Daily roundup 15 September: Grammar schools, childhood obesity, and child death

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Prime Minister Theresa May clashed in the House of Commons yesterday over government plans to expand grammar schools. The BBC reports that Corbyn said it would lead to "failed segregation for the few and second class schooling for the many" in which children "could only lose out". But May said she backed "levelling up, not down" in education.


Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has hit out at the government's strategy to tackle increasing levels of child obesity. Speaking during Mayor's Question Time on Wednesday, Khan said the childhood obesity strategy was a "missed opportunity to show leadership and lacks ambition".


Parents of children attending a Birmingham special school are demanding answers into how a child died after an accident. The Birmingham Mail reports that on Friday a disabled 15-year-old suffered fatal injuries after falling down a flight of stairs at Mayfield School in Lozells. Concerned parents are now demanding a meeting with school bosses after they received a letter about the tragedy.


Children as young as 12 have been arrested over drugs in Cornwall and Devon, police data has revealed. West Briton reports that in the last five years police have questioned more than 120 children under the age of 16 about illicit substances, including some on suspicion of supplying.


Community projects that support young people could be awarded with funding from a competition pot worth £1.75m. The Aviva Community Fund competition, which is supported by UK Youth, Girlguiding and other organisations, is giving local youth clubs, charities and groups a chance to receive grants of up to £25,000 through nominations from the public.


Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, has been elected as the new president of the Trades Union Congress (TUC). She takes over from Unison assistant general secretary Liz Snape and will serve in the role for a year, until the 149th Congress in Brighton in 2017.