New from Department for EducationThe Department for Education has released a raft of new research reports; among them are three which readers may find particularly interesting:Month of Birth and Education looks at the issue of how summer-born children can be disadvantaged, thanks to the nature of the school year. Among its conclusi…
Academies Act 2010This week saw the passing of the Academies Act 2010, the piece of legislation which will enable the setting up of 'free schools' (see previous post for details). To date, 153 schools have applied to become academies, with the expectation that around 50 will do so in time for September.To read the fu…
Detecting AutismA new study from the US has found that autism can be detected by the unique noises that babies make. The research, which was carried out at the University of Memphis, concluded that early pre-verbal sounds made by very young autistic children are distinct from those made by typically developing chil…
Playwork SurveyA new survey from SkillsActive has found that many playwork employers say that they cannot find staff with the skills they require; 44% of the playworkers who took part in the research did not have a playwork specific qualification. Other issues raised by the report include the difficulty of finding…
New Child Protection ReportsTwo new publications if you have an interest in child protection issues:Smoking, Drinking and Drug use Among Young People in England in 2009 is a new report from the NHS with detailed information and statistics about children's use of harmful substances.Safeguarding Young People: Responding to Young…
Vulnerable Children in BirminghamBirmingham's children's services are unfortunately once again in the national headlines for the wrong reasons. Yesterday saw the publication of Inspection of Safeguarding and Looked After Children Services: Birmingham, an Ofsted report which summarised the findings of an inspection that was carried …
No More Runaway Crayons!Once in a while, a product comes along that makes life so much easier. Sometimes it is the simplest of creations, but it changes the way things are done. Think of Post-It notes. A simple thing that changed the world.My latest thrilling product is triangular-shaped crayons! I know, I know, crayons, m…
Interview with Children's MinisterTwo months in for the coalition government, and some of their policy proposals are becoming a little clearer. This previous post dealt with the issue of free schools, while other recent posts have covered speeches by Michael Gove and early announcements.Now the new children's minister Sarah Teather …
Family Friendly Report Card 2010Exam season is almost upon us, so the Family and Parenting Institute has entered into the spirit of things by awarding the UK a report card for different areas of family policy. Overall the country gets a C- grade for family friendliness, but the brief report also contains some interesting facts on …
Childhoods TodayChildhoods Today is a free-to-access, online peer-reviewed journal, which publishes two issues a year and is produced by the Centre for the Study of Childhood and Youth at the University of Sheffield. The journal has an international focus, and provides an opportunity for postgraduate students to pu…
To the Left or to the Right?A couple of years ago I ran into these two signs in Hawaii. One arrow says, "Parking Lot this Way" and the second arrow pointing in the opposite direction says, "One Way." Sometimes life gives us mixed messages so that we are not sure which road to take.As I have the opportunity to be in many classr…
Social Trends 2010The latest Social Trends (No 40) has just been published. For those who don't know, Social Trends is an annual publication which takes a very detailed look at society in the UK - frankly, it's quite scary how much they know about us! If you're interested in topics such as education, health, welfar…
Something for EveryoneBear with me, today's update is going to be a monster. I've been away for a week, during which it seems that the childcare sector has gone into overdrive, so here's a simple update of significant news stories and new research with summaries where available:Today the government have announced a revie…