Welcome to the Brighter Futures for Children news pages where you can browse our latest news and archived stories.
18 May 2020
A national day to celebrate teachers is taking place on Wednesday 20 May and Brighter Futures for Children (BFfC) is encouraging as many people as possible to join in. Teachers have been going above and beyond the call of duty throughout the coronavirus outbreak and deserve recognition for their hard work. The closure of schools to most pupils due to Covid-19 has certainly not …
07 May 2020
A campaign to keep Reading’s children in care in Reading is being stepped up during Foster Care Fortnight (11-24 May). There are more than 270 children and young people in care in Reading, but many have to be placed outside their home areas due to a shortage of local carers. Brighter Futures for Children’s (BFfC) Independent Fostering Agency is embarking on a big push to …
Continue reading “During Foster Care Fortnight, picture life as a foster family in Reading “
16 April 2020
More than 83% of parents got their first choice for their children’s primary school places in Reading this year, despite an increase in 160 applications compared to last year. Brighter Futures for Children, which delivers education services in Reading, has made sure all primary school pupils in the borough have a place for September. Of …
Continue reading “More than 95% get top three choice for primary school places in Reading”
07 April 2020
BRIGHTER Futures for Children (BFfC) has announced the appointment of its new Board Chair. The company provides Reading’s education, early help and children’s services. Di Smith, who has worked in the children and education sector for more than 40 years, has taken on the role from 1 April following her appointment by the Department for Education. She takes over from Deborah Jenkins MBE who helped in the creation of BFfC and played a significant role in …
Continue reading “New Chair announced for Brighter Futures for Children “
01 April 2020
Brighter Futures for Children, which delivers children’s services in Reading, is putting out a call to former foster carers in the borough to re-register amid concerns the coronavirus epidemic could lead to a shortage of adult carers to look after vulnerable children. Existing foster carers with Brighter Futures for Children’s Independent Fostering Agency (IFA) are …
Continue reading “Former foster carers urged to return during coronavirus crisis”
18 March 2020
Brighter Futures for Children’s Independent Fostering Agency (IFA) has been judged ‘Requires Improvement to be Good’ by Ofsted, following its first inspection as an IFA since the company took over the fostering service in March 2019. The judgement, which was the same in all three judgement areas, is an improvement on its previous judgement of …
Continue reading “Reading’s fostering service no longer inadequate”
16 March 2020
Making sure all children across the borough are safe is a key priority for Brighter Futures for Children (BFfC), which is working with partner organisations on a campaign to raise awareness of child exploitation. The campaign coincides with the National Child Exploitation Awareness Day on Wednesday (18 March), which aims to highlight the issues surrounding exploitation …
Continue reading “Reading unites against child exploitation”
02 March 2020
A record number of students have had an offer of their first preference for secondary school place in Reading this year. First preference offers stand at 73% this year, compared to 64% in 2019 and 66% in 2018. This means that more than 90% of students got their first (73%), second (12%) or third (6%) …
Continue reading “Record number of Reading student get first choice secondary school place”
18 February 2020
Brighter Futures for Children and Ethical Reading joint press release, February 18 2020 When a 14-year-old boy moved to his permanent foster home last year, he came up with an idea to help himself – and others like him – keep their roots in Reading. As an active member of Brighter Futures for Children’s Children …
Continue reading “Cherry blossom tree marks start of ‘Rooted in Reading’ campaign”
14 February 2020
Cressingham, one of two children’s homes run in Reading by Brighter Futures for Children, has been rated as ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted after a recent unannounced inspection visit. The inspector awarded ‘Outstanding’ ratings to all three key areas – the overall experiences and progress of children, how well children and young people were helped and protected …
Continue reading “‘Outstanding’ rating for our short breaks children’s home”