Newsround

What’s been in the news lately?

• This week has been Children’s Mental Health Week and here’s some food for thought: psychologist Anita Morris says owls can be more effective than dogs for helping abused and autistic children in therapy sessions. She is the founder of the charity Hack Back which works with adults, young people and children “improving their well-being and helping them to achieve their full potential in life.”

The birds can be used for people covering a wide range of issues.

• Children taught at home should be recorded on a compulsory register, England’s children’s commissioner has said. Anne Longfield says that “We need to know who these children are, where they are, whether they are safe and if they are getting the education they need to succeed in life.” Read the report Invisible Children to find out more.

Our investigations have revealed thousands of children are ‘off the grid’ because they are being home schooled. The numbers are rocketing and no-one knows how they are doing academically or even if they’re safe. Many are being off-rolled. It also seems that a relatively small number of schools may be responsible for this sharp rise in children leaving school for ‘home education’ in this way.

• Nick Gibb, the minister for school standards in England, told the BBC he believes schools should ban their pupils from bringing in smartphones. But he’s behind the times.
• Ofsted says that the government should consider shutting down Steiner schools which fail to protect children and provide them with a high quality education.
• What’s the secret to successful leadership? The Institute of Leadership and Management has identified five key Dimensions.
• The Best Evidence in Brief notes a new NBER working paper which shows “that repeating the third grade (Year 4) can help to improve the English skills of EAL pupils, and that the benefits are even greater for EAL pupils born outside of the US, pupils whose first language is Spanish, and pupils in lower-poverty elementary schools.”
• MPs are set to debate a petition calling for schools to start at 10:00. Research suggests this is a good move for teenagers.
• United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers’ commentary on ‘Screen-based activities and children and young people’s mental health and psychosocial wellbeing: a systematic map of reviews’
• The government have been accused of “lowering the bar” on teacher recruitment to beat England’s shortage in the classroom.