Displaying items by tag: Children

Thursday, 02 September 2021 22:52

School uniforms unaffordable

The average cost of uniform for a primary school child is £315, £337 for a secondary pupil, according to the Children's Society. Sadly, a law to make schools place affordability at the centre of their uniform policy will not be in place in time for the start of this school year, meaning that parents will not benefit from the changes until September 2022. The rules will limit the number of logos on uniforms, allowing parents to buy more items from supermarkets and shops other than a school's main supplier. Meanwhile clothes banks like Cradley Heath Community Link are offering school uniforms and PE kits which have been donated. They are providing uniforms for nine schools in the area at no cost, and are inundated with requests. One visitor, Darren Wright, said that if he had to buy it he’s looking at £300 for one child, impossible for people on Universal Credit. See

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 26 August 2021 21:05

Lockdown screen time ruining children’s sight

Optometrists across the country say they are diagnosing higher numbers of children with short-sightedness (myopia) since the start of the pandemic. They put this down to less time spent outside due to Covid restrictions, more time spent looking at computer screens, and a drop-off in numbers of eye tests. The College of Optometrists is calling for parents to get their children to play outside for two hours a day, as this has been proved to prevent or stop the development of myopia. It is also recommending parents to take their children for eye tests. Optometrists are also asking for more funding for research in the UK population into the impact of the pandemic on children’s eyesight.

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 19 August 2021 21:44

Children: sugary foods

Researchers have found only one in twenty yoghurts aimed at children are low in sugar. They urge the government to impose restrictions on child-friendly packaging and the nutritional claims they make. Action on Sugar found that one toffee yoghurt had five and a half teaspoons of sugar per serving - equal to 16 malted milk biscuits. Out of 100 children's yoghurts, 63% contained a third or more of the maximum daily sugar intake for children between four and six. A ‘health halo’ was being created around products featuring claims they are healthy while containing added sugar, syrups and fruit concentrates. A nutritionist warned that parents can easily be misled when choosing supermarket tems: ‘Often companies try to avert our eyes from seeing the significant amount of sugar listed in the ingredients and nutrition tables, by using healthy-sounding claims and cartoony images on the front of the pack.’

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 05 August 2021 21:51

Decisions on vaccinating children

Paul Whiteman of the school leaders' union says UK policy on jabs for children should be led by clinicians. Schools should not be responsible for promoting, enforcing, or policing pupil vaccinations. A record 1.13 million children in England were out of school for Covid-19 related reasons towards the end of term. Pupils will return to schools next month, and the Government needs to take every possible step to prevent transmission of the virus amongst people in school communities, no matter what their age. Vaccine decisions for teenagers will be guided by data from other countries. The reason to roll out the vaccine to children is to break the transmission chains in households and in schools for the autumn term, while we know the winter is going to be especially difficult with seasonal respiratory infections. Mr Whiteman recommends everyone over 12 should get the Covid vaccination, which is safe and effective. Israel is vaccinating 12- to 15-year-olds, feeling that protection from vaccination outweighs the risks.

Published in British Isles
Friday, 30 July 2021 10:30

Covid: free school meals in summer holidays

The number of children eligible for free school meals in England has risen since the start of the pandemic. The holidays have begun, and over one in five pupils are eligible. Unlike last summer, the Government is not directly funding vouchers or food packages this year. Free school meals have traditionally been provided only in term time. But many councils have decided to create their own meal schemes during the holiday - not trusting parents with cash payments. These programmes will cover four hours a day, four days a week, but nothing for the other three days. They will be offered free to all children eligible for free school meals. Other children may still get places, but not for free. Pray for children who may have missed out on direct payments turning up at school hungry and with no money or food.

Published in British Isles
Friday, 23 July 2021 10:30

Christian school holiday clubs

Many churches will be running a wide range of school holiday clubs throughout the summer months. Pray for the themed weeks to inspire children as they discover their Father in Heaven’s love and the friend that they have in Jesus. May the new songs that they learn be sung at home with their families and friends. Pray for God to give His strength and stamina to the many adults who will be guiding the children through various craft activities, sports and games, presenting interactive mime and drama, storytelling, singing and dancing, messy play and much more. May they find many opportunities to introduce their groups to Christ in each session. Pray for the clubs aimed at children who would normally receive free school meals. Pray for the evening clubs and café clubs aimed at older children to be fun and safe for all. May every Christian holiday club be used by God to open avenues between churches and communities.

Published in British Isles

Our desire is to raise more than 100 prayer champions who will mobilize children on this day to come together in different locations, countries, states, Local Government etc to pray specifically for the Unreached People groups.

In Africa, we have about 1,000 Unreached People groups. Globally, there are still over 7,000 remaining UPGs. That is about 3.7 billion people who have not heard about Jesus.

We invite you to join in this effort to mobilize families and children.

JOIN US FOR THE GLOBAL DAY OF CHILDREN PRAYING FOR THE UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUPS 

DATE:  SATURDAY 19TH JUNE, 2021

TIME: 5AM - 1PM (GMT)

VIA ZOOM

Meeting ID: 81957284208

Passcode: 1221

Invite link: http://us02web.zoom.us/j/81957284208

STREAM LIVE VIA YOUTUBE: 

http://youtube.com/channel/UC5mGWtuEVXlwarjOOERGg_A

FACEBOOK: 

http://www.facebook.com/ChildrenCIMN/  

If you would like to be part of this global movement, please contact Pastor Nosa Tukura
WhatsApp number: +234 8057553778

Thursday, 03 June 2021 21:09

Bank Holiday knife crime

Six people, including a 13- and a 14-year-old, were arrested for stabbing to death a 14-year-old boy in Birmingham. The victim was chased towards the nearby McDonald's by youths who fled from the scene after he collapsed. In London’s Hyde Park a 17 year old was chased by a group of males armed with large knives. He fell and was kicked and stabbed; one onlooker screamed ‘He bored him’ (street slang for stabbing. In South London a 23-year-old man is fighting for his life after being stabbed in the face. In north London a flowerstall man in his 50s was stabbed to death in a brutal daylight attack. Pray for more resources to be provided for teachers, social workers, and youth workers to help children and youths explore themes around knife crime and educate them to make better choices.

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 03 June 2021 21:06

Schools catch-up tsar resigns over funding

The man charged with overseeing plans to help children catch up on missed education in England has resigned just four months into the job. Sir Kevan Collins stepped down over the government’s pledge to spend just under one-and-a-half billion pounds on its recovery plan, calling it a ‘half-hearted approach which didn’t come close to meeting the scale of the challenge’. Boris Johnson said more resources will be ‘coming through’ to support children when catch-up plans were labelled a ‘damp squib’. Head teachers were "hugely disappointed" by a £1.4bn Covid recovery package, which breaks down to £50 extra per pupil per year. A report says £13.5bn is needed for pupils to catch up. Most of the funding will be for tutoring to make up for lost learning.

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 29 April 2021 21:06

TikTok accused of misusing children's data

TikTok is facing legal challenges from the former children's commissioner for England over how it uses children's data. The claim is filed on behalf of millions of UK and EU children who have used the video-sharing app. TikTok takes children's phone numbers, videos, exact location and biometric data, without sufficient warning, transparency or the necessary parental consent required by law. The children could each be owed thousands of pounds. TikTok said the case was without merit and would fight it. In 2019, TikTok was fined $5.7m by the Federal Trade Commission for mishandling children's data. Also, South Korea fined them because of how they collected children's data, and they were investigated by the UK's information commissioner's office because Musical.ly, which is incorporated into TikTok, was hosting content published by users aged under 13. 13.44% of British 8- to 12-year-olds use TikTok, despite its policies forbidding under-13s on the platform.

Published in British Isles