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Why Celebrate Advent?
What is Advent? Can you believe that tomorrow Sunday 29 November is the first Sunday in Advent and next week it will be December when we can all open the first door of our Advent Calendars! The definition of Advent is the arrival of a notable person or thing, the first season…
photo by Crazy House Capers
Can a Funeral Be Fun?
Mark Gregory
Correspondent
Wearing black at funerals is gradually going out of fashion
The days of Victorian-era funerals with mourners clad all in black and crying tears of anguish through a monotonous, God-focused service are long gone. More and more, funerals are now referred to as ‘celebrations of life’ and reflect the way the person lived, rather than lingering over the idea that…
8:45 PM 28th November 2020
Yorkshire Actor Turned Physics Teacher Wins Award For Online Lessons Started During Lockdown
Physics teacher Lara Stafford was taking a career break to raise her own children when lockdown started in March. To help home schooling parents structure their days, she started streaming free science shows for under 14s from her Facebook page Theatre of Science. Hundreds of children started tuning in for…
11:58 AM 26th November 2020
Age Concern Central Lancashire Forges Links With Utility Firms
Age Concern Central Lancashire has forged a new and exciting collaborative with Electricity North West, United Utilities and Cadent Gas alongside the Preston North End Community and Education Trust in a joint effort to reach and support older people across Lancashire. The charity, who have recently won both the prestigious BIBAs…
11:42 AM 26th November 2020
‘Why Do They Hurt?’ – Give Our Vulnerable Children A Voice
The Secret Carer
Features Writer
Did you know that in the UK, there is no legal requirement for schools to tell you if they have restrained or secluded your child? Children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) are disproportionately affected by restraint and seclusion in schools. By nature of their learning disability, SEND children’s…
10:49 AM 26th November 2020
Roster Of Stars To Perform At Breast Cancer Haven’s Christmas Carols Concert
Breast Cancer Haven has today released details of its annual Christmas carols event. Previously, Breast Cancer Haven has held carols events at each of the charity’s centres across the country. Due to the pandemic, the event will be hosted online over Zoom for the first time ever. Breast Cancer Haven’s…
11:17 AM 25th November 2020
Ho! Ho! Ho! - Santa Claus To Zoom Into Your Living Room
Santa Claus runs the world’s biggest manufacturing and delivery company from his workshops in the North Pole, with the help of his longstanding staff of over 600,000 elves and 10,000 reindeer. As we prepare for what sadly might be a mainly digital Christmas this year, Santa at Home will give children…
11:05 AM 25th November 2020
Rosa Parks Day - 1 December
Rosa Parks Day explained What is the legacy of this extraordinary woman? Do you have the facts at your fingertips to share with your children when we celebrate her achievements on December 1? Former primary school teacher Catherine Lynch of education experts PlanBee is here to help In the US, Rosa…
8:00 AM 25th November 2020
Readalong With RNIB! Charity Calls For Children To Help Set Guinness World Records™ Title
The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) is calling for families to take part in a giant virtual reading event next month. The charity hopes that the event will break a world record to highlight the need for more positive representations of disability in children’s literature. To take part, families will…
4:17 PM 24th November 2020
Is It Possible To Have A ‘Good’ Divorce?
Peter Jones
Founder, Jones Myers
The countdown is underway to ‘Good Divorce Week’ which runs from November 30 to December 4 and promotes reducing conflict in relationship breakdowns. It also seeks to minimise the damage - sometimes long lasting - it can cause to children. Below is a formula to achieve a ‘good’ divorce which is in…
12:26 PM 24th November 2020
Local Lady Celebrates A Decade Of Teaching Little Swimmers!
Jo and Puddle
Puddle Ducks, a local swim school which provides specialist swimming lessons for children from birth up to the age of 10, alongside Aqua Natal classes for mums-to-be, are excited to be celebrating ten years of teaching children to swim! Since owner Jo Gribben launched her first class over a decade ago,…
8:29 PM 20th November 2020
Coca-Cola Christmas Truck Ain’t Coming This Year!
Jan Harris
Assistant Editor
photo by Mark Thompson taken 2019
The famous TV advert first appeared on our TV screens back in the winter of 1995 when we saw a fleet of twinkling Coca-Cola trucks travelling across a snowy landscape with the now familiar phrase of #HolidaysAreComing. But the Coca-Cola Christmas Truck for 2020 will not be seen on the…
4:05 AM 18th November 2020
Puppy Lovers Should Paws For Thought To Avoid Being ‘Petfished’ This Christmas
Chief Veterinary Officer urges the public to think twice before buying a new pet this Christmas and to thoroughly research sellers 400% surge in searches for ‘buy a puppy’ expected from mid- November Public urged to look at the seller’s profile and search their name online Those…
11:54 AM 16th November 2020
Pilot For Family Members To Get Regular Testing For Safer Care Home Visits
Family members or friends of those living in care homes will be given regular testing to reunite them with their loved ones in care homes as a new pilot launches on Monday (16 November 2020). The pilot is taking place in around 20 care homes across Hampshire, Cornwall and Devon from…
12:46 PM 14th November 2020
RNIB Letter From Santa
Dear Editor, With the festive season almost upon us, I’m writing to let your readers know that Santa and his elves are getting ready to give children with vision impairment a Christmas treat, in the run up to the big day. Each year, Santa receives millions of letters from children…
8:49 AM 14th November 2020
What Are The National Lockdown Rules For Children Contact Arrangements?
Our current national lockdown has left many estranged parents concerned about how it affects arrangements for seeing their children. The guidance for this phase remains the same as that issued during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. It enables children under the age of 18 to move between their parents’…
10:53 AM 11th November 2020
Conveyor Belt Education Or The Kindling Of A Flame?
A personal view on Standard Assessment Testing from a retiring teacher. There are now ten working days left before my metaphorical mortar board is hung up in the cupboard for the last time … and I feel like getting something off my chest. I have many happy memories of working in schools…
11:27 AM 9th November 2020
New Winter Package To Provide Further Support For Children And Families
Children and families will get extra support this winter, as councils have been given new funding to ensure vulnerable households do not go hungry or without essential items. £170m Covid Winter Grant Scheme to support children, families and the most vulnerable over winter Holiday…
4:07 AM 8th November 2020
Help Your Child Understand What Remembrance Is All About
Remembrance Day is an occasion of national significance, but many parents believe that its adult themes of sacrifice and death aren’t appropriate to share with young children. But by helping primary school-aged children to understand why the nation comes to a halt at 11am to remember the war dead –…
11:51 AM 6th November 2020
Heart Research UK Healthy Tip - Get The Kids Walking
Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by Dr Helen Flaherty, Head of Health Promotion at Heart Research UK This year, many children are not attending school due to COVID-19 and they may be missing out on getting in some valuable steps. Regular physical activity in children and young people is…
12:55 AM 6th November 2020
Bonfire Night In Lockdown - Don't Let Your Bonfire Night Go Up In Smoke!
photo by Zara Walker - unsplash
Guy Fawkes Night will be different this year, but it can still be fun. And what better opportunity to teach your children about the origins of the celebration? Former primary school teacher Catherine Lynch of education resource experts Plan Bee tells you how... It is likely that most larger bonfire night…
8:40 PM 3rd November 2020
Is Bonfire Night 2020 Cancelled?
Thursday 5th November is the start of the National Lockdown. Going to an official organised fireworks display has always been a far safer option for both humans and animals, but like most large gatherings this year they have been cancelled. The events will certainly look different this…
3:00 PM 2nd November 2020
Vital Changes Required As Remote Hearings Isolate The Most Vulnerable
My concerns about heartbreaking cases - when life-changing decisions affecting vulnerable and often bewildered clients are made at remote hearings - have been re-enforced in a recent study. The Covid-19 Pandemic has understandably called for remote video and telephone hearings where vulnerable clients are isolated and bereft of any…
11:51 AM 2nd November 2020
Endangered Baby Roloway Monkey Born At Yorkshire Wildlife Park
A new arrival at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park has provided a huge boost for a critically endangered species of monkey. According to the international Zoo Database, the birth of the baby Roloway monkey is the first of its kind in the UK and is a major triumph for the European…
3:08 AM 30th October 2020
Half Term Safety: How To Protect Your Child Online
As many criminals target children online, under 18s using online platforms can prove a dangerous activity if not supervised and this is likely to be the case throughout half-term. With that in mind, the security experts at Specops Software have provided a 5-step guide on how to protect your children…
4:06 PM 28th October 2020
End Of October – Winter Woollies
Hannah Russell
Features Writer
It’s nearly the end of October and the ponies are looking as woolly as ever around the yard. I love seeing their winter coats. Alfie always looks cute in his winter fluff. After the clocks changed last weekend, Alfie hasn’t been very impressed as it means…
3:34 PM 28th October 2020
A Ghost Story For Halloween: Déjà Vu
Kaye McGann
Features Writer
It was a crisp bright day when I set out. The leaves were on the turn, and light was dappling through the gaps where some had fallen. I was glad when my car started straight away, and by the time I’d checked my map – I preferred maps to sat.nav.…
3:38 AM 28th October 2020
Getting Cosy with Fairy Tales in Matilda's Stories
Matilda telling bedtime stories
Arts charity Settle Stories are inviting children to settle down for bedtime with their new YouTube series, Matilda’s Bedtime Stories. In the five minute videos, storyteller Matilda recites legendary fairy tales alongside her cuddly toy friends. There are six episodes to be aired for free this autumn. Families are encouraged…
10:18 AM 27th October 2020
Get Closer To Nature This Half Term At Blackpool Zoo
Graham Clark
Features Writer
Dinosaur Safari
I have been to Blackpool many times over the years but never been to Blackpool Zoo. I was under the impression that it was small with not much to see. How wrong I was. When you discover the large car park it gives you an idea of what to expect. You…
12:42 PM 26th October 2020
Heart Research UK Healthy Tip - Healthy Halloween
Heart Research UK Healthy Heart Tip, written by Dr Helen Flaherty, Head of Health Promotion at Heart Research UK. Halloween is approaching fast and the shops are filling up with spooky costumes, decorations, pumpkins and sugary treats. It can be difficult to avoid overindulging on sweets and chocolate at Halloween, but…
3:21 AM 24th October 2020
RNIB Launches Sensory Scavenger Hunt Activity Pack For Children
The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has launched an exciting new Sensory Scavenger Hunt activity pack to keep children entertained over the half-term break. The pack, which can be downloaded from RNIB’s website and is for children of all ages, helps young explorers understand their senses beyond sight through…
6:50 PM 23rd October 2020
How To Enjoy Halloween During Lockdown
With different parts of the country under different lockdown rules, the idea of celebrating Halloween may seem an impossibility. But Catherine Lynch of education experts PlanBee says you can keep your children spooked out – and stay within the law. Halloween 2020 is going to be a bit different to previous…
7:03 PM 22nd October 2020
Why Pumpkins For Halloween?
Halloween today is synonymous with scary film binges, lavish parties, children dressing up in frightening masks and costumes, but why pumpkins? What are its origins? Other names are Hallows' Evening, All Hallows' Eve or All Saints' Eve which is observed in a lot of countries on the 31 October before the…
8:00 AM 22nd October 2020
Monster Bowling Fun This Half Term At Hollywood Bowl
Hollywood Bowl is launching a fangtastic Monster Bowl ten pin bowling game for Halloween, giving families something to get their teeth into this October Half Term. Friends and families who visit the centre will get the chance to win a large Slush Puppie if they can spot the pink bowling pin…
12:02 PM 21st October 2020
Captain Fantastic’s Virtual Trick Or Treat
Halloween this year will be very different from normal; those who love trick or treating may be wondering what to do instead. But, fear not, to ensure no family misses out on the ultimate Halloween fun, Captain Fantastic are creating a Covid-safe online trick or treating experience. The UK’s Number…
9:48 AM 21st October 2020
How To Give Children A Taste For World Food Day
Today, October 16 is World Food Day. The date commemorates the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organisation by the United Nations in 1945. This year’s theme is Grow, Nourish, Sustain, Together. This is a great opportunity to do some fun activities at home with your children to give them a…
8:46 AM 16th October 2020
Morrisons Goes Completely Glitter-free
Morrisons has removed glitter entirely from its own-brand ranges of greetings cards, gift wrap, seasonal items and horticulture in stores. This means all Morrisons cards, crackers, wrapping paper, present bags, flowers, plants and wreaths are now 100 per cent glitter-free. Glitter is made from tiny particles of plastic and is an…
7:34 AM 14th October 2020
Will-writing During Covid-19 Lockdown
The Co-op recently reported that demand for Will-writing services rose 69 per cent during lockdown, with a massive 300 per cent increase in demand for divorce enquiries also seen. Divorce arrangements can have a huge impact on considerations made when drafting the terms of a Will – Natalie Sheldon, Senior Associate…
3:22 AM 14th October 2020
National Adoption Week 2020 Highlights The Urgent Need For More Black Adopters For Children Waiting
New data from the cross sector National Adoption Recruitment Steering Group reflects that black communities have positive and altruistic views around adoption, with 80% stating that they have either adopted, considered or would consider adopting a child in the future. The data coincides with the launch of the first National Adoption…
8:39 AM 11th October 2020
How To Help Your Child Find Emotional Intelligence
October 10th was World Mental Health Day. The theme was ‘mental health for all’. The global pandemic and lockdowns on top of all the usual life challenges can affect children just as much as adults. To mark World Mental Health Day on 10 October, former primary school teacher Catherine Lynch of…
7:08 AM 9th October 2020
Leeds Entrepreneur Of The Year Fighting For Life
Leeds-based agency founder Ben Wolfenden has announced he has just three months to live and is seeking financial support to have life-saving treatment in Switzerland, just days after being named Leeds Digital Festival’s Entrepreneur of the Year. Ben Wolfenden, owner of digital marketing agency Wolfenden, has published a fundraising page detailing…
8:20 PM 8th October 2020
Chocolate, Pyjamas And Teddies…just Right For Half Term
When a world-famous Swiss-based chocolate firm says it is adding a new figure to its line-up of chocolate characters it’s not only big news for chocoholics, but children everywhere will sit up and take notice. They have been doing so since Lindt produced its very first chocolate Gold Bunny in…
1:44 AM 6th October 2020
Cash Boost To Get More Kids Cycling And Walking To School
The government announces a new million-pound programme to get more students and their families physically active in time for Bike to School Week. £2 million announced to help more children to cycle or walk as part of their commute to the classroom in-school cycle…
7:31 PM 29th September 2020
Two Sides Of The Same Coin - The Search For Identity
Yesmien Bagh Ali
Features Writer
Image by John Hain from Pixabay
Over the years, I have worked in a professional capacity with thousands of white and ‘BAMER’ pupils, both primary, secondary, and adult. I have witnessed pupils using racist language or adopting racist poses. However, it is not until recently that, thanks to the extra leisure time delivered by Covid, I have…
7:55 AM 24th September 2020
Record Numbers Offered Flu Vaccine As Those With Flu And COVID-19 More Likely To Die
New Public Health England research suggests that people infected with both viruses between January and April were more at risk of severe illness and death. Three of the nation’s senior medics – Dr Yvonne Doyle, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam and Dr Nikita Kanani – are calling on all eligible people to get…
7:00 AM 24th September 2020
Options To Consider If Court Delays Are Affecting Your Divorce
There has been a substantial rise in divorce guidance searches following the lockdown according to the Citizen’s Advice charity. This hike re-enforces wider predictions of a surge in divorce with the stringent measures testing even the most robust relationships. The pressures on couples and families following the Covid-19 Pandemic reflect the increase…
1:44 AM 22nd September 2020
Foreign Secretary's 2020 Rosh Hashanah Message
Dominic Raab sends his warmest wishes to the British Jewish community and to communities around the world for the Jewish New Year and high holidays. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: "I send my warmest wishes to the British Jewish community and to communities around the world for…
3:12 PM 18th September 2020
Battle Of Britain Day Explained
The national celebration of Battle of Britain Day on 15 September is a major event. But do you know what we are commemorating and why, and how can you explain its significance to your children? Former primary school teacher Laura Steele of leading education resource creators PlanBee has all the…
8:00 AM 14th September 2020
Please Don’t Give Up…
Several months ago, newspapers reported that a single mum allegedly made the heart-breaking decision to end the life of her ten-year-old, learning-disabled son. Afterwards, according to press reports, she “covered him in a duvet and lay his body down next to his toys in the master bedroom”, then left the…
10:16 AM 13th September 2020
Roald Dahl Day 13th Sept - All You Need To Know About The Much-loved Author
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Twits, James and the Giant Peach… children and adults have been delighted by Roald Dahl’s books for generations. September 13 is Roald Dahl Day, a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our favourite Dahl stories and characters with fellow fans all over the world. Here, Dahl fan…
11:13 AM 12th September 2020
Lancaster Students Raise More Than £10,000 For Vulnerable Children In Region
A group of students from Lancaster University have raised more than £10,000 for children and young people supported by children’s charity Barnardo’s. The Lancaster University Barnardo's Society, which is made up of around 20+ students, regularly involve themselves in community and fundraising events alongside their studies to raise money for the…
10:56 AM 9th September 2020
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