Focusing on children and young people

This week saw the publication of an Ofsted inspection on our Children’s Social Care & Safeguarding services. Inspectors wrote directly to children and young people and some of the things they said were:

• Children’s and young people’s achievements are celebrated

• Children and families are provided with advice and support when needed

• Almost every child in Sutton receives a good service

You can read more about the Ofsted inspection and the outcome on our website.

Monday sees the start of Children’s Mental Health Week. The week is run by the charity Place2Be and the theme for this year is Growing Together - growing emotionally is an important part of our children’s  development. As a parent/carer, here are some things you can share with your children:

• Share Kindness: being kind to ourselves can help us to feel good inside and being kind to others can help them feel happy and positive. Who will you share kindness with today?

• Have a Go to Grow: every day we try new things and it's OK if you find them tricky. Being brave and having a go helps us to grow. What are you going to try that is new today?

• Growing and Changing: as we grow, we change. Our bodies change as we grow older and our minds and feelings can change too. If you are ever worried about something that has changed, you can: Speak to an adult you trust in school or at home.

Here are some of the other places your child can contact if they want to talk about anything.

• Jigsaw4U: a charity for children and young people. To talk to someone, the phone number is 020 8687 1384. This phone line is available Monday - Friday from 9am-5pm, excluding bank holidays.

• Off The Record: provides counselling for children and young people from 11-25 years, including free text based counselling and workshops.

Here is a quote from Christopher Robin to Winnie The Pooh that you may want to share with your children:

Promise me you’ll always remember - you’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think

Have a good, kind and brave week.

Councillor Marian James