Welcome to Jigsaw, a monthly ebulletin from Sunderland Children’s Services for people working within Attendance, Childcare, Children's Centres and Extended Schools in Sunderland.

1. News

Sunderland Amongst Best in England for Children's Centres

Sunderland City Council is one of the country’s first local authorities to reach a significant milestone in the delivery of Children’s Centres after opening the doors of its 17th Children's Centre to the public.

Sunderland is amongst the first 10 local authorities in England to complete Phase 2 of the Children’s Centre delivery programme. To achieve Phase 2 local authorities must ensure that every family in the most disadvantaged areas have access to Children’s Centres services, while the centres must also be developed to serve families outside these areas.

Click here for more information on Sunderland Children's Centres

Breast Mums in Sunderland

A group of Sunderland mums have been celebrating after completing their breastfeeding peer counsellor course.

As part of the Bosom Buddies Breastfeeding support group 20 mums from across Sunderland have completed their La Leche training. The 10 week course, designed by La Leche League, aims to train mums who may have experienced problems with breastfeeding to be able to help other mothers with their breastfeeding concerns.

More information on the Breastfeeding Celebration can be found here

Success for Sunderland Youngsters

Over 100 Sunderland children have been celebrating at the Stadium of Light after completing an innovative programme that aims to raise key skills using sports as a teaching platform.

The youngsters, aged ten to thirteen, had been taking part in Sunderland City Council’s highly successful Playing for Success initiative, which uses a range of different sports as a medium to help improve literacy, numeracy and ICT skills.

For more information on Playing for Success click here

2. Information for Parents

In Work Credit for Lone Parents

In Work Credit (IWC) for Lone Parents is an incentive designed to help participants to cope with the financial aspects of the transition from welfare to work. It is currently available in 22 Jobcentre Plus pilot districts including Sunderland, at a rate of £40 per week.

The In Work Credit is tax-free, payable on top of any other In Work Benefits and is available for a maximum of 52 weeks.

Click here for more information on In Work Credit for Lone Parents

Online Advice for Fathers

dad.info is a modern and contemporary online guide and information resource for fathers.

The website addresses a diverse range of parental issues from the male perspective - including pregnancy, paternity leave and financial support to the more thorny issues of separation, restricted access and advice on reducing the impact of this on a father's relationship with his children.

Visit dad.info for more details