This issue contains quite a lot of good positive news. The Editorial
focuses on the establishment of the National Centre for Excellence
in Residential Child Care, but there are also positive reports about
the use of IT, the reduction in child abuse and other things.
There
are articles which raise alarms, such as Chris Durkin’s piece
on community, a survey about bullying and mobile phones, and Søren
Hegstrup’s concern about the major problems facing children
on the world scene.
There
are pieces of information about events and products in Times and
Things, about good practice in discovery play in Valerie Jackson’s
column, and about Parliament in the APPGC report.
Then
there’s all the other items to give variety – a new In
Care story, a survey in Scotland, and the News Views
items - bullying, children in prison, changes at the NCMA, involving
parents in the appointment of heads, early years curriculum, jargon,
paedophile priests, bureaucracy rules.
A
new addition this month - Reviews on Children's Books. Publishers
occasionally send us children's books so we have organised a children's
panel who have been reading the books, scoring them out of ten and
writing a short review. Might help you decide on a Christmas present!
Finally,
it’s December, and by the end of this month, we’ll have
celebrated Christmas again, 
whether
as a religious festival or as a chance for families to get together,
to party, to give gifts.
Keith
White has written a Christmas piece about what motivates him personally
and the work of Mill Grove. Gus Greene looks back at Christmas time
in his residential care career. For other people, there may be different
sources of inspiration, but for anyone working with children, there
needs to be commitment to the children and concern for their welfare,
development and protection.
We
wish you all the best for Christmas, whatever your beliefs.
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