Daily roundup 18 May: Summer-born children, GP appointments, and royal wedding
Neil Puffett
Friday, May 18, 2018
Government study finds negligible impact of delaying school start for summer-born children; senior doctor questions usefulness of 10-minute appointments for children with mental health problems; and primary school stages its own "royal wedding", all in the news today.
Delaying a summer-born child's entry to primary school has little impact on attainment, research has suggested. The BBC reports that children born in England between April and August, whose start in reception was put back a year, did only marginally better in year 1 tests, according to a government study. The number of applications to councils for delayed entry has risen sharply.
Standard GP appointments are too short for children with mental health difficulties, a leading family doctor has said. The Times reports that Carey Lunan, the new chairwoman of the Royal College of General Practitioners in Scotland, said that 10 minutes was not long enough to carry out a full assessment of a patient's needs. She said there was a "mismatch" between what she had to do, including checking whether the patient posed an immediate danger to themselves and what the young person may want to talk about when they entered the surgery.
Pupils at a school in Lancashire this morning are staging their own "royal wedding". The BBC reports that Flakefleet Primary in Fleetwood has organised guests to arrive by helicopter, horse-drawn carriages, a police escort and a local couple playing Prince Philip and the Queen. Charlie, 10, is playing the groom and said he's "a bit nervous". Josh, an usher, said he is proud Harry is getting married to Meghan.
Armed police have arrested a young person in north London on suspicion of terrorism. The Guardian reports that the 18-year-old was detained at 12.10am on Friday by officers from the Metropolitan Police's counter-terrorism command.
Vulnerable children in care were wrongly restrained and pinned to the ground by staff at a children's home in South Gloucestershire. The Bristol Post reports that Ofsted inspectors who visited the home, which cannot be named to protect the identity of the children, found staff had not followed procedures when it restrained its residents. Ofsted also raised concerns about high staff turnover, poor records, a lack of training and failure to investigate safeguarding concerns.
