MPs voice childhood obesity fear 

The government has been too slow to react to rising levels of childhood obesity, an MPs' report has warned. Despite a target to halt the rise of obesity among under-11s by 2010, the Commons public accounts committee said little concrete action had been taken.

There is no clear leadership among departments who have been "confused" and "dithering", said the MPs.

But the government insisted progress was being made in encouraging healthy food choices and physical activity.

Levels of obesity in children aged two to 10 years rose from 9.9% to 13.4% between 1995 and 2004, according to the Health Survey for England.

A joint target was set in 2004 between the Departments of Health, Education and Skills and Culture, Media and Sport to halt the year-on-year increases by 2010.

But the Public Accounts Committee said there was a lack of co-ordination across the departments and called for the appointment of a high-profile leader to galvanise them into action.

There was also criticism of the failure to engage parents in tackling the causes of obesity.

Although a national programme to measure and weigh all children in primary schools in England had been launched, it had been unclear if parents would be told if their child was overweight and at risk of serious health problems, said the committee.

The government's attempts to work with the food industry to influence marketing of unhealthy food to children have also been unsuccessful, the report said.

A public information campaign planned by the government should start "as soon as possible" if the target is to be met in the next three and a half years, they said.

Edward Leigh, MP, chair of the committee said: "The extent to which children in this country are obese is alarming.

"More alarming still is evidence that unless we act, the proportion of children who are obese will increase sharply.

"It is lamentable that, long after the target was set, there is still so much dithering and confusion and still so little co-ordination."

The committee also found that the government couldn't tell if its strategies were working because of the two-year delay in reporting of national figures.

Public Health Minister Caroline Flint said there were no easy answers or quick fix solutions to childhood obesity.

"The evidence on which this report is based was gathered in 2005 and early 2006. In the interim we have achieved an enormous amount.

She listed labelling on food packets and Ofcom's recommendations on limiting junk food adverts to children as achievements.

"We will monitor the impact of the changes and are committed to taking further action if necessary."

Dr Ian Campbell, medical director of Weight Concern, said there was never any chance of the government hitting the target.

"There is no question that the government has not done enough and what they have done has not been done quickly enough but some progress has been made.

"What's missing is a national umbrella organisation that will bring to task the government departments because there's too many people working in isolation."

Dr David Haslam, clinical director of the National Obesity Forum, said the government had set themselves a very difficult task as all the evidence has shown it's an almost impossible problem to solve.

But he added that there were things that should have been done quickly, such as incentivising GPs to manage childhood obesity in their contract.

"When it come to implementation they have failed utterly.

A British Heart Foundation spokesman said the scale of the problem was "alarming", with over 1.7 million children in England alone predicted to be obese by 2010.

He said the government must ensure that it leads the fight, and does everything it can to strive to reach challenging targets, including enforcing bans on junk food advertising to children.

Reference: www.bbc.co.uk/news




Schools 'must teach Britishness' 

Schools in England should teach core British values alongside cultural diversity, a report says.  A review of how schools teach citizenship found there was not enough emphasis on UK identity and history.

The report, by Sir Keith Ajegbo, says pupils should study free speech, the rule of law, mutual tolerance and respect for equal rights. Education Secretary Alan Johnson has said schools should "play a leading role in creating community cohesion".

He commissioned the review in the wake of the London bombings. Ministers see schools as a key place to promote understanding between communities and to combat intolerance and religious extremism.

Welcoming the report, Mr Johnson announced it would become compulsory for secondary school pupils up to the age of 16 years to learn about shared values and life in the UK in their citizenship lessons.

He said youngsters should be encouraged to think critically about issues of race, ethnicity and religion with an explicit link to current political debates, the news and a sense of British values.

Understanding the make up of the UK and the recent history of Britain was crucial, he said.

"More can be done to strengthen the curriculum so that pupils are taught more explicitly about why British values of tolerance and respect prevail in society and how our national, regional, religious and ethnic identities have developed over time," he said.

"I believe that schools can and should play a leading role in creating greater community cohesion. The values our children learn at school will shape the kind of country Britain becomes."

Sir Keith Ajegbo, a former head teacher of a London school and Home Office adviser, was asked to look at how "citizenship" and "diversity" was being taught in schools.

His report says more could be done to ensure children "explore, discuss and debate their identities within their citizenship lessons".

The values our children learn at school will shape the kind of country Britain becomes

Sir Keith said: "Britain is committed to the values of free speech, the rule of law, mutual tolerance and respect for equal rights. They are things that are fundamental to our society."

He suggested that schools should be prepared to tackle controversial topics in the news such as the debate over immigration, and the UK's place in the European Union as well as the legacy of the British Empire.

He said: "It is the duty of all schools to address issues of `how we live together' and `dealing with difference', however difficult or controversial they may seem".

Where could pupils bring those difficult questions if not to school, he asked.

Sir Keith's report also says more needs to be done to engage white, working-class pupils with the issue of diversity.

It says white pupils can feel disenfranchised as much as pupils from other ethnic backgrounds.

"Many indigenous white pupils have negative perceptions of their own identity," it says.

The new element for citizenship lessons will be called "Identity and Diversity: Living together in the UK".

British history will be essential to it, said Sir Keith. At the moment, history is optional after the age of 14 years.

The three existing planks of citizenship lessons are social and moral responsibility, community involvement and political literacy.

Schools can give distinct lessons on the subject or introduce elements of it in various lessons. The report said it was best taught as a separate subject.

Sir Keith said citizenship lessons had been introduced as a response to political apathy but it was now time to broaden their remit.

Last year schools inspectors Ofsted said the subject was taught badly in one in four schools in England.

Nick Johnson, from the Commission for Racial Equality welcomed the report: "Certain values may be universal, but their application through our history is unique to these islands," he said.

"Britishness does not need to be dominant and certainly not a domineering identity, but it must be a significant common facet that we all can share.

"As such it is a key component in developing greater ties that can bind society together."

Shadow education secretary David Willetts said: "Grounding citizenship on the teaching of British history is crucial.

"We believe citizenship shouldn't just be taught in the abstract but linked very closely to narrative British history."

Teachers' representatives at the NASUWT said they shared the government's aim of promoting equality and diversity.

But they also warned that it might be difficult to add the new themes to an already-crowded curriculum.

Alison Johnston, from the Professional Association of Teachers, said: "It would not be appropriate to promote an imperial British myth by teaching that values such as democracy, justice and fair play are exclusively British or implying that Britain is superior to other countries."

Reference: www.bbc.co.uk/news

Early warning test for dyslexia 

A 10-minute screening test to identify young children who might be dyslexic has been developed by language experts at University College London.  The test will be used by children from the age of three and a half upwards, says Professor Heather van der Lely.

But Dr John Rack of Dyslexia Action urged caution about the risk of "false alarms" from short screening tests. Dyslexia is a condition that can cause difficulty with reading, writing and spelling.

The test has been developed by Professor van der Lely, who is director of the UCL Centre for Developmental Language Disorders and Cognitive Neuroscience.

What makes this test different is that it can be carried out in only 10 minutes - and that it can be used before children are usually able to read, picking up any potential concerns before children have started full-time education.

Professor van der Lely, speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, said that the test, which asks a child to repeat sentences and re-tell a story, can help with early intervention.

"Many children who have more severe language problems are not spotted until they're seven, eight or nine years of age, which is a huge cost for everybody," said Professor van der Lely.

The test examines how children use language - with particular attention to "phonology", which is how sounds build up into words.

"For the dyslexic part we're trying to look at the phonology, as we know that children who have problems with phonology are at risk for dyslexia. So we're trying to pick it up before the child even starts to read."

However, head of assessment and research at Dyslexia Action Dr Rack urged caution about such screening tests.

While welcoming any extra help for parents worried about their children, he said "a note of caution is needed".

"A test such as this can only give an indication - it's a screening test and any test only taking 10 minutes will be subject to all kinds of technical difficulties over interpretation," said Dr Rack.

"We do know from the history of similar screening tests that they can produce a number of false alarms and can miss more subtle difficulties."

Professor van der Lely said the test had been used with 700 pupils and was found to be as reliable as tests which lasted 90 minutes.

Reference: www.bbc.co.uk/news



School leaving age set to be 18 

The Department for Education and Skills has confirmed plans to raise the school leaving age to 18 years in England by 2013.  This will not mean that pupils have to stay in the classroom or continue with academic lessons - but they will have to continue to receive training.

It would mean raising the leaving age for the first time since 1972, when it was raised to the present 16 years old. The proposals would seek to tackle the problem of young people leaving education without qualifications or workplace skills.

Despite repeated efforts to tackle this stubborn problem - the most recent figures for England showed that 11% of 16 to 18 year olds are still outside education, training or work.

At present, 76% of this age group are in education or receiving training - which will mean that the remainder will either have to begin workplace training or return to further education.

Teachers' leader Steve Sinnott described the raising of the leaving age as "inevitable".

Plans for funding and implementation are reported to have been drawn up in meetings between the education department, the Treasury, business representatives and head teachers' leaders. Proposals for the changes are expected to be published in the spring.

Among the examples of how this might be enforced is a scheme in Canada, where under-18 year olds cannot get a driving licence without proof that they are in education or training.

The Education Secretary Alan Johnson told The Times that it was "repellent that a youngster of 16 is not getting any training".

SCHOOL LEAVING AGE

1870: First compulsory school for younger children
1880: Attendance officers enforce school for 5 to 10 year olds
1899: Leaving age raised to 12
1918: Full-time education compulsory up to 14
1944: Education Act raises leaving age to 15
1964: Raising of school leaving age to 16 announced, but not in place until 1972

Reflecting on his own experience, Mr Johnson said: "I regret not staying on in education... when I left school there were loads of jobs you could walk into without qualifications. That's not going to be the case in the future."

John Dunford, head of the Association for School and College and Leaders, cautioned that "we need to be clear that this is not strictly about raising the 'school' leaving age, but about keeping young people in some kind of education or training until they are 18, most of them full-time, including apprenticeships and work-based training".

Steve Sinnott, leader of the National Union of Teachers said that the move was "inevitable".

"We cannot afford to neglect those young people who currently leave school at 16 unprepared for the rigour and demands of life in the 21st Century."

Source: www.bbc.co.uk/news



Extra help for pupils 

Children who fall behind in maths or English could be offered one-to-one tuition to help get them back on track.

Pupils in the later years of primary and early years of secondary school will get extra help outside school hours from qualified teachers.

If the short bursts of tuition succeed in helping pupils in pilot areas, it could be rolled out across England.

The NUT welcomed the plans, saying one-to-one tuition should not just be restricted to those who can afford it.

The General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, Steve Sinnott, told the BBC: "If a youngster is struggling at school and their parents have the money to be able to assist that youngster, what they do is they go and they get them a private tutor.

"We believe that access to that one-to-one tuition shouldn't be restricted simply to the children of those whose parents can afford it."

Many schools already give pupils extra help in key subjects.

On Monday Education Secretary Alan Johnson launches a consultation on the plans to ensure all children succeed.

Under the pilot scheme, children who were behind in these key subjects when they entered Key Stage 2 (at about age 7) or Key Stage 3 (starting secondary school) - and were still lagging behind about two years later - could qualify for the extra help.

Those who did would be given up to 20 hours of tuition in either subject or both, if necessary, outside normal lesson time.

This could be in the school, out of hours, at a drop-in centre or even at home, but would be organised by the school.

Ministers want to make sure that the extra help that some parents buy in, when they see their child needs support, is available to all who need it regardless of income.

They realise that some parents are not able to fund this extra support, so the pilot scheme would offer it when they and the school felt it was necessary.

However, the extra help would be on the basis of educational need rather than family circumstances.

Numbers and the 10 local authority areas in which the pilot will take place are yet to be confirmed, but it is thought the bottom 5% in each subject of each key stage would get the help.

This could potentially amount to one in 10 pupils - although there is likely to be some overlap between those needing support in maths and those falling behind in English.

Education officials are keen to stress this is not a new parental entitlement, but a tool to help children who might need it most.

Laura Warren of the National Association of Parent Teacher Associations expressed some reservations over the plans.

"As parents... what we will look for is a better understanding of how it's going to work, how it's going to fit in with all the other policies and strategies that are in place to actually see that it's a true benefit to our children," she told the BBC.

The pilot scheme will run for two years from April 2007.

Reference: www.bbc.co.uk