BedlingtonStation PrimarySchool

Information for Parents & Carers

School Closure in place from 3pm Friday 20th March 2020

 

 

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Below are a range of websites and digital resources gathered to support parents to have discussions with their children around a variety of themes. Please note, BSPS takes no responsibility for the content of 3rd party sites and resources. All materials should be reviewed before sharing with your children.
‘BSPS’ Bloom is a range of age targeted resources to support conversations with your child around a variety of topics related to their bodies, growing up, puberty, gender, love, relationships and reproduction.
While these topics are covered throughout these books, many other topics are also discussed. As a parent, it is for you to decide if it is the right time for your child to discuss some of these themes. We would urge you to ensure you have looked at each book closely, before giving it to your child read or sharing it with them. In some cases, you may prefer to choose a section of a book for your child to look at or share with you. Some books are targeted at parents rather than children.
As a parent, you may think your child is too young to discuss a particular topic. However, experience has shown that often, by the time parents begin to consider discussing these topics with their children, they have already begun to talk to their friends and search online to find out more; often finding misinformation and forming an inaccurate understanding. Parents sometimes also ‘put off’ having such conversations for fear of it being awkward.
The best approach can often be to be open and honest with children, at whichever point you choose to talk, especially if they already have questions about growing up. This way, misconceptions can be avoided from early on - falsehoods about growing up are often much scarier than the truth!It is also key to understand that as important as it is to find out about how growing up with impact them, children also need to know about how it affects others and what their friends might be going through. This will allow children to be empathetic and reduce further misconceptions around the specifics of puberty in each sex.
This may all seem a bit scary as a parent - especially when you feel your little one is growing up too fast! Don’t panic, approach it calmly and sensitively. Understand that children can have many questions - not all necessarily related to themselves or their own feelings - and that as parents, you are helping to ensure that your child has an accurate understanding and is in the best position to deal with whatever lies ahead.
Our BSPS Bloom resources are available for families to loan. Each pack is age related and can be borrowed for a 1 week loan period. Please contact the office if you would like to borrow a pack. Packs must be collected and returned to the office by an adult, on the date agreed.

Websites

AMAZE envisions a world that recognises child and adolescent sexual development as natural and healthy, a world in which young people everywhere are supported and affirmed and the adults in their lives communicate openly and honestly with them about puberty, reproduction, relationships, sex and sexuality. In such a world, young people across the globe would have access to the information and support they need to develop into sexually healthy adults.

Mermaids has evolved into one of the UK’s leading LGBTQ+ charities, empowering thousands of people with its secure online communities, local community groups, helpline services, web resources, events and residential weekends. They also seek to educate and inform wider society on gender identity by helping professionals accommodate and reassure gender-diverse young people.

Mermaid's message is that transgender, nonbinary and gender-diverse children deserve the freedom and confidence to explore their gender identity wherever their journey takes them, free from fear, isolation and discrimination.

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Breaking a complicated concept into bite-sized, digestible pieces.So, you want to better understand gender, or need help explaining it to someone else? Used by — and contributed to by — countless people around the world and throughout the decades, the genderbread person (and all of the different evolutions of it, and ideas it evolved from) is a wonderful way to start an important conversation.

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Outspoken Sex Ed wants to change the conversation around sex, love, pleasure & relationships, working towards a culture that  prizes respect, inclusivity and openness.  Their interactive website, informative newsletter and topical, inspiring live events give parents the skills, knowledge, language and confidence they say they need.

Information Booklets for Kids

Information Books for Parents

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Busy Bodies Videos

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Families are diverse and don’t look the same for each child. It’s not unusual for someone to have two mams or two dads. If your kids are curious – like most children are – they may ask you about it. These questions are a great opportunity to share information with your child about important topics like sexual orientation and healthy relationships.

Our advice is to talk to your children about sexual orientation and, more broadly healthy relationships, early and often. As with most topics that fall under the umbrella of sexual or reproductive health, rather than having a one and done conversation or “the talk,” it should be many conversations over time. You can dive into deeper conversations as your child gets older.

By the start of puberty, which can be as early as 8-9 years old for girls and 9-10 years old for boys, the goal would be to have had several (if not many) “mini” conversations about topics that set the foundation for healthy relationships with friends, their own bodies and, eventually, romantic relationships. Sexual orientation is one thread of the beautiful tapestry of who your child is and how they interact with the world. No need to ask your child what their sexual orientation is, but rather explore their thoughts and feelings with them as they develop. Things will become clear when they do.

How might you accomplish this? Rather than one daunting, formal “sit-down” conversation, look for teachable moments. Your child might tell you their friend has a crush on someone. That can become a teachable moment to ask questions like “What do you think about that?” or “Do you have feelings for anyone?” And, to round out the discussion to include healthy relationships, I might say “How would you handle having a crush on somebody at school?” and even “What does it mean for someone to be a good romantic partner or a not so good one?” The focus for that question is to provide the opportunity to talk about respect, trust, kindness, support, etc.

Then, as your conversations progress, you can gauge where your child is with their own feelings, what level they are at in understanding and offer that reassurance to them that you are open to listening. Be sure to thank your kids for sharing their thoughts with you. Remember, they don’t have to share this stuff with you. If they learn it’s not safe, they will seek out other avenues to get information. As parent, it is best to provide that safe, loving environment to talk even if it’s uncomfortable.
 

Why is this important to talk about?

Research tells us family support is important. Sexual minority youth (e.g., those that identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual-LGB) are almost 5 times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. In addition, LGB youth who come from highly rejecting families are over 8 times more likely to attempt suicide than their LGB peers from families with low or no rejection. Sexual and gender minority youth are overrepresented in the homeless population (meaning more homeless youth are LGBTQ than "straight"). The good news is that evidence suggests parental communication and monitoring is protective against these poor outcomes.I'm a text box. Use the Editing menu to format the font, size, color and more of the entire text box. If you want to format individual words and letters, double click the text box, select the text and use the inline text editor.