News Archive

We have four tickets to go to the Comedy Club 4 Kids at the Komedia on December 6th to give away.

To win all you have to do is follow this link and fill out a survey telling us what you thought of our latest event, the 3rd Annual Autumn Family Fun Day at the Funplex.

Don't worry if you didn't attend you can still enter! Just follow the link and answer the questions to tell us your opinions about future events we could sponsor.  

You must provide us with your name and email address in order for us to contact you if you win.

The survey now closes at noon on the 27th of November and the winner will be notified on the 28th.

Good Luck!

We now have the first draft of the Consultation Paper from our last Event! As I am sure those of you that attended can appreciate the numbers that were involved can take a long time for one person to pull together all of that information.

We have not as yet completed all of the monitoring information for this paper, but it is important to know that your messages have been printed in full in the document. We then have summarised it at the end a bit.

Take a look. It has been interesting for us to hear what so many people have had to say. We think that a lot of it speaks well for Brighton and Hove. There is room for improvement, but there will always be. Don't forget to keep an eye out for more information concerning this report. Also hopefully in the next month we will be starting our consultation on-line for all of your views on the First Draft of the Children and Young People's Plan, as this report feeds into that.

The top five themes that were mentioned by parents on 29th October 2008 were:

• Childcare - it appears that the information concerning where to find care for their children is considered good overall. The concerns are that there are not enough flexible childcare options in the city and that the price is too high. The standards of childminders have also been questioned.

• Activities for children - city wide there are plenty of things to do, but in people's local areas there is not enough or they are too expensive. Bus fares are considered too expensive for some families so travelling across the city for an event is prohibitive for some of them. Overall football appears to be well covered as an activity for children, but other sports or hobbies seem to be lacking as options.

• The Parks, Sea Front and various Open Spaces in the city - most people considered themselves lucky to be in Brighton because of the number of parks, the seafront and the countryside being practically right outside their front doors. Adequate play facilities (indoor and outdoor) appears to be a location based issue. Some areas better equipped then others.

• Front Line Help/Advice (i.e. Health Visitors, Midwifes, School Nurses) - again this appears to be a location based issue. Some areas are considered better than others, with a lack of consistency being mentioned.

• The People - how ethnically diverse and friendly the people are here in the city matters to parents. People seem to view Brighton as a tolerant and friendly place to raise their families.

Do you agree with these? Click here to go to our discussion boards to post your views about the results.

Please see the full report below for more details.

Tarner Centre, Ivory Place, Brighton, 10 November 2008 - 14 November 2008

This exhibition is the result of three different groups of first-time mothers and their babies coming together to explore the rewards, expectations and challenges of motherhood. The sessions took place at Hangleton Park, Tarner and City View Children’s Centres.

Photographs and writing from the participants will be on display, together with photography by Cecile Chevalier. There will also be an opportunity to view the film (30 mins approx) created from the sessions by Miriam King and to discuss the project.

Public viewings: Mon-Fri 1.00-2.45pm , Mon 4.30-5.45pm

RSVP stating which date you will be attending to 01273 235336 or maggie@livestock.org.uk

The last few years there has been a lot in the news concerning City Academy's. These are independent schools that are state maintained, but are developed with money from outside private sponsors. Love or hate the idea, these academy's appear to be here for the long run.

Most of you have already heard that Brighton may be getting their first Academy. Falmer High School will close and be re-developed into Falmer Academy, which should be opening its doors to students in September 2010.

There is now a website that will be following every step and to answer parents' concerns. There will be updates as they happen, so take a look and see what this new Falmer Academy could mean to your family and our City.