Daily roundup 13 February: Dubs children, music, and funding plea

Former Education Secretary Nicky Morgan has called for councils to be "challenged" to take on more unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, blaming the government's controversial decision to limit numbers coming to the UK through the so-called Dubs amendment on their unwillingness to accommodate them. Writing on conservativehome.co.uk, Morgan said: "I hope [local authorities] can be strongly encouraged and challenged to take more, given the financial support on offer, and the moral case for doing so."


A new £1m fund to encourage children to become musicians has been announced by the Welsh Government. The BBC reports that the National Endowment for Music aims to support pupils' musical ability. Ministers hope public and private sector bodies will contribute to the fund, which would begin making payments to support young musicians by 2020.


Head teachers of state secondary schools in a London borough are calling on parents to lobby MPs and councils to ward off budget cuts of up to 10 per cent that they say will have a devastating impact on their children's education. The Guardian reports that a letter sent to all parents of secondary schoolchildren in the Liberal Democrat-controlled borough of Sutton, south-west London, states: "The future looks bleak. Next year means more expenses for schools. Inflation is increasing too. Local authority cuts mean that schools are expected to do more with less."


A school in Brighton says behaviour in class has vastly improved since they introduced "Goat Club". The Telegraph reports that Varndean School is now home to five pygmy goats, who roam in a grassy courtyard in the school grounds. The school's director of finance, Hilary Goldsmith, thought the courtyard would benefit from grazing, but the school has found that pupils have benefitted from their new guests far more than expected.


Legislation setting targets for the eradication of child poverty in Scotland has been tabled at Holyrood. The BBC reports that the Child Poverty (Scotland) Bill will set a series of statutory targets to reduce, and ultimately wipe out, what minsters call a "systemic problem". Studies show more than 200,000 children in Scotland are growing up in poverty.