Interesting links, articles, news and blog posts sent out to members on 27/10/25.
Findings: The Children’s Plan: Vision for Care – Children’s Commissioner
20 October 2025. ‘The findings from my Census bring me back to my great motivation, first as an educator and now as Children’s Commissioner: we must work harder to reach those children. Those children for whom a great education, brilliant teachers and learning important life skills can often be the most impactful, but by themselves are not enough. Those children for whom even getting to school in the morning is a challenge: from not being safe at home, or living with domestic abuse, to being homeless or in temporary accommodation, to having complex health needs or seeking asylum’:
Link: https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/resource/the-childrens-plan-vision-for-care/
Article: Why Splitting Children’s Vaccines is a Bad Idea – Psychology Today
20 October 2025, Jay K. Varma. The MMR combination vaccine saves lives. Dividing it would harm health:
News: Over and underweight children ‘cost NHS the same’ – BBC News Online
17 October 2025, Ethan Gudge. The University of Oxford findings concluded the health service spends about £340m in additional costs annually due to weight-related problems in children. Researchers found those underweight required similar medical support as those who are severely obese:
Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq6zl23lzqdo
Report: The Big Mental Health Report 2025 – Centre for Mental Health
16 October 2025. The Centre for Mental Health worked with Mind to produce the annual The Big Mental Health Report, which brings together the latest evidence on the current state of mental health and mental health services in England and Wales, alongside insights from people with lived experience of mental health difficulties to show us how people are doing, how services are working, and what still needs to change:
Link: https://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/publications/the-big-mental-health-report-2025/
Press release: £80 million support for children’s hospices over 3 years – Department of Health and Social Care and Stephen Kinnock MP
16 October 2025. Settlement provides £26 million annually offering crucial financial certainty for services supporting seriously ill children and families:
Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/80-million-support-for-childrens-hospices-over-three-years
Article: New Government campaign to help ‘overwhelmed’ parents navigate early years misinformation online – Nursery World
14 October 2025, Katy Morton. The Best Start in Life campaign brings together ‘trusted’ NHS and Government-backed guidance to help parents with everything from feeding time and sleeping to speech and language, child development and finding local childcare and family support:
Research news: Inactivity and inequality fuelling children’s health crisis in the North – University of Leeds
14 October 2025. As part of the national Child of the North #ChildrenFirst campaign, the University of Bradford has joined with universities across the North to call on the Government to adopt a “whole-of-school” approach to physical activity, backed by new research and international recommendations. The campaign, coordinated by the N8+ group of universities, highlights the urgent need to tackle health inequalities affecting children in northern communities:
Comment: ‘Play in Healthcare Week – making every child’s right to play a reality’ – Politics.co.uk
14 October 2025, Alistair Strathern MP. A child facing surgery, having a blood test or needing an MRI shouldn’t have to feel terrified. Yet too often they do, unless they’re lucky enough to be in a hospital with a health play professional:
Press release: Parents supported to navigate early years misinformation online – Department for Education, Department of Health and Social Care, The Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson MP and The Rt Hon Wes Streeting MP
14 October 2025. Government kicks off a new national campaign to help parents cut through the bombardment of sometimes unreliable advice and false expectations online.
Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/parents-supported-to-navigate-early-years-misinformation-online
Resource: The Mental Health Bill: Briefing for Report stage – Children’s Commissioner
13 October 2025. The Children’s Commissioner’s role is to promote and protect the rights of children, including by advising on legislation which affects children. She welcomes the government’s action to deliver on its manifesto commitment to modernise the 1983 Mental Health Act:
Link: https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/resource/the-mental-health-bill-briefing-for-report-stage/
Opinion: Building resilient support in mental health services during times of crisis – Nursery World
10 October 2025, Michael Samuel (chair of Anna Freud). Access to mental health services during catastrophes and emergencies, feels particularly relevant on World Mental Health Day:
Blog: Leading with our hearts and minds – Sport England
10 October 2025. To celebrate World Mental Health Day, the head of the Child Protection in Sport Unit highlights how being active is key for the safe development of kids and points out the importance of an active dialogue with them:
Link: https://www.sportengland.org/blogs/leading-our-hearts-and-minds
Research: Parental tolerance of risk and associations to adventurous play in British preschool-aged children – ScienceDirect
November 2025 Edition. Kateryna Tyzhuk, Helen F Dodd & Kathryn R Hesketh.
Highlights:
- First study linking parental risk attitudes to adventurous play in preschoolers.
- Parental risk tolerance and engagement are associated with adventurous play.
- These associations are seen for both young boys and girls.
- Parental injury protection is not associated with children’s adventurous play.
- Findings can support a balanced approach to risk-benefit assessment in parents.
Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335525003213
Research: Research priorities on physical-mental comorbidity in children and adolescents: an international consensus – The Lancet
November 2025 Edition, Denan Jiang et al. A total of 134 research ideas were scored by 45 experts against five criteria: answerability, effectiveness, potential for paradigm shift, potential for translation and implementation, and impact on equity. The highest-ranked priorities focused on treatment strategies, early intervention, reducing disparities in care, and the role of schools and communities in supporting health:
Link: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(25)00492-4/fulltext
Resources: Mental health resources for schools – Place2Be
October 2025. With over 30 years of experience, Place2Be has developed and recommended mental health resources for schools to help support pupils’ mental health. From assembly and class activity ideas to videos and tip sheets, the mental health resources for schools can make a real difference to the emotional wellbeing of pupils:
Link: https://www.place2be.org.uk/our-services/schools/mental-health-resources-for-schools/