Something for EveryoneA round up of various bits and pieces which have been published during February:Improving the Outcomes for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Pupils: Literature Review is a new research report commissioned by the DCSF, and should be of interest to any of those students who have enquired about this topic in t…
Behaviour ReviewSince December 2007 Sir Alan Steer has been carrying out a review of school discipline and pupil behaviour. While this is still ongoing, a new interim report from the project explores the links between school policies, behavioural standards and school behaviour and attendance partnerships.The report…
Future CareA new publication from the the Children's Rights Director for England reports on feedback from looked after children, and their views on how services for those in care should be shaped in the future. This is linked to the Children and Young Persons Act which was established last year, although guida…
Children & Young People BlogsThe stats from this blog indicate that there are a number of regular readers of this blog which is pleasing to know. However, if you've got time to read more than one blog on a regular basis, then you could do worse than take a look at the collection of blogs which have recently been launched by Chi…
Crime & Public PerceptionsAn interesting new report from the National Foundation of Educational Research examines attitudes towards young people as a result of media coverage. Young People, Crime and Public Perceptions: a Review of the Literature looks at statistics on youth crime in recent years, and how perceptions of youn…
Towards a New Primary CurriculumNo doubt about the biggest education story today: the Primary Review (see this previous post for details) has published a two-part report on the curriculum. Although the Primary Review's final report is not due until later in the year, it is releasing its finding ons the curriculum early to contribu…
Sick is Sick...Even in ParadiseWe just got back from a semi-wonderful trip to Hawaii. This is such a great time to go as it gives us a nice break from the winter cold. The first few days were truly paradise. Hawaii is one of my favorite places and I ate it up, soaking up the sun and atmosphere. However, after a few days, a health…
Ending Child PovertyChild poverty was in the headlines yet again yesterday, with most news outlets picking up on the story that the government is struggling to meet its 1999 target of halving child poverty by 2010.The latest crop of stories have been generated by a study commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (…
Summer-Born BabiesA new report from Cambridge Assessment, one of the UK's exam boards, has presented evidence that appears to question the government's plans for children to start their schooling aged four. The report, entitled Birthdate Effects: A Review of the Literature from 1990-on, argues that summer-born childr…
TruancyYesterday it was reported that on average a parent is jailed every two weeks because of their child's truancy. Further information on this area is available from this BBC story, which looks at the impact that such measures can have on families.If you have an interest in truancy, then you should real…
Video Games are Good for Children?!The media is often full of stories about the detrimental effect of video games on children's development, so it's interesting to hear about a new report which takes the opposite view. The European Parliament Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection has just published a new report whi…
Nurseries or Grandparents?A new piece of research from the Institute of Education has looked at children whose mothers return to full-time work, leaving them either in the care of grandparents or a nursery. The study concludes that while grandparents can do more to develop a young child's vocabulary, they are less likely to …
The Jamie Oliver EffectIt seems that the 'Jamie Oliver Effect' shows no signs of abating. Following on from his TV series on improving school dinners and the subsequent 'Feed Me Better' campaign, the Institute for Social and Economic Research at Essex University has now published Healthy School Meals and Educational Outco…
EPPI-CentreThe Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-Ordinating Centre (aka the wonderfully named EPPI-Centre) is based at the University of London, and produces systematic reviews of topics across the social sciences, although the Centre seems to focus predominantly on education. There are dozen…
Building Those RelationshipsI was recently reading and article called, Building Positive Relationships with Young Children by Dr. Gail Joseph and Dr. Phillip Strain. In the article they were talking about how critical it is to build good relationships with children. That is one of the most important ways to avoid negative beha…
The Good Childhood InquiryIf you've been reading the papers this week, you've probably noticed the string of stories about modern children's lives in the UK, culminating today in the publication of A Good Childhood: Searching for Values in a Competitive Age, which is the final report from the Good Childhood Inquiry.The inqui…
Migrant Communities in BirminghamA local flavour to today's post: the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has just published EmpoweringBirmingham’s Migrant and Refugee Community Organisations, a 42 page report which explores how best to offer support to migrant communities with a view to influencing local policy and service provision. The b…