The insistence on children's minds grappling with obscure grammar terminology such as: 'compound, suffix, prefix, clause, subordinate clause, determiner, fronted adverbial, modal verbs, relative pronouns, relative clauses, cohesion, ambiguity, antonym, synonym etc.,' only succeeds in causing stress and dislike of writing and reading. If I asked you to write a story and to make sure you included a fronted adverbial, 4 modal verbs and an expanded noun phrase, how would you feel? Would you feel happy and confident to write a story? I don't think writing stories works like that, do you? Well that is what my neighbour's son had to grapple with. Unbelievable isn't it? But it's happening right now in Primary Schools. The mechanics of writing becomes a chore, instead of a delight, and a discovery of new ideas and imaginative journeys. How crazy is that? A child wondering if they've ticked the right box, instead of exploring language confidently, asking questions and seeing real meaning in wanting to write. Another neighbour's children, all bright and outgoing, hate writing and reading because the tasks they are given to do are meaningless - resulting in their confidence being eroded, their creative thinking replaced by 'grammar terminology' meaningless words that do not help with their understanding and expression of language, or their desire to read or write. During my 19 years in Primary School, we taught young children about 'capital letters at the beginning of sentences, and for names and places, phonics - nouns - verbs - adverbs, tense, adjectives - question marks, apostrophes, exclamation marks, fullstops, commas, paragraphs,' I think that was it - simple and certainly not threatening. Children wrote with confidence. This current closed minded approach to introducing English language to our young children has to be stopped. Pressure has to be put on the Government to change the curriculum NOW! For the sanity of our children bring back non-threatening terms that help young minds understand language and enhance their love of reading and writing.

Both Bewerley Park and East Barnby have been providing Outdoor Education to pupils in North Yorkshire for many years. The staff at these centres are the most experienced you will find. It's not just a case of taking some kids on a trip to try a few activities. What they provide are vital life skills. No other centres (that I have taken school groups to) come close to the knowledge, understanding and support like BP & EB do. In a time when mental health and the aftermath of COVID will have a ripple effect for many years to come EB & BP are equipped and ready to roll out support across the county ASAP. They support schools with learning outside the classroom, pupils with SEND, introducing pupils to new activities, provide experience to gain life skills. They support staff with training, confidence to deliver, first aid and Midas training along with opportunities to gain qualifications in various Outdoor Adventurous Activities. There are 45 staff at risk of losing jobs but also North Yorkshire and all the schools within North Yorkshire losing a vital place that can't be replicated anywhere else. UPDATE PLEASE READ NYCC OFFICIAL STATEMENT https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/news/article/review-outdoor-education-following-impact-pandemic

Powys County Council wants to close our local primary school. If Churchstoke primary school is closed, children could go to English schools, and Powys County Council would have to pay to bus them there. This school is important because there are more family's moving into the area and would have an impact on working family's like myself to have a school that is local to us. My partner works full time as a support worker my boys go to that school and 1 of them have autism the other suspected autism/adhd since we moved to the area and the boys went to the school they have come on realy well my oldest has 1to1 and if the school closes down will have a negative impact on them mentally and emotionally and with change will take them back to square 1. Keeping the school is really important for both the children and the local area.

Scotland is the only nation in the UK that is not offering full time places at special schools. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, special schools returned as normal after Christmas and have been kept open. It seems that the Scottish Government does not understand the needs of children with disabilities. Only a small percentage of children (3.5% in Scotland) meet the criteria for special schools. There is no question that all of these children are extremely vulnerable and cannot be left unsupervised. Most need constant care and attention. Some have a high level of medical need including tube-feeding, pain management, frequent seizures and/or require assistance with breathing. Others have challenging behaviour and need a high level of routine as well as exercise. The Scottish Government can protect our highly valued special school staff by offering them priority for the vaccine. Our children are missing out on therapies such as physiotherapy, speech therapy and hydrotherapy. Parents are reporting increased violence towards themselves and towards siblings. The mental and physical health of these children is deteriorating. Some parents are routinely getting as little as five hours broken sleep a night. This is a tragedy waiting to happen. We are calling on the Scottish Government to follow the good example of the rest of the UK and offer full time places to children in special school.

A new strain of COVID-19 has resulted in a surge of cases and the R level increasing at an alarming rate. Hospitals across Kent, London and Essex have declared major incidencies, as they are unable to cope with the current level of demand. The new strain appears to be spread more easily by children than previous strains. This has resulted in the government taking the decision to stagger the return of secondary schools and keep many primary schools in Tier 4 areas closed & they will not re-open after the Christmas holidays. This will be reviewed on January 18th. However, legislation for SEND (Special educational needs and disabilities) settings has been ambiguous throughout this crisis, and the majority of SEND schools will be reopening their doors to pupils from Monday, where all staff (aside from the CEV in the highest tier areas) will be expected to return. The current guidance from the Department of Health and Social care advises priority vaccinations to be given to "frontline health and social care workers at high risk of acquiring infection, at high risk of developing serious disease, or at high risk of transmitting infection to multiple vulnerable persons or other staff". Staff working with pupils in special needs schools also meet the above criteria. They work in environments where it is impossible to maintain social distancing, the use of masks may be very difficult and they are expected to carry out personal care. It will also be very difficult to carry out the mass testing of pupils in these settings, which the government have said is vital as a long term aim to stop the spread of this awful disease. Tragically a recent report from Public Health England, found that people with learning disabilities were 6 times more likely to die from COVID-19, during the first wave of the pandemic. If staff working in these settings were to be vaccinated as a priority, it would mean that not only were they protected, but it would also protect the vulnerable children in their care.

Teachers and support staff in schools are vital to the continued education of our children but they are especially vulnerable to COVID-19 because they have to work face to face with students. Vaccination will not only help protect teachers from the virus, it will allow them to teach in person, and ultimately keep schools open to the benefit of the children, their parents and wider society. Unlike for other professions, including GPs, careworkers, hairdressers and shop workers who are required to wear masks or be behind protective screens, the government is not recommending face coverings are necessary in education settings (except in corridors and communal areas) Many colleagues have already been infected with the virus affecting their health AND leaving already overstretched staff to cover whole classes or send classes home. Safeguarding the future of the next generation should start with those who are delivering their education. Please don't scapegoat teachers any more than has already happened and consider vaccinating teachers and other education and childcare workers who have been on the frontline of COVID from the very start.

We are requesting a 30% reduction on our annual rent in all halls at the University of Reading, commencing in January. Living in halls facilitates access to the university resources & associated activities, however, unfortunately due to the Covid-19 pandemic almost all aspects of university life have been curtailed to some extent. Despite the reduction in services, access to resources and other activities students are still paying fully for relocation and the cost of halls. The university told students that they would receive 'blended learning' whereby the teaching and content are accessible both online and in person. Many students feel that this 'blended learning' is not truly 'blended' as the majority of many courses remain exclusively online. As most of the teaching is online, it seems pointless to have moved to the university when we could have stayed home and received the same remote teaching as we do whilst unnecessarily living in halls. This is not the university's fault, we are in the midst of an unpredictable global pandemic, however it is the university's responsibility to listen and respond to their students' grievances. A reduction on rent means that the university recognises that living in halls in not benefiting our studies, in the same way we would under normal circumstances. We would like for all students participating in this rent strike to be free from disciplinary action, on the grounds that this strike is peaceful, we simply want to see change and want to work alongside the university to make this possible. Allyship is key, so we are not fighting the university, we are asking to discuss rent and make changes where necessary. Additionally, we would like to discuss changes in regard to the terms of the tenancy agreements. Students studying remotely, away from university, should not have to pay rent for a place they are not living in. Many students returned home for the second lockdown and practiced online learning, yet they were required to pay rent for a place they are not currently living in. Please sign this petition if you plan on striking in January, it is important that as many students as possible sign this because the more students involved, the more likely the university is to negotiate changes with us. Thank you all and let us make change happen together!!

The Eat For Free scheme provides a free hot meal during school term time. It brings both educational and health benefits and this has been validated by a study from the University of Essex. A family with two children save around £700 per year using the scheme. Newham has high rates of poverty and deprivation. We have suffered disproportionately during Covid and many of our families have lost their jobs. How can a Labour Council take food from the mouths of its children?

On 9th December 2020 The Sun newspaper published a Comment piece by Rod Liddle entitled "Covid has made heroes of many of our frontline workers… but not teachers". We, the undersigned, petition The Sun to remove this inflammatory "article" which neither accurately describes how teachers have behaved during the Global Pandemic, nor reflect how parents feel about the education their children have received since March 2020. We also call on The Sun to allow for an opposing Comment piece to be written giving all the grateful parents a chance to show the readership how educating their children in 2020 would not have happened without the support of hard working teachers. 2020 was not an ideal year for anyone - berating an entire profession for doing their best is unacceptable. Teachers are real heroes, and they don't get to hear it enough.

The community of Hetton deserves the only outstanding nursery in the area to remain open for the children who attend now and for future generations.

There are approximately 10.3 million school children across the U.K. Add to this the school staff needed to run each school including headteachers, teachers, teaching assistants, administrators, midday supervisors, school cooks, cleaners etc. This is a huge number of people potentially moving around the country and visiting different households none of whom can elect to take annual leave to self isolate due to the school term system. If schools either closed or switched to remote learning on 10/12 these people could self isolate allowing them to safely see family. This could also help reduce transmission rates during the Christmas period. Closing schools or switching to remote learning on 10/12 would also allow for a 3 week school “firebreak”. Given the data is increasingly showing significant numbers of cases in secondary schools & also in primary schools a firebreak could help to further drive down covid19 cases following the England lockdown. The extended half term implemented by Northern Ireland appears to have been particularly effective in reducing cases there.

We are asking for an alternative exam or cancellation of our OSCEs due to the worldwide pandemic. Many students are on low wage or not getting paid at all and should already be qualified if it wasn’t for this virus. If December OSCEs go ahead, many of these students may miss them due to self isolation or not being able to travel. If hotels shut they will have no where to stay as many of these exams locations have been changed and are now hours away from where we reside. All these changes and the uncertainty is taking a huge toll on our Student Veterinary Nurses mental health. Where is the support? Many colleges have passed their students on mock grades, why is that different for us? Why has an alternative not been offered to us? Why must we be a group of students with no mock exams? We are being sent to colleges we aren’t familiar with, to be examined using equipment we’ve never seen. Why must we have to travel hours away during a global pandemic and stay overnight in cities hundreds of miles away from home? Please if you are a Student Veterinary Nurse or support a Student Veterinary Nurse sign this petition and show the RVCS how serious we are about this! Support your nursing students!