The government hopes to implement its Named Person scheme by August 2017 - a year later than planned. Implementation of the scheme was halted after the Supreme Court ruled that data-sharing provisions were unlawful. Education secretary John Swinney told MSPs last week that the government was committed to amending and enforcing the scheme, which would assign a named person to everyone under the age of 18.
Seven out of 14 health boards are failing to meet the 18-week waiting time target for children and young people who have mental health problems. The number of children being seen by mental health services between April and June this year rose by almost a third (30 per cent) on the same period in 2014, government figures show. The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition called for urgent action from the Scottish government.
Children who tested their maths skills with online games for an hour a week progressed three times faster than those who did not, a new study has found. The study was carried out in 63 Glasgow primaries over a period of six months in a bid to ascertain how effectively online games supported learning. The research was carried out by social enterprise Sumdog and reviewed by academics at the University of Glasgow, who called it “really significant”.
A play designed to help armed forces children cope with the stress of seeing parents deployed to war zones will begin a six-week tour of Scottish primaries this week. This is My Life follows the story of Kevin, who misses his dad while he is away and has to face the challenge of taking on extra responsibilities at home as well as adjusting to life at a new school. The play was commissioned by the Royal Caledonian Education Trust to highlight the issues children from forces families face. This year’s tour of almost 60 schools was funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund.
