Articles tagged with: Children

04 Dec Education

Plan To Put Nurseries In Schools Could Face Take Up Issues, Early Years Providers Warn

Early years providers could be "discouraged" from taking part in the Government's push to increase the number of school-based nurseries, the sector has warned.

04 Dec Education

Cracking The Screen: Josh MacAlister on his bid to get kids off their phones

Josh MacAlister wants children to spend less time on their phones and far fewer of them in residential care. The former teacher tells Tali Fraser his experience of working across party lines is helping build support. Photography by Elio Zhang

27 Nov Education

Stephen Morgan: 'I’m really conscious that parents have had it pretty tough'

The first-ever early education minister Stephen Morgan tells Matilda Martin what’s keeping him awake at night as he works to deliver a key election pledge

21 Nov Education

It has been a year since the Online Safety Act became law – yet we’re still waiting for action

A year since the groundbreaking Online Safety Act became law, the risks children face online seem to be worse than ever. From AI child abuse images to sophisticated ‘sextortion’ gangs and addictive algorithms, the pace of technology, and those who seek to exploit it, has overtaken the shift towards safety.

24 Oct Health

New Report On "Financially Unsustainable" Special Educational Needs System Is "Watershed Moment"

A new report setting out the severe pressures facing the special educational needs system (SEND) ought to be a “watershed moment” for Westminster, a former children’s commissioner has warned.

16 Oct Social affairs

Labour MP Says "Unthinking Conservatism" Makes Life Difficult For Working Parents In Parliament

Labour MP Josh Simons has said "unthinking institutional conservatism" continues to create barriers for parents working in Parliament, and wants to see improved paternity provisions for fathers in Westminster and across the UK.

27 Sep Education

We need greater focus on quality as well as quantity of children’s care home places

As a schoolteacher in Tullibody, Clackmannanshire, back at the start of my career, I was determined to set high standards in my classroom.

24 Sep Social affairs

Mothers of children born of rape must never be left to face this alone

Ten babies a day are born in this country as a result of rape. Ten every day, every year, for generations.

Women in Westminster: In Conversation With Dame Rachel de Souza

Partner content

20 Aug Parliament

Women in Westminster: In Conversation With Dame Rachel de Souza

As Children’s Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza ensures that government, public bodies, and others fulfil their responsibilities to England’s children. As part of our Women in Westminster series, PoliticsHome sat down with de Souza to learn more about why children’s voices must be heard

08 May Home affairs

Fatherhood is a privilege, not a right

Despite being firmly in a pre-election period, there’s still time for MPs to be making change.

23 Apr Home affairs

"Devastating" Report Shows Thousands Of Children Under Six Being Sexually Abused Online

The Security Minister and the Internet Watch Foundation have urged technology firms to take "urgent action", as a "devastating" new report shows the extent of online sexual abuse and grooming being carried out against children under the age of six.

01 Apr Social affairs

Former Education Minister Says Childcare Needs Boost For Students And Disadvantaged Families

Chair of the Education Select Committee Robin Walker has said Government childcare measures must go further to support families and the early years sector, urging the government to expand provisions to graduate students and disadvantaged groups.

31 Mar Social affairs

Parents Could Be Left "Disappointed" By Free Childcare Expansion

The founder of an influential parenting charity has said that the free childcare expansion promised by Government could leave parents “really disappointed” if they do not see a significant fall in their childcare costs.

01 Mar Social affairs

Urgent action is needed to fix failing children’s social care

On 27 February, MPs on the Education Select Committee began hearing oral evidence as part of their enquiry into children’s social care.

05 Feb Communities

We are investing in childcare like never before – but the system could be simpler

Do not mess with sleep-deprived mums and dads juggling kids and expensive childcare. That was my main message to anybody who would listen when I was pitching for an improved offer. I think I will now add – do not mess with sleep-deprived Conservative MPs. I and others are on the warpath to champion families and the early years sector.

01 Feb Education

Banning children from social media would be short-sighted

Reaction to the announcement shortly after the passage of the Online Safety Act that the Prime Minister was considering banning social media for under-16s was something of a mixed bag.

Partner content

29 Jan Foreign affairs

Being there for every child

How we can create a brighter future at home and abroad

28 Jan Health

Miriam Cates interview: 'Marriage is essentially meaningless if it is easy to get out of'

Conservative MP Miriam Cates talks to Sienna Rodgers about population collapse, plus why she thinks all surrogacy should be outlawed and no-fault divorce was a ‘mistake’

27 Jan Communities

Profit and loss: How children's care is failing our most vulnerable

Demand is rising, costs are spiralling and profit-maximising private equity and sovereign wealth funds are piling in. The children’s care business is a huge policy failure that is dragging councils towards bankruptcy but, as Justine Smith reports, it is vulnerable children that are the real victims.

Illustrations by Tracy Worrall

27 Jan Education

'The Home Office shouldn’t have anything to do with children': The Children's Commissioner interview

Children’s commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza tells Sophie Church why Elon Musk needs to take his fatherhood more seriously and why she thinks the Home Office ‘shouldn’t have anything to do with children’

Partner content

28 Nov 2023 Education

Action needed to support vulnerable children through primary-secondary school transitions

The number of children experiencing poor emotional wellbeing during their transition from primary to secondary school is rising rapidly, a leading educational psychology expert has warned.

30 Oct 2023 Health

Britain must turn the tide to ensure every child has access to nutritious food

Over the last few years, the movement to end child food poverty has snowballed. From grassroots campaigning to support from celebrities like Marcus Rashford, Olivia Colman and Kate Winslet, and government pledges to extend free school meals, the fight to give kids the best possible start in life has captured the hearts of the nation.

Partner content

26 Jul 2023 Health

BGC WELCOMES NEW CRACK DOWN ON ILLEGAL ADS AND MEASURES TO FURTHER PROTECT CHILDREN ONLINE

The Betting and Gaming Council welcomes new rules announced by Government to crack down on illegal ads online, and better protect young people from harm.

23 Jul 2023 Health

Inside the "barbaric" mental health units holding autistic adults and children

Nearly 2,000 adults and hundreds of children with learning disabilities or autism are being held in mental health units, with an average stay of more than five years, despite repeated abuse scandals. Justine Smith reports