Daily roundup 2 March: Rugby, Ofsted failings, and young carers

More than 70 academics and doctors have urged government to ban tackling in rugby matches played in schools. The BBC reports that an open letter has been sent to ministers, warning that injuries from the sport can have lifelong consequences for children.


The director of children’s services at Wandsworth Council has admitted she should have known about issues identified by Ofsted in an unannounced inspection last year. The Croydon Guardian reports that Dawn Warwick told the council’s children’s services scrutiny committee it was obvious the watchdog would find problems when they arrived in November.


Young carers aged between five and eight are among the most hidden and unsupported group of unpaid carers in the UK, charities Carers Trust and Carers Lewisham have said. The organisations have released a new resource aimed at professionals working with younger carers to provide information on how to help them.


A single mother in her 30s has been given a suspended jail sentence and 150 hours of unpaid work after leaving her two young children at home while she went to work. The Swindon Advertiser reports that the mother changed her plea to the charge of neglect to guilty after appearing at Swindon Magistrates’ Court.


There is a gulf in understanding about where young people should go for support on self-harm, surveys commissioned by youth charities including Childline, YouthNet and SelfHarm UK have suggested. According to an online YouGov poll, 67 per cent of parents with children aged 11 to 24 believe that young people who self-harm should ask their parents for advice and support. However a separate survey of young people found only 16 per cent who self-harm would consider that an option.


One in three 10- and 11-year-olds in South Somerset are overweight, figures have revealed. The Western Gazette reports the data released by the National Child Measurement Programme for 2014/15 also shows 18 per cent of children are classified as obese.