Posted inReal mums

Moving to the country

I never thought juggling work and childcare would be easy but the last 12 months have been a challenge.

A year ago I was living in London. The local infant school offered 8am-6pm wrap-around care and had an on-site day nursery. This meant Big Girl (BG) and Little sister (LS) were dropped off and picked up together. Then, for a whole host of reasons, we decided to move out of the city to live in a town 40 miles away.

Posted inChildren & Relationships Real mums

Schools told to cut the cost of childrens’ uniforms

Schools should make every effort to limit the cost of school uniforms or risk enforcement action, according to new advice issued today.

The guidance, which was published following a three-month consultation, urges all schools to have a school uniform, but warns that any set policy must be affordable, non-discriminatory and sensitive to the needs of pupils.

In particular, the guidelines warn that schools that have exclusive contracts with suppliers may be subject to enforcement action under the terms of the Competition Act. Overly expensive uniform policies may also fall foul of the School Admissions Code, which places a statutory duty on all governing bodies to ensure that their policies and practices do not disadvantage any children.

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Children to stay in care until they reach 18

The government today pledged to stamp out the poor practice of asking children to leave care at the age of 16, before they are ready to live independently.

Eleven pilot projects across the country, costing an estimated ?6m ,over three years, will explore how best to plan care around the needs of young people and give them a greater say over whether they stay in care until they are 18, or move out into independent flats or hostels.

Kevin Brennan, Minister for Children and Families said: “We want to transform the lives of children in care, improve their educational attainment and give them the same chance in life as other children. As part of this we want to see them given more choice about their placements and to be in charge of when they leave care.

“Not all children are ready to live independently at the age of 16 – especially if they want to do A levels and consider going to university. However, whatever their future plans we know that stable placements and good care planning around the needs of the young person leads to better outcomes such as a reduction in these young people becoming NEET (not in education, employment, or training) which benefits society as a whole.”

Local authorities taking part in the pilots are: Bournemouth, Barnet, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Merton, North Tyneside, Oxfordshire, South Gloucestershire, Plymouth, Tower Hamlets and Warwickshire.

Posted inChildren & Relationships Real mums

Private schools to gve academies a helping hand

Schools minister Andrew Adonis today launched a prospectus encouraging successful private schools to get involved in academies, on the same day that the Girls’ Day School Trust announced that it is applying for Birkenhead High School to become the latest successful independent day school to convert to an academy.

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Get your boiler green-rated

From today homeowners can ask for a free A-G energy rating for their boiler with advice to help cut fuel bills, when the engineer visits.

Heating and hot water bills are the biggest energy costs households face each month, yet many people are unaware the average boiler is ‘E’ rated and could produce over 50 per cent more heat – making the recommended improvements could cut fuel bills by hundreds of pounds and reduce carbon emissions.