Few mainstream schools cope well with special needs, says Ofsted
Children who are merely struggling in class are being written
off by teachers as special needs pupils, Ofsted said on 12
October.
In a highly critical report, the inspection service said that only
a minority of mainstream schools provided well for pupils with
special educational needs (SEN).
Source: The Times, 13 October 2004, page 6
No charge for care of elderly relatives
Relatives are expected to take care of elderly members of their family out of their own finances, even though ethnic minority groups can qualify for public funds, a High Court Judge ruled on October 12.
He rejected accusations by lawyers for Evelyn Stephenson, 78, that the council’s “family member rule” enforced by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council unlawfully and unfairly discriminated in favour of ethnic minorities.
Source: The Times, 13 October 2004, page 9
Confined and hated: 72 hours with the youngest social outcast in Britain
Can an antisocial behaviour order help a desperate mother and her illiterate out-of-control son?
Source: The Times, 13 October 2004, page 11
Travellers using council cite terrorised the locals.
So they were paid £600,000 to go away. Twelve families who held licences to live on an official site, in Wood Green, north London, were given the money by Haringey Council.
Source: The Daily Mail, 13 October 2004, page 4
How dare the doctors play God and let my son die?
Following the Charlotte Wyatt ruling, a second mother is
preparing to fight doctors through the High Court in an effort to
keep her desperately ill baby alive.
Ruth Winston-Jones’s nine-month-old son was diagnosed with a
rare genetic disorder when he was born and given just days to
live.
Source: The Daily Mail, 13 October 2004, page 31
£4.25m payout for botched delivery
Parents have been awarded £4.25m by the High Court in
Birmingham because of a blunder at a hospital that left their
little girl with Cerebral Palsy.
Amanda and Gary Bond’s second child Millie was starved of
oxygen at birth at New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton.
Source:- The Independent, Wednesday 13 October 2004, page 18
Muslim sacked over row over beard
A Muslim customer service assistant was sacked by Virgin Trains
after refusing to shave off his beard, an employment tribunal
heard.
Mohsin Mohmed claims racial and religious discrimination and
harassment against Virgin West Coast.
Source: The Independent, Wednesday 13 October 2004, page 18
Morality teacher at mosque is jailed for beating boy
Mohammed Abdullah was jailed for four months for beating one of his 11-year-old pupils with a stick. Abdullah flew into a rage when he found a picture of a caveman in the boy’s exercise book on which somebody had pencilled in a penis. He was found guilty of common assault by Peterborough Magistrates Court.
Source: The Daily Telegraph, Wednesday 13 October 2004, page 9
Economic benefits of better care
Longer parental leave and better childcare facilities could
increase economic growth adding up to £24bn to national
output, reveals a PricewaterhouseCoopers report.
The report, commissioned by the Daycare Trust and the Social Market
Foundation, is the first attempt at a cost-benefit analysis of
adopting a childcare regime similar to that in Sweden and
Denmark.
Source: The Guardian, Wednesday 13 October 2004, page 12
Hidden pleasures
Disabled people want intimate relationships like everyone else. So why does society appear so anxious to ignore, deny or stereotype their sexuality?
Source: Society Guardian, Wednesday 13 October 2004, page 2
Keeping faith with trust
Zenna Atkins is a rare independent spirit in the NHS. She tells John Carvel a few home truths about battling bureaucracy, mediocrity and management ‘muppets’.
Source: Society Guardian, Wednesday 13 October 2004, page 6
Changing the game
A Barnardo’s scheme aims to catch youngsters at risk of prostitution, exploitation and abuse.
Source: Society Guardian, Wednesday 13 October 2004, page 7
Wringing the changes
A grassroots rebellion is threatening to tear the Alzheimer’s Society apart. Annie Kelly talks to volunteers who fear a ‘top down’ shake up will divorce the charity from its founding principles.
Source: Society Guardian, Wednesday 13 October 2004, page 10
The equaliser
Whitehall’s newly appointed adviser on diversity aims to make the civil service more representative of the communities it serves.
Source: Society Guardian, Wednesday 13 October 2004, page 14
Charity Awards 2004
Human face of tragedy
Source: Society Guardian, Wednesday 13 October 2004, page 16
What else can I do?
The suggestion that housing associations, may merge has forced Jeff, a tenancy management officer, to rethink his position.
Source: Society Guardian, Wednesday 13 October 2004, page 104
Can we find room for our most needy?
Is there a clear path to meeting housing needs? Centrepoint asks John Prescott what’s in store for homeless young people.
Source: Society Guardian, Moving On, Wednesday 13 October 2004, page 2
Falling through the cracks
Homelessness is the only option for some of Britain’s most vulnerable young people, research from York University tells us. But as Rebecca Coombes discovers, nobody really knows how many are in need.
Source: Society Guardian, Moving On, Wednesday 13 October 2004, page 4
Relief by the wayside
Despite decades of helping homeless young people off the streets, Centrepoint’s work has only just begun.
Source: Society Guardian, Wednesday 13 October 2004, page 6
It’s all in a day’s work
London’s young homeless community is being given the chance of a lifetime thanks to the dedication of Centrepoint and its staff. We look behind the scenes.
Source: Society Guardian, Wednesday 13 October 2004, page 8
All cards on the round table…
What does it mean to be independent? The question lies at the heart of the Treasury’s review of financial support for young people. Leading experts and youth workers come together to discuss strategies to help those in crisis.
Source: Society Guardian, Moving On, Wednesday 13 October 2004, page 10
Scotland Newspapers
Free care for our old: will our new policy turn into a costly mistake?
Free personal care for the elderly has been hailed by the Executive as one of the serious success stories of devolution but the controversy surrounding its long-term cost is growing like Jack’s beanstalk. More than 48,000 Scots now receive free personal care. This year has seen a 74 per cent rise in those receiving care in their own homes.
Source: Scotsman, Wednesday 13 October 2004
Men who had sex with girl, 12, jailed
Three men who had sex with a missing 12-year-old schoolgirl as police searched for her were today beginning jail terms totaling more than 10 years. A court heard the girl disappeared after her mother dropped her off at an evening class. The girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was found days later, distressed and dazed, by an off-duty policeman.
Source: Scotsman, Wednesday 13 October 2004
Welsh Newspapers
Our baby faces death sentence’
Health chiefs in Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in
Liverpool are considering whether to apply to the High Court for a
ruling on whether they must continue to treat a seriously ill
baby.
Nine-month-old Luke Winston-Jones from Holyhead has the genetic
disorder Edwards syndrome and was only expected to live for
days.
His parents say that a death sentence has been left hanging over
their son.
Source:- Western Mail, Wednesday, 13 October, page 10
‘This carer forgot that her job was too care’
A carer has been accused of mistreating two mentally ill men she
was meant to be looking after.
Mary Violet Doreen Williams, 53, denied two counts of ill-treating
patients under the Mental Health Act at Mold Crown Court.
It is alleged that Williams, of Lluest Las, Llangurig in Powys
bullied and verbally abused the men at a private home in the
village of Llawr y Glyn near Newton between January 1, 2002 and
September 2003.
Source:- Western Mail, Wednesday, 13 October, page 12
Travellers leave airport site
A group of travellers have left a former airfield site in
Pembrokeshire where they camped for three months.
They left the former St David’s airfield site before court
action could be enforced by the Pembrokeshire National Park
Authority.
Source:- Western Mail, Wednesday, 13 October, page 12
Disabled children are almost four times more likely to be abused than able bodied children. Jenny Rees talks to Tanni Grey-Thompson about her own experiences and why she feels every child should have someone to talk to
Source:- Western Mail, Wednesday, 13 October, page 20
