It is important so my son and other children get to and home from school safely

I’m a mother, but no one has ever called me mummy. I’ve resuscitated my child, but I’ve never put a plaster on his knee. I’ve not been fined for taking my child out of school for a holiday, but I’ve been fighting to get him into school for almost four years. I’ve gone for months at a time with little sleep - but not with a baby, with a child who stops breathing. There are no family days out, because there’s nowhere to change my immobile and incontinent teenager. For four years, I have to sedate my child to travel because his wheelchair doesn’t fit and causes him pain. I’ve said goodbye more times than I can count - not for a school trip, but because I was told he would die. Our first community nurse told me to visit a morgue so I could get used to the idea of seeing my son in a freezer. I was told by a care company manager that if I complained about her staff, she’d ensure my son was put in a home. They were asleep when he wasn’t breathing, they overdosed his medications and they forcibly strapped him down to his own bed to stop them needing to move him. I’ve had to plan and write down all of the details of my child’s funeral. We have lost our home, jobs and self esteem - sponging from society, because care and education has not been sufficiently funded to allow us to work - to support our own family. I was a teacher, I fought for the children of others, I loved my job. Now, I have to fight for my son and his rights, to be his ICU nurse, to try to find time to be his mum when I’m so tired and so sad. My husband cared for people with MND or dementia, supporting them and their families until the end of their lives. Now he can only support us. Our lives revolve around keeping our son alive, well and comfortable.

In September Thetford Academy are cutting funding to Lewis Coaches so that they no longer run the bus service for our children to get to school. I have no other way of getting my 12 year old to and from school. And many other parents are in the same position. Please don't compromise the safety or education of our children.

Vulnerable children with complex needs are being placed in small and restrictive isolation booths for long periods of time - sometimes the whole day and even full school weeks. This is often for trivial offences such as uniform issues. Parents are sometimes not told or informed euphemistically that their children are in the ‘ inclusion unit’ This is damaging the mental health of young people and the potential long term effects need to be properly researched. We need to have a debate in parliament about this dubious practice.

We deeply regret that, despite strong arguments against it, you and your Cabinet colleagues decided on 28th June to press ahead with a tendering exercise to outsource the County’s library service. Given recent national experience, we are convinced that this is misguided. There is no material evidence that outsourcing libraries in Herefordshire would be cheaper or deliver a better service – we know of no contractor with a successful track record of running a library service in a rural setting comparable to Herefordshire. The current management and staff of Herefordshire libraries are doing a fine job under strained circumstances.

The 1st Musselburgh Senior Section want to end period poverty. We’re calling for free period products for everyone who needs them. We’ve been working on Girlguiding Scotland’s Citizen Girl challenge badge in our unit – which is all about exploring why our voices matter and how we can speak out on the issues that matter to us. This got us thinking about some of the barriers girls our age face and we decided to campaign to end period poverty after seeing how condoms are provided for free at our school but how girls currently have to pay for period supplies like tampons and pads. It’s not fair that girls have to pay for something they have no choice in! We’re really encouraged to see free period products will now be available in Scottish schools but think more needs to be done to end period poverty once and for all. That’s why we’re calling for free products in other public places like Community Centres, Sport Centres and Libraries and for a system to make sure these products are easily accessible and freely available to anyone who needs them. We also want to tackle the stigma around periods and period poverty – so girls and women know this isn’t something they have to hide or be ashamed of. Women worldwide, are incapacitated by an inevitable biological process, not one of their own making. Many women cannot afford this basic necessity, which impacts so heavily on their lives. We would like to ask that Angela Constance MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities, and Shona Robinson MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, to help end the stigma around periods and make sure period products are freely and easily accessible to anyone who needs them, not just while we’re at school but throughout our lives.

It's July, it's 7 pm and it's hot, incredibly hot. The sun is shining bright and high still at this time of day. Sadly, July means school, homework and 7:30 pm bedtimes. Even more sadly, the heat and long daylight of July is not a feature of late August/September nights when the kids are still on holiday (why?!!). They simply miss the best part of the British summer because they have to be at school so late into it! Why should we shorten the summer term to finish by 15th July? 1) The warm, long, light evenings make school-night bedtimes a nightmare for kids and parents. 8pm easily becomes 10pm. 2) Children get less sleep at this time of year and it greatly affects their learning and behaviour 3) The academic learning objectives and targets for the year will have been largely reached and it’s just a waiting game for everyone before the end of term. Late August / September are much more productive in terms of learning, NOT hot July! 4) The hot, sunny weather makes it difficult for the children to learn at school / do homework, making the teacher's job more difficult. 5) At the moment, the children cannot enjoy the long July summer nights… because they are school nights. That means heading home early from parks, pools and beaches and missing out on a lot of physical exercise. Late August and September do not offer the same outdoor opportunities in the evenings as people go indoors when evenings are dark and cold. Also, you are unlikely to make a long drive for a swim in the sea in September, but July would be ideal (but it's a school night, so we can't) 6) In our fight against the dramatic rise in childhood obesity, we need to enable everyone to be physcially active by giving them opportunties do so (long daylight, evenings in the park) 6) For those who do not go abroad, mid-July is really the best time for camping to make the most of the weather and the light evenings. 7) It is likely to reduce school absences as the motivation dwindles in hot weather at the end of the academic year. To enable the legally required 190 school days per academic year, we propose starting the autumn term a little bit earlier when the lesser daylight and lower temperatures at night are more conducive to studying. Although this will make the autumn term slightly longer, this time of year is more productive for both children and parents. It’s a small price to pay to be on holiday at a more suitable time in mid-July. Alternatively, the Easter break could be shortened or all training days could be shifted to the end of the summer term. This year, some schools are having their training days at the end of term, thereby letting the children go on holiday on Thursday 19 and Friday 20 July. It would also be very considerate to family holiday planning if all schools could finish the summer term on a Friday. Being able to finish the summer term by th 15th of July or earlier would make a huge, huge difference to the many families. Please let school children enjoy the best time of the British summer.

40 percent of premature deaths and the burden of disease is attributed to "behaviours" such as diet, physical activity, smoking and alcohol. In Newham, with a high population of South Asian backgrounds, the focus on public health is even more important as diabetes is up to 6 times more likely in this population. The obesity and diabetes epidemic particularly affect Newham and we urgently need lifestyle changes programmes at community level, as recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. In 2013, the Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt and the Chief Executive of Public Health England wrote to all the Chief Executives of Local Authorities to ask them to put people's health and wellbeing at the heart of everything they do. However, this has not taken place in Newham and we request it to change. Our local community with Food Academy and with funding from Diabetes UK, British Heart Foundation and Tesco has been able to deliver 400 fun holiday lunch clubs in the last 2 years, involving 700 mothers and more than 1400 children. We have supported a public health prevention agenda with hands-on cooking and fun physical activities targeting obesity and diabetes in adults and children. However, this type of public health work now requires promotion and funding from the local government and the local NHS for the benefit of our families.

The brave, hard working fishermen of Torry gifted money to the City Council to build a school for their children to ensure they would receive an education.

It's impossible to be in two places at same time both schools opposite directions never going to work!

Since 2013, the price of a Young Person's Travel Pass in Kent has risen by 480%. A family with two children at secondary school are looking at spending £580 per year and many more families are struggling to meet this cost. We call on Kent County Council to introduce more flexible payment opportunities to help students and parents budget around these price rises. We are also asking Kent County Council to review the cost of travel for those students in full-time education between the ages of 16 and 19. The cost of travel can put many off furthering their studies and we call on KCC to review all travel pass costs for those in education in the county.

Adoption UK's members have contacted us in their thousands to tell us about their children's struggles at school. Almost 70% of adoptive parents say their child's progress is hindered by their poor emotional state at school. Nearly 80% of adopted children say they are routinely confused and worried at school, and two thirds of secondary aged children say they are being bullied at school because they are adopted. And it's not just adopted children who face these challenges - we know that this is the daily reality for up to half the children in every classroom who have had traumatic experiences - from living in care to family breakdown to bereavement. This is bad news for children, for their families, for teachers and for school results. If we re-think the way we’re educating adopted children, we can vastly improve their life chances. And even better: the changes we make can benefit every child in school. We want an equal chance for adopted children at school - and for all children who have suffered traumatic experiences in their early years. Add your name to support the call for an #equal chance. The louder we are, the more likely we will be heard.