Supporting and protecting our most vulnerable children and young people has been central to our response to the COVID-19 crisis. I thank our staff and partners for their hard work in these anxious and stressful times. Our social workers have visited and helped those children most in need, while our army of foster carers and residential staff have kept children in care safe.
Message from the Leader
We have assisted care leavers by staying in touch and keeping open our support centre. Live Unlimited, Barnet’s charity to support looked after children and care leavers, has been fundraising to provide Wi-Fi data dongles for our young people. Following the successful GiveADongle campaign, dongles are being distributed across the borough to connect these young people to friends and other support networks. You can still donate via their Just Giving Page.
Schools
Our schools and childcare providers have done a tremendous job in adapting to the current situation. This includes supporting families that are providing home schooling, keeping schools open for the children of keyworkers, and ensuring other important frontline services are still operating that keep vulnerable children safe. Some of our schools have been operating over the Easter holidays, which has been a fantastic help. Thank you to our teachers.
Libraries
We know that isolation is challenging for families and we want to make sure we are supporting them. Colleagues from across the Council have also been finding innovative ways to provide their services while following government guidelines on social distancing. Barnet Libraries has taken their much-loved Baby, Bounce and Play, rhythm-time programme online, and it’s already proved a hit. You can follow Jayne and the team on our You Tube channel. Why not also visit Barnet Libraries online, where you can access audio books and other digital services for free, from home. Or follow them on Twitter @BarnetLibraries.
Stay up to date
We’re keeping our web pages up to date with the current information and advice for keyworkers on school places, online resources for families home schooling and other information about services operating at this time. There are also resources on our website on managing stress and anxiety for children. We are developing even more resources for children and young people to access.
Once again, I ask that you stay safe and follow the social distancing rules while outdoors. Together, we will get through this.