Daily roundup 30 March: Mental health, safeguarding, and education standards

Vulnerable children suffering from mental health problems are facing assessment waiting times of up to three and a half years and nearly two years for treatment, according to an investigation by the Times. Information obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request to 26 NHS mental health trusts found one young person in Kent had to wait 176 weeks for an initial assessment. Sarah Brennan, chief executive of YoungMinds, warned: “Children’s and adolescent mental health services are creaking at the seams.”


Five girls that attended the same East London school as three others believed to have fled to Syria to join Islamic State fighters have been given a travel ban, the Guardian reports. The girls aged 15- and 16-years-old had the ban lodged against them by children's services at the London Borough of Tower Hamlets because of fears they would also attempt to travel to Syria.


The number of six-year-olds passing a reading test is below required standards in soem parts of the country, according to Schools Minister Nick Gibb. He said some local authorities, including Norfolk, Leicester, Derby and Nottingham, are failing to get 70 per cent of Year 1 pupils to pass the test, compared to rates of 81 per cent in areas like Solihull and Darlington. According to the Telegraph, the minister labelled the figures “unacceptable”.


Obese children’s parents rarely spot that their children are overweight, doctors have warned. According to ITV News, research published in the British Journal of General Practice found just four parents of 2,976 children thought their children were overweight, despite doctors finding 369 were obese. The researchers have warned that unless parents recognise the issue, children are unlikely to adopt healthy lifestyles and lose weight.


Children’s services at Stafford County Hospital are set to close, according to the Express & Star. Children’s inpatient services in the hospital will be split between New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton and Royal Stoke University Hospital. However, campaigners have raised concerns about the plans.


Parents that allow children to play 18-rated games will be reported to police, head teachers in Cheshire have warned. A letter was sent to parents from 16 schools in the county by Nantwich Education Partnership group claiming certain games contain unsuitable levels of violence, the BBC reports. In some cases parents could be reported for neglect, the head teachers warned.