‘Poor children should get extra lessons on Saturdays’

By Maria Ahmed, Mithran Samuel and Amy Taylor

‘Poor children should get extra lessons on Saturdays’

Children from poor families should be given extra lessons on weekdays and Saturdays to provide them with the levels of support enjoyed by pupils at private schools, a study by think-tank CentreForum will recommend today.

Source:- The Times, Tuesday 17 July 2007, page 5
 
Teachers attacked

A teenager has admitted carrying out a brutal attack on two teachers after pouncing at school gates with a 950,000-volt stun gun. Marvin Airey, 19, from Knowle, Bristol, temporarily paralysed a male teacher with the illegal weapon, Bristol Crown Court heard.

Source:- The Times, Tuesday 17 July 2007, page 9
 
 
Broken fingers and cut faces bring £2 million payout to pupils

Education authorities are launching a crackdown on injury claims over fears of a burgeoning compensation culture in school playgrounds as new figures reveal that children injured at English schools received an estimated £2 million in compensation last year.

Source:- The Times, Tuesday 17 July 2007, page 19
 
 
Early-release prisoners return to criminal ways

Thirty criminals who were freed from jail to ease overcrowding broke the terms of their release, including committing further crimes within seven days, the Ministry of Justice admitted yesterday.

Source:- The Times, Tuesday 17 July 2007, page 24

Schools report backs ‘pupil premium’

Schools should be given financial incentives to recruit children from the poorest backgrounds, liberal think-tank CentreForum has argued in a report today.

The report said it would make more sense than the government’s ambition of raising overall per pupil funding to private sector levels, as resources needed to be concentrated among the poorest, lowest attaining pupils if they were to have the greatest effect.

Source:- Financial Times Tuesday 17 July 2007 page 4

Families feel childcare and work pressures

Family relationships are under increasing strain as parents struggle to reconcile the demands of work and caring for children, according to a poll published today.

The study, published by the Children’s Society as part of its Good Childhood Inquiry, found that 61% of adults believed children did not get enough time with their children, yet almost half said they had had to put their career first, even if this affected family life.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 17 July 2007 page 4

Doctor at centre of MMR controversy accused of paying children at party for blood samples

The doctor who linked the MMR jab to autism paid children attending his son’s birthday party to donate their blood for his research, a General Medical Council hearing heard yesterday.

The GMC heard that Andrew Wakefield gave children interventions such as lumbar punctures and colonoscopies which they allegedly did not need.

Wakefield wrote a paper in the Lancet journal in 1998 claiming that there was a link between the MMR jab, bowel disease and autism, a move which sapped public confidence in the combination vaccine.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 17 July 2007 page 4

Burst of activity on welfare, skills, crime and housing

Prime minister Gordon Brown is planning to rush out a number of policy announcements this week before parliament rises for the summer recess at the end of next week.

Policies on welfare-to-work, the powers of local government and crime reduction will be outlined over the next few days.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 17 July 2007 page 12

A divided country: study reveals growing UK wealth segregation

Poorer and wealthy households are becoming increasingly segregated from the rest of society, an analysis of geographical inequality by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has found.

The study showed that while those living in absolute poverty reduced during the 1990s, those in relative poverty increased, as did the size of wealth held by the richest 1% of the population.

A linked JRF study found three-quarters of people thought the income gap was too large.

Source:- The Guardian Tuesday 17 July 2007 page 13

Welsh news

Man charged with child’s abduction

A 40-year-old man has been arrested and charged in relation to the abduction of a 10-year-old boy in Cardiff.

The boy was taken from the Splott area of the city. He is due to appear at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court tomorrow.

Source:- Western Mail, Tuesday, July 17 2007

Valleys families ‘among poorest’

The South Wales Valleys have one of the highest rates of families classed as being “breadline poor” in the UK according to new research.

The study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found that the Valleys were one of the few areas where up to 30-40 per cent of people experienced “breadline” poverty between 1970 and 2000.

Source:- Western Mail, Tuesday, July 17 2007