Research shows that regular poor sleep puts you at risk of serious medical conditions including obesity, heart disease and diabetes – and it shortens your life expectancy. With teenagers waking up between 6-8 ready for school, they are definitely not getting the quality sleep that is needed in order for them to succeed In their life, as they are not concentrating during lessons which leads to lack of qualifications.

This petition arises from reading about of laws passed in Sweden that (a) made the purchase of sex a crime (b) decriminalised the sale of sex (c) trained the police in judiciary to view prostitution as a crime of violence against (largely) women and children (d) provided good funding for social services for prostitutes wanting to leave prostitution (e) provided funding to educate the public. As a result, human trafficking into Sweden is near zero, the number of women in street prostitution has reduced by up to two thirds and the number of johns has decreased by as much as 80%. The original article, with credits, can be found at http://esnoticia.co/noticia-8790-swedens-prostitution-solution-why-hasnt-anyone-tried-this-before

Councillors have drawn up and progressed this option with no consultation or briefing with school staff, or any regard whatsoever for the 300 children who will be directly affected if the MAE becomes a residential or commercial property. We are alarmed by the speed of Merton's decision-making and distressed that Councillors have failed to consult - let alone consider - our school community in moving forward to identify their preferred option in isolation. We, the parents, carers, relatives and friends of Joseph Hood Primary School, demand that Merton rethink their "preferred option" until a full consultation has been carried out with the parents and staff of our school as well as with the school's neighbours. #JoHoSaysNO

To ensure that young children receive the support they need throughout their education. As a result of this, more children are going to come out of school with more qualifications, which will make it easier in later life when either applying for jobs or enrolling in higher education. People must realise that there is more to a person than the stigma of a learning disability.

On 5th November 2014, Falmouth University announced the closure of their Contemporary Crafts degree. This degree, with historic roots in pottery & ceramics, is vital to the Cornish economy & creative culture. Let's not lose something with such personal, regional and national importance. There has been a ceramics/crafts course attached to the Falmouth School of Art since 1976, when Tom Cross was appointed Principal and the School continued to develop its resources by improving its sculpture studios and creating a new studio for ceramic sculpture. Adding ceramics to Falmouth School of Art, founded in 1902. The links between ceramics and crafts at Falmouth School of art and the wider economy cannot be underestimated with ex graduates flourishing both county, country and internationally. As we, as a society, increasingly lose the skills to make things and forget that not everyone wants to pursue academic studies, this is a course which applauds creativity and talent and maintains the nation’s skill bases. How can it be appropriate to close down one of the countries few excellent facilities? Again, a price has been placed on a course without considering the long term future of the individuals and future generations. How disappointing! The Contemporary Craft course isn't just about learning and training in a skill, it is about pushing boundaries, discovering new processes, working with inspirational peers and lecturers, and most of all a chance to explore who you are as a maker. We demand Falmouth School of Art reconsider this closure for the betterment of the school and the wider community. The cultural enrichment of ceramics and craft courses to both Cornwall and the wider community and the contributions Falmouth School of Art graduates make to the cultural development of the county, cannot be measured by spreadsheet. Sometimes the right choice is not about money and we would hope that upon realising the support for these courses both county and country wide, the University and its Director, Vice-Chancellor & CEO, will reconsider severing the ties between the vibrant crafts community and the university. as 38degrees petitions require a UK post code, if you are outside the UK and want to sign please send your name and comment to saveourcrafts@gmail.com

Latest Update: The first specification outlines have been released and it is still 70% theory! Now it is 60% Exam 10% written coursework and still only 30% Practical! Following the consultation regarding changes to GCSE PE (in which the opinions of PE teachers seem to have been completely ignored) the government are forcing incredibly damaging changes to GCSE PE which will have far reaching impacts right down to year 7 PE lessons. They have decided that the course will change from the current 60% practical 40% theory to 30% practical and 70% theory! This change will almost completely take the physical/practical aspect out of Physical Education. They are also proposing to massively narrow the activities that students can use as the practical element (moving to a much more traditional / Public school offering of activities). The impact of this will mean a narrowing of the activities offered by secondary schools which will feed down through the year groups. The move to an almost solely theoretical course will also have an impact on the activity level of students in PE lessons, due to schools trying to maximise the performance of students by focussing much more on theory lessons rather than actually being physically active and taking part in sport. This will have long lasting and damaging effects on the health and fitness of future generations. The changes will also take away another avenue for students who are less academic to be successful and get a qualification in an area that they may wish to follow as a career. If these changes go through then many schools may choose to no longer offer Physical Education as a GCSE and the change to the GCSE PE course may well be the final nail in the coffin for physical education in secondary schools, if people do not force a change of direction.

'Unite Students is the leading provider of student accommodation in the UK', and pledges on their website* to '...keep property waste out of landfill wherever possible'. In the vast majority of areas across the UK recycling is encouraged and accommodated for by local councils, yet by refusing to supply recycling bins 'Unite Students' leaves its residents no choice but to bin recyclable goods. The country is due to run out of space for its rubbish by 2018, according to the Local Government Association, making the prevention of unnecessary waste crucial. Yet many of 'Unite Students' buildings do not own recycling bins, despite being within an area which collects recycling. This hardly seems conducive to the belief that 'Unite Students' aims to keep waste out of landfill 'wherever possible'. To support the environment; the constructive development of this country; and to act in accordance with the principles they use to advertise, 'Unite Students' must supply recycling bins 'wherever possible'. This Petition is for the notice of Richard Smith, the managing director of operations for 'Unite Students'. I am confident he will realise the benefit of providing for the students of today in the wholesome, constructive manner which they deserve, once this issue is brought to his attention. * - http://www.unite-students.com/about-us/our-commitments/environmental - https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/reducing-and-managing-waste

David Willetts has just been appointed Visiting Professor in the Policy Institute at King’s. While at KCL, Willetts will be researching his book on higher education. However, he has already made his stance on HE quite clear, overseeing a 40% cut to university funding and the tripling of undergraduate tuition fees to £9,000 during his tenure as Minister of State for Universities and Science. To give an academic platform to this individual seems perverse, particularly at a time when some College staff face the prospect of losing their jobs, while others currently do not receive fair pay. The College did not seek the opinion of students or staff in this tendentious appointment. The decision sends a clear message from senior management that King's College London is happy to lend legitimacy to a politician who has taken the lead in marketising higher education. We, the undersigned, do not want David Willetts at King's, and demand that his Visiting Professorship be rescinded. (Anyone interested in participating further in the campaign should get in touch with boycottwilletts@gmail.com or follow @boycottwilletts.)

Ecosia.org is a website which donates 80% of its profits from online advertisements revenue to a tree planting project in Brazil, the home of the Amazon Rainforest - in association with WWF. This website is building in popularity and we can all help it and help the planet through increasing biodiversity, protecting such an amazing natural beauty and offsetting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, something which cannot be done through Carbon Capture technologies* (*Due to the fact that there is only approximately 0.04% (400 parts per million) CO2 in the atmosphere - as researched by the University of Sheffield)

Students at Swansea University have serious concerns regarding the negative profile of the School of Management in the local and national press. We are worried that the school and university's reputation has been damaged and this will negatively impact on the value of our degrees. We stand by those students at the School of Management who, having incurred debts of £9,000 a year to attend university, have seen their student experience suffer the consequences of a high staff turn around since the summer of 2013. Students and staff at Swansea University, alumni and members of our wider community - we ask that you sign this petition to call on the university to honour our investment in a better future and safeguard our degrees!

The London Borough of Barnet is fortunate to have four excellent nursery schools (Brookhill, Hampden Way, Moss Hall and St Margaret’s) all of which have been graded 'outstanding' by OFSTED. All four are under threat from the latest Barnet Council proposal. http://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s18692/Nursery%20School%20Review.pdf All four nursery schools put in place the essential building blocks of education in a safe, social and rated ‘outstanding’ environment. Barnet Council Officers are proposing changes to meet the planned cuts in funding which, we are concerned, could spell the end for the 'outstanding' level of education offered by our community nursery schools. Currently each school has its own head teacher, deputy head teacher and each class has a teacher to achieve its outstanding status. This level of staffing cannot remain with the proposed changes to funding. We believe it is wrong that providers delivering basic childcare are funded at the same rate as schools providing ‘outstanding education’. This funding formula will result in drastic cuts in staffing which will directly undermine the schools' ability to provide the same high standard of education and support to parents and the community. We also fear the schools are at risk of ending up being stripped back to providing only basic childcare in 'bare minimum Barnet'. If these draconian proposals are put in place the damage will be irreversible.

The utility of excessive homework even at secondary level is far from clear and at primary level and below is deeply resented by growing numbers of children, their parents and their teachers.Ridiculous amounts of homework are routinely imposed on young children as a short term means of - for the teachers' and headteachers' benefits - passing tests and meeting targets that are themselves narrow, methodologically unsound, unnecessary and politically motivated. Whilst some might argue that 'moderate' or 'reasonable' loads of homework are not detrimental, the present structuring of education to such short-term school goals and the failure of the teaching profession to resist the associated attack on decent educational values ensures that such moderation now exists only rarely. Instead, teachers and headteachers are consumed in 'races to the top' of league tables directly at the expense of the children in their care. In the short term children are denied the leisures and pleasures (many of which are of far more learning value than homework) of the different childhoods they could otherwise have had. In the longer term, an inevitable and resentful disengagement from the love of learning scandalously underline the intellectual and moral poverty of our educational 'leaders'.