21 h. ago The number of parents fined and prosecuted for not sending their children to school in Wales

One council said it tries not to fine or prosecute parents who don't send their children to school while others take a stricter approach

Society

44 h. ago Families of children killed in Hillcrest jumping castle incident ‘shattered’ after not guilty verdict

Rosemary Gamble, owner of Taz-Zorb which set up the equipment in Tasmania, had pleaded not guilty to failing to comply with workplace safety lawsAustralia news live: latest politics updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe families of the six children killed in a primary school jumping castle incident are angry after the operator who set up the castle was found not guilty of a workplace safety charge.Chace Harrison, Jalailah Jayne-Maree Jones, Zane Mellor, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan and Peter Dodt died after the incident at Hillcrest primary school in Devonport in December 2021.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...

Events

53 h. ago Eradicating child poverty must become Labour’s central mission

Editorial: After years when the party seemed to be undeclared disciples of austerity, the government’s conscience – prompted by some shocking electoral setbacks – has been awoken. For the country's sake, as well as its own, children must now be at the heart of everything it does, starting with free school meals

Events

54 h. ago Voices: Rachel Reeves: I saw first hand what the Tories did to kids of my generation

Conservative governments did not care about schools or communities like mine, says the chancellor, as she reveals her motivation behind Labour’s announcement to roll out free school meals for half a million children

Politics

57 h. ago Voices: Rachel Reeves: I saw firsthand what the Tories did to kids of my generation

Conservative governments did not care about schools like mine, communities like mine or the kids I grew up with, reflects Chancellor Rachel Reeves – as she reveals her very personal motivation behind Labour’s announcement to roll out free school meals for half a million of England’s poorest children

Politics

58 h. ago Should all children be given free school meals? Vote in our poll

Keir Starmer has announced plans to extend free school meals to all children in families receiving Universal Credit in England in a bid to tackle child hunger in the classroom - and we want to hear your thoughts

Politics

61 h. ago Several children injured on school trip after huge branch falls from tree in Polish gorge

The branch hit a group of 43 children aged 11 to 12 on a school trip from Warsaw

Events

61 h. ago 'Thousands of children' in Manchester will benefit from major free school meal change

The changes will come into effect next year

Politics

62 h. ago 'Free school meals were a part of my childhood': Zayn Malik 'beyond elated' at reforms

The 32 year-old One Direction star has shared his joy at the news that free school meals will be expanded to children from households on Universal Credit

Politics

62 h. ago Handing free school meals to all children from households that claim Universal Credit WON'T drag 100,000 out of poverty next year, says IFS

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has announced that every pupil whose household is on Universal Credit will soon have an entitlement to free school meals.

Society

63 h. ago I thought it was being gay that made my life so difficult. Then, at 50, I got an eye

I spent far too many years lonely and angry, thanks to schoolmates who called me ‘weird’ and bosses who dismissed me as ‘hysterical’. But was it my sexuality that put their backs up – or the autism I am still coming to terms with?My earliest memory is of feeling different. I’m gay, and grew up in the 1980s, in a tough, working-class town in the north of England at the height of the Aids crisis. My gayness was obvious in the way I walked and talked. I was bullied at school, called a “poof”, “pansy” and “fairy”; other children did impressions of me with their wrists limp. I experienced physical violence, too. I was shoved, kicked, my head was slammed against the wall. I was punched in the face more than once.But it wasn’t just my sexuality that set me apart. I was “weird”. I had a rigid attachment to routine and was terribly shy, sometimes freezing in social situations. I needed to be on my own for long periods; not easy when you’re in a family of five and share a bedroom with your br...

Politics

3 d. ago Free school meals for half a million of England’s poorest children

The move, which comes after a major campaign by The Independent, said the expansion will lift 100,000 children across England out of poverty

Politics

3 d. ago Major change for families on Universal Credit announced as parents set to save £500 a year

The government has announced that hundreds of thousands more children will now be eligible for free school meals

Society

3 d. ago KEIR STARMER: Free school meal boost will put £500 in parents’ pockets and help kids achieve

Keir Starmer writes for the Mirror that 'it’s common sense that children can’t do well at school if they’re hungry' as he unveiled a major change to free school meal rules

Economics

5 d. ago ‘It’s so boring’: Gen Z parents don’t like reading to their kids

Screen time has increasingly replaced story time, and experts warn this could lead to children falling behindLast week, former elementary school teacher Spencer Russell posed a question to parents who follow his Instagram account, Toddlers Can Read: “Why aren’t you reading aloud to your kids?”The responses, which Russell shared with the Guardian, ranged from embarrassed to annoyed to angry. “It’s so boring,” said one parent. “I don’t have time,” said another. One mother wrote in: “I don’t enjoy reading myself.” Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago ‘It’s so boring’: gen Z parents don’t like reading to their kids – and educators are worried

Screen time has increasingly replaced story time, and experts warn this could lead to children falling behindLast week, former elementary school teacher Spencer Russell posed a question to parents who follow his Instagram account, Toddlers Can Read: “Why aren’t you reading aloud to your kids?”The responses, which Russell shared with the Guardian, ranged from embarrassed to annoyed to angry. “It’s so boring,” said one parent. “I don’t have time,” said another. One mother wrote in: “I don’t enjoy reading myself.” Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Lights, camera, fractions: how Harry Potter TV actors will juggle Hogwarts with real lessons

Dozens of child actors will feature in HBO’s new Harry Potter series, all of them needing on-set tuition to be conjured up between scenesHarry Potter may have been overjoyed at going to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, but the children playing Harry, Ron and Hermione in the forthcoming HBO TV series will vanish from their own schools for the rest of their childhoods.Instead the child actors – along with those playing Draco Malfoy, Ginny Weasley and the other Hogwarts pupils – will get much of their education from tutors at a “mini-school” to be conjured up at Warner Brothers’ Leavesden studio in Watford, north of London, when filming starts later this year. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago Dad left chilling note for kids to find after strangling their mum in next room

The family of Kelly Morgan, who was strangled to death by her husband George just hours after the couple watched their children in a school assembly, have opened up to Killer Britain with Demot Murgnahan about a murder which shook Britain

Politics

7 d. ago 'Most intelligent' place to live is named with very surprising result

An interactive map shows you how many school children go on to study for a degree at university where you live and the figure can be compared with different areas of the country

Politics

1 week ago Children missing school over uniform and trips costs, miserable study shows

Some 16% of pupils aged 11-18 have missed school at least once because their parents couldn’t afford something they needed to attend, such as branded uniform or kit

Events