Macbeth doth murder sleep

Methought I heard a voice cry, ‘Sleep no more!

Macbeth doth murder sleep,’ the innocent sleep,

Sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleave of care,

The death of each day’s life, sore labour’s bath,

Balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course,

Chief nourisher in life’s feast.

By some strange irony, the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford will be staging their contemporary production of Shakespeare’s darkest psychological thriller with Christopher Eccleston as Macbeth at the same time as our BASPCAN 10^th International Child Protection Congress at the University of Warwick.

Thinking outside the box

The theme of our congress, ‘thinking outside the box,’ reflects our desire to learn and develop, encouraging participants to be creative and reflective, and to interact with each other.

The Shakespeare connection

Shakespeare will, in fact, feature quite prominently in our programme, with a promenade performance by Playbox Theatre company of ‘Shakespeare’s Lost Children’, and an opening keynote presentation from Paul Edmondson, head of learning and research at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

Shakespeare’s Children remain powerful presences today as the emotions, dilemmas, responsibilities and bond between parents and children is brought into sharp focus.

Be inspired, challenged, equipped

Why not register today to attend the congress, and stay on for a day or two to explore Coventry and Warwickshire and treat yourself to a live performance at the RSC?

Check our congress website for more details: www.baspcan.org.uk/congress-2018/

December 15, 2017

Poetry Writing with Year 8

Our poem of the month from Clare Shaw, poet in residence for the BASPCAN 2018 Child Protection Congress

Poetry Writing with Year 8

Caitlin thinks Jackie Kay

switched on the Blackpool lights.

No, I say, that’s Peter. Now tell me

one thing about your room.

Ellie glares from the back row

and Emily won’t meet my eye.

It’s the coldest day today

by far. The mountains are black in the dusk

but the lake is sunset, my arms are wings

and the water is fiery with frost.

I come from a town full of smackheads,

he tells us, but my house is boss.

If someone reads out

they’re showing you what’s in their heart

and you must respect it.

I come from the forest, she says,

I come from the back of the co-op

and the sea is a road

and the moon is a candle. Miss,

no-one plays music in our house.

No-one leaves home

unless home is the mouth of a shark

and I’m lost, my street is dark.

and I come from the sea,

I come from pizza,

from chicken nuggets, I come from

the Xbox and telly

I come from a town of useless parents

and on the North Sea, the waves are roaring.

The seagulls are children, crying

and though the stars are shining

there’s nowhere to shelter from the rain.

This is what’s in my heart

and you should respect it.

I come from silence, he says.

It’s the only music I hear.

To find out more about the congress, read other poems by Clare, or to book (hurry, Early Bird bookings close at the end of December), please go to our website: https://www.baspcan.org.uk/congress-2018/

July 22, 2017July 22, 2017

My mother was a verified miracle.

A poem for July by Clare Shaw, Poet in Residence for the BASPCAN 2018 International Child Protection Congress

My mother was church door where millions entered.
My mother was tower where four kestrels roosted –
my mother was hooded, she plunged and she hovered.
She flew at the speed of the wind, oh
my mother had wings and her voice was an organ,
she was seraph and cherub and throne and dominion.
My mother was bright with flame.

My mother was saint and my mother was martyr
and she was the light floating over the water.
My mother was whale and I rode safe inside her –
I was blessed and I came out clean
for my mother was sermon and she was the mountain
and she was the tree and the nails and the Roman
and her rafters were oak and her stone was all golden.

My mother said Let there be light
and she was the light. My mother was fruit
and we peopled the earth in her name
for my mother was sun and my mother was thunder.
My mother would get at the truth if it killed her –
she laid waste to the nations for me did my mother
and I could not run from her love

for my mother was choir, she was every bird singing
and she was the song and will not be forgotten.
My mother was angel, my mother was fallen.
She suffered the children and fed them on nothing.
My mother was bread
and my mother was broken
and she was the ark. She was darkness. The ocean.

To read more of Clare’s poems, to find out more about the congress and how you can participate, please take a look at the congress website:

BASPCAN Congress 2018

April 9, 2017

365 days to go…

365 days to go to the 2018 BASPCAN International Congress

Warwick University campus is looking stunning at the moment: late white daffodils create a panorama of beauty under clear blue skies; in the dappled woods the bluebells are waiting to burst forth with their carpets of indigo; broody moorhens, ducks and geese congregate on the lakes.

And we are getting really excited about the BASPCAN international congress which is now just a year away.

Thinking outside the box: Fragile Credit: Dan Tucker — Thinking outside the box: Fragile
Credit: Dan Tucker

Thinking outside the box: innovative perspectives on protecting children and young people

The theme of the congress is Thinking Outside the Box. This reflects our desire to learn and develop, encouraging participants to be creative and reflective, and to interact with each other.

The congress will include practitioners, academics and experts by experience – survivors of abuse and users of family services, coming together for the first time to learn from each other, reflect and consider how we can improve services to support families and protect children and young people.

We are looking forward to over 800 delegates from across the UK and around the world joining us for this exciting programme.

Inspiring Keynotes

We have an inspiring line up of keynote speakers including:

Shakespeare’s dysfunctional families

Paul Edmondson, Head of research and knowledge, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

Pebbles in the fairy tale: what can child protection learn from children’s literature?

Anne Fine, Author and former Children’s Laureate

Child protection at the edge of chaos

Irene Stevens, Independent child care consultant

Safeguarding in, around and through sport

Daniel Rhind, Senior lecturer in social psychology

Out of the Box

Along with cutting edge research, practice-focused workshops, presentations of personal experience, and engaging discussion forums, we are also planning an inspirational ‘out of the box’ programme, including:

Poet in residence, Clare Shaw
Motionhouse Dance Company
Health and wellbeing programme
Evening chat room with the convenors and keynote speakers

And much, much more.

Presentations and Workshops: Submit an Abstract

The call for abstracts is now open.

If you have a good idea, some original research or innovative practice that you can present, or if you are able to draw on your own experience as a survivor of abuse or someone who has been involved with family support services, we invite you to submit an outline (abstract) of your presentation.

Registrations: Early Bird Bookings are now open

Early Bird bookings are now open, with substantial discounts and special rates for BASPCAN members (including those joining new), and for those from low-income countries, students, the unwaged and those on low family incomes.

Do take a look at our website for more information, regular updates, and to register for the congress or submit your abstract.

www.baspcan.org.uk/baspcan-congress-2018/

February 15, 2017February 20, 2017

Pebbles in the fairy tale: Anne Fine, children’s author at the BASPCAN 2018 Congress

I am really excited that Anne Fine, celebrated children’s laureate will be a keynote speaker at our BASPCAN 10th International Congress to be held at the University of Warwick in April 2018. Anne is the author of such books as Madame Doubtfire, Flour Babies, and The Tulip Touch. Her keynote talk, Pebbles in the fairy tale will explore what we can learn from children’s literature about protecting children.

Thinking outside the box

The theme of the congress is ‘Thinking outside the box: innovative perspectives on protecting children and young people.’ The theme reflects our desire to learn and develop, encouraging participants to be creative and reflexive and to learn from each other.

The congress will bring together practitioners, survivors of abuse, researchers, trainers and policy makers. We will learn from each other, reflect, and consider how we can improve services to support families and protect children and young people.

Pebbles in the fairy tale: what can child protection learn from children’s literature

Literature has always been the most accessible instrument we have for ethical enquiry and the clearest way to answer Socrates’ great question, “How ought we to live?” But all too often the child’s need for a means to interpret their own experience of childhood is ignored. A young person who cannot bear even to begin to think about his or her own unhappy and stressed situation can often begin, safely, to explore the problems they face through fiction – somebody else’s problem.

In her talk, Anne Fine will show how books can offer shafts of light and comfort to the troubled child. She will show how they can foster self-scrutiny – not just in the young reader him or herself, but also in the (often overly self-protective) adults who deal with them. Anne will show what these fictional avenues of vicarious experience can mean to young readers, what insights they can bring, and what a comfort they can be. She will try to show how the tolerance and understanding offered by particular novels can offer the twenty first century equivalent of the pebbles in the fairy tale, gleaming in the moonlight and showing the way out of the dark forest.

Anne Fine

Anne is a distinguished writer for both adults and children. She has twice won both of Britain’s most coveted awards for children’s literature, the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread (now Costa) Award, along with a Guardian Award, two Smarties/Nestle Awards, and many other national, regional and international prizes.

Anne is known for writing, with sensitivity and often with humour, on many serious subjects that affect the lives of young readers. Madame Doubtfire tackles the topic of access and custody after divorce. Both Goggle-Eyes and Step by Wicked Step delve into the special strains and complications of stepfamily relationships. Flour Babies is a comedy that illuminates for its readers both the joys and the sheer effort and commitment necessary for successful parenting. The Tulip Touch is a novel about a seriously disturbed child from an unsupportive home. The Book of the Banshee delineates teenage upheavals. Blood Family deals with the topic of family brutality and addiction. Up On Cloud Nine is a masterful portrait of an eccentric child’s progress through education. Charm School has been described as ‘Germaine Greer for Juniors’, and Bill’s New Frock unpacks unthinking gender stereotypes.

Anne Fine has also published eight black comedies for adults. She was Children’s Laureate from 2001-3. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and has been awarded an OBE. Her work has been translated into forty five languages.

Registration opens soon

Registration for the congress will open soon. There are special rates for BASPCAN members and for students, the unemployed, those on low incomes and those from low-income countries.

A call for abstracts will open soon. We are looking for presentations from practitioners, researchers and experts by experience (both survivors of abuse and users of family services). So watch this space, or register your interest on the BASPCAN congress website.

Click here to find out about the other exciting keynote speakers, to see the programme, and for more information about the congress.