The Times: California gives pupils a lie-in to boost results

Interestingly, we have recently had the should we move to California conversation. We love Suki’s new school and are both keen she stays until the end of her A’levels.

Californian children will be able to stay in bed longer in the mornings after the state became the first in the US to delay start times at most public schools.

The new law is a response to scientific research suggesting that a later start to the school day would improve pupils’ health and generate better educational outcomes.

Education, Family, Media Article, ScienceSarah NorrisOctober 16, 2019Lando EducationThe Times, California, lie-in, pupils, schools, educations, teenagersComment

The Times: Don’t close private schools, open them up

This social divide is much deeper in Britain than it is in other countries. In America, though there are some swanky schools, regular prosperous families send their kids to the local state school. In France, Italy and Germany, private schools tend to be for the religious or the troubled. It is only in Britain that the professional classes willingly go without holidays to ensure that their children are educated apart from the great majority of their compatriots.

The divide is much more important than it used to be. The top private schools used largely to be patronised by the cream of society (thick and rich). But as the growth of the “knowledge economy” outpaced that of the manufacturing industry, and children’s educational achievements increasingly determined their futures, they became highly selective and highly academic.

The Guardian: School gates 'breeding ground' for vaccine myths, says NHS chief

School gates can be a “breeding ground for harmful myths” about vaccines, the chief executive of NHS England has said, as he called for a zero-tolerance approach to misinformation about their alleged dangers.

Simon Stevens said it was often the parents who did their best to find out more about the impact and effect of vaccines on their children who were liable to be deceived by “fake news”.

“In this way the school gates themselves can be a breeding ground for harmful myths to catch on, spread and ultimately infect parents’ judgment,” he wrote in the Daily Mail.

The Times: Trash TV makes boys ‘less intelligent’, researchers claim

In the 1980s glamour came to Norwegian TV: out were staid documentaries on fjords and the leather industry, in were flashy game shows and the Scandinavian version of Blind Date.

Some 30 years later researchers have spotted an unexpected side-effect — the earlier boys were exposed to cable television the worse they did in IQ tests.

Family, Media ArticleSarah NorrisOctober 13, 2019Lando Educationtv, television, the times, Norwegian study, cable tv, IQ tests, europe, media artcileComment

The Times: Mother’s data-mining algorithm knows best

A director at the world’s most successful strategic consulting firm has brought the data-mining techniques of her day job to a decision with which many parents wrestle: how to help offspring choose a university course.

Tera Allas, director of research and economics at McKinsey and a self-confessed geek, said that it came as “no surprise” to her family when she launched a fact-based analysis and created a “prioritisation algorithm” to help her daughter weigh up courses.

The Times: Friends and early nights help girls stay happy

Seeing friends face to face and getting a good night’s sleep are the best ways for teenage girls to ward off psychological ill health, according to a government report.

The first state-of-the-nation report on children’s mental health found that these two actions were far more important than staying off social media, which had only a small effect on teenage girls’ happiness.

Family, Media ArticleSarah NorrisOctober 10, 2019Lando EducationThe Times, friends, face to face, good night's sleep, teenage girls, femalesComment

The Guardian: Sesame Street takes on opioids crisis as muppet's mother battles addiction

Creators introduce bright-green Karli: ‘Nothing else out there addresses substance abuse for young kids from their perspective’

Sesame Street is taking a new step to help American kids navigate the thornier parts of life in America: the opioids crisis.

Sesame Workshop is exploring the backstory of Karli, a bright green, yellow-haired friend of Elmo’s whose mother is battling addiction.

Sesame Street creators said they turned to the issue of addiction since data shows 5.7m children under the age of 11 live in households with a parent with substance use disorder. America’s opioid crisis has grown steadily worse in recent years. The Department of Health and Human Services reported 10.3 million people misused opioid prescriptions last year, and an average of 130 people die every day from opioid-related drug overdoses.

Family, Media ArticleSarah NorrisOctober 10, 2019Lando EducationSesame Street, Media Article, children TV, children, USA, American kidsComment

Evening Standard: Fatboy Slim plays mashup of Right Here, Right Now and Greta Thunberg's UN speech live at Gateshead show

Fatboy Slim has paid tribute to Greta Thunberg by performing a mashup of her United Nations speech and his song Right Here, Right Now to a crowd in Gateshead.

The mix, filmed by a crowd member, opens with Miss Thunberg’s speech about the climate crisis delivered to world leaders last month over opening bars of the DJ's hit track.

Family, Media ArticleSarah NorrisOctober 9, 2019Lando EducationFatboy Slim, Greta Thunberg, tribute, speech, powerful speech, DJ, How Dare YouComment

The Times : Robot helps pupils to improve their writing

The handwriting of young children improves significantly when they are required to teach robots that seem to be struggling with the same difficulties, scientists say.

Researchers programmed a small humanoid robot to help under-nines to overcome the most common errors, including where parts of the letter appear out of scale and where the letter appears to be rotated at the wrong angle.

Family, Education, Media ArticleSarah NorrisOctober 9, 2019Lando Educationrobot, The Times, handwriting, writing, education, learning, schoolComment

The Times: Youngsters hooked on internet to get help at NHS clinic

Young people addicted to playing video games or using social media can seek treatment at the first NHS clinic dedicated to internet-related health problems.

The Centre for Internet and Gaming Disorders, based in London, opens for referrals today with the first patients to be seen by specialists in November. Appointments will also be available via Skype, the video calling app, for those unable to travel to the capital.

Family, Media Article, TechnologySarah NorrisOctober 9, 2019Lando EducationNHS, addiction, young people, video games, technologyComment

The Guardian: Turkey says Rebel Girls children's book should be treated like porn

Turkey has ruled that the million-selling book Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls should be partially banned and treated like pornography because it could have a “detrimental influence” on young people.

The book, which has been published in 47 languages, offers a series of inspiring stories about women from history for young children. But in a decision published last week, the Turkish government’s board for the protection of minors from obscene publications said: “Some of the writings in the book will have a detrimental influence on the minds of those under the age of 18.”

Business, Education, Family, Media Article, Reading, ScienceSarah NorrisOctober 8, 2019Lando EducationTurkey, Rebel Girls, books, children's booksComment

The Times: Private schools scrap Britain’s oldest exam

Common Entrance is to end within two years as public schools take on more primary pupils. Are prep schools doomed?

Family, Education, Media ArticleSarah NorrisSeptember 30, 2019Lando EducationThe Times, common entrance, prep schoolsComment

Evening Standard: Frolo app: a single mum wanted to find other single parents – so she made an app for it

If you want to become an app entrepreneur, a good place to start is by identifying a problem you are personally dealing with and finding a way to use tech to solve it.

For Zoe Desmond, her app, Frolo, came from her experience as a single parent and the loneliness that came along with that. Desmond and her partner separated two years ago, not long after their son Billy had turned one, and she says she found it very isolating.

“I didn’t know any other single parents in my life – none of my friends and family. I began to dread the weekends, I would start to panic about how to get by and fill the days. Then there was the guilt of not being able to be my best self for my son, not wanting to impose on friends and family on their family time,” she tells the Standard.

What she really wanted was to find a community of people who were in a similar situation and would understand. The other platforms and apps out there didn’t offer the right space: the Facebook forums were full of too much negativity and mum apps like Peanut and Mush didn’t have the right search system to find other single parents.

Family, Media ArticleSarah NorrisSeptember 30, 2019Lando Educationsingle parent, family, app, evening standard, FroloComment

Evening Standard - Scream time: More parents calling in professionals to resolve family rows over gadget use

Increasing numbers of parents with young children are seeking help from professional coaches over screen time “battles” with their “addicted” offspring, experts said.

Device use has become the heart of many family rows, with some parents complaining of “triple-screening” — youngsters simultaneously viewing a television, laptop and smartphone.

Coaches say that occupational therapists they work with are worried that children are not learning simple resilience from climbing trees or running around outside, with some starting school unable to hold a pencil properly.

BBC - Mothers with 'controlling voice' fail to persuade teenagers

Mothers who talk to their teenage children in a "controlling tone of voice" are more likely to start an argument than get a positive response, according to researchers.

The Cardiff University study examined the responses of 14 and 15-year-olds to instructions given to them in different ways of speaking.

It showed that mothers wanting to persuade teenagers to co-operate got better results when they sounded "supportive" rather than when they applied pressure.

The researchers said that in terms of young people's behaviour there has been little evidence about the impact of "tone of voice", rather than the words or actions of parents.

Family, Media ArticleSarah NorrisSeptember 27, 2019Lando Educationmother, teenager, controlling voice, stressed, homeworkComment

BBC - 'Time outs' don't do any harm, parents told

Using "time outs" to discipline children is not going to harm them or your relationship with them, US research suggests.

Despite criticism of the "naughty step" strategy, children's anxiety did not increase and neither did their aggressive behaviour, the eight-year study of families found.

But a UK psychologist said the key was how the technique was used.

And not all children responded to authoritarian forms of discipline.

Family, Media ArticleSarah NorrisSeptember 25, 2019Lando Educationtime out, naughty children, naughty step, parents, parentingComment

The Times - Piccolo baby food cooks up export business as added security

A baby food brand that counts Prue Leith, the The Great British Bake Off judge, as an early backer has built a £1.5 million export business in the past year to help to cushion it from Brexit uncertainty.

Piccolo Foods, founded by Catherine Gazzoli in 2016, makes Mediterranean-style organic fruit and vegetable purees using her experience working in food education at the United Nations. The brand, which sells pouches of sweet tomato and ricotta spaghetti and squash mac and cheese purees, is also backed by Craig Sams, founder of Green & Blacks chocolate, and Mark Angela, the former Pizza Express boss.

Ms Gazzoli said that Piccolo was on track to make £7 million in turnover this year after winning contracts with all the main supermarkets, broadening its range to include teething biscuits and stir-in pasta sauces for toddlers, and launching overseas.

Family, Media ArticleSarah NorrisSeptember 24, 2019Lando EducationPiccolo, baby foodComment

The Times - Buying homes near good schools ‘worse than going private’

From Saturday.

Buying a house in the catchment area of an outstanding state school is worse for social mobility than paying for your child to go to private school, a prep school leader claims.

Critics of the private school sector are often hypocrites who buy expensive houses close to high-performing state schools, according to Christopher King, chief executive of the Independent Association of Prep Schools.

The Labour Party conference opens today and a motion to abolish private schools is due to be heard tomorrow. Labour has already pledged to charge VAT on school fees.

Private school heads have reacted with anger and frustration, saying that many fee-charging schools are small and at the heart of local communities.

Speaking ahead of the conference on Thursday, Mr King said: “Vocal critics of the independent school sector are often the very same people who have enough money to buy expensive houses close to some of the most high-performing state schools in the country.

Education, Family, Media ArticleSarah NorrisSeptember 23, 2019Lando Educationschool, education, housing, catchment area, state schoolsComment

BBC - Night in national park 'for every schoolchild'

Every schoolchild in England should get the opportunity to "spend a night under the stars" in an idyllic landscape, an independent review has suggested.

Helping pupils connect with nature through visits would ensure protected areas such as national parks are "open to everyone", the review's author said.

Julian Glover was asked to review England's 70-year-old national park system and areas of outstanding natural beauty by the environment secretary.

He says they need to be "re-ignited".

Mr Glover's review says challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss and a trend towards increased urban living mean fresh ideas are needed to give England's protect landscapes new purpose.

Among his recommendations are a National Landscapes Service to act as a unified body for the country's 10 national parks and 34 areas of outstanding natural beauty, and a 1,000-strong "ranger service" to help engage the public.

Mr Glover, a journalist and former government aide, suggests overnight school trips would help pupils understand more about the natural environment, and he recommends new protections and funding to help improve beautification.

What a Difference a Year Makes

Following yesterday’s Climate Strike, I spotted this on Twitter from Louise MacDonald

@GretaThunberg has shown that all young people have a voice. I hope my own 11 year old grows up being inspired to “Make a Difference”.

great article in The Times - Climate strike: Greta Thunberg’s army make their voices heard

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