Food In SchoolsNew research from Ofsted has found that parents on low incomes are struggling to pay for healthy school meals for their children. The report, entitled Food in Schools, also suggests that a third of schools were failing to provide healthy meals for their pupils which meet the mandatory nutrient stand…
NSPCC Research BriefingsThe NSPCC has recently been issuing a series of research briefings on various child protection topics. These are excellent introductions to the subjects they cover, as they summarise the main issues of each one, as well as containing plenty of suggestions for further reading. To have a look at the l…
Information, Please!I recently did an online interview with a representative from bizymoms.com. Of course I took the opportunity to visit their site and see what they have to offer. I found a wonderful wealth of information to assist busy moms (and others) in these days of information overload.There is such a monument…
Free SchoolsAnyone who's followed the news over the last few days will have heard about the coalition government's plans to set up 'free schools'. The issue has divided many parents, teachers and the public, with strong feelings on both sides of the debate.The idea of free schools is based on similar institutio…
A Century of FatherhoodIf you've ever read the crude comic called Viz, you may know that one of the regular strips is called 'Victorian Dad'; he's a very old-fashioned, strict character who is based on stereotypical ideas of how fathers behaved many decades ago.Now a new programme entitled A Century of Fatherhood sets out…
Local Authorities and Home EducationA new report from Ofsted focuses on how well local authorities are able to monitor home education. Inspectors found that while the majority of home schooled children were happy with the education that they were receiving, current regulations mean that councils face a difficult challenge to ensure th…
Site MakeoverIf you're a regular visitor and you think the site looks different then don't panic - all of the information hosted here is still intact, but I've given things a bit of a makeover. You should also notice a new collection of information / advice pages just below the 'Childhood and Education' header. …
Child Protection & Grandparents2 pieces of information from recent days:The government has ordered an independent review of child protection in England, to investigate how social workers can spend more time with children and improve their links with other agenciesThe Grandparents Plus charity has put together a detailed review of…
Using the World Cup in the ClassroomContinuing the theme of the previous post, Teachers TV has put together a collection of films relating to football and South Africa for use within the classroom. The selection of topics covered is diverse including raising boys' achievement, citizenship, racism, history and science. To view the full…
Welcoming Everyone to the TableI am currently attending the NAEYC Professional Development Conference being held in Phoenix. I attended a wonderful workshop today about welcoming all children to the table in the classroom.Sometimes 'null' curriculum (curriculum that we don't intentionally teach, but the children still learn) is r…
Love Football, Love ReadingUnless you've been living on another planet in recent weeks, you can't fail to know that the World Cup kicks off in South Africa next week. To tie in with the event, the National Literacy Trust have put together a toolkit for all who work with children to encourage reading and writing through the ev…
Levelling the Playing FieldA little slow off the mark with this one, but earlier in the year UNICEF UK published Levelling the Playing Field. This is a report which examines the services available to unaccompanied or separated migrant children who have arrived in England by using 3 different local authorities as case studies.…
