Daily roundup 3 June: Summer holidays, legal action, and trafficked children

Barnsley council has become the first in England to cut the school summer holidays to under five weeks. ITV News reports that the council will bring in the changes from the 2017/18 academic year, which will see pupils and teachers have nine fewer days off in summer but an extra week in October.? It says the move is needed to help working parents.


Parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities are taking legal action against an academy trust for proposing to move their children from a well-performing school because of limited resources. The Guardian reports the Dean Trust, which runs six schools in Manchester, Trafford and Knowsley, told about 20 parents of children who are due to start at Ashton on Mersey School in September that the school had “reached its capacity” for disabled children. It instead proposes moving them to an under-subscribed school six miles away.


Eight charity leaders have called on the government to do more to help trafficked children. In a joint letter published in the Guardian, they said the government has still not implemented provisions to improve support for trafficked children despite the Modern Slavery Act being passed more than a year ago.


Achievement for All, the Association of YOT Managers and Manchester Metropolitan University have been awarded a Department for Education contract to support young people who offend and who have special education needs. Over the next 12 months, the partnership will support all front line professionals working in the youth justice system to transform outcomes for young people who offend and have SEN.?


A 17-month-old boy allegedly murdered by his mother’s boyfriend had 23 rib fractures and historic bleeds to both eyes that could only have been caused by a severe blow to the head, a doctor has told a court. The Daily Mail reports Cardiff Crown Court was told by a pathologist that Finley Thomas had 23 fractures to the ribs. Sean Buckley, aged 28, denies killing Finley in September 2014.?
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Scottish ministers will publish the most comprehensive information on schools’ and pupils’ performances to date as part of plans to introduce national assessments and improve education standards. The National reports First Minister Nicola Sturgeon made the pledge after being accused of “backtracking” on proposals announced earlier this year.?