A teenager is proving that people can do anything, if they put their mind to it, by going into his second year as a media student at Cambridge Regional College.

Budding sports radio presenter and Spurs fan, Matthew O’Leary, says the support he has received has been beyond his expectations and is urging anyone else with disabilities to take on the challenge to follow their dreams.

Among the supportive additions to his learning package have been braille stickers, which tutors put on the radio equipment, to help Matthew in his dream of becoming a sports radio presenter.

“One of the most important additions has been the braille on the radio studio controls. It means I feel confident in what I am doing,” said Matthew, deputy president of the college’s Student Union. 

They may not boast millions of Instagram followers like YouTuber, Joe Suggs, and are unlikely to be as famous as the youngest member of the Kardashian clan, Kylie, but new research out today (7 October) has found that teachers are the ultimate, Original Influencers.

Two fifths (40%) of Scottish adults[1], said that, excluding family and friends, teachers have the greatest opportunity to inspire and shape future minds. With just 21% saying social media influencers and only 7% saying celebrities.

Nearly two-thirds (62%) said that between one and five teachers helped to positively influence them or inspired them to become the person they are today. While the majority (68%) said they could still remember the name of their favourite teacher.

Autism with Attitude street dance group from Hillingdon Manor School, Uxbridge, has taken its success to a new level and is thrilled to have won the bronze medal at the United Dance Organisation (UDO) World Championships in Blackpool on 25 August. The troupe, which has previously made history by becoming the first special needs team to compete at national and international mainstream competitions, now ranks third globally in the Over 18 category, and is a shining example of what young people with autism can accomplish. 

Fulham School is to offer sixth form education for the first time, as part of a multi-million pound transformation of the leading academic institution.

Under plans outlined by new headmaster Will le Fleming, Fulham School will open a new senior school campus in Chesilton Road, Fulham, intended to provide education to 220 students. Among the students will be a new sixth form intake as Fulham School seeks to widen its educational remit. 

Will le Fleming, Fulham School Headmaster, said: “This is a powerful next step for Fulham School. We launched with just 12 students around 20 years ago. We now cater to 700 on two sites and will soon be welcoming even more as we open our third campus.

Physical education (PE) is vital. There are no two ways about it, and there’s a reason The National Curriculum has made it compulsory and ensures that all children should have the opportunity to engage in physical education. It is important that children develop an enjoyment and passion for physical education! In this article, the experts at TTS discuss how education professionals and parents alike can promote inclusive physical education and make it inclusive irrespective of ability.

Proposals to connect every school in England with nature have been welcomed by one of the UK's leading outdoor education charities.

The Field Studies Council, which operates a network of field study centres across the country, was one of a number of key organisations asked to respond to a review of England's national parks and areas of outstanding beauty.

Among the proposals published in the final review by Julian Glover is a suggestion that all children should be given the opportunity to spend a night under the stars in a national landscape. 

It also suggests that a stronger mission to connect all people with national landscapes is needed and landscapes to improve the nation's health and wellbeing should be created.

Wilsden Primary School in Bradford, West Yorkshire – part of the Focus Trust – has become a Certified School Community 2019 after implementing and effectively delivering online safeguarding measures set out by National Online Safety, an independent online safety provider. 

This recognition from National Online Safety follows the school’s commitment to going above and beyond their statutory requirements in terms of online safeguarding outlined in the Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), which was published in September 2018.

Council for Disabled Children statement on new National Audit Office report on support for children with SEND

Dame Christine Lenehan, Director of the Council for Disabled Children (part of the National Children’s Bureau), said:

Tutors at an outdoor learning centre in Port Talbot have had a taste of stardom after featuring in a children’s TV programme.

Staff at Margam Discovery Centre, run by the Field Studies Council (FSC), have been featured in an episode of ‘Time for School’ called ‘School Trip’ which recently aired for the first time on children’s channel CBeebies.

The documentary series produced by Sixth Sense Media is aimed at capturing the excitement of school life and FSC tutors were filmed leading a range of outdoor activities for pupils from Birchgrove Primary School in Swansea who were visiting the centre on a school trip.