Benedetti launches musical education project
The Herald
- Scotland’s leading violinist Nicola Benedetti is to launch her own education project. The initiative, to be held in March, will feature Ms Benedetti working with up to 150 young musicians in a series of events. Ms Benedetti said her work with the Big Noise children’s orchestra, which brought classical music training to children on Stirling’s Raploch estate, inspired her to launch the project, which she said will be an annual and ever-widening event.
Charity concerns over public schools
Sunday Herald
- Seven private schools had their charitable status approved for the “public benefit” they provide, despite giving full bursaries to fewer than 1 per cent of their pupils. The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator gave pass marks to the schools - Ardvreck, Belhaven Hill, Clifton Hall, Craigclowan, Edinburgh Steiner, Kilgraston and Strathallan.
#163;100,000 to help pupils make the grade
The Herald
- Glasgow City Council has announced an investment of almost #163;100,000 to help secondary schools put on additional supported study sessions outside normal school hours.
Fall in child asthma rates linked to smoking ban
The Guardian
- The number of children admitted to hospital after serious asthma attacks has fallen steeply in England since smoking was banned in public places such as bars, restaurants and offices. Hospitals recorded 6,802 fewer cases of childhood asthma in the first three years of the ban, introduced in England in July 2007.
Seedy Beebies
The Sun
- Fury has erupted after the BBC showed a character mimicking vile Jimmy Savile on the CBeebies kids’ channel. A Tweenies character donned a blond wig to introduce a song called One Finger, One Thumb. Jill Ferguson - molested in the paedo DJ’s caravan in 1970 - said blundering BBC chiefs had heaped fresh misery on women like her.