By Richard Garner, Education Editor Independent
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
The cost of bringing up a child has risen to more than £200,000 for the first time, according to a survey released today.Figures show the average parent is likely to have forked out more than £201,000 per child by the time their offspring has reached the age of 21. The cost has increased 4 per cent over the past year and 43 per cent in the seven years since the survey was first launched. The biggest cost is childcare at £54,696 …

By Caroline Gammell Telegraph
More than one in 10 parents are not getting their first choice of primary school, a new study shows. Some parents are not even applying for a place in what they think is the best school because they believe it is so oversubscribed. Campaigners and opposition MPs claimed the figures were proof that the Government was failing to tackle a problem which was only getting worse. The research also showed degree-educated mothers were less likely to get their child into the school of their choice than a …

Here is a snap shot of views and reports over the last decade of our education system, there are many more but some more negative other more positive. In the next few months we the parents will be asked…

Telepgraph
EllaOne can be taken up to 48 hours later than the current tablet. It is also potentially more effective, a new study shows, reducing the small risk of pregnancy in women who take the pills by around half. But it has triggered controversy amid fears that the extra safety net it provides could encourage women to be less diligent about using condoms. Critics also claim that a new, improved morning after pill could also give women a “false sense of security” and encourage a more casual attitude to sex. There …

Parents’ groups support teachers who argue that the tests are not in the interests of children or schools. The final year of primary school becomes all about the tests, say teachers.
Parents today came out in support of a threatened teachers’ boycott of primary school tests this summer.The 300,000 teachers who…

By Martin Evans and Nick Collins, Telegraph
Parents across the country were forced to stay at home to look after their children after thousands of schools closed in the face of worsening weather. Concerns over safety as well as transport problems for pupils and staff meant the vast majority of primary and secondary schools in the worst hit areas could not open. But some parents and business leaders expressed concern that head teachers were closing their doors at the first sign of a snowflake. For many youngsters it meant a welcome …

Anushka Asthana
The Observer, Sunday 27 December 2009
Sir Steve Redgrave has criticised the organisers of the London Olympic Games for being shortsighted in planning the sporting legacy for the UK.
The record-breaking Olympian, who won five consecutive gold medals for rowing, says those involved in the Games are not looking far enough into the future. “Everything seems to be very short-term at the moment – there has been little talk about what is going to happen in the years after the Olympics. The success of these games will not even be …

By Laura Clark, Daily Mail
Children’s Secretary Ed Balls is likely to face criticism for the new proposals Ed Balls stands accused of encouraging teenage pregnancy with plans to give 14-year-olds compulsory parenting lessons. Pupils will learn how to raise youngsters under the Children’s Secretary’s proposals from 2011 onwards.But experts warned that this could lead to teenage pregnancy being seen as increasingly acceptable, youngsters giving up education to have a baby - and teachers taking on the role of social workers.The row coincided with figures showing how schoolgirls in England’s …

Sunday January 3,2010
By Hilary Douglas

PARENT power in the classroom is under threat from teachers who want to dominate school governors’ boards once again, experts warn.
Their aim is to ban pushy mother and father governors. Local government insiders claim if teachers get their way parents playing an active role in the day-to-day management of their children’s education could come to an end in the next year. In recent years, the balance of power has shifted to give parents more say, but many experts now feel that parental influence has gone …

In Manchester, a quarter of 10 and 11-year-olds are dangerously overweight. Parents face being banned from the school run as part of a controversial attempt to combat childhood obesity. Health chiefs hope introducing residents-only parking areas near schools will encourage pupils to walk or cycle instead. The plans were criticised as ‘absolute nonsense’ by parents’ groups, who claim the Government is at fault for the rise in overweight youngsters. They point to physical exercise classes being cut from the national curriculum and school playing fields being sold off. …