Daily roundup 14 February: Medway probe, Dubs amendment, and nursery ratings

A serious case review is to be conducted into a young offenders centre in Kent that was at the centre of abuse allegations. The BBC reports that an undercover investigation at the G4S-run Medway Secure Training Centre in Rochester resulted in allegations of abuse and mistreatment of youngsters. The serious case review has been ordered by the chair of Medway's safeguarding children board, John Drew, who was previously chief executive of the Youth Justice Board.


More than 200 high-profile public figures including Ralph Fiennes, Keira Knightley, Michael Morpurgo and pop stars Coldplay have written to Theresa May calling on the government not to close a scheme to bring unaccompanied child refugees from Europe to Britain. The Guardian reports that in an open letter addressed to the prime minister, the signatories describe the decision to admit no more than 350 children under the so-called Dubs amendment as "truly shameful".


Sending children to a nursery school rated "outstanding" by Ofsted makes barely any difference to how well they develop in their early years, a report has found. The Telegraph reports that researchers at the London School of Economics, University of Sussex and University College London, also found that a child's educational achievement at the end of reception is only very slightly higher if he or she has been taught by a qualified teacher or early years professional at nursery.


A school is rewarding its well-behaved pupils by sending them home 10 minutes early. The Metro reports that Castle View School in Canvey Island will start the policy after half term with good students sent home at 2.50pm and then others in a "second dismissal" at 3pm. Teachers said they think the move will instil discipline but it has been opposed by some parents who don't think it will work.


Older mothers are more likely to give birth to clever children than those in their twenties, researchers have found. The Daily Mail reports that research by the London School of Economics looked at how the cognitive abilities of children born to older mothers have changed over time and what might be responsible for the shift.