Daily roundup: Protecting social workers online, school places and My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding

Social workers should be afforded the same protection from online abuse as celebrities, the British Association of Social workers (BASW) has said. BASW warned that, unlike in the case of Olympic diver Tom Daly, who was abused on Twitter, no action has been taken over websites featuring the names, pictures and addresses of social workers and family court judges. David Allan, acting assistant general secretary of BASW’s trade union, the Social Workers Union, said: “Employers should have very clear procedures as to how to deal with members of the public who are abusive to, or who assault, employees.”

Local authorities must have a clear role in education planning if the school place shortage in London is to be stemmed, shadow education secretary Stephen Twigg has warned. Speaking at the Labour conference, Twigg said that without a middle tier between government and schools, planning for places would be “piecemeal”. Meanwhile, the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) has welcomed Labour's plan for a technical baccalaureate. Russell Hobby, general secretary, said: “For too long, vocational education has been an afterthought in our country. It should be at the centre of our attention, so that we can build the skills that lead to good jobs and self sufficiency.”

Adverts for the TV show My Big Fat Gyspy Wedding have been banned for sexualising and portraying children as aggressive, the Telegraph reports. The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) ruled that the advertising campaign for the Channel 4 documentary series breached advertising regulations following complaints from the charity the Irish Traveller Movement in Britain. One advert featured a close-up of a young boy looking directly at the camera, while another showed a girl of 15, wearing make-up and a low-cut top. In February the ASA previously ruled that although the adverts may not be to everyone's taste, they were unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence.

A government initiative to give schools the opportunity to recruit and train their own staff has been dubbed “a disaster” by a teaching union, just days after launching. Under the New School Direct scheme schools can train the best graduates as teachers in the subjects they need. But Martin Freedman, head of pay, conditions and pensions at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), described it as “teacher training on the cheap”. He said: “Would those trained in a school in an affluent leafy suburb be sufficiently qualified to teach in a tough inner-city school and vice versa?”

More than a third of Scottish secondary school teachers experienced violence or abuse in the past year, a study has found. A report by the Scottish government found that the most common problem faced by teachers were threatening remarks, followed by instances of "physical aggression". However the report states that levels of serious disruptive behaviours and violence in schools has improved between 2006 and 2012.

And finally, families and children’s palliative care professionals are to benefit from a new online resource. The Together for Short Lives website has been designed to help, support and inform on issues relating to children’s palliative care. Myra Johnson, communications director at Together for Short Lives, said: “Finding accurate and accessible information about children’s palliative care can be hard for families and professionals working in the field. We hope that our new website will provide all families with a one-stop-shop for the information they need.”