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Politicians must include young people in decision making to try and solve the children’s mental health crisis, says Barnardo’s.

This is the message from young people supported by the charity who have had their say in a series of videos released during Children’s Mental Health Week (February 5 to 11).

The importance of early intervention is a key thread in the films, along with the call for governments to ensure teachers are adequately trained to recognise the signs a child may be having mental health issues.

The videos are timed with a survey for the UK’s largest children’s charity, which reveals half of all 12 to 16-year-olds in England feel sad or anxious at least once a week.

As well as Family Days Out, Guide Dogs provides a range of services designed to support children, young people and their families.

Movement matters habilitation service

Guide Dogs’ movement matters service gives support to blind children and young people in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Movement matters provides personalised training and support in mobility, orientation and independence skills, delivered by a qualified habilitation specialist.

Family support

One of the most invaluable services that Guide Dogs provide to many parents and carers of a child with vision impairment is ongoing practical and emotional support.

Recent studies and statistics show us children’s mental well-being needs to be given careful consideration and attention; charities with high profile backing are bringing the subject to the mainstream media.  However, despite this issue in a technically driven world, no new solutions have been available to support children, until now.

Having spent the last 20 years in the education system, I was excited and nervous when I was asked to leave my teaching career to work on an app project designed for children.  I was worried as I didn’t know anything else outside teaching, but also excited to be able to work on a project where my knowledge and experience across a range of teaching ages would greatly benefit.

Ofsted chief Amanda Spielman has criticised schools that operate as exam factories and obsess about league tables at the expense of the “substance of education.” 

Spielman has been outspoken about teachers who prepare pupils to “jump through a series of accountability hoops.” She concedes testing is valuable, but adds: "The regular taking of test papers does little to increase a child's ability to comprehend. A much better use of time is to teach and help children to read and read more."

Championing a teaching style that enriches the life of each pupil should be the goal of educators. But what practical techniques can be used to implement such a philosophy?

Rhythms to counter the UK’s classroom culture, Ofsted chief Amanda Spielman has criticised schools that operate as exam factories and obsess about league tables at the expense of the “substance of education.”

Spielman has been outspoken about teachers who prepare pupils to “jump through a series of accountability hoops.” She concedes testing is valuable, but adds: "The regular taking of test papers does little to increase a child's ability to comprehend. A much better use of time is to teach and help children to read and read more."

Championing a teaching style that enriches the life of each pupil should be the goal of educators. But what practical techniques can be used to implement such a philosophy?

Play Unified, a Special Olympics GB campaign delivered in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust, is celebrating a second successful year fighting intolerance in schools across the UK - reaching almost 30,000 young people nationwide, enough to fill a football stadium!

The campaign aims to change perceptions of and end intolerance towards young people with intellectual disabilities (ID), such as the fact 8 in 10 experience bullying.  It aims to strengthen leadership and sport participation pathways for young people with intellectual disabilities and develop inclusive environments in schools through sport.

With schools struggling to attract volunteers to join their governing board, one charity has recruited 10,000 governors – many of whom are professionals with links to global businesses.

And one finance manager has spoken of his pride at helping to turn around a school which teaches children with medical and special needs.

The national education charity Governors for Schools (formerly School Governors’ One Stop Shop) recruits skilled and committed people to be highly effective governors and trustees of schools all over England. It aims to raise public awareness of governor opportunities for the benefit of schools and businesses. 

A multi-million pound boost to special needs and disability funding has been welcomed by two leading charities.

The Minister for Children and Families Robert Goodwill said the additional £45million funding for councils and organisations would help to continue transforming SEND provision.

The reforms, which began in 2014, introduced Education, Health and Care plans which are tailored to the individual needs of the child or young person.

£9.7million of the special needs and disability funding will go towards supported internships

Included in the funding is a £9.7million fund set up to create supported internships, helping some of the most vulnerable young people bride the gap between education and employment. 

Low pay, confusing training routes and poor staff morale have been blamed for a fall in teacher training applications.

Figures from UCAS recently showed that teacher recruitment numbers have dropped by a third. In December 2017, 12,820 people had applied to begin ITT – down from 19,330 the year before. 

The general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, Geoff Barton, said, “It’s alarming, I think, particularly as we know there are going to be another half a million children coming through the system over the next nine years.