Interesting links, articles, news and blog posts sent out to members on 17/05/21.
News: Covid: £13.5bn needed to help pupils catch up, report says – BBC Online
14 May 2021. Some £13.5bn is needed to reverse the damage to pupils’ education caused by the pandemic, a think tank has said. The Education Policy Institute says the money is needed as pupils have lost up to two months of learning in reading, and up to three months in maths:
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-57091191
Article: Toxic Chemicals Found in 50 Samples of Mothers’ Breastmilk in US – Nature World News
14 May 2021, Miguel Brown. It is indeed an alarming thought that the primary source of a newborn’s nutrition can cause a potential threat to your baby’s health. New study reveals all 50 samples of US’s breastfeeding moms tested positive for polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), groups of about 9,000 compounds that have been used for manufacturing in various industries, considered man-made. Levels found was reported to have reached 2,000 times higher than what some public health advocates recommend is safe for drinking water:
Link: https://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/46044/20210514/pfas-us-mothers-breast-milk.htm
Policy and Campaigns: Extended School Provision – Child Poverty Action Group
28 April 2021. Schools have a unique place within their communities. With an extended school day, schools can and do support children’s development and learning, support mental health and wellbeing, mitigate the effects of child poverty, and help prevent poverty by supporting parents to work:
Link: https://cpag.org.uk/policy-and-campaigns/briefing/extended-school-provision
News: Concerns over impartiality of school abuse review – BBC Online
12 May 2021, Sima Kotecha. Concerns have been raised about the impartiality of an Ofsted review into claims of sex abuse in schools. The government ordered the review after thousands of anonymous allegations of abuse in schools were posted on the Everyone’s Invited website:
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-57000001
Article: £17m government funding for mental health support in schools – Willis Palmer
May 2021. Over £17m has been revealed to build on mental health support already available in education settings, as it continues to prioritise wellbeing alongside academic recovery:
Link: https://www.willispalmer.com/17m-government-funding-for-mental-health-support-in-schools/
Article: Ad Industry Opposes Online Junk Food Ad Ban – Research Live
12 May 2021, Liam Kay. The 9pm watershed and online ban will not reduce obesity levels, but will damage business and innovation and put jobs at risk”:
Link: https://www.research-live.com/article/news/ad-industry-opposes-online-junk-food-ad-ban/id/5083662
Independent report: Wood Review of multi-agency safeguarding arrangements – Department for Education
14 May 2021. Report on the implementation of new multi-agency arrangements to safeguard children by Sir Alan Wood CBE:
Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wood-review-of-multi-agency-safeguarding-arrangements
Corporate report: Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel: annual report 2020 – Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel
14 May 2021. An independent annual report for serious child safeguarding incidents in 2020:
Policy Proposal: Help us protect English children’s school & nursery milk – White House Comms
May 2021. The School & Nursery Milk Alliance – Milk is very healthy for growing children and many across England are already entitled to it through different schemes. Unfortunately, some of these schemes are under threat and there is a risk of them having a reduced impact. We need your support to raise awareness among settings about their rights and responsibilities in providing milk; safeguard the nursery and the school milk schemes from upcoming changes; call for all Key Stage 1 children to have free school milk each day:
Link: https://whitehousecomms.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/SNMA-policy-proposal-England.pdf
General Debate: Implementing the 2020 Obesity Strategy – UK Parliament
27 May 2021, House of Commons. General Debate:
Link: https://whatson.parliament.uk/commons/2021-05-27
News: Government announces mental health recovery money – Nursery Management Today
May 2021. In Mental Health Awareness Week, the government has boosted spending on mental health services for children and young people. Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williamson has announced a further £17 million in funding for pupils and students to help them recover from the devastating and ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic:
Link: http://nmt-magazine.co.uk/government-announces-mental-health-recovery-money/
News: Early years organisations respond to The Queen’s Speech – Nursery Management Today
May 2021. The Queen’s Speech, following the State Opening of Parliament, unveiled plans to support the UK through Covid-19 and boost the economy with the introduction of “levelling-up” laws:
Link: http://nmt-magazine.co.uk/8304-2/
News: New report finds shocking lack of fruit and veg in children’s diet – Nursery Management Today
May 2021. A new report reveals millions of pre-school children don’t eat enough fruit and vegetables. Organix, the children’s food brand, is launching a major campaign to support parents following results that show 55% of children aged 4 and under have two or fewer portions of vegetables a day – that’s 2 million children:
Link: http://nmt-magazine.co.uk/new-report-finds-shocking-lack-of-fruit-and-veg-in-childrens-diet/
News story: Calorie labelling on menus to be introduced in cafes, restaurants and takeaways – Department of Health and Social Care and Jo Churchill MP
12 May 2021. Government renews drive to tackle obesity and improve the nation’s health:
Press release: Landmark laws to protect children and stop abuse online published – Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland, Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, Iain Stewart MP, and The Rt Hon Oliver Dowden CBE MP
12 May 2021. The draft Online Safety Bill will help safeguard young people and clamp down on racist abuse, while upholding democratic debate online:
Form: Youth Investment Fund Capital: expressions of interest for grant administration – Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and Office for Civil Society
12 May 2021. DCMS invites voluntary, community, social enterprise (VCSE) and youth organisations to submit expressions of interest to administer £30 million capital funding in 2021 to 2022:
Authored article: Oliver Dowden’s Opinion Piece for The Telegraph on the Online Safety Bill – Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, Home Office, and The Rt Hon Oliver Dowden CBE MP
11 May 2021. The Digital Secretary has laid out the scope of the new Bill — to keep people safe online, tackle illegal and harmful content and protect freedom of expression:
Oliver Dowden’s Opinion Piece for The Telegraph on the Online Safety Bill
Policy paper: Queen’s Speech 2021: background briefing notes – Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
11 May 2021. Read the briefing notes on the announcements made in the 2021 Queen’s Speech:
Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/queens-speech-2021-background-briefing-notes
Press release: Landmark laws to keep children safe, stop racial hate and protect democracy online published – Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, Home Office, and The Rt Hon Oliver Dowden CBE MP
14 May 2021. The Online Safety Bill will help protect young people and clamp down on racist abuse online, while safeguarding freedom of expression:
News: Government lays out plans to protect users online – BBC Online
12 May 2021. Social media firms will have to remove harmful content quickly or potentially face multi-billion-pound fines under new legislation. The government’s Online Safety Bill, announced in the Queen’s Speech, comes with a promise of protecting debate:
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-57071977
News: Online Safety Bill – ITV Online
May 2021. Tech firms could be fined billions in new rules tackling illegal content:
Column: Ryan Bourne: How Government is making childcare more expensive – Conservative Home
11 May 2021, Ryan Bourne. Childcare is a hot topic again. Boris Johnson allegedly sought donations to finance a nanny to care for his son. In the U.S., Joe Biden plans to cap how much low and middle income families spend on childcare as a percentage of income, with the federal government covering the rest and funding pre-school for three and four year olds. All this, we are told out here Stateside, will reduce costs for parents, help child development, and facilitate mothers returning to work:
Link: https://news.conservativehome.com/t/r-l-tltuttht-tyilthhtuy-c/
News: Covid: Poor pupils fall further behind in maths – BBC Online
7 May 2021. Poor pupils have fallen further behind in maths as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to research:
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56996245
Research and analysis: Examination of the links between parental conflict and substance misuse and the impacts on children’s outcomes – Department for Work and Pensions
6 April 2021. This report is a literature review examining the links between parental conflict and substance misuse and the impacts on children’s outcomes:
News: Father calls for pornography sites to require proof of age – BBC Online
5 May 2021, Branwen Jeffreys. A father and a student campaigner are seeking a High Court hearing to consider whether the government should tighten youngsters’ access to porn. Ioannis Dekas and Ava Vakil want the government to implement proof of age for access to pornography promised in the 2017 Digital Economy Act:
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56993735
News: UK government faces action over lack of age checks on adult sites – Guardian Online
5 May 2021, Harriet Grant. Judicial review proceedings claim government is breaching duty to protect children from pornography:
Article: Nursery schools forced to cut staff and services – survey shows – Nursery World
4 May 2021, Nicole Weinstein. More than a third of maintained nursery schools have been forced to cut staff and services as a result of lost income due to Covid and uncertainty over next year’s funding, a survey has found:
Link: http://news.markallengroup.com/c/11fqkbURMlTGJYgQZB1oEwv4HMj
Article: Parents ‘will be turned away’ due to Level 3 staffing crisis – Nursery World
4 May 2021, Catherine Gaunt. While recruiting Level 3-qualified staff has been an issue for several years, settings have told Nursery World that the situation is now so dire they fear they will be forced to turn families away because of staff shortages:
Interview: Shanna Swan: ‘Most couples may have to use assisted reproduction by 2045’ – The Observer Online
28 March 2021, Zoe Corbyn. The professor of environmental medicine explains how chemicals in plastics are causing our fertility to decline – and what we can do about it:
Link: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/mar/28/shanna-swan-fertility-reproduction-count-down
News: Children will suffer, Unicef warns as UK funding cut by 60% – BBC Online
1 May 2021. The UK government is to cut 60% of its funding to Unicef, the United Nation’s children’s fund, as part of its move to reduce spending on foreign aid. It means the UN agency, which distributes humanitarian aid to children around the world, will get £16m this year, down from £40m:
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56957577
Research briefing: Food poverty: Households, food banks and free school meals – UK Parliament – House of Commons Library
30 April 2021. This paper provides statistics on household food insecurity, food bank usage and free school meals in the UK, and tracks the impact of coronavirus: