Daily roundup 10 February: Care applications, teacher shortages, and nursery pictures

A total of 1,040 applications for children to be taken into care were made to the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service in January 2016, statistics show. The figure represents a 16 per cent increase on the same month last year, when a total of 893 care applications were made.


Teacher shortages are growing in England and government recruitment targets have been missed for four years, a report by the National Audit Office has concluded. The BBC reports that the official spending watchdog warns that shortages are particularly bad in poorer areas and at secondary school level despite the overall number of teachers keeping pace with rising pupil numbers.


A nursery in Kent may have to shut down after being downgraded by Ofsted to “inadequate” for sending parents pictures of their children. The Mirror reports the parents, who gave consent, were delighted to receive the pictures from Cherubs Nursery in Linton, Kent, but the watchdog said it put the children at risk from paedophiles.


The number of under-18s diagnosed with mental illness has more than doubled in five years, figures have revealed. The Independent reports that the number of children and young people that went to A&E and were diagnosed has grown to almost 15,000 in 2014/15 – up from just under 7,000 in 2010/11.


Annual body checks should take place on primary schoolchildren in a bid to combat rising levels of obesity, former rower James Cracknell has said. The Daily Mail reports that the double-Olympic gold medalist made the call as part of a series of recommendations featuring in a new report.


A review into the role of the Children’s Commissioner for Wales has made a series of recommendations. The South Wales Argus reports that the review by Dr Mike Shooter recommended each commissioner should be appointed for a single six-year term along with a deputy, and the current staff structures within the office should be re-examined.