19 h. ago 'Don't ask pupils questions!' Schools are told teachers must avoid triggering anxiety in children under woke council guidance

Councils across the country are asking schools to make 'adjustments' for children with emotional issues to stop them skipping school.

Society

48 h. ago ‘The loss of education is the loss of the future itself’: Gaza’s children and teachers on two years without school

With 97% of schools destroyed or damaged, 600,000 children have just begun their third year out of formal education. Three students and a teacher share their stories – and their hopesJuwayriya Adwan, 12, al-Mawasi, Khan Younis Continue reading...

Society

65 h. ago Gaza’s children needed a ceasefire – now they desperately need the aid that will keep them alive | Alison Griffin

The youngest and most vulnerable have suffered extreme mental and physical trauma. We can help – but we must be granted immediate accessAlison Griffin is head of conflict and humanitarian campaigns at Save the Children UKIn the last few days, we have seen celebrations alongside cautious optimism about a future for Gaza without bombs and bullets. This much needed pause in hostilities is providing children with the chance to sleep without the fear of drones above their heads, airstrikes on nearby buildings or fires breaking out in their tents. Families in Gaza are slowly returning to their neighbourhoods and trying to salvage what they can of their lives from the rubble.But crucially, what they are still not currently getting is full and sustainable access to aid supplies and vital services. This is about fundamental basic rights for children in the occupied Palestinian territory, which we have been demanding and advocating for since 1953.Alison Griffin is head of conflict and humanit...

Society

7 d. ago Tony Blair back on the big stage... but for how long? Former prime minister beams beside Trump

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair appeared in high spirits after the US President named him as a potential member of his 'Board of Peace' to oversee the Gaza territory.

Politics

7 d. ago Tony Blair back on the big stage... but for how long?  Former prime minister beams beside Trump

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair appeared in high spirits after the US President named him as a potential member of his 'Board of Peace' to oversee the Gaza territory.

Politics

1 week ago ‘Everyone is still afraid’: ceasefire deal brings relief to Gaza but fears remain over future

Two previous short-lived ceasefires have left many in Gaza doubtful about the staying power of the latest agreementOn Thursday morning, there was little joy in Gaza. The news of the imminent ceasefire had spread rapidly across the devastated territory during the night, with a few gunshots fired into the sky in celebration, but as morning came the mood was of tense anticipation.“Everyone is still afraid,” said a 26-year-old woman in al-Mawasi, the squalid, overcrowded coastal strip where much of the population has sought shelter in makeshift tents and plastic shacks. Continue reading...

Economics

1 week ago ‘It’s over! It’s over!’ they shout, but people here in Gaza still fear what the future may bring | Hassan Abo Qamar

Phase one of Donald Trump’s peace plan has brought joy and relief, yet it’s hard to believe this fragile peace will lastHassan Abo Qamar is a Palestinian writer and journalist based in GazaOn Thursday morning, I didn’t wake up to the sound of explosions, but to my brother shouting: “It’s over! It’s over!” For a moment, I thought I was dreaming. I wondered: what is happening? Has another loved one been targeted? What is over? Then he told me that Donald Trump had said it. “I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan,” the president wrote on his social media. For the first day in a long time, people in Gaza woke up to news that could be called happy. The ceasefire went into effect at noon. The sound of Israeli warplanes still echoed in the sky, but, for once, they didn’t feel frightening.The first phase of the agreement only includes the exchange of prisoners. That means 20 Israeli hostages in Gaza thought to be alive and...

Politics

2 w. ago London council plans to merge two schools despite teacher fears it'll harm pupils

Teacher warns funding cut ‘will have a real impact on all children and particularly those with SEND’

Politics

2 w. ago The harrowing true story behind Matthew McConaughey's The Lost Bus

The Lost Bus has just dropped on Apple TV+ and stars Matthew McConaughey as a bus driver who risks his life to save children and their teacher from a devastating fire

Politics

2 w. ago When teacher who inspired generations of children received devastating news, his pupils wanted to return the kindness

Teacher Richard Tunnadine "has been at the heart of West Park Primary" for 23 years

Society

2 w. ago Trump’s peace plan is everything Israelis dreamed of. But it’s a fantasy | Roy Schwartz

The president’s intervention promises a return to ‘normality’ – one that appeals to Israelis unconcerned with Gaza’s futureRoy Schwartz is a senior editor and op-ed contributor at HaaretzIt didn’t take long before the Gospel of Donald became a message that everyone in Israel could embrace. The 20-point plan to end the ongoing war in Gaza, presented on Monday by the US president, is everything the Israelis had dreamed of – even fantasised about. The hostages will finally return, some to their families, others to their graves. Hamas will be gone, at least as a ruling organisation, and the soldiers will come home. The “peace plan” will, supposedly, mean a return to normality.A brief read-through of the one-page plan might suggest that Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his people were involved in phrasing it. At times, it reads more like a list of Israeli demands than diplomatic compromises. Perhaps that’s why Netanyahu gave it his blessing rather quickly, which seemed to...

Politics

2 w. ago ‘I am quite tough’: Schindler’s List star Embeth Davidtz on her explosive film about Rhodesia’s final days

After starring in Mad Men, Californication, Spider-Man and Junebug, Davidtz soured on acting. Now she’s directed – and starred in – a powerful debut filmBorn in the US, raised in apartheid-era South Africa, a reluctant star in her 20s following her big break in Schindler’s List, and now a first-time director at the age of 60, Embeth Davidtz knows what it means to be an outsider. “I’ve always had the feeling,” she says, “that I don’t quite belong.”Normally found in Los Angeles – where she lives in a house once owned by Julie Andrews, with her husband, the entertainment lawyer Jason Sloane – Davidtz is today in Cape Town for work and family commitments. Speaking by video call from a cream-and-beige bedroom, wearing a white top and glasses with peach-coloured frames, her brunette hair tied back, she looks the picture of serenity. The effect is completed by her voice, which soothed millions of children when she starred as the perfect teacher, Miss Honey, in the 1996 film of Roald Dahl’s...

Events

3 w. ago Mum left speechless as teachers at her son’s school take extreme action to prevent kids drinking squash instead of water

A MUM has been left speechless after her six-year-old son told her his teachers SNIFF students' water bottles at school. Sam admitted she "can't get her head round" the extremes the teachers allegedly go to in order to ensure none of the children have squash or flavoured water in their bottles. "I actually cannot believe...

Politics

3 w. ago Matthew McConaughey: The Lost Bus being a true story ‘gives me more purpose’

The film tells the story of bus driver Kevin McKay, who had to navigate a bus carrying children and their teacher to safety in 2018.

Politics

3 w. ago Teachers union rejects claim schools are ‘encouraging children to find problems’

Baroness Amanda Spielman said teachers could be ‘unintentionally encouraging children to find things to be unhappy about’.

Society

3 w. ago Starmer says government will introduce digital IDs to ensure Britain’s ‘borders are more secure’ – UK politics live

Prime minister says the UK is facing a choice between patriotic renewal and toxic divideDeputy prime minister David Lammy has called the conflict in Gaza “inhumane” and “utterly unjustifiable”.Addressing the United Nations general assembly in New York, Lammy said:What is happening in Gaza is indefensible, it is inhumane, it is utterly unjustifiable and it must end now.Better than the horrific acts by Hamas on 7 October that left children without their parents and parents without their children.Better than the torment of families waiting desperately for the return of their loved ones from the most barbaric captivity. Better than the fanatical rule by Hamas, a vile, pitiless terrorist organisation that must have no future in Gaza. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Keir Starmer says digital ID cards are an ‘enormous opportunity’ and will make it tougher to work illegally

Prime minister says plans for a new digital ID held on people’s phones will become mandatory to prove the right to workDeputy prime minister David Lammy has called the conflict in Gaza “inhumane” and “utterly unjustifiable”.Addressing the United Nations general assembly in New York, Lammy said:What is happening in Gaza is indefensible, it is inhumane, it is utterly unjustifiable and it must end now.Better than the horrific acts by Hamas on 7 October that left children without their parents and parents without their children.Better than the torment of families waiting desperately for the return of their loved ones from the most barbaric captivity. Better than the fanatical rule by Hamas, a vile, pitiless terrorist organisation that must have no future in Gaza. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Broke preschool demands parents cough up $2,000 for their children's art

A preschool has been slammed as 'un-Australian' after it demanded parents fork out $2,200 for their children's artwork to cover teachers' unpaid wages.

Society

3 w. ago Horror as school coach crashes into ditch near UK motorway with 29 kids on board

A school coach carrying 29 children and four teachers has crashed off a road and into a ditch by a motorway, with one of the teachers suffering a leg injury in the incident

Events

3 w. ago Bristol school coach crashes into ditch with 29 children and 4 staff on board

A school coach carrying 29 children and four teachers from Bristol has crashed into a roadside ditch on the A36 near Southampton, Hampshire, with emergency services at the scene

Events