Interesting links, articles, news and blog posts sent out to members on 20/06/22.
Article: Specialist relationship teams needed to tackle early trauma – Willis Palmer
June 2022. Almost 85% of professionals disagree or strongly disagree that the UK government does enough to protect children from trauma and its impact, according to a survey by Parent Infant Foundation:
Link: https://www.willispalmer.com/specialist-relationship-teams-needed-to-tackle-early-trauma/
Article: Dame Rachel de Souza said that with one in four children being persistently absent last term, the education and care system is not working for every child in England – Willis Palmer
June 2022. Rachel de Souza said that while some parents choose to educate their children from home for philosophical reasons and because they have the ability and resource to do so, others are persistently absent from schools due to the challenges they face:
Commons Debate: Infant Mental Health Awareness Week – Hansard
16 June 2022. Text of Westminster Hall Debate on Infant Mental Health Awareness Week:
Article: Duchess of Cambridge’s new research highlights need to increase awareness of the importance of the early years – Nursery World
16 June 2022, Katy Morton. New research from the Duchess of Cambridge’s Royal Foundation for Early Childhood highlights the need to increase action and awareness of the importance of the birth to five period:
News: Type 2 diabetes: Children in paediatric units rises by 50% in five years – Nursing in Practice
15 June 2022, Rebecca Jenkins. The number of children being treated for type 2 diabetes in paediatric diabetes units (PDUs) has risen more than 50% in five years, the charity Diabetes UK says, warning increasing obesity rates are putting more children are risk of developing the condition:
Article: Universal free school meals funding rises by just 7p a pupil – Nursery World
15 June 2022. The Department for Education has increased funding for universal infant free school meals in response to the cost of living rise, but campaigners warn the funding is inadequate:
Article: Year long inquiry into UK education calls for a ‘significant boost’ to early years funding – Nursery World
13 June 2022, Katy Morton. A new report finds the education system is ‘failing’ and calls for wide scale change including reform of Ofsted, increased early years funding and measures to ‘level the playing field’ between advantaged and disadvantaged children’:
Research briefing: Infant Mental Health Week 2022 – House of Commons Library
14 June 2022. Debate on Infant Mental Health Week 2022 in Westminster Hall at 3:00pm on 16 June 2022:
Link: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cdp-2022-0110/
News: Improved mental health for children who play well with peers by age three – Guardian Online
14 June 2022, Sally Weale. Cambridge University study connects ‘peer play ability’ with better mental health at age seven:
News: Pupils missing school need more help – report – BBC News Online
15 June 2022, Branwen Jeffreys. Children need more support to get them into school full-time, as mental-health problems surge, a report says:
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-61786325
Full Commons Debate: Government Food Strategy – Parallel Parliament
13 June 2022. Read the full text:
Full Lords Debate: Government Food Strategy – Parallel Parliament
13 June 2022. Read the full text:
Link: https://www.parallelparliament.co.uk/debate/2022-06-13/lords/lords-chamber/government-food-strategy
Open consultation: Children and young people’s consultation: Changing the way we look into services for children and young people with SEND – Ofsted and Care Quality Commission
13 June 2022. Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) want to change the way we inspect services for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). This consultation asks children and young people what they think of these changes. This consultation closes at 11:45pm on 11 September 2022:
News: Food plan for England condemned by its own lead adviser – Guardian Online
13 June 2022, Helena Horton and Peter Walker. Henry Dimbleby says government’s response to his review of food system shows no vision and ‘is not a strategy’:
Research briefing: Infant Mental Health Week 2022 – House of Commons Library
14 June 2022. Debate on Infant Mental Health Week 2022 in Westminster Hall at 3:00pm on 16 June 2022:
Link: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cdp-2022-0110/
News: NSPCC says child cruelty offences rose by a quarter in a year – BBC News Online
10 June 2022, Alison Holt & Judith Burns. The number of child cruelty offences in England jumped by a quarter last year, according to police data collected by the NSPCC:
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61748712
News: ‘Worse than half-baked’: Johnson’s food strategy fails to tackle cost or climate – Guardian Online
10 June 2022, Helena Horton, Rowena Mason and Patrick Butler. Labour says leaked white paper suggesting more fish farming and venison ‘borders on preposterous’:
News: Rising number of children on free school meals – BBC News Online
10 June 2022, Vanessa Clarke. The number of children eligible for free school meals has risen in every English region. Figures from January show 22.5% of pupils now qualify, up from 20.8% a year earlier – an increase of 160,000, to 1.9 million – and 13.6% in 2018:
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-61721117
News: ‘Abuse, assaults and big profits’ – children’s homes staff speak out – BBC News Online
9 June 2022, Noel Titheradge. Children in care have reported being groomed and sexually assaulted in homes run by a firm making huge profits. Multiple employees of Calcot Services for Children say vulnerable young people were failed:
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61709572
Speech: Childcare Costs – Commons Debate
7 June 2022. Powerful speech from Stella Creasy MP about childcare costs:
News: Rising child poverty linked to 10,000 more children in care – BBC News Online
2 June 2022, Emily McGarvey. Rising poverty may be contributing to thousands more children going into care in England, research suggests. The University of Liverpool study links a rise in child poverty to more than 10,000 extra children being taken into local authority care over five years:
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61669939
Research briefing: Support for children and young people’s mental health (England) – House of Commons Library
1 June 2022. House of Commons Library briefing on children and young people’s mental health policy
Link: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7196/
News: Give more pupils free school meals, teachers in England say – BBC News Online
31 May 2022, Kate McGough. More children should be given free school meals to help tackle the “devastating reality” of the cost of living crisis in England, teachers say: