Full Story – Telegraph
The new rules lead on from increased child protection procedures which followed the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, in Soham. In a major blow for the Government, Britain’s largest children’s charity, the NSPCC, criticised the regulations for parent helpers which it said threatened “perfectly safe and normal activities” and risked alienating the public. Barry Sheerman, Labour chairman of the Commons’ children and families select committee condemned the way the policy was being implemented and demanded that Children’s Secretary Ed Balls “get a grip on …

By Laura Donnelly, Health Correspondent
Sunday Telegraph
Tens of thousands of overweight children – some as young as four – will be shipped off to fat camp, under a Government scheme to tackle obesity. Primary school pupils identified as being overweight will automatically be offered a place on a state-funded diet and exercise scheme . Primary school pupils identified as being overweight will automatically be offered a place on a state-funded diet and exercise scheme. Although parents will have the right to refuse to send their children to the classes, ministers hope …

Margaret Morrissey from ParentsOutloud.com joins the show “When is the right time to start teaching your child to read?” on BBC Woman’s hour (3rd Sept 2009)

By Alison Kershaw and Jane Kirby, Press Association
Friday, 17 July 2009
The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) said while it is expected schools and nurseries would open as usual at the start of the academic year, they “cannot be certain what the situation will be” in the autumn. The UK total number of deaths linked to swine flu now stands at 29. About 1,000 schools have already recorded cases of swine flu, the DCSF message to schools said, though most have remained open. At the start of the outbreak, …

By Julie Henry, Education Correspondent, and Ian Johnston
School nurses are receiving special training to deal with increasing numbers of pupils who are still in nappies.
Debbie Bird and her daughter Charlotte her seven-year-old daughter who wore nappies until she was five and still wears them at night Photo: JULIAN SIMMONDS
A growing number of parents are failing to potty train their children before sending them to primary school. Some parents have made it a low priority because they are too busy, while others have a more relaxed attitude and are happy to …

By James Chapman Mail
Ministers have approved the sale of more than 200 school and community playing fields, despite repeated promises to protect them.
Even in the four years since London was chosen to host the 2012 Olympics, the Government has allowed the sell-off of 49 school sports fields. In total since Labour came to power in 1997, 203 pitches have been lost. In its 1997 General Election manifesto, Labour pledged to bring the then Tory government’s ‘policy of forcing schools to sell off playing fields to an end’. Sacrificed: Since Labour …

By Emily Cook 18/07/2009 mirror
A pregnant woman with swine flu died soon after giving birth, it was revealed yesterday.A baby less than six months old has emerged as Britain’s youngest death from the outbreak. The London infant had serious underlying health problems.Two more deaths in the capital have emerged – a man, 70, who died on Tuesday and an adult who died on Friday last week. The infant aged under six months passed away on July 8. All four victims are among 29 people in the UK who have died …

Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor The Telegraph
Sunburn: Children with sunburn could be a sign their parent are neglecting them, new guidance has said. Repeated infestations of headline and a lack of treatment for tooth decay should also trigger doctors and nurses to consider whether the child is being maltreated, under new guidance form the National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence. Sunburn could be a sign of neglect if the child has not been appropriately supervised, the guidance said. One in ten children will suffer some form of maltreatment during their …

By Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Editor Telegraph
Published: 2:17PM BST 22 Jun 2009
Parents should be able to freely take photographs and video of their children at school sports days or plays, the privacy watchdog ruled.
A ban on photographing school sports day’s risk preventing happy keepsakes for families.Warnings that taking images of children and their friends at school events breach their rights are “wrong” and risk preventing happy keepsakes for families, the DeputInformation Commissioner concluded. Even photographs taken for official use or local newspapers do not breach the Data Protection Act so …

By Laura Clark – Mail
24th June 2009
A mobile phone designed for children as young as four is to be sold in Britain. The brightly coloured Firefly handset has just five buttons – including two which call Mum and Dad directly. Details of the phone, which looks like a toy, came as it emerged that more than half of under-tens now own a mobile. Play-mobile: The young girl pretending to use an adult phone (above) could soon have her own child-friendly handset that has simplified buttons and speed …