Daily roundup: School safeguarding, children's services and child injuries

Education Secretary Michael Gove has written to every school in England warning them to be alert to the dangers of female genital mutilation (FGM). Gove has sent a letter to all head teachers in England alerting them to new guidelines designed to keep children safe, which includes guidance on FGM. A spokeswoman for the Department for Education told the Guardian that the education secretary would keep up pressure on schools by flagging up the dangers of FGM again in September, the Guardian reports.

Councillors in Coventry have agreed to put political differences aside and work together to improve the city’s struggling children’s services following an “inadequate” Ofsted judgment. The report, delivered in March, criticised the way vulnerable young people in the city are treated and protected by a range of agencies. The call to arms was made at an extraordinary meeting of the council, which updated councillors on efforts being made to make improvements, the Coventry Telegraph reports.

Nottinghamshire County Council and Nottingham City Council have developed a plan to reduce avoidable injuries of children. The councils are looking to improve health outcomes by putting in place a strategy that will "reduce avoidable injuries in children and young people aged 0-17 years, to minimise inequalities and create safer environments for children". Avoidable injuries are a leading cause of death and hospital admission among children and young people, the Nottingham Post reports.

One in four young people watched internet porn by the age of 12 or younger, new statistics show. A survey commissioned by the BBC asked young people for their opinions of online pornography for a documentary, and found that seven per cent had seen porn when they were aged 10 or younger. More than half of the 1,000 people aged between 16 and 21 surveyed said watching porn online at a young age had affected their expectations of sex, reports the Independent.

A city-wide crime prevention strategy has been developed in Leeds to target children and young people aged between eight and 13 who are at risk of offending. Leeds Council is set to appoint charity Barca-Leeds to run the new Youth Inclusion Commission, the Yorkshire Evening Post reports. It will aim to reduce truancy and the number of reports of children committing anti-social behaviour and offending.

The Sex Education Forum has welcomed the sexual health content of the new science GCSE, after the revamped GCSE qualifications were published by the government yesterday. The science syllabus will cover hormones, contraception, fertility, HIV and AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections.