Birmingham's Children of Prisoners Pledge is a scheme devised by the Birmingham Educational Service and Barnardo's Invisible Walls Birmingham, and supported by Birmingham City Council. The scheme encourages schools to sign up to the Pledge and make a commitment to support children affected by imprisonment. Schools in the local area are encouraged to sign up to the pledge, and by doing so are agreeing to: A commitment to children affected by imprisonment that where this pledge is in place they will find support, understanding and guidance to help them through this difficult time in their lives. There are 3 'levels' that can be reached after signing the Pledge, denoting how much progress the school has made in terms of awareness and support for children affected by imprisonment.
Gold: Signed Birmingham's Pledge a Champion in the setting, raising awareness on a termly basis in the setting, attendance at Masterclasses, active involvement in 1:1 support and the wider network
Silver: Signed Birmingham's Pledge, using resources in school e.g. posters, in contact with the wider network (e.g. Educational Psychology Service) a trained member of staff in the setting (e.g. attended twilight/full day or bespoke training in last 2 years)
Bronze: Signed Birmingham's Pledge, a commitment that children affected by imprisonment will become a whole-setting priority within the next 12 months
Those schools which reach gold level will have a champion - an individual member of staff who is knowledgeable about the impact of imprisonment on pupils, and who can act as the go-to person for both pupils and teachers. The champions receive training from psychologists and other professionals who specialise in areas such as trauma and loss, visiting prisons, working with families affected by imprisonment and the use of therapeutic approaches to support children and young people to enable practitioners access to a range of skills and tools that can be used to support children affected by imprisonment. The champion scheme provides an initial full day or twilight training session which covers the journey an offender takes and the impact that each stage might have on their children's social and emotional wellbeing, their behaviour and access to the school curriculum. The training also examines how to support children of prisoners at an individual, class and whole school/setting level. All champions will receive this basic level of training as well as the additional and more in depth master classes.
