News

Bone fractures are a very common injury in children and a new study• highlights the increased risk amongst children with low levels of Vitamin K2, the little known compound that plays a key role in helping blood clot and support bone and cardiovascular health, and is largely obtained from cheese and eggs.

A huge splash of colour has arrived in Liverpool for the summer, as 200 brightly coloured umbrellas have been suspended over a busy city centre street. The goal behind this initiative is to raise awareness and understanding, encouraging discussion around Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and autism.

Devised and curated by Liverpool-based ADHD Foundation, which this year celebrates its tenth anniversary as a charity, the Umbrella Project transforms Church Alley (leading up to the Bluecoat) into a canopy of colour until the end of August. The individual umbrellas have also been personally signed by children from St Oswald’s primary school in Old Swan and across Merseyside, many of whom have ADHD, autism and other neurodevelopment conditions.

Leo Gradwell Spencer, 11, has made final shortlist for prestigious Premiership Rugby award after attending Sale Sharks rugby camps

Winnington Park Rugby Club volunteer Paula Bradbury, Royal Navy veteran Ian Rudge and Sharks coach Vicky Irwin also nominated for awards at July ceremony

An 11-year-old from Hyde who tackled his autism by playing rugby with Sale Sharks and a Royal Navy veteran from Eccles have been shortlisted for  prestigious national Premiership Rugby awards.

Leo Gradwell Spencer, who has high functioning autism, and 59-year-old Ian Rudge will compete with other nominees from around the country for the PLAY Achiever Award and the Breakthru Award at the Premiership Rugby Parliamentary Community Awards in July.

Your child’s education is so important. They will get plenty of support at school, but in their early and formative years, it’s essential that they get support at home too. Thanks to the Internet, there is now a greater number of tools that can help your children learn, including online writing tools that offer a range of features to help improve your child’s writing skills. Take a look at these top 10 tools to help your child improve their writing skills.

1. Visuwords

A care service in Penge is supporting four individuals with learning disabilities to make sure their voices are heard at the upcoming general election.

Crystal House is home to young people who are in transition from residential college, foster care or the family home.

Senior support worker Diane Liston says the service has made sure the group are all registered to vote on June 8.

“The election is providing us with a great opportunity to demonstrate to people with learning difficulties and mental health needs that they have a voice,” said Diane.

“Usually those who find decision-making difficult are in that position because they have never been given the opportunity.

Inscape House School has been praised by Ofsted for creating a safe haven for pupils where they can learn to be independent valued citizens.

Inscape is a non-maintained specialist school in Cheadle for pupils aged from five to 19 with autism spectrum conditions and related social communication difficulties.

The school has retained its good rating, with inspectors commending the ‘gripping leadership and crystalline vision’ of the senior team.

Ofsted inspector Jonathan Jones said: “There is no doubt that Inscape House is, first and foremost, a school.

“You have made teaching and learning the core purpose of all that happens here.

“This focus has resulted in a clever and effective synergy between the academic and therapeutic aspects of the school.”

Of the learning challenges facing students with dyslexia, reading difficulties are amongst the most prominent. It is believed around 10% of the population have the condition which usually sees suffers struggling to process information whether written or spoken, which can hamper their natural ability to share and document their creative ideas, knowledge and enthusiasm for a subject. This could potentially have an adverse educational and psychological effect on this group and possibly negatively impact their engagement with education. Encouragingly though, through dedicated study and research, great advances have been made in understanding dyslexia, how it affects individuals and what needs to be done to provide support for them from an early age. 

Mum of two, Gina Wade spends all the time she can helping her daughter Sophie overcome the symptoms of spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy and epilepsy. Walking and moving is always difficult for Sophie because of her stiff, tight muscles, but the pony she loves so much eventually led her to trying a unique treatment that finally helped ease her symptoms...  

Reece Sickling first arrived at Leeds City College on a taster day for a Childcare course.  He was a quiet, anxious 14-year-old boy, the only learner from his high school in a room full of girls. His teacher was very nervous about leaving him, but he was determined that he wanted a career working with children. He joined in with the activities, worked hard on the tasks and was so shy that he barely spoke all day, but when his teacher returned to pick him up and asked him how it went, he grinned from ear to ear.

He has spent the last six years at Leeds City College developing into a confident and excellent childcare practitioner. He is a role model to his peers and to the children he cares for.