Daily roundup: School admissions, access to GPs, and teaching assistants

Analysis by the Sutton Trust shows nearly one in six of the top state-funded comprehensive and academy schools are more socially exclusive than neighbouring schools. Of the top 500 state-funded English secondary schools based on GCSE results, the uptake of free school meals is half the rate of the national average of 16.5 per cent. The Trust is calling for a change in admissions policy, with a proportion of places being allocated randomly or to those from disadvantaged groups rather than purely on proximity to a school.

The National Children’s Bureau is calling on government to ensure GP reforms put children’s health first by providing better paediatric expertise in GP practices and opening hours that meet the needs of working parents and their children. Opening the door to better healthcare highlights evidence that young people have a poorer experience of GP services than adults and that parents are turning to hospitals because they feel GPs cannot meet their child’s needs. Attendance at A&E by under 16-year olds has risen by a third in the last five years, because many GP services are not accessible for working parents, it adds.

The government could phase out teaching assistants from schools to save about £4bn a year, the Sunday Times reports. According to the newspaper, Treasury officials have discussed the option with the Department for Education. Schools currently employ about 232,000 assistants, who often help pupils with special educational needs. Education professionals union Voice expressed alarm at the suggestion.

Police have shot at least 24 children with tasar guns in the past three years, the Daily Mail reports. Investigative agency OpenWorld News, which obtained the figures under the Freedom of Information Act, said the numbers could be higher as only 27 police forces provided information about their use of tasers against children from 2010 to 2012. One of the children shot was only 12-years-old.

A government plan to introduce residency tests to determine if people qualify for legal aid will put abandoned migrant and trafficked children at risk, the Children’s Society has warned. The Guardian reports that the proposals could leave young people without basic legal protection. Children's Society chief executive Matthew Reed said: "They will be prevented from challenging decisions and denied their basic rights to help and protection."

And finally, almost a third of UK primary pupils think cheese is made from plants and a quarter think fish fingers come from chicken or pigs, suggests a survey by the British Nutrition Foundation. The survey of 27,500 five-to-16-year-olds questioned last month, also found that despite knowing that people should eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day, most failed to do so. According to the BBC, the charity says the figures prove the need for better teaching about cooking and healthy eating.