Tam's diary

Stefan Stoyanov and I met with John Donaldson, UK Border Agency Returns panel member.  John previously worked forGlasgow City Council responsible for developing their response to asylum seeking families.  John offered insights into the operation of the returns panel and I expect we will have further contact on a needs basis.

I attended the Foster Care Connect conference addressed by Dr Bruce Perry for the whole day.  Bruce is an inspirational speaker and has developed a sophisticated assessment framework that takes account of neurological research and adapts it to provide interventions that address the issues facing traumatised children and young people.

Cathy Begley and I visited the Jeely Piece Club in Castlemilk, Glasgow.  This is a long-standing community based provision for families.  It provides nursery places for the most vulnerable families and in recent years has assumed responsibility for a play complex based in the scheme.  The nursery provision has produced research demonstrating the positive impact of the structured approach to play developed through the Jeely Piece Club.

I spoke to around 60 teachers in Fife as part of their CPD training on Global Citizenship.  I used it to inform them of the Fife a RIGHT blether results and link the training event to UNCRC, and highlight the intention to continue to develop links with education and follow up the very positive engagement with a RIGHT blether – especially as Fife had the most vote returns in Scotland. 

Stefan Stoyanov and I met with Gordon Meldrum and Stephen Whitelock, Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency.  This meeting was arranged at the request of SCDEA as a result of the publication of the Child Trafficking report.  It was really informative, with the police informing that their covert intelligence allows them to identify most organised crime activity in Scotland, but so far they have not identified this in relation to child trafficking.  We shared information on my conference planned on 7 June with Stephen Whitelock confirming that he will provide the input.  

I spoke to the staff group at Scottish Legal Complaints Commission staff group – around 20 staff.  They had requested the meeting as part of their staff seminars and I understand it prompted interest for some staff to check the website

I visited Kirkwall, Orkney and addressed all of the Head teachers as part of their joint planning meeting.  This was the first opportunity to present the findings of a RIGHT blether and publically discuss the response to the findings.  It was also an opportunity to thank those who facilitated and participated in the activities.  I went onto to visit St. Andrews Primary School to thank the pupils and be shown round the school by members of the School Council.   I was introduced to every class by the 10 pupils who very ably took me round.  They informed me on how the vote was conducted in the school and some of the other activities undertaken by them.  

I addressed the Three Island Conference of Panel members (70 participants) as part of their bi-annual training.  This was quite challenging as I was trying to get across information relating to Western Isles, Shetland and Orkney in the same presentation.  There was general interest in the process and findings, although it is worth noting that there was some scepticism as to what can reasonably be achieved through the areas of work identified in response to the vote.

I attended the annual Growing Up in Scotland conference.  The research material was reported upon, although not available at the time of the conference.  Since then it has been published and contains interesting data in relation to the impact of socio-economic circumstance, parenting and children’s health, and cognitive development in children involved in the GUS research.

Maire McCormack and I met with Lesley Irving, Scottish Government.  This was an introductory meeting as part of the preparatory work around the work area of Domestic Abuse.  Lesley welcomed the focus on this area of work and informed us of the wide range of initiatives that were in varying stages of development (or not) with regard to domestic abuse and children.

Cathy Begley and I met with Hamira Khan, Scottish Youth Parliament.  We shared information relating to the Strategic Plan and Hamira informed us on the results of their Picture the Change campaign, now named, Change the Picture.  They have still to decide what the final focus of their campaign will be and at that stage it may be useful to see what synergy or otherwise there is with the Strategic Plan. 

I visited The Yard, Edinburgh.  This is a play based service for children with disabilities and their families.  It is used by individuals and groups and deals with 1500 people per week from across the Lothians.  I was really impressed with the facilities and approach as it filled a gap identified by children and young people with disabilities in terms of the opportunity to socialise in their free time - and it left me thinking as to why every area does not have a similar facility.

Linda MacDonald and I met with two mothers of children who require feeding tubes.  They highlighted an issue with regard to feeding tubes and a difference between the official medical advice and what works for them in the care of their children.

Ezmie McCutcheon and I met with Suzi Vestri and Gemma Bell from the See Me campaign.  This was an opportunity for us to inform of each organisation’s work – and they were pleased to learn from the lessons from a RIGHT blether as they are preparing for a campaign to be driven through education and schools.

Stefan Stoyanov and I met with Jessica Smith and a range of senior managers in Glasgow City Council regarding ‘Child Friendly Cities’.  Glasgow was keen to progress the UNICEF model, but this has recently changed and they are thoughtful about how to progress their aspirations for improvement in terms of outcomes for children and young people in the city.  I expect to have a follow up meeting with the Council leader to discuss further.

I spoke at the Children’s Mental Health Conference, Glasgow.  The main thrust of my input was to highlight the importance of early years, but to also flag up the growing awareness of the neurological development in the adolescent young person and how we can learn from this to improve our response to this age group.  We have some way to go to develop the same evidence base as for the early years, although it is an important area meriting increased attention. 

I was delighted to be asked to speak at the launch of the Hunter Foundation/ STV initiative on tacking child poverty.  This will involve six national charities working alongside the initiative, developing local based responses to children and young people living in poverty.

I attended the Kirking of Scottish Parliament.  This was an opportunity to meet with a wide range of parliamentary contacts in an informal setting.

Cathy Begley and I met with Matt Forde and Benjamin Napier, NSPCC.  We exchanged updates on our work. NSPCC are developing materials for schools around the issues of abuse and neglect and are about to embark on a series of visits to local authorities.  This is similar to the approaches about to be made with regard to the response to a RIGHT blether and it was agreed to share information between us in terms of knowledge of each others plans.  I expect we will maintain contact with NSPCC as the school curriculum agenda develops.

I spoke at an Education Through Care Scotland seminar.  This is a sector where there are significant concerns around the impact of the cutbacks and changing practices in local government.  It was informative to hear of the developments at national and local level with regard to regional commissioning of services.  It is worth noting the emphasis placed on the definition of outcomes for children and young people and the very significant challenges in measuring these.

I met with Bill Thompson (Scottish Parliament).  This was an update on how my office is developing and in particular the Strategic Plan.  Bill provided useful advice and guidance on the timing of the laying of the plan and agreed to have the relevant Clerk to forward relevant information.

 Stefan Stoyanov and I met with Paul Rigby (Glasgow City Council) to discuss the recently published report on Child Trafficking. This was a really constructive meeting in terms of sharing information a developing a better understanding of the issue and I expect further work to evolve with Glasgow on this issue.

I attended a meeting of representatives of Inspiring Scotland and Kirsten Stalker (Professor of Social Work, Strathclyde University) Joy Barlow (Head of STADA)  and Rosie Illet (Deputy Director, Glasgow Centre for Population Health) , to discuss issues to be considered in relation to the allocation of the £6.8M fund for early years developments.  This was a most stimulating discussion which may have a wider relevance with the possibly allocation of further funds, dependent on the incoming administration.

 I met with Lily Greenan and Heather Coady. (Scottish Women’s Aid) The meeting was part of the scoping of the work stream around children living with domestic abuse.  I was most encouraged by the potential for developing this area of work and identifying where most added value can be exercised.  It was agreed that Heather Coady and Maire McCormack will liaise further on this.