I could not quite get my head around why they disappeared in the first place. Then I discovered that they are better than the alternatives now in the classroom. As demonstrated by the more intelligent children of Japan's education system. Simply the chalk is wider than markers or computer text and therefore easier for all to see.

Too many childrens lives and educations are being ruined by the lack of diagnosis or lengthy waiting lists. Causing them anxiety and long term problems as well as a lack of reasonable education. My son displayed all the signs of autism in primary school with constant meltdowns and yet was always excluded this has continued into secondary school. After being rejected three times by CAHMS he finally has an autistic diagnosis (scoring high on the spectrum). This has come in year 9 which has caused him to miss years of education struggling in mainstream schooling and multiple exclusions as well as a conviction for me and a hefty fine (for his poor attendance) after being taken to court by the same council that failed my son for so many years!

This is a rare occasion where the public has enthusiastically showed interest in a national science project. The name, although sniffed at by some, would undoubtedly help to engage a new generation of scientists and the general public in the important research undertaken by the boat. Let's get some fun, as well as democracy, back into science.

This little school serves a very rural Teesdale area. The children mostly come from isolated farms and communities. If the school was to close, as planned, many children would not get to school at all in the winter. The next nearest school is in Weardale. The route to the next dale is often impassable in winter. We mustn't let down these children You never know...one of them might be the one who discovers the cure, or answer to, a life changing disease currently plaguing our society!

Sex education can teach respectful attitudes and values - including consent and communication skills, help pupils be more informed about violence and exploitation and explore sex as a regular fact of life. Significantly in our changing world, sex education can help pupils understand on- and offline safety. From an increasingly young age, children are accessing disturbing and abusive sexual imagery online. However hard parents try to put the right controls in place, they need a helping hand from schools. Numerous polls have found there's overwhelming parental support for compulsory sex education. Sex and relationship education won’t stop abusers preying on children. It won’t stop pre-pubescent boys watching hardcore porn. But it might help children become more ready for the world: by helping them to keep themselves safe online and off-, to be able to put inappropriate material in context, and to have a fair crack at understanding sex and relationships (to the extent that any of us do).

A "secret shopper" is a person used by watchdog groups to measure the staff's agreement with rules as well as the quality of service. My experience of signing-on at my local jobcentre for the last couple of months has been awful. I am often called "lad" despite being older than many of the staff. I was angrily told "I can guess what people like you think" when explaining my difficulties in not finding a new job yet. The staff have shouted, sighed, tutted and shaken their heads at me. I have been wrongly told to come in for an appointment - then been told to come back the next day because I was mis-advised. All without any apology. Most, if not all, major shops employ so-called secret shoppers. For instance, secret shoppers at a restaurant may pretend they are lactose-intolerant, or a clothing store mystery shopper could ask about gift wrapping services. Not all secret shopping reports include a purchase. If you have been to the jobcentre recently you will notice that it now looks and feels more like a drop-in centre. It is full of despairing people, hopeless lives trying to get out from under. The jobcentre is a difficult environment to cope with for the best of us these days but particularly for the vulnerable in society. As a result of the punitive and unreasonable measures by successive governments, most of the vulnerable people in society are unemployed and they are on the verge of becoming homeless and suicidal. We must educate jobcentre staff who bully claimants. The tone is rude, unprofessional and angry. Many of my visits to the jobcentre were counterproductive. At Tesco or Asda if staff were rude to a customer, they would be warned, disciplined or face the sack! We need to teach staff the correct methods to respond to the general public, in a professional manner. This is why we need to hold the jobcentre staff to account.

The bees are dying out, the plants need pollinating, without that we would have no flowers let alone food, from the trees to the shrubs, bees are critical to the environment. Not only would a bee hive in Cherry Tree Woods provide honey, but it would be a great boon to local businesses, putting East Finchley on the map. Where East Finchley leads, others will follow, teaching children about nature and securing our future. Thank you.

It's time to claim back housing from the monied interests of people who have no stake in the UK and return it to homes for people to live in. Housing is a corner stone of a functioning society and in a time where the situation is in a chronic state we need to take drastic action. Politicians for reasons unexplained, champion the purchase of property by foreigners as "investment in the UK" but never explain the supposed benefits of property sitting empty, doing nothing. For sake of argument I am talking about foreign investors who buy UK property and do not live in it. There is simply no benefit to the UK in letting this continue, the house builder makes some money on the build, there is stamp duty in the sale and then what? If a property is sat empty it doesn't contribute any benefit to the UK, there is no-one in it creating any ongoing economic activity. Banning foreign investor ownership may sound drastic, but it's nothing new, Australia, Denmark and Switzerland all place restrictions on foreign ownership for all the same reasons that we've experienced in the UK.[1] Additionally, in the wake of the Panama scandal we see that a lot of people use property as a way of storing dodgy money, be that untaxed or money that has been extracted out of their country illegally or through crime.[2] You may see Chinese owners of UK propery, but did you know that Chinese citizens are only allowed to remove $35K a year out of their country by law?[3] It has been widely thought that London property is a safe haven and major holder of a lot of corrupt money.[4] There has been a big trend for many new build properties in London, and increasingly other big cities, to be advertised and sold to foreign buyers before anyone in the UK gets the chance to purchase them.[5] It's time housing was reclaimed as somewhere for people to live, not somewhere for people to store criminal proceeds, tax evaded earnings or at the very least worse case, an investment that sits empty. If this petition gains enough traction I will formally start a petition through the parliament.uk web site to attempt to secure a debate in parliament. Politicians have had 10-15 years to enact change on the housing crisis but have failed time and time again with ineffective policies. The UK government needs to put people living in the UK ahead of foreign investors - it's time to call for change. [1] http://www.theguardian.com/money/blog/2015/nov/21/foreign-buyers-british-property [2] http://www.private-eye.co.uk/registry [3] https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/no-stairs-and-square-rooms-only--the-madness-of-the-foreign-buyers-spending-billions-on-london-homes-165014502.html [4] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/london-property-boom-built-on-dirty-money-10083527.html [5] http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/oct/04/-sp-british-homes-marketed-hong-kong-first-time-buyers-galliard

In a recent survey 82% want to die in their own homes but only 18% actually are able to do this. Learn from organisations like Colchester & Tendring "Single Point" a joined up service who made it possible for my Mother to stay at home until she passed away. As I work in this field I knew how the system worked re the Mental Capacity act assessments worked and we were able to avoid a 3rd hospital admission. The out of hours service do not have access to her preferred place of care notes but as she was able to express her wishes despite her dementia my Mother got what she wanted, we saved the taxpayer money and gave her the wish to die at home. It was not an easy choice for us to make but I have no regrets. She died with dignity and respect and she passed peacefully away in her own bed, with family present who were chatting to her despite her being unconscious and holding her hand. Now isn't that all any of us can ask for. The Health and social services system is geared to hospital/nursing/residential homes so under the current system you need to be really clued up to navigate through "the Care Act 2014". Please make it easier for a family/friends/neighbours/carers to assist patients to make an informed choice. Make more information available about the kind of support they could have and training opportunities as needed in how to care for someone at the end of their life, emotionally, physically and spiritually. Please train more community carers in end of life (palliative) care and make emotional support available for all who do this work. Let's get back to community caring rather than just caring being a business.

Shortfalls in taxation (I.e.the funding for public services) is directly attributable to the global tax policies of companies who think HOW they trade doesn't matter. We should not accept tax dodging as an inevitable consequence of free trade. Director and shareholder behaviour will only change when transglobals realise these aggressive and anticompetitive policies are unsustainable. Moving, with immediate notice, to 'name and shame' will help consumers to make informed choices in future, and will cost offending transglobals both new and loyal customers as well as their reputation with shareholders and markets. If shareholders cannot create ethical and sustainable policies on their own account, they will have to be encouraged by Governments to do so. As Government is aware, the EU The Anti Tax Avoidance Directive sets out a comprehensive framework of anti-abuse measures, containing five legally-binding anti-abuse measures, which all Member States should apply against common forms of aggressive tax planning. This includes measures to deter profit shifting to a 'low / no' tax country, to prevent double 'non-taxation' of certain income, to prevent companies from avoiding tax when 're-locating' assets, to discourage artificial debt arrangements designed to minimise taxes and the additional safeguard of the anti-abuse rule designed to counteract aggressive tax planning. As an absolute minimum measure today, Government should immediately escalate a 'name and shame' policy to encourage consumers to be aware, so consumers can use alternative brands or local companies who fairly pay taxes in markets they sell to. With Liam Fox looking to resurrect a new version of the dreadful TTIP or dubious CETA with the US, involving potentially highly contentious ISDS, we should demand to know why so many huge US companies play on this kind of uneven tax playing field, as well as make it clear that this is a global problem which individual nation states ARE willing to take on, in order to protect local competition and essential services for UK citizens. UK Government should take a lead in saying we welcome trade and business, but not at any price. Pay to play!! Irrespective of the status of Brexi by 2019, the UK MUST ensure that it applies the EU Anti Tax Avoiance measure from 1 January 2019 ,which provide the minimum level of protection against corporate tax avoidance throughout the EU, while ensuring a fairer and more stable environment collectively for UK and European businesses in competition with transglobals brands. In doing this, Government will need to distance itself from the antidemocratic influence of the far right press, as their vested interests are in continued tax avoidance loopholes, irrespective of whether their owners are British citizens, foreign born or foreign domiciled. The first priority must be to protect British companies and British public services.

The current parish boundaries were drawn up long before Beverley had a building boom, which saw the settlement grow into the continuous built-up area we now know. The separation into three parish authorities is now outdated, and no longer reflects the community. It also means that some residents living in Beverley, specifically to the North and the South of Beverley, do not have a say on Beverley Town Council because they belong to Molescroft Parish and Woodmansey Parish. In other words, the current community governance arrangements hinder effective local government. Residents on Lincoln Way and the surrounding area are unlikely to consider themselves as living in Woodmansey. Moreover, residents have expressed concern that their interests are not properly represented on Woodmansey Parish, as exemplified in said parish council’s decision to commission a Neighbourhood Plan that covers only the village itself. As for Molescroft, it forms part of Beverley, and its residents ought to have a say on the Town Council; however, this cannot happen whilst there is a separate Molescroft Parish Council. To sum up, the current community governance arrangements hinder community cohesion and effective local government by artificially splitting the town of Beverley into three parts. The above recommendations · improve community engagement · bring communities closer together · create better local democracy · result in more efficient delivery of local services We are, therefore, asking East Riding of Yorkshire Council to undertake a community governance review to ensure that community governance arrangements reflect local identities and facilitate effective and convenient local government.

It is important because MP's are supposed to: By virtue of the oath, or affirmation, of allegiance taken by all Members when they are elected to the House, Members have a duty to be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty the Queen, her heirs and successors, according to law. Members have a duty to uphold the law, including the general law against discrimination. Members have a general duty to act in the interests of the nation as a whole; and a special duty to their constituents. Members should act on all occasions in accordance with the public trust placed in them. They should always behave with probity and integrity, including in their use of public resources.