Newsround

What’s been in the news just lately?

• Schools in Newham have been closed because of the discovery of Noble false widow spiders. Buglife say, “We consider this to be a radical and unnecessary over-reaction to the tiny risk posed, indeed the spraying of the schools with toxic insecticides may be a higher risk.”
• A new report by the Education Policy Institute finds that the number of referrals to specialist children’s mental health services has increased by 26 per cent over the last five years.
• Nadhim Zahawi speaks to the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) about closing the attainment gap in the early years.
• According to the Open University Business School (OUBS)’s dedicated research centre and the True Potential Centre for the Public Understanding of Finance,  29% of parents say they struggle with maths homework aimed at children aged 6-9, while 28 per cent say they can no longer help out with maths when their child goes to secondary school.
• Is the Government a trustworthy communicator of statistics? Not on your nelly.  In an embarrassment for Damian Hinds, the Chair of the UK Statistics Authority has written to him saying that the Department for Education is giving out misleading information. Read what Sir David Norgrove has to say here.
• A ridiculous hide and seek game called Manhunt is being played by some children and the Police have issued  a warning not to play it.
• According to figures from the Department for Education, engineering and technology students from Havering College of Further and Higher Education command a higher average salary than graduates of any other course in Britain a year after graduating.
• Kevin Courtney, joint secretary of the National Education Union (NEU) claims teachers accused of sexual abuse should not be automatically suspended because most children “make it up” and “street smart” pupils who misbehaved in class often made spurious complaints to “get an effect”.
• Harassment in public is a form of gender-based violence. Join Plan International UK and their #ISayItsNotOK campaign: It’s not a compliment. It’s not part of growing up.