General Information for Parents & Carers

You could be able to help your child during the transition from primary to secondary school if you watch 'Getting involved'. The video is available to watch on the National Strategies website.

If you visit Connexions Direct you will find the online ‘booklet’ Which Way Now.

If you visit Connexions Direct you will find the online ‘booklet’ It’s Your Choice.

Visit Connexions Direct where you will find this information.

If you would like further information click here, to help your understanding of the National Curriculum visit Directgov.

Looking for your first 'real' job is a big step, especially in the current economic climate. There are lots of opportunities for those leaving school, college and university, but positions will be in demand - so it's vital to get good advice and to follow up on all options available.

This DirectGov website, Find your first job, gives you useful information and links to sites where you can find out more.

Over the last few years Careersbox has been providing an excellent free careers service to schools and careers professionals and now they have set up a Parents' Careers Club, so that you can know more about the options available to your children as they leave school and college.

The Parents' CareersClub provides free work related film content, covering hundreds of different employment and training opportunities throughout the UK. 

Careerbox wants to ensure the best in Careers information, advice and guidance for parents;  with film covering over 20 employment sectors, there is always something new to learn about the world of work and training.

Visit Directgov to find out about Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA), how it can help your child to stay in education and how it affects you and if you would like to find out more about student finance in general, visit this site.

You will find information on pay rates across sectors on this website.

Children and young people can work on a part time basis. However there are restrictions depending on their age, on the number of hours they can work and the type of employment. For more information, go to the North Yorkshire County Council website or visit your local Integrated Youth Support hub/centre where a member of the Connexions' team can give you a leaflet.

Skills for Growth - The National Skills Strategy sets out a pathway to achieving a bold new ambition for three quarters of the population to go to university or get an advanced technical qualification by the age of 30.

If you would like information on the 14-19 Reform and the new secondary curriculum and raising the age of participation in education visit the DCSF website. The curriculum has been designed to enable all young people to become:

• Successful learners
• Confident individuals
• Responsible citizens.

You can find some useful information in this document:

Talk to other parents and carers online about subjects like depression, school and family problems, behaviour and mental health problems. Find out what strategies they have used, who helped and what got results. Or just get your feelings off your chest in a sympathetic space...

It’s free to register. Log on now at ShareyourStory.

YoungMinds is the UK's only national charity committed to improving the mental health and emotional well-being of all children and young people and empowering their parents and carers. Visit YoungMinds. The number is 08088025544 and it is free to landlines and mobiles.

At 4Children they believe you should get support when it is needed, to enable you to develop both your own, and your children's, lives. They will continue to campaign to keep parents' needs at the heart of all national and local childcare strategies.

The Transition Information Network is a website for parents, carers and people who work with and for disabled young people in transition to adulthood. The Transition Information Network (TIN) is an alliance of organisations and individuals who come together with a common aim: to improve disabled young people's experience of transition to adulthood.  

Every young person on Facebook needs the ClickCEOP app - and most of them will be using Facebook. You might even be using it yourself... if so, you will want to know about a new, free application in Facebook that is designed to keep your child safe while they are having fun networking online.

ClickCEOP is a new 'app' launched on Monday 12 July which links the young user directly from their Facebook profile to help, advice and reporting facilities of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre - the police agency set up to tackle child abuse. By adding the app, you and your child can get support from CEOP on a range of issues - viruses, hacking, dealing with bullying online and you can report someone who is acting inappropriately towards them online.

If you have a Facebook profile, app and bookmark the app. If children in your care are on Facebook, get them to search 'ClickCEOP' in Facebook and give them to chance to be one click away from help - if they should ever need it.  To find out more about protecting children online go to the CEOP website.