PARENTLINE PLUS READY FOR CALL INCREASE DURING ‘A’ LEVEL EXAM RESULTS WEEK

PARENTLINE Plus is encouraging parents to contact the charity's free helpline and email support as many young people throughout the UK prepare to receive their exam results.

With A level results due out this Thursday, 19 August 2010, and GCSE's next week, it can be a fraught time for all the family - brothers and sisters included.

Jeremy Todd, Parentline Plus' Chief Executive said:- "For a lot of young people exam results mark the end of one phase and the beginning of a new one in their lives. This can be unsettling and lead to unease, depression or even indifference. Whatever pose your children put on, it is highly likely your child cares deeply about his or her exam results and their parents attitude towards the outcome. With increasing pressure on academic places, Parentline Plus is on hand to provide guidance and support to stressed out parents. Failing an exam does not make your child a failure, and while the whole family may be disappointed with the results, parents, guardians' and carers should make it clear they are not disappointed in the child. What is important is to have a contingency plan and to consider all the options available and to be one hundred per cent behind the child. At this crossroads in a child's life, parents and children need to communicate and this means both talking and listening to each other.”

For further advice parents can call the free confidential, 24-hour Parentline on:- 0808 800 2222 or go to:- gotateenager.org.uk.

Parentline Plus top tips for coping with Exam Results Stress:-

► Whatever pose they put on, your child cares deeply about their results and about your attitudes towards them. Encourage them to talk and reassure them that you are behind them and love them whatever the results.

► Discuss with your child what results both of you anticipate and make sure you have the same realistic expectations. Reassure them that failing an exam doesn’t make them a failure and that while you may all be disappointed in the results, you aren’t disappointed in your child.

► Have a contingency plan for what to do if results aren’t as good as you hoped. Know who to call at the school for advice or support. If your child had a place at college conditional on results, have a contact number – you can often negotiate on a lower grade. And know how to get in touch with UCAS (Universities' and Colleges' Admission Service) to find a place at another college if the first one falls through.

► Plan an event to mark the results. Whatever these are, celebrate the effort that went into them and make it clear that you love, respect and value your child for themselves, independent of their achievements.

► If the experience has been too stressful or their results were not as good as they hoped, young people may be ready to give up at this stage. Parents may need to guide them firmly into going back to education and trying again. You do,  however, have to keep a careful balance.

Young people sometimes have a better idea than their parents as to what is good for them. It’s not helpful to push them to do something you did or wanted to do, rather than what is right for them.

Football fans urged - Wear Your Shirt To Work

THE Red and Blue halves of Liverpool are being asked to unite and wear their favourite football shirts to work on Tuesday 24 August 2010.

The city is backing England’s 2018 World Cup Bid team’s national ‘Wear Your Shirt To Work Day’ which is being held to mark 100 days to go until the nation finds out if the bid to host the tournament has been successful.

Earlier this year, Liverpool was chosen by the FA to be a Host City for England’s 2018 World Cup Bid.

It is estimated that if England win the rights to stage the 2018 FIFA World Cup™, a Host City can expect to benefit from a £200m boost to its economy.

The city’s Lord Mayor, Councillor Hazel Williams, said:- “No city is more passionate than Liverpool about football and that means we don’t need much of an excuse to pull on our favorite team’s shirt! I am urging employers throughout the city to allow their staff to wear their colours with pride to demonstrate how much England wants to win the World Cup bid. Obviously as Lord Mayor I have got to be impartial and not show favouritism to one side, so I’ll have to wear a Liverpool shirt in the morning and swap it for an Everton top in the afternoon!”

Staff at Liverpool City Council will be among those ditching formal shirts and blouses to pull on the colours of their favourite football team.

Council leader Joe Anderson said:- “We have already convinced the FA that Liverpool should be part of the World Cup bid but it's vital we keep up the momentum and demonstrate we are hungry to be part of one of the biggest football events in the world.”

Some of the city’s most well known faces have already agreed to be part of the day, including Merseyside Police Chief Constable Jon Murphy and the cast of ‘Our Day Out’ at the Royal Court Theatre.

The support for the day has even spread to Liverpool’s pavilion at the World EXPO in Shanghai. Mersey Fire and Rescue Service’s football team will be acting as ambassadors at the exhibition, on their way to the World Firefighter Games in Korea to defend the World Football Championship they won in 2008.

Opposition leader, Councillor Warren Bradley, said:- “Securing our place as a World Cup host city was just the start, and this is a great way of supporting England in their ultimate goal of bringing the biggest sporting event to these shores in 2018."

‘Wear Your Shirt To Work Day’ is supported by Candidate Host Cities and local counties across the country as well as England 2018 partners including Morrison’s, BT and British Airways.

For more information about the 2018 World Cup bid visit:- england2018bid.com.

For more information about Liverpool’s plans to be a World Cup Host City visit:- liverpool.gov.uk/

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