15/02/21 – Useful Links

Interesting links, articles, news and blog posts sent out to members on xx/xx/xx.

Article: Over a million children under five living in poverty, report – Nursery World

11 February 2021, Nicole Weinstein.  A third of children aged under five are living in poverty, a new report by the baby bank charity Little Village and Joseph Rowntree Foundation has found:

https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/article/over-a-million-children-under-five-living-in-poverty-report

Research Briefing: Special Educational Needs: support in England – House of Commons Library

11 February 2021.  This House of Commons Library briefing sets out the system of support for children and young people in England aged 0-25 with special educational needs (SEN). The briefing provides an overview of the new system introduced in 2014, the transitional arrangements, and how the new system differs from that which preceded it. It also includes a brief history of the movement towards reform that preceded the 2014 changes, and information on the impact of the new system available to date:

Special Educational Needs: support in England

Article: Failing to intervene early in children’s mental health could be ‘catastrophic’ – Willis Palmer

February 2021.  The four governments in the UK must take steps to protect the mental health of vulnerable young people, Adoption UK has warned:

https://www.willispalmer.com/failing-to-intervene-early-in-childrens-mental-health-could-be-catastrophic/

Covid: Pandemic ‘having crushing impact on young lives’ – BBC Online – News

12 February 2021.  The pandemic is having a “crushing impact” on children and young people’s lives, the Children’s Commissioner for Wales has said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-56029030

Research Briefing: Safeguarding in English schools – House of Commons Library

10 February 2021.  This briefing provides information on the safeguarding responsibilities of schools in England, including the role of governing bodies, head teachers and school staff, the inspection of safeguarding, safe staff recruitment, and procedures for dealing with allegations against members of staff:

Safeguarding in English schools

News: Obesity: Appetite drug could mark ‘new era’ in tackling condition – BBC Online

11 February 2021.  A drug that suppresses appetite has led to some people losing more than a fifth of their body weight, a major international trial shows:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-56011979

Research and analysis: Child obesity: patterns and trends – Public Health England

2 February 2021.  Slide sets presenting the latest data on child obesity in England and the 9 English regions:

national slide set on child obesity and regional child obesity slide sets 

News: Sport, music and drama ‘should be part of England’s pupil catch-up’ – BBC Online

9 February 2021, Branwen Jeffreys.  Extra hours of academic learning – as well as sport, music and drama – will be needed to help England’s pupils make up ground following the pandemic, the new education catch-up tsar says:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55984097

Petition: Help a Child to Learn – NEU

February 2021. NEU petition: We urge Government to step up and take immediate action to tackle child poverty:

https://helpachildtolearn.com/action

Consultation: Educating Mental Health: Mind’s inquiry into mental health in schools – Mind

6 February 2021.  Mind want to hear from staff working in secondary schools in England as part of Educating Mental Health: Mind’s inquiry into mental health in schools:

https://wwindex.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0cfRTNCoSnbcGCF

Article: MPs launch inquiry into government’s progress on improving children’s mental health – Willis Palmer

February 2021.  Progress made by government on its ambitions to improve mental health services for children and young people is to be examined by a committee of MPs:

https://www.willispalmer.com/mps-launch-inquiry-into-governments-progress-on-improving-childrens-mental-health/

Inquiry: Children and young people’s mental health – Select Committee on Health and Social Care

February 2021.  The Select Committee on Health and Social Care has launched an Inquiry into ‘Children and young people’s mental health’. The link for submitting evidence is here:

https://committees.parliament.uk/work/1001/children-and-young-peoples-mental-health/.

Research briefing: Food and drink reformulation to reduce fat, sugar and salt – UK Parliament

2 February 2021.  In recent years, the UK Government has implemented voluntary and fiscal policy approaches to encourage reformulation across the food and drink sector. Food and drink reformulation will be further examined in the second report of the National Food Strategy, an independent review of the UK food environment, due to be published in Spring 2021:

https://post.parliament.uk/research-briefings/post-pn-0638/

News: Compass apologises for school meal parcels that ‘fell short’ – BBC Online

4 February 2021.  The company behind the controversial free school meals that sparked an outcry in January has apologised again.  “The quality and quantity of some food parcels fell short of our usual high standards,” said Compass, which owns Chartwells, the school meal supplier:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55931994

News: PM names head of school pandemic catch-up plan – BBC Online

3 February 2021, Sean Coughlan.  The prime minister has announced an “education recovery commissioner” to oversee how England’s schools can catch up from the disruption of the pandemic:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55924815

News: Love Island’s Dr Alex George appointed young mental health ambassador – Guardian Online

3 February 2021, Simon Murphy.  Boris Johnson gives unpaid role to A&E doctor and whose younger brother took his own life last year:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/feb/03/love-islands-dr-alex-george-appointed-young-mental-health-ambassador

News: Over a million pupils in England’s schools as demand rises – BBC Online

2 February 2021, Katherine Sellgren.  Around 1.2 million children attended school in England last week, Department for Education (DfE) figures show:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55906766

Article: Children’s mental health services need ‘rocket boost’ in funding – Nursery World

1 February 2021, Nicole Weinstein. Children’s mental health services need a ‘rocket boost’ in funding if they are to support the one in six children in England who have a probable mental health condition – as well as those suffering the consequences of the pandemic, the Children’s Commissioner has warned:

https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/article/children-s-mental-health-services-need-rocket-boost-in-funding

Article: Councils have millions in unspent early years funding, investigation reveals – Nursery World

2 February 2021, Catherine Gaunt.  Early years settings in England are missing out on more than £55m in Government funding for childcare places, according to a Freedom of Information investigation by the National Day Nurseries Association:

https://www.nurseryworld.co.uk/news/article/councils-have-millions-in-unspent-early-years-funding-investigation-reveals

News: Covid-hit pupils ‘should be allowed to repeat a year’ – BBC Online

29 January 2021, Hannah Richardson.  Pupils in England who have lost out on significant learning time due to the pandemic should be allowed to repeat a year, say education policy experts:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55845207

News: Covid: The devastating toll of the pandemic on children – BBC Online

30 January 2021, Nick Triggle.  They are not likely to get seriously ill with Covid and there have been very few deaths. But children are still the victims of the virus – and our response to it – in many other ways:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55863841