Daily roundup 6 July: Norfolk Council, childcare study, and union petition

Services for children in Norfolk are continuing to improve, with inspectors highlighting "maintained momentum" and a "real sense of urgency" in transforming services. An Ofsted monitoring report of inadequate-rated Norfolk County Council's children's services states there has been improvement in leadership, staffing, support for care leavers and the council's response to child sexual exploitation. The progress means that the council will no longer face monitoring from Ofsted.


England is to take part in a new international study assessing how a good early education and a strong home learning environment can boost a child's development. The Department for Education has appointed the National Foundation for Educational Research to carry out the International Early Learning and Child Wellbeing Study in England. The study, run by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, will look at how to support a child's cognitive, social and emotional wellbeing through interactive stories and games with children aged five.


Unison has launched a petition calling on the government to scrap plans to introduce accreditation tests for children's social workers. Addressed to the new children's minister, Robert Goodwill, the union's petition said the plans were the "final straw" for practitioners and the profession needed "funding not more tests". The union said Goodwill's appointment represented an opportunity to rethink the plans.


Education Secretary Justine Greening is set to call for firms to back the government's overhaul of technical training for teenagers. From next April, £50m is being made available to fund work placements and £15m to help improve further education. In a speech to the British Chambers of Commerce, Greening will say the government needs help to create "an army of skilled young people for British business", reports the BBC.


Women who eat too much sugar during pregnancy are doubling the chance of their child going on to develop asthma, new research suggests. The Telegraph reports the findings of a study by Queen Mary, University of London of almost 9,000 mother and child pairs which found a link between free sugars, such as those found in fizzy drinks and processed food, and the disease.