Latest News for Parents & Carers

Thousands of pupils will benefit from an expanded programme that provides two free pairs of glasses to improve reading and writing by tackling poor eyesight. The ‘Glasses in Classes’ scheme aims to level up outcomes and will be adapted for five disadvantaged areas in England, under the Opportunity Area programme. This will reach more than 9,000 pupils in at least 225 schools.

Now that most Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted across the UK and more than 39 million people have been fully vaccinated, we can enjoy more freedoms. But to access many public places and services, you may need to have an NHS Covid Pass to show you have been vaccinated, have tested negative for Covid-19 or have immunity from it.

You will also need to prove you have had both vaccines if you are staff working in a Care Quality Commission-registered care home in England. However, what should people do if they cannot be vaccinated or tested due to medical reasons?

Digital Horizons explains who is exempt from using the pass, how to access venues if you are, and how their new NHS Covid Pass exemption card can help.

The Department for Education is considering bringing back national testing for 14-year-olds, reports The Guardian. The new Education Secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, is considering reintroducing externally marked standard assessment tests (Sats) which were scrapped by Labour in 2008 after a number of inquiries found that they fuelled a “pervasive anxiety” in younger pupils’ lives and distorted children’s education. Sats currently take place at ages seven and 11, in English, maths and sometimes science. There are around 770,000 school refusers according to government figures, but The Times is reporting another 135,000 who have not turned up for school this autumn, post-pandemic.

Doctors have shown for the first time that a new therapy aimed at infants can reduce autistic behaviour and the likelihood the children will go on to be diagnosed with autism before they reach school age. Infants who received the therapy after displaying early signs of potential autism, such as avoiding eye contact and not responding to their name, were one-third as likely to have autism diagnosed at the age of three, compared with those who had standard care, the researchers found.

Covid booster jabs are now being rolled out and Contact has had confirmation from the Department of Health and Social Care that unpaid carers, including parent carers, will be among the priority groups for the vaccine booster – just as they were in the initial roll-out. The booster should be given at least six months after a person had their second dose. It is recommended that all boosters will be the Pfizer-BioNTech jab.