Playing it fair
Simon Vevers
Wednesday, June 20, 2001
Learning how to tackle discrimination and promote equal opportunities is a key part of a childcarer's role. Simon Vevers lists courses and organisations that can help in this area Children in Scotland is running a one-day workshop on:
Children in Scotland is running a one-day workshop on:
* Anti-discriminatory practice in working with young people, on 26 October, in Edinburgh.
Contact Alison Rowan, Children in Scotland, Princes House, 5 Shandwick Place, Edinburgh EH2 4RG (0131 222 2405, e-mail arowan@childreninscotland.org.uk,website www.childreninscotland.org.uk).
The Council for Awards in Children's Care and Education (CACHE) offers a professional development unit within its Level 3 Diploma in Child Care and Education on:
* Anti-discriminatory/Anti-bias practice.
Contact CACHE, 8 Chequer Street, St Albans, Herts AL1 3XZ (01727 738 308, fax 01727 867609, e-mail info@cache.org.uk,website www.cache.org.uk).
The National Early Years Network runs a selection of workshops on promoting equality for early years practitioners. Subjects include:
* Anti-discriminatory practice: An introduction to race, gender and disability issues.
* Equality of opportunity, with reference to gender.
* Equality of opportunity, with reference to race.
* Challenging racism: Taking a strategic approach.
* Disabled children and inclusive practice.
* Special educational needs workshops on Code of Practice: Specific disability groups and policymaking, process and principles.
Contact the National Early Years Network, 77 Holloway Road, London N7 8JZ (020 7607 9573, fax 020 7700 1105, e-mail neyn.org@virgin.net).
NIPPA: The Early Years Organisation has introduced a series of short courses to meet the needs of the early years workforce in Northern Ireland. These include:
* Equal opportunities courses.
Contact NIPPA, 6c Wildflower Way, Apollo Road, Belfast BT12 6TA (028 9066 2825, fax 028 9038 1270, e-mail info.nippa@cinni.org).
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) runs the following two courses:
* Working with the strengths of black families. This course aims to begin to acknowledge the need to work with the strengths of black families. Participants learn to recognise the predominantly eurocentric values of family life in Britain, and demonstrate knowledge of the effects of institutional oppression on black clients.
* Prejudicial blocks to good practice. This course examines how personal prejudices develop, hampering objective attempts to ensure the best interests of the child are met. It demonstrates through an action plan how to provide an equal and relevant service to children irrespective of race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, culture or religion.
Contact Gillian Weston, Training Administrator, NSPCC Child Protection Training Centre, 3 Gilmour Close, Beaumont Leys, Leicester, LE4 1EZ (0116 234 7200, fax 0116 234 0464, e-mail gweston@nspcc.org.uk,website www.nspcc.org.uk).
The Pre-School Learning Alliance is running an:
* Equal opportunities awareness raising session to introduce pre-school workers to equal opportunities issues.
The Alliance will also be starting a new series of training courses in September, including:
* Equal opportunities. Details will be available from regional centres later this summer.
Contact the Pre-School Learning Alliance, 69 Kings Cross Road, London WC1X 9LL (020 7833 0991, fax 020 7837 4942, e-mail pla@pre-school.org.uk,website www.pre-school.org.uk). Contacts for regional centres are also listed in the Safety section on page 35.
The Save the Children: Centre for Young Children's Rights works with children, practitioners and policymakers on projects in London which aim to promote children's views. These include:
* Refugee children in the early years. This includes 'In Safe Hands', a video training pack offering guidance to early years practitioners and primary school teachers who work with refugee children. It contains guidance on how to provide support to children who have experienced violent conflict, and activities to support language development.
* Increasing children's participation in early years settings.
* Improving the participation of children with disabilities.
* Anti-bias approaches in the early years: a handbook with awareness exercises for adults working with young children.
The centre also runs a resource centre for early years practitioners.
Contact Judy Gough, Save the Children Centre for Young Children's Rights, 356 Holloway Road, London N7 6PA (020 7700 8127, fax 020 7697 0982, e-mail cycr@scfuk.org.uk,website www.savethechildren.org.uk).
The Working Group Against Racism in Children's Resources (WGARCR) undertakes two types of training, one concerned with promoting positive images in children's resources in the early years, the other providing training for advocates supporting pupils excluded from school (See Exclusion, in the Good practice section on pages 6 to 11).
Early years training covers the following half-and full-day courses:
* Evaluation and selection of children's resources in an anti-racist framework.
* Celebrating festivals in an anti-racist framework.
* Presenting positive images in posters and displays.
* Promoting children's first languages.
Contact WGACR, Lady Margaret Hall Settlement, 460 Wandsworth Road, London SW8 3LX (020 7627 4594).
