. Another reported, “I probably wouldn’t have gotten one [a chlamydia test] if they weren’t here”. This can also extend to the team being on hand to help them pursue safe choices as they encounter new emotional experiences: “She explained really well, gave us time to ask questions and was very nice to me and my boyfriend”.

Victoria Tinning is an Attendance and Personal Coach at the Newcastle-based school Studio West. She asked our team to deliver a session for her students after becoming concerned about the lack of access to similar support during the COVID-19 lockdowns. She commented, “Sessions were brilliant and very informative. The drop-in sessions are great and the students seem to find this very useful and handy that you come into school, making the service more accessible.”

As the world around us changes, from the technologies we use to the way we reflect on gender as a society, so do the needs of young people. However, what remains the same is our commitment to listening to the experiences of young people, growing our support to address the challenges they face, and to give everyone access to services that contribute to a future of healthy, happy relationships.

Everyone needs a hero, but imagine if when you were young your hero wasn’t a perfectly poised, sculpted to perfection, can-do-it-all? What if instead, your hero was a mountain-climbing, sweet-eating, eye-rolling kid, who just turned 11… oh, and she goes on exciting quests whilst managing her anxiety?

Children North East knew from the first meeting with Mortal Fools that Melva was the hero children needed. Melva had the power to give young people their own world, own language and friends through which to confront anxiety.

Since it began life as a live performance package in 2017, Melva has been on a journey as exciting and surprising as the characters it follows; giving children, teachers and families a space to explore mental health in a fun way, which speaks to young people in a voice like their own.

“Melva is simply the best drama intervention I have ever seen… the rewards are instant and long-lasting.” Headteacher

Melva started in KS2 classrooms with Mortal Fools putting on the play for students and joining forces with Children North East to explore the issues it featured via workshops.

What seemed to resonate with students, was the characters and the language they used to communicate. Worries belonged to adults, “worrits” belonged to them. Listening to the voices of young people is at the heart of our values as a charity, so watching them add to the conversations started by Melva and take them in new directions was an exciting experience for the team.

Then the pandemic hit. Mortal Fools reflected on how it could harness the power of Melva to address the disruption to young people’s daily experience and the toll this was quickly taking on their mental health. How could Melva be turned into an intervention that was accessible for all, not just in the classroom? An innovative online game was developed, putting the young player at the heart of the quest.

“I learned that being afraid of something doesn’t mean that you can’t do it.” Young Participant

As a charity supporting young people, we experienced first-hand how traumatic it was for so many young people to have the support around them cut off overnight. Melva offered schools, organisations and families the chance to quickly roll-out a tool for exploring issues relating to mental health remotely; from anxiety to relationships to sex and health education (RHSE). Often when they needed it most.

But what is the next in the tale of Melva? With a growing community of supporters and a host of research showing the long-term impact it can make for children, Mortal Fools is taking its original play to screens across the UK in film form.

With a first showing at Gosforth Civic Theatre under its belt, and a launch event planned for the 11^th November, Children North East sees the potential for Melva’s latest chapter as another step towards improving the lives of tens of thousands of young people across the UK and beyond.

“I auditioned for the part because I love children’s theatre; some of the best theatre I’ve ever seen was made for children and when it’s done right it can be life changing.” Katie Powell, Actor who plays Melva Mapletree

When the programme launched, data indicated that 1 in 8 young people had a diagnosable mental health condition. Today that figure has increased to 1 in 6. Melva may be a mountain-climbing, sweet-eating, eye-rolling kid, who just turned 11, but it seems the world needs her now more than ever.

If you are interested in attending the launch at Gosforth Civic Theatre tomorrow evening  (11^th November), or would like to join a digital showcase of the film on 30^th November, get in touch with Billie Jenkins at [email protected]. Learn more about the fantastic Melva interventions for schools and families at www.melva.org.uk.