Flour-power generation learn parenting skills

PICTURED (from the left) Kiran Firdous, Mariyah Begum, Menaan Iqbal and Zenab Khan

Flour-power youngsters who are learning to be good parents have been nominated for a Pride in Oldham award.

Clarksfield Primary School has run the flour babies project for two years to show pupils how hard it is to care for a child.

Year 6 boys and girls take it in turn to care for the baby made from a bag of flour at home and school, earning points for everything from feeding and changing nappies to reading bedtime stories.

But they lose points for neglecting or damaging their charges which are wrapped in fragile tissue paper. And they have thrown themselves into the role, dressing up the their babies, providing accessories and even taking them shopping in their buggies.

Acting deputy head teacher Stacey Brackenridge introduced the imaginative project as part of the school’s sex-and-relationship education programme.

She nominated the pupils and explained: “With teenage pregnancy rates still at their highest in Europe, and Oldham accounting for 186 births a year, it was important for young people to recognise what the responsibilities of being a parent were, and how hard it was to care for a baby.

“The parents think this project is great and one even stated, ‘If I had known how hard it was to have a family I wouldn’t have had six’.

“It recognises the hardships of being a parent as well as the joys.

“Ultimately, it makes children think about their responsibilities as future parents which will, in turn, have an effect on teenage pregnancy statistics for Oldham and create a better future for all.”