time for blog break and holiday.Turistas movie download
Hurrah for Hols
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Category Archives: Life
Press and news agencies guilty
Yesterday FYT launched the findings from the Labels are for Jars not young people, which researches the views adults have of young people. The findings (see here for full details or below for a snapshot) are critical of the media. So it is not really surprising that none of the invited media showed up to press launch despite 6-7 foot jar being driven down Fleet Street. The research shows strong evidence that adults opinions are being distorted by media representation, had been a trial and the defendant failed to show a guilty verdict would have been passed.
Overall the research shows categorically that young people are viewed negatively by adults in England and it goes on to offer ideas about how the negative labels might be challenged and replaced with positive ideas for change.
The research offers significant evidence that when adults are thinking of young people as ‘perpetrators’ there is an overestimation relating to levels of anti social and criminal behaviour (in some cases very significantly). However, when thinking about young people as ‘victims’ adults are underestimating the extent of young people’s vulnerability. The research clearly shows that adult opinions are being distorted by media representations that are creating a negative spiral in attitudes and beliefs across different generations.
More updates on Government changes
DEPARTMENT FOR CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES – Gordon Brown has given a clear signal that supporting young people is his top priority as Prime Minister and has said “Children and families are the bedrock of our society. The Government’s aim is to ensure that every child gets the best possible start in life, receiving the ongoing support and protection that they – and their families – need to allow them to fulfill their potential.â€?. The appointments are as follows: Ed Balls – secretary of state; Beverley Hughes – minister for children and youth justice (will also attend Cabinet); Kevin Brennan – parliamentary under secretary of state (youth minister); and Lord Adonis – parliamentary under secretary of state
DCSF will have the following responsibilities:
• To coordinate and lead work across government on youth and family policy.
• Pre-19 education policy responsibilities, from the DfES.
• To work with the new Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills to ensure delivery of the 14-19 reforms. Funding for 16-19 education will in future go to schools and colleges via the local authority education budget.
• To raise school standards.
• It will assume responsibility for promoting the well-being, safety, protection and care of all young people – including through policy responsibility for children’s social services.
• It will be responsible for leading the strategy on family policy – including parenting.
• To work with the Department for Work and Pensions and HM Treasury to take forward the government’s strategy for ending child poverty.
• It will be responsible, together with the Department of Health, for promoting the health of children and young people, including measures to tackle key health problems such as obesity, as well as the promotion of youth sport with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
• It will lead on youth issues. This will include working with the Home Office and the DH on tackling drug use and with the Department for Communities and Local Government on youth homelessness and supported housing.
• It will be responsible for promoting the wider contribution of young people to their communities.
• It will assume responsibility for the Respect agenda.
• It will lead a new emphasis on the prevention of youth offending, through joint responsibility with the Ministry of Justice for policy and funding of the Youth Justice Board.
Within the DCSF there is a new dedicated Directorate for Young People, to co-ordinate all youth policy across Whitehall. Under the old DfES, young people’s issues were clumped together with children and families in a single directorate. The three new Directorates are: Children and Families led by Tom Jeffery; Schools led by Ralph Tabberer; and Young People led by Lesley Longstone as Interim Director General.
The Young People’s Directorate will be responsible for:
• Policy and Strategy on the reforms of the 14-19 curriculum and provision
• Funding for all 16-19 provision through Further Education Colleges, Work-Based Learning routes, School Sixth Forms and Sixth Form Colleges
• Sponsorship of schools sixth forms and sixth form colleges
• Budgets and activities to support quality improvement, higher standards, capacity building and infrastructure development in the 14-19 sector
• 14-19 workforce development
• 16-19 joint capital fund
• Young people
• Children in care (Care Matters)
NEW POLICY INITIATIVES – The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Ed Balls has unveiled his vision for his new Department. He plans to bring together all aspects of policy affecting children and young people, consulting experts, professionals and children and parents to draw up a new Children’s Plan to set the direction for the department for the next ten years to ensure that every child has the opportunities and support they need to be happy and successful. Three working groups will look at education and other services for children and young people – one for 0-7 year olds, one for 8-13 year olds and another for 14-19 year olds. The working groups will be chaired by members of the National Council for Educational Excellence (NCEE) to ensure a fully joined up approach. The consultation will report in October. Other key measures announced include a £265 million extended schools subsidy over the next three years to ensure that children from disadvantaged backgrounds benefit from extra out-of-hours tuition and after-school clubs in sport, music and drama. There are also plans for ‘a good youth centre in every neighbourhood, started up with £150m taken from defunct bank accounts.’ He has also said that there will be a £456 million investment over the next three years to continue the Children’s Fund and support schools in working with mental health experts. HERE
and HERE
Thanks to CVYS for this update
escapism
Went to see Diehard 4.0 with some FYT folks last night. It was pure escapism great fast paced, totally unrealistic, great one liners such as when the sidekick asks Bruce Willis “whats your plan?” Bruce replies “rescue my daughter and kill everyone else”
It must have been escapism as none of us were thinking “oh I could use that bit for work”
Aslo why does Diehard 4.0 look cooler than Diehard 4?
New departments
As a youth worker I feel I should cope with change better than this. But this the sort change that I hate as I have to relearn where everything fits
The Government has announced the restructuring of its departments including the formation of a new Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) and Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR). The Department for Education and Skills, the Department of Trade and Industry and the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office will be disbanded.
New Ministerial team at DCSF
The new Department for Children, Schools and Families will be headed up by Rt Hon Ed Balls MP, former Economic Secretary to the Treasury.
The full listing of DCSF ministers can be found Here
The new Minister for the Third Sector is Phil Hope MP, formerly the Minister for Skills at the former Department for Education and Skills. The minister has held previous positions in the National Youth Bureau and as a youth policy advisor to NCVO before entering Parliament. He has also previously chaired the all party parliamentary group for the voluntary sector.
The full list of new Cabinet appointments can be found hereThe Brothers Bloom
To be a Pilgrim
To journey without being changed is to be a nomad. To change without journeying is to be a chameleon. To journey and be transformed is to be a pilgrim. – Mark Nepo, Philosopher, Poet, Author
Hattip to Dave Wiles
61 jobs to go
life continues to be mad due to the busy-ness of finishing off the house after the extension has been built. however I now have a list of jobs to finsh off so should be back to normal blogging soonBoo video
Sad Indi
Indi does this great bottom lip thing when she is sad
Sundays Talk
READING 1 – Matt 9 18-31
There are two parts to what I wanted to say today, but they are linked. This first section was from when I first started thinking about what I was going to say today ages ago I thought about the role that HELP plays in deepening Christian fellowship. At the time we were without a kitchen for about a month, and the washing was piling up. Lots of people are great at offering help, and that is great we were offered help, but your immediate is “I don’t want to people out or your busy�. I wanted to get over this, so we asked various people do our washing. It was good for me to have to ask, to show that I needed help, to make myself vulnerable. So I asked different people if they would help us with the washing. Now I am able to report of the quality of the washing machines and services offered, Meurig and Heather, are definite contenders for best service, we do iron BUT HEATHER does, and it came back dried and ironed. Warwick and Carol, Colin and Ali, are good because we got fed whilst we did the washing, but Warwicks machine does spin as well as Colins so the washing was slightly wetter. Annie and Mark, being the eco warriors they are led me down to the river and showed me the large stone to rub the clothes on, no not really but they have separate spinner which is very old but very efficient and your clothes are almost dry when finished.
I asked – they all helped, but more than that – they were happy to help. BUT the process got me thinking that maybe the sign of a deeper fellowship is not about the numbers of offers of help, as I think we are good all pretty good at that, but actually deeper fellowship is about being in place where you are happy to ask for help or take people up on the help that is offered.
Turn to person behind you and answer these questions?
Which is more difficult – to ask for help or to offer it and why?
How does asking for help or taking up an offer of help enable others on their journey with God?
PART 2
Can anyone remember what Warwick talked about last week?
BEWARE I’ll make sure whoever is speaking next week will test you on what I am about to say!
The second part I wanted to explore today links into the idea of help, and builds on Last week when Warwick talked about the TRINITY and how the church family should reflect the relationship of the Godhead drawing on 2 Corinthians 13 v 14 May the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
At the very heart of the trinity is love, Father Son and Spirit three persons but one, who for all eternity the one God has been involved in the concrete activity of giving receiving and sharing love amongst one another Father Son and Spirit, – so when we say God is Love or when the bible says God is love (1 John 4 v 8) it not simply saying God has loving feelings towards his people but God is constantly involved in the concrete activity of love. God is a fellowship of love.
Our theme is deepening Christian fellowship –so if we are to do this in our fellowship, what ways can we deepen fellowship or to put it another way-
how do we exhibit this love, – Well Warwick again gave us a key verse when he discussed, 2 Corinthians 13 v 14 May the Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Here we see the love part is mentioned and the trinity talked about BUT the critical factor I want to draw your attention to is – GRACE – Notice how precedes the mention trinity and love at the very start. You see without grace we will have schisms or factions, etc that Paul was warning about, because we are human, we do think different things, even Paul suggest we question things, and we have different callings, I am sure that NOT many of you would want to come out the street with me at 10.30 to talk to the skaters hanging out at lidls car park, and with no offence the last I want to do is go on the trip with rendezvous to Powerham castle.
In our reading we heard about 3 of the miracles of Jesus, and three common threads in them was that the people asked for Jesus help,
“come and heal my daughter�
the woman from bleeding asked in an active way by reaching out to touch the cloak and
the blind men, chased him up the road shouting heal us.
We see countless times the onus is on the person to ask Jesus to act and then Jesus responds to those specific requests, even if it may not be the best thing for Jesus personally as was the case with the blind men, which was why he probably told the blind men NOT to tell anyone.
If are going to take God the trinity seriously as our model, we have to recognise as well as in the trinity being love there is the dna of the trinity – Mission
The primary way God choose to reveal himself was through Jesus. A missionary move. John 20v 21 Jesus said “as the father sent me I am sending you� The missiologist John Bosch reminds us, that Father sends the son, and the father and son send the spirit and this can be extended seeing the father, son and spirit sending the church. So if we are to be church we must be missional in our dna.
Yet mission is messy and messy particularly when is comes to church because as mentioned my mission field is not the same as yours, but we should all be striving for the same goal. So what can we learn from this verse to help us in our fellowship with one another.
Well firstly they were different with different roles Father Son and Holy Spirit but One. it must have been difficult for the father and spirit when jesus died on the cross but they were still unifed because God is love, so jesus was still in this loving relationship. Jesus time on earth his time distanced from the father andspirit was a concrete embodiment of love, it was love that took Jesus to earth and love that enabled the Father to give his Son to death on the cross.
Therefore deepening fellowship is about living with tension that enable each of us to fulfil the calling of mission placed on us by God whilst remaining unified by love and grace.
We may do different things and express our faith in different ways, and the mission may take us in different directions but so long as we have examined ourselves as Paul mentioned in 2 Cor 13 and we act in good faith, God’s grace and love can hold us together.
You know it is difficult to ask for help, and at times it takes grace to ask for help and it takes grace to give help, but if we are going to move into a deeper fellowship we do need to embrace the tension that helping others move on in their journey of faith may create for us, personally or as a church.
Sometimes we confuse unity with uniformity, particularly if think about church before mission. The churches in the New Testament were different because they arose out of different missionary contexts, the idea that unity is about us meeting together perhaps on a Sunday morning or at other times, is a false one. Real unity is one that springs from the triune God, different but the same,
real unity is not a unity that is about us all doing the same thing, but a unity rooted in the deep grace and love of God that enables the church to flourish by enabling it’s people to follow its calling to be the bride of Christ to hurting and broken world regardless of the cost to us.
change and the insider
Can you really change a system from inside? I was wondering how inside the system Jesus was? Yes he was Jewish but choose mainly not to preach in the synagogue. There is no such thing as free lunch and if we try to work from inside there is an inevitable need for politics etc. In an age when many of our institutions are still strong although on the demise I wonder if the cultural layers built up can really be changed from the inside?