Daily roundup 23 May: Term-time holidays, Manchester attack, and homeless families

More than half of parents have taken their children out of school at least once in term time because the £60 fine is "no deterrent", new figures suggest. The Daily Mail reports that a survey has found soaring numbers of parents are flouting a ban on taking children out of classes for trips and factor the penalty into the overall cost. Respondents said they saved on average £686 by booking holidays during term time.


The NSPCC has published advice for parents about how to talk to children about terrorism in the wake of the attack in Manchester. An NSPCC spokesperson said the charity's advice is for any child or teenager upset and anxious in light of this news is for them to talk to a trusted adult or Childline.


Councils in south-east England say they are often not told when homeless families are sent to their areas by London boroughs who cannot house them. The BBC reports that some say they are not given crucial information about child-welfare concerns unless there were already formal child protection plans in place.


A teenager took his own life just days after finding out the supported living facility caring for him would take him to court for criminal damage, an inquest has heard. The Manchester Evening News reports that Elliot Hobson, 17, was suffering with depression and had a history of hearing voices and self-harm. He had been living at Casicare Hazel Court in Crumpsall for less than a year when he was found dead on 4 February, 2013.


A couple left their young children home alone in the middle of the night to buy drugs in Swindon, a court has heard. The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald reports that the mother and father, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were caught out by police on 21 March this year when they left the three youngsters alone as they went into the town to buy drugs. The pair have both pleaded guilty to causing neglect and/or abandonment of a child to cause unnecessary suffering.


A man has been spared jail after he dropped his partner's baby and tried to cover up the incident. Wigan Today reports that the four-month old boy suffered a fractured skull after David Haury dropped him from a height of around six feet. Haury, of Kensington Drive, Leigh, had been looking after the child and his girlfriend's other two-year-old boy while she went out to play bingo.