Parent Pages new website

It is a charity single with a difference: sung by a ten-year-old girl, helped by a little bit of inspiration from Howard Donald of Take That.

By Adam Lusher 9:00AM BST 15 May 2011

From this week visitors to the iTunes website can raise funds for the Anthony Nolan charity by downloading ‘Unshakeable’, sung by Sophie Dyson, 10, of Chiswick, west London. As she prepared for the release of her song, Sophie said: “I just thought that it might change things. I wanted to raise money for this charity because there are people out there who are not as fortunate as I am.” Sophie’s song will help the cause of her father Simon, the chairman of Anthony Nolan, which helps save the lives of cancer patients by maintaining a bone marrow donor register and an umbilical cord blood bank.

Source: TELEGRAPH

The Stoddart family downsized from a comfortable £60,000-a-year life in Brighton to live in west Wales on £16,000 – and they still have to pay a mortgage. Here they tell how they did it

By Kim Stoddart

I was sitting in a business meeting a couple of years ago doing what normal people do in meetings at work. There was lots of “blah, blah, blah, financial targets” and “waffle, waffle, waffle, notes from the last meeting” when it dawned on me that, now in my mid-30s, I didn’t want to “do business” any more. I didn’t want to work in an office, in fact. I started wondering what would happen if we were all thrown into a practically challenging situation, such as the middle of a jungle somewhere; how would we cope and, you know, survive? What good would PowerPoint and Adobe Acrobat skills do then? Look, I was a bit bored and my mind was wandering, it happens to us all. But the point was I’d had a growing, gnawing sense of frustration at my lack of practical abilities for a while.

Source: GUARDIAN

Recession hits the middle classes’ leisure time

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 8:40 AM on 13th May 2011

Middle-class families have been hit so hard by the recession that many can no longer afford a holiday. Official figures showed yesterday that the number who are unable to go away for a week has risen by more than a quarter since 2006.
More than one in three middle-income families will not get to go away with their family.

Source: DAILYMAIL

Households have suffered the most significant drop in their income in the past year since 1981, the Institute for Fiscal Studies suggests today.

By Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent

The independent think tank said a combination of stagnant wage increases and high inflation means that the typical family will have lost more than £500 over the past 12 months. Typical households are likely to be three per cent worse off than the year before, the IFS says, stuck on an income comparable to 2005 levels. Official income data for the last financial year are not due to be published for another 12 months but the IFS forecasts that “such a fall is entirely possible”.

Source: TELEGRAPH

Wealthy parents could be able to buy places for their children at the best universities under government plans to free up subsidised degrees.

6:49AM BST 10 May 2011

The proposals would allow universities to charge willing British students the same full–price fees as overseas undergraduates to ensure them a place. Teenagers who take up the places would not be eligible for publicly funded loans to help pay for tuition fees or any living costs, according to a report in The Guardian. It would mean that only students from the most privileged backgrounds would have the funds to take advantage of the scheme.

Source: TELEGRAPH>> Read full article and comment

Survey of over 500 firms shows many employers dissatisfied with school leavers’ numeracy and use of English

By Jeevan Vasagar

Almost half of all employers have paid for remedial training for school and college leavers who lack a basic grasp of English and maths, according to the CBI. Companies also find school leavers lacking in the broader attributes required for work, with 69% saying school leavers have inadequate business awareness, and more than 50% finding shortcomings in their ability to manage themselves. The survey of more than 500 firms shows that 42% are dissatisfied with school leavers’ use of English, and more than a third are concerned about numeracy. Twelve per cent of employers provided remedial literacy training for graduates. The government is expected to announce this week that teenagers failing to get good GCSEs in English and maths should be required to pursue these subjects after 16. At present, 4% of such teenagers go on to achieve this by the age of 19.

Source: GUARDIAN>> Read full article and comment

Five academy schools in financial deficit received extra government funds last year, with one needing almost £5m.

By Jessica Shepherd Education correspondent

A government quango spent almost £7m last year bailing out academy schools in financial deficit, official figures reveal. One academy – Richard Rose Central in Carlisle – needed a cash injection of nearly £5m. Four others – Gloucester, Manchester Enterprise, Paddington and Westminster academies – received between £850,000 and £250,000.

State schools rely on local authorities to give them extra funds if they run into a serious shortfall. But academies operate outside of local authority control and so a quango – the Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA) – gives them extra funds if they are in urgent need of them.

Source: GUARDIAN >> Read full article and comment

Sainsbury’s launches new budget-busting campaign (but you’d better like jam on toast).

By Sadie Whitelocks
Last updated at 7:40 AM on 5th May 2011

Feeding the family cheaply can be a struggle for many, with hours spent in the aisles seeking out the cheapest prices. But, in a move designed to cash in on austerity Britain, one supermarket chain claims it can feed an entire family of four for a week for just £50. Sainsbury’s latest ‘Feed your family for £50′ campaign – which gives families week-long menus and tells them all the ingredients they will need for seven days – kicked off yesterday. The cost is equivalent to just 60p a meal per person.

Source: Dailymail>> Read full article and comment

Sainsbury’s is launching a deal that promises it can be done. We asked three leading food writers if it’s really possible.

By Fiona Beckett, Simon Majumdar and Richard Ehrlich

Sure you can feed your family for £50 a week, just as you can restrict yourself to 1,200 calories a day if you need to. But it takes willpower, and supermarkets aren’t always the best places to exercise that. Everything – well, practically everything – will have to be pre-planned. You can’t afford to be deflected by impulse buys, though it’s worth keeping, say, a £5 float to take advantage of offers on non-perishable foods like pasta and tinned tuna and for stocking up on basics like herbs and spices (which are cheaper in independent shops than supermarkets).

You’ll have to stop pandering to your kids. On this kind of budget you can’t afford to let everyone eat what they like whenever they feel like it. Shared mealtimes are easier to control than 24/7 fridge raiding. Set whatever you don’t need aside for another meal rather than leaving it on the side for scavengers to dip into. Insist that kids ask you when they want a snack rather than just helping themselves. (Frugality, I’m afraid, requires a degree of fascism that doesn’t come easily to today’s laid-back parents.)

Source: GUARDIAN

Head teachers are set to join an unprecedented wave of strikes that will bring almost every school in England and Wales to a standstill.

By Graeme Paton 11:28PM BST 29 Apr 2011

The National Association of Head Teachers is expected to back proposals for a national walk out to defend members’ pensions. An emergency motion to be debated at the union’s annual conference in Brighton on Sunday will call on the union to take any action necessary – up to and including strikes – to block controversial changes to teachers’ retirement funds. The move comes just days after two major teaching unions announced they would ballot members for a one-day strike in the summer term, followed by a series of walk-outs in September and October.

Source: TELEGRAPH

Euro Disney is scrambling to convince lenders to boost its budget for refurbishments following an accident at the ageing theme park which left five visitors injured, one seriously.

By CHRISTIAN SYLT
Last updated at 8:37 PM on 29th April 2011

Europe’s biggest visitor attraction, which is quoted on the Euronext stock market, turned 19 this month, but the fanfare and fireworks which usually mark its birthdays have been put on ice. An investigation by French prosecutors into the incident on Easter Sunday – one of the park’s busiest days of the year – follows a probe by France’s stock exchange watchdog.

Source: Dailymail>> Read full article and comment

A former head teacher who used school funds to pay for a meal at an expensive restaurant, jewellery and a new piano has been suspended for six months.

By Nick Collins 2:33PM BST 28 Apr 2011

Sure Start children’s centres in England are being starved of funds and the network is shrinking as councils implement funding cuts, the shadow education secretary has said.

27 April 2011 Last updated at 15:52 GMT

The grant that funds the network had been cut by about 22%, Andy Burnham told MPs in an opposition day debate. He said councils around the UK were closing centres or cutting services. Education Secretary Michael Gove said many councils were maintaining services and enough money was available. Some of the 3,600 Sure Start children’s centres are being cut because the grant that funds them was cut by 11% in last year’s emergency budget, and again in the comprehensive spending review by almost the same percentage.

Source: BBC NEWS>> Read full article and comment

Obese families will be given guided tours of supermarkets to teach them how to buy healthier food.

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 7:26 AM on 26th April 2011

The free ten-week healthy eating course is being offered to adults living with overweight children in poor areas. Council and NHS mentors will urge their pupils to stop buying fatty foods and replace them with fruit and vegetables and give them lessons in keeping a balanced diet, according to the Daily Mirror. The course normally costs £400 but is being offered free by NHS Manchester and the city council to reduce health problems later in life.’We all lead such healthy lives that eating healthily can sometimes drop off the priority list,’ course co-ordinator Daniel Brown told the Mirror.

Source: Dailymail>> Read full article and comment

Anthony Browne welcomes move ‘at challenghing time for the arts’.

By Laura Barnett 12:53PM BST 21 Apr 2011

We’ve got the Man Booker, the Costa Book Awards, and the Galaxy National Book Awards – and now another major literary award is to adopt a new corporate title. The post of Children’s Laureate is, it was announced today, to be re-branded as the Waterstone’s Children’s Laureate.

The decision marks a stepping-up of the bookseller’s involvement with the award. Waterstone’s has been the major sponsor of the Children’s Laureateship since 2006. The remaining funds for the two-year post – which carries a £15,000 bursary and is currently held by author and illustrator Anthony Browne – are supplied by Arts Council England (ACE), the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), and a number of publishers. The MLA’s funding for the award has been halved for this financial year, making an increased financial and promotional commitment from Waterstone’s particularly significant.

Source: TELEGRAPH

My husband and I will be so panic-stricken at the cost of tuition fees that sending our daughter on a gap year will seem like a mad luxury, writes Cassandra Jardine.

By Cassandra Jardine 5:23PM BST 20 Apr 2011

For the past 10 days, I have been living vicariously. My 19-year-old daughter has charity-hitched to Morocco and is now trolling around having her bottom pinched and being called Barbie. She and her two companions, one of whom is male, have done a mini-version of the gap year: they’ve been ripped off, put in a bus going in the wrong direction, taken a lift from what sounded like a drug dealer and – of course – run out of money. Along the way they have raised funds and a teensy bit of a-wah-ness (as its known in the Gap-yah sketch on YouTube) for Link Community Development.

Source: TELEGRAPH

The pupil premium can help disadvantaged children. But schools must be given the right information to use it effectively.

By Jonathan Clifton

Listening to the government describe its education reforms, you’d be forgiven for thinking that educational equality was in the bag. Now that schools are being paid the pupil premium – an additional £430 for every disadvantaged pupil they teach – ministers seem content that the resources are in place to tackle low achievement among children from poor backgrounds.

Meanwhile, the opposition has attacked the size of the premium. They argue that spending cuts to school budgets, coupled with a bulge in the number of school-age children, mean it cannot possibly make a difference. But as the funds allocated for the pupil premium rise – from £625m this year to £2.5bn by 2014/15 – size won’t be the issue. It’s how the money is spent that really matters.

Source: GUARDIAN

Will paying rent help give our children a better understanding of money, even if we’re not desperate for the funds?

By Annalisa Barbieri

We have four children aged 12,14, 17 and 19. The 14-year-old helps neighbours with gardening jobs and has a paper round, the 17-year-old has a Saturday job. The 19-year-old still lives at home and has a part-time job – he may go on to university or not. He is enjoying his job so much he says he might never go back to studying.

Should the children pay towards their upkeep? We are comfortably off, but not rich. My husband had to “pay his way” from a very young age. His parents expected half of anything he earned until he left home – he even had to pay them half his paper round money when he was 11. (He left home at 16.) I was never expected to pay anything. My in-laws were better off than my parents were too. I am now the main breadwinner (I run my own business) and I think I’m pretty good with money. My husband isn’t, and I look after the family finances. He insists that because he paid toward his upkeep our children should too. Because I didn’t, I don’t think they should.

Source: GUARDIAN

The maternity wear retailer Mothercare is set to hire a former Asda executive to run its UK business, a move designed to help management dedicate more attention to both its domestic and burgeoning international business.

By James Thompson

Mike Logue – who joined Asda in 2007 as head of its Asda Living non-food format and then moved on to roles including the grocer’s commercial director for home and leisure – is on the verge of joining as UK director for Mothercare and Early Learning Centre, which the group acquired in 2007. It is unclear if he will get a seat on Mothercare’s main board. The hiring of Mr Logue, who was also previously the managing director of the computer game specialist Gamestation (now part of Game Group), is likely to free up Mothercare’s chief executive Ben Gordon to focus more on the retailer’s group and international strategy. Mothercare’s UK sales have been dented by increasing competition from the supermarkets, such as Asda and Tesco, in recent years and Mr Logue’s expertise should help the retailer.

Source: INDEPENDENT

Staff training budget – slashed to just 69p a head – could put already vulnerable children at risk, say care leaders.

By David Brindle

A fresh wave of scandals threatens children’s homes, care leaders are warning, after the government cut annual training funds for staff to just 69p a head. Only £25,000 has been set aside for work in children’s homes in England out of an overall training budget of £113m for the children and young people’s workforce for the next 12 months. The bulk of the budget has been set aside for training social workers who operate in the community, considered the priority since the Baby Paffair. But some 12,000 children, including between 10% and 15% of those in care, are looked after in residential homes.

Source: GUARDIAN

More than a quarter of middle-class families will remain in the UK for their annual holiday this year citing financial pressures, according to Experian.

By Jill Insley

More than one in four middle-class families intend giving up their holiday this year because of increasing financial pressures, according to research by Experian. The survey of 2,000 people found that 28% of middle Britons – by age and by wealth – throughout the UK will forgo a holiday altogether, while this figure rose to 38% of those questioned in the south-east. Overall, of those still planning a holiday, 28% will stay in Britain. Experian found that those still planning to travel abroad were nevertheless intending to cut back on spending, with 24% saying they would take packed lunches rather than eat out, 42% saying they would go on fewer excursions, and 29% saying they wouldn’t buy souvenirs. A further 12% will cut costs by camping rather than staying in hotels.

Source: GUARDIAN

With funds dwindling and the trail gone cold, Kate McCann has written a hard-hitting book about the search for her daughter, reports Robert Mendick.

7:00AM BST 10 Apr 2011

Four years on, they still say prayers for Madeleine McCann in Praia da Luz. Each week, the church in the centre of the Algarve resort makes the same plaintive plea for “Madeleine and all missing children and their families”.

Kate McCann, the girl’s mother, is sometimes there to hear them. She has made a series of secret trips back to the village, staying with the local Anglican priest and his wife. Shunning the limelight, she goes alone, leaving behind her husband Gerry and their twins, toddlers at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance but now old enough to be at school. The public has never been told until now of these solo trips.

Source: TELEGRAPH

Peppa Pig, the popular TV animation aimed at the pre-school market, may stop being made next year.

By Amanda Andrews and Francisca Kellett 4:31PM BST 08 Apr 2011

The character’s creators have told The Telegraph in a video interview that they plan to make their final series of animation series Peppa Pig in 2012.

“We’re just in the middle of the final episodes of Peppa that will ever be made…Final delivery is on September 30, 2012,” said Phil Davies, one member of Peppa’s creators Astley Baker Davies.

Source: TELEGRAPH

A school has secured £345,000 in road safety improvements after a pupil sent a plea to council officials.

7 April 2011 Last updated at 14:42 GMT

Jenny Wright, now 12, sent a letter on behalf of Llanfairpwll School, Anglesey, explaining the hazards she faced along the A4080. The school then conducted a survey of village residents to help develop a council travel plan to bid for funds. The money has been awarded via the Welsh Assembly Government’s Safe Routes in Communities project.

Source: BBC NEWS

One in six secondary schools now an academy, figures show.

By Jessica Shepherd, education correspondent

The number of academy schools in England has trebled over the last year to one in six secondary schools, government figures show. Statistics from the Department for Education reveal that the majority of secondary schools are academies in six local authorities. These include Southwark and Bromley, in south London, and Plymouth and Reading. Academies are schools that have opted out of the control of their local authority and may receive funds from charities or corporate sponsors.

Source: GUARDIAN

Gamers who feel ill playing Nintendo’s 3DS console have complained they are not being offered full refunds by retailers.

By Martin Evans 6:46AM BST 05 Apr 2011

Thousands of customers have reported suffering headaches and dizziness after playing the three-dimensional machine, which works by flashing separate images into each eye, creating the illusion of depth. But some are angry that they are only being offered partial refunds if they return the console to some retailers. Sundeep Tailor, 27, from Luton said he started to feel unwell after playing his 3DS for just three minutes.

Source: TELEGRAPH

The Government’s push to create 250,000 more apprenticeships has been dismissed as “window dressing” by a leading business group.

By Louisa Peacock 7:00AM BST 04 Apr 2011

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) warned the target to create hundreds of thousands more on-the-job training schemes by 2014-15 is unrealistic given the economic backdrop. George Osborne, the Chancellor, last month announced an extra £180m to create 50,000 more apprenticeships.

Source: TELEGRAPH

New paternity leave rules have come into effect meaning that parents will be legally entitled to share time off work during their baby’s first year.

3 April 2011 Last updated at 14:15 GMT

The move means parents could take six months off work each. The government hopes to extend the measures with a fully flexible system of shared parental leave in 2015. However, the Federation of Small Businesses said a one-size-fits-all approach did not work and added to the administrative burden on small firms. A survey of 1,300 firms by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) showed that over half believed giving extra paternity leave to fathers would be detrimental. Earlier this year Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg outlined plans to press ahead with changes, first proposed by the previous government.

Source: BBC NEWS

Around 55,000 single parents will lose their child benefit as a result of government cuts, a parliamentary answer has disclosed.

By Rosie Murray-West 7:34AM BST 01 Apr 2011

A further 125,000 families with one earner and a stay–athome parent will also be hit, according to David Gauke, the Treasury secretary. Single parents and married couples where a mother or father stays at home to care for the children will suffer the most, because the Government has elected to remove the benefit from any family where there is at least one higher–rate taxpayer.

Source: TELEGRAPH

Government plans to replace Child Trust Funds.

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 1:26 PM on 31st March 2011

Children will be able to save up to £3,000 each year or invest it in the stock market with the launch of ‘Junior Isas’,  unveiled by the Government today. The tax-free savings accounts for those under the age of 18 will replace Child Trust Funds, which have been phased out. The Junior Individual Savings Account will be available from November 1 with an annual limit of £3,000. If the total amount is invested each year there will be a pot of £54,000, plus interest, when the account matures. And just like adult Isas, children will be able to invest in funds, or buy stocks and shares with their annual tax-free allowance, similar to Macaulay Culkin’s business-savvy fictional character Richie Rich.

Source: Dailymail>> Read full article and comment

Junior Isa with a £3,000 investment limit will launch at the start of November, partially filling the gap left by the axed child trust fund.

By Jill Insley

Six million children who missed out on child trust funds (CTF) because they were born before the scheme was launched or after it was scrapped will be able to invest in a tax-free Junior Isa from 1 November. The government is set to confirm that the scheme will have a maximum annual allowance of £3,000, which can be invested in stocks and shares or in a cash deposit. But unlike the adult version any money invested will be locked in until the child is 18. Junior Isas will be sold by high street banks, building societies, investment companies and friendly societies already selling Isas. The government expects 800,000 children a year to benefit from Junior Isas, on top of those already eligible, including children in care.

Source: GUARDIAN

At the BBC Money Matters Roadshow in Plymouth members of the public are invited to get free, expert financial advice.

30 March 2011 Last updated at 13:56 GMT

Jeanette Clarke asked David Malcolm how her son will afford sixth form college now that the Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA) scheme has been replaced.

Source: BBC NEWS

There are many options to consider when saving for the day your baby becomes an adult, says Rob Griffin.

Wednesday, 30 March 2011

Individual savings accounts (ISAs) have revolutionised the way we put money away – and the launch of similar products for children is expected to radically change our approach to setting our offspring on the road to financial freedom in later life. Plans for tax-free children’s savings accounts, to be known as Junior ISAs, were unveiled by the Government at the end of last year. The first such products are expected to become available from autumn 2011. While the full details have yet to be published, it is understood that investments will be available in cash or stocks and shares, annual contributions will be capped, and the child will not be able to access the tax-free funds until adulthood. The new accounts won’t receive any Government contributions, but should help fill the gap left by the end of Child Trust Funds in January this year. The investment community has given them a cautious welcome.

Source: INDEPENDENT>> Read full article and comment

Seven million grandparents adopt the role of ‘second Mum and Dad’ to their grandchildren as families struggle to cope without their support.

By Myra Butterworth, Personal Finance Correspondent

The financial pressures on Britain’s families means parents are struggling to cope with looking their children because they both need to work. It leaves grandparents stepping in to help out with everyday jobs, from childcare to cooking family meals, saving parents £33 billion every year. Charities warned that without their assistance, more families would find it difficult to survive.

Source: TELEGRAPH

A Chinese woman who shuffled on her knees for a mile through one of China’s busiest cities to highlight the plight of her cancer-stricken daughter, has offered to return more than £25,000 in online donations after her ‘walk of shame’ was exposed as an internet publicity stunt.

By Peter Foster, Beijing

Xie Sanxiu, a poor migrant textile worker, was showered with money and sympathy after internet users heard how she had been forced to withdraw her daughter from Guangzhou Children’s Hospital because of a lack of funds.

The case became an online cause célèbre after a chat room user calling himself “Rich Son of Guangzhou” taunted the desperate mother, offering to pay her money for her daughter’s treatment for retinoblastoma, a form of eye-cancer, if she would humiliate herself.

Source: TELEGRAPH

Resolution Foundation shows struggling ‘squeezed middle’ households hit harder than ministers admit.

By Toby Helm , political editor

Typical families with children, who are already struggling on low to middle earnings, will see their real incomes fall by between 4% and 7% in real terms over the next year, according to new analysis obtained by theObserver. The stark statistics reveal the extent of the pain that will be felt by those in the “squeezed middle” as the tax and benefit changes announced last week by the chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, begin to bite and earnings rise at a slower rate than inflation. The analysis has been carried out following last week’s budget by economists at the Resolution Foundation (RF), a politically independent think tank that represents the interests of the low-to- middle-income brackets.

Source: GUARDIAN

Former Provos show off weapons to youngsters who are then photographed brandishing AK-47s.

By Jonathan Owen and Kunal Dutta

Photographs showing children dressed as IRA terrorists and brandishing weapons provoked fury among victims’ groups in Northern Ireland yesterday and prompted investigations by the police, the Children’s Commissioner and the European Union. The controversy involves a community centre in South Armagh that has received millions of pounds from the European Union, including funds intended to promote peace and social cohesion.

Source: INDEPENDENT>> Read full article and comment

George Osborne called Wednesday’s Budget ‘tax neutral’ – and he was right. In total, the measures the Chancellor announced are forecast to cost the Treasury just £30 million over the next five years as tax cuts and extra spending are matched by increased revenue from elsewhere.

By STEPHEN WOMACK
Last updated at 10:23 PM on 26th March 2011

But there is nothing ‘neutral’ when it comes to the impact of the Budget on households up and down the country. Virtually all families will still see a tax squeeze over the next few years as increases announced in previous Budgets take effect. National Insurance rises, tax credit cuts, pay freezes and the continuing pain of higher prices and VAT at 20 per cent make a toxic brew. Financial Mail explains when and where the key tax changes and spending cuts will bite.

Source: Dailymail>> Read full article and comment

A young boy who was told last year that he would never walk again has joined his local football team.

25 March 2011 Last updated at 15:24 GMT

Six-year-old Ben Baddeley suffers from Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy but thanks to a trike bought for him through funds raised by his local pub, the muscles in his legs have strengthened so much that he no longer needs a wheelchair.

Source: BBC NEWS

Universities are starting to announce their tuition fees for students in 2012. How much are universities planning to charge?

By Jessica Shepherd Friday 25 March 201116.36 GMT

Here is our list of universities and how much they intend to charge intuition fees from next autumn. A growing number plan to charge £9,000 per year – the maximum possible. This has raised fears that the government will have to claw back funds from universities – possibly by reducing the number of places on degree courses – if the majority of institutions charge the maximum.

University College London, Birmingham University, Lancaster Universityand St.Mary’s University College in Twickenham are the latest institutions to announce their 2012 tuition fee plans. All apart from St.Mary’s University College have gone for the £9000 tuition fee, just days after theUniversity of Manchester unveiled plans also to charge the maximum fee.

Source: GUARDIAN

Source: BBC NEWS

Head teachers should have more control over their funds, a report commissioned by the Scottish government has recommended.

18 March 2011 Last updated at 06:49 GMT

David Cameron, a former council director of education, was reviewing guidance on devolved school management. His report recommends fewer spending decisions at local authority level and clusters of schools being able to pool their budgets. The Scottish government said it was considering the findings. Mr Cameron’s report indicates that groups of schools – such as primary and secondary schools which share a catchment area – could jointly manage budgets to help deliver the Curriculum for Excellence….Continue Reading

Source: DAILYMAIL

A 15-year-old hitman shot a young mother in a contract killing over the custody of her nine-year-old son, a court heard today.

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 7:20 PM on 16th March 2011

Gulistan Subasi, 26, was gunned down on her own mother’s doorstep at a flat in Hackney, east London, in March last year, jurors were told. She was said to have been murdered because ex-partner Serdar Ozbek feared she would take their child out of the country, the Old Bailey heard. Ozbek allegedly set up the killing in a ‘swift and murderous’ response to a series of phone calls with her. Victor Temple QC, prosecuting, said: ‘The prospect of losing custody, compounded by a loss of face, caused Serdar Ozbek to take an extreme but far from unknown course – namely to contract out the murder of Gulistan.’….Continue Reading

Source: Guardian >> Read full article and comment

Boys spend more on food, beer and even clothes while girls shop for bargains – survey finds.

By Patrick Collinson

Young men at university spend more time talking on phone, buying clothes and eating out with friends than female students, according to a survey by the Student Loans Company, which found that about the only thing that boys skimp on is the rent. The SLC said that, on average, girls spend nearly £1,500 less than boys every year at university. Beer is the biggest difference – with boys clocking up £76 a month in pubs and clubs compared to £46 spent by girls. They also spend much more heavily on food (£76 compared to £60) every month, and twice as much on sports (£25 versus £14). The survey debunks a number of gender stereotypes around spending, revealing that on average males at university spend £34 a month on clothes compared to the £31 spent by females. They also spend more on restaurants – £37 a month compared to £29, and more on their phones, £29 compared to £22.….Continue Reading

Source: BBC NEWS

Higher tax thresholds, fewer tax credits and rising interest rates are all likely to push middle-earning families into debt, a charity has said.

15 March 2011 Last updated at 14:16 GMT

Vulnerable families, especially those with lots of children, will continue to face financial pain, the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) said. Homeowners are facing higher unsecured debts than those who rent a home, the charity’s annual snapshot found. The CCCS has analysed the situation for 470,000 households with debt problems.….Continue Reading

Source: TELEGRAPH

The era of the staycation looks set to continue this summer as figures show a jump in demand for rental property in the South West.

By Myra Butterworth, Personal Finance Correspondent

Research shows demand for holiday homes to rent in Cornwall, Devon and Somerset rose 70 per cent in February compared with a year earlier. It is welcome news for owners of second homes who have seen their investments drop in value amid the struggling property market. ….Continue Reading

Win 4 x £50 one4all gift cards

Parent Pages and Post Office® have teamed up to give you the chance to win one of 2 £100 Post Office gift cards. Redeemable at over 17,000 stores across the UK including parents favourites Mothercare, Toys R Us and Argos, the Post Office® gift card is very flexible for parents.

You don’t have to spend the gift card all at once, or all in one store. How you use the card is completely up to you. You can use it to shop at your favourite stores, have a great day out or enjoy a once-in a-lifetime experience.
The Post Office® website has lots to offer parents with their child trust funds, competitive saving accounts with their online saver account awarded Moneyfacts ‘Best Buy’ savings rate to their competitive mortgages. There is also a Post Office credit card which you can use at both home and abroad or if you have children abroad, you can use their money transfer services to send money to them.

Source: Guardian >> Read full article and comment

Connexions, the youth careers advice service, is being closed down and will not be replaced until September.

By Jessica Shepherd, Education Correspondent

Ministers are depriving up to two million teenagers of careers advice at a time of rising youth unemployment and record competition for university places, headteachers have warned. The Association of School & College Leaders (ASCL), which represents 15,000 headteachers, is furious that the government is waiting until September next year to set up its new national careers service for all ages. In the meantime, state-sponsored careers advice centres for teenagers and young adults – known as Connexions – are closing across the country because councils say central government has not given them enough funds to keep them going.….Continue Reading

Source: BBC NEWS>> Read full article and comment

Are you a raven mother? Maybe you’re wife is?

11 March 2011 Last updated at 00:26 GMT

Either way, it is highly derogatory to be called “Rabenmutter” in Germany. Scarcely a greater insult can be hurled by a man in a suit at a woman in a suit. Ines Kolmsee knows how high the barriers are for women determined on getting to the top. As chief executive of a big company, and a manufacturing one at that – SKW Stahl-Metallurgie, she is very rare in the top echelons of business.….Continue Reading

Source: DAILYMAIL

A former headteacher was given a suspended prison sentence after stealing from school funds to buy pirate costumes for her daughter’s hen do.

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 1:28 PM on 9th March 2011

Ann Regan, 44, from Sutton Coldfield, admitted defrauding Hamstead Infants School, in Birmingham, of £7,238, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard. Prosecutor Julian Elcock said that Regan was unmasked when she submitted false invoices for money taken from the school’s ‘treat’ fund, which she used to buy the pirate costumes. The court was told she also used the money to pay off debts. As part of her role as headteacher, Regan was allowed to order items on behalf of the school, the hearing was told.….Continue Reading

Source: Telegraph >> Read full article and comment

Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), told the Press Association that the union would want to ”move quickly” if it did decide to take action.

ATL announced in January that it was preparing a ballot of members for national strike action over proposed pension changes.

If it goes ahead, it will be the first time the ATL has been involved in national action since 1979. .. Continue reading