New Mums 'Abandoned' During Labour

One in three new mothers is left alone during or just after labour because maternity services are overstretched, according to a survey.

The poll of 3,500 mums found almost half (43%) said they did not have access to a midwife after giving birth.

More than a third (35%) of those questioned by The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) and parenting website Netmums.com said they had been abandoned during or after labour at a time when they felt worried.

Sally Russell, co-founder of Netmums.com, said: "This survey's results should demonstrate to the Government just how stretched maternity services are.

"It shows that our members want, need and deserve one-to-one care from midwives but they are not getting this and are left alone and feeling abandoned during labour, and especially in the vital post-natal period."

    All women can expect individual support from a midwife, supported by a wider maternity team, throughout her labour and birth.

Health Minister Ann Keen

One mother said of her labour: "There were too many people on and off shifts.

"There was no continuity of care, therefore no-one was able to make sound decisions.

"I (had) seven different midwives involved just during labour. I ended up having an emergency Caesarean section."

In 2007, the Government said all women in England should be supported by a midwife they know and trust throughout their pregnancy and after birth.

Ministers promised that "by the end of 2009" women would be able to choose where they give birth and have better continuity of midwifery care.

But the survey found only 68% of women were offered a choice of where to give birth.

Baby buggy

Some mothers felt abandoned

There were some positive responses in the research, including 83% of women saying they had the name and telephone number of a midwife they could contact if they were worried.

And 72% said they had their first appointment with a midwife as soon as they wanted it.

RCM general secretary Cathy Warwick said she was pleased some aspects of maternity services were rated highly but that overall the results painted a "worrying and disturbing picture".

Reacting to the survey, Health Minister Ann Keen said: "There has been record investment in the NHS in recent years including an additional £330m for maternity services.

"All women can expect individual support from a midwife, supported by a wider maternity team, throughout her labour and birth."

NEWS BY:http://news.sky.com

Has this mother of three changed the face of British education?

Furious at her son’s struggle to  get into a grammar school, Sarah Shilling launched a petition to build the first new one for 50 years. Yesterday, the revolution began!


Decrepit and semi-derelict, The Wildernesse School doesn’t have to try hard to live up to its name. Since it was swallowed up by a local girls’ school in 2010 to form a new academy elsewhere, the days when Strictly Come Dancing’s Anton du Beke — a former pupil known back then as Tony Beke — skipped through its corridors seem a very distant memory.

Hard to imagine, then, that this sprawling site on the outskirts of Sevenoaks, in Kent, could soon provide the spark for a revolution in British education.

Yesterday, a petition raised by thousands of parents in Sevenoaks calling for the building of what is effectively a new grammar school — though technically it will be an ‘annexe’ of an existing one — won overwhelming support in a vote taken by Kent County Council.

The petition was started by a mother of three from Sevenoaks called Sarah Shilling, who despaired at the hoops her son had to jump through to gain a grammar school place.

Now, a formal proposal will be drawn up by the council to identify potential sites for the school — with Wildernesse the favourite — and to establish which existing grammar schools may want to run it.

If such a new school opens, it will be the first of its kind in England for 50 years.

For families in Sevenoaks, this is a big deal indeed. They have long complained that because of the lack of local provision, more than 1,000 children from the town must take buses and trains every day to make journeys of an hour or more to schools  elsewhere in the county.

And yet the opening of a grammar in Sevenoaks will have a significance far beyond the purely local, because it forces the controversial issue of selective education — an idea so hated by the Left — firmly back on the national political agenda.

It puts selective schooling back on the agenda

Even before the decision was taken,  the discussion of the Sevenoaks plans provoked howls of protest from all the usual suspects.

Stephen Twigg, the shadow Education Secretary, has angrily accused Government ministers of attempting to expand  academic selection, and vowed that if Labour got back in to power it would reverse any move in that direction.

‘Instead of focusing on a few grammar schools, the Government should be trying to raise standards in all the 24,000 schools in England,’ he said.

Meanwhile, Fiona Millar, partner of former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell and seasoned education activist, was quick to join the fight, furiously peddling the argument that grammar schools limit rather than promote social mobility.

‘The most successful systems in the world are fully comprehensive,’ she claimed. ‘Bringing back selection is the wrong solution to problems that still exist in our school system, most of which can still be addressed in all-ability schools with the right leadership, teaching, curriculum and commitment from central government.’

Their fear is that what is happening in Kent could be just the start of an expansion of the grammar-school system and that Education Secretary Michael Gove is secretly keen to give this the green light.
Government approval: Michael Gove has spoken of his support for the grammar school system - much to the outrage of some education activists who believe they endanger social mobility

Government approval: Michael Gove has spoken of his support for the grammar school system - much to the outrage of some education activists who believe they endanger social mobility

Supporters of grammars argue that these are the schools parents want — and that it is the Government’s duty to deliver them.

‘The areas that have retained selection top the league tables year after year, providing the standards that parents want, and opening opportunities for children from all backgrounds,’ Graham Brady, a Conservative MP and long-time supporter of grammars, told me.

The fact that the latest developments have caught opponents of grammar schools somewhat by surprise is a result of their belief that they had largely won the argument against selection.

Having promised to open new grammars as part of his 2005 leadership campaign, two years later Mr Cameron abruptly changed tack saying that he did not think they were a good idea after all.
This U-turn was interpreted by some as being a carefully-planned ‘Clause Four moment’ — a reference to Tony Blair’s decision to cut ties with Labour’s socialist past when he became leader.


More...

    HYWEL WILLIAMS: A grammar school revolution on the way to Kent

Cameron’s strategists calculated that by ditching an educational policy associated with Tory diehards, it would appeal to voters who had never voted Conservative before. In fact, all it achieved was a backbench rebellion and simmering resentment among supporters of selective education from all political backgrounds.

In an ICM poll in 2010, 76 per cent of respondents said that they would support the creation of new grammar schools.

Instead, Cameron decided to back Michael Gove’s academies programme — the creation of independent state schools, run by head teachers outside of council control.

Opponents have been caught by surprise

But in a separate move, new admissions rules were introduced late last year, meaning that councils can no longer block the expansion of existing schools — be they state comprehensive or grammar.
With school rolls rising across many parts of England as the effects of immigration and a higher birth rate take effect, the rule changes have been jumped on by councils and parents.

Currently, across England there are 164 grammar schools educating some 160,000 pupils. Kent, with 33, has the largest proportion of them, attended by some 28 per cent of the county’s children.
In Year Six, the final year of primary school education, all pupils in Kent have the option of sitting the 11-plus examination. Those who pass the exam can then choose a grammar school to attend.

If they have passed with very high marks, they can apply for a handful of the grammars that are ‘super-selective’ — those which base their intake on performance in the exam rather than a pass and a pupil’s proximity to the school.

In Sevenoaks, a prosperous commuter town half-an-hour’s train journey to the south-east of London, there are two schools.

One is the private Sevenoaks School, whose boarding fees are now a shade shy of £30,000 a year; the other is a mixed-ability state school, Knole Academy, formed just over a year ago from a merger of two struggling comprehensives (one being Wildernesse, whose pupils vacated their old premises). There are no grammar schools in the town.


NEWS BY:http://www.dailymail.co.uk

Top universities 'admitting fewer state school students'

Figures show the vast majority of top research institutions turned more places over to pupils from independent schools in 2010/11 and fell dramatically short of Government admission targets.

Amid an unprecedented scramble for degree courses, it emerged that around two-thirds of universities belonging to the elite Russell Group recruited proportionally fewer state school students.

This includes the universities of Bristol, Cambridge, Imperial College, the London School of Economics and University College London.

At Oxford, Cambridge and Durham, fewer than six-in-10 places went to state school students.

Alternative figures showed just over half of top universities also recruited fewer pupils from the very poorest families.

The disclosure will come as a blow to the Government which has piled pressure on the most selective universities to create a more diverse student body.

Last year, Nick Clegg warned that top institutions had a duty to ensure “British society is better reflected” in their admissions to justify state funding.

But the Russell Group defended the figures, insisting that large numbers of well-qualified students from state schools failed to apply.

Wendy Piatt, director general, said: “These statistics are a reminder of the particular challenges faced by Russell Group universities as we work hard to increase fair access. Every year we pump millions of pounds into our outreach work such as summer schools and access schemes to encourage poorer students to apply and attend our universities.

“But we can only admit students who apply and who have the right grades in the right subjects.”

According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency, some 88.7 per cent of university places were awarded to pupils from state schools last year, down slightly on 88.8 per cent a year earlier.

It coincided with a record rise in the number of students applying to university in 2010.

Figures show that fewer state school students were admitted by 16 out of 24 Russell Group universities. The group expanded from 20 to 24 earlier this month.

Those witnessing a drop were Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Exeter, Imperial College, King's College, Leeds, the LSE, Manchester, Newcastle, Southampton, UCL, York, Cardiff, Glasgow and Queen's University Belfast.

The propotion of state school students at Birmingham dropped from 77.6 to 76.1 per cent. It meant 3,235 were admitted to the university last year compared with 3,420 a year earlier.

The LSE turned over 70.8 per cent of places to state pupils in 2009/10 compared with 66.5 per cent 12 months later. It represented a drop from 515 to 445. Cambridge fell from 59.3 to 59 per cent, taking 1,560 state school pupils, down by 30.

Only Oxford, Durham, Edinburgh, Nottingham, Queen Mary College and Warwick saw their proportion of state school students rise, while Sheffield and Liverpool remained unchanged.

Statistics also reveal the number of universities that are failing to meet centrally-set "benchmarks". Targets cover areas such as how many state school pupils are admitted and numbers from the poorest homes.

The statistics show that 51 universities – around 41 per cent – failed to meet their benchmarks for recruiting state school pupils. This included 16 out of 24 Russell Group institutions.

From next year, universities could be stripped of the power to charge up to £9,000 in tuition fees for consistently falling short of admission targets.

A spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said: "Demand for higher education remains strong, but we want to ensure that background is not a barrier to university. Our reforms expect institutions to do more to attract applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds.”

NEWS BY:http://www.telegraph.co.uk

The Naked and Famous set to get more famous

Kiwi band The Naked and Famous are in the running for an influential music honour in the UK.

The five-piece band from Auckland features on the longlist for the BBC's Sound of 2011 along with 14 other rising stars of music.

With their synth-rock sound, the band burst onto the underground scene in 2008 with EPs This Machine and No Light. Last year they supported Nine Inch Nails and their pulsating single All of This got major airplay.

They followed up with Young Blood written for noisy album Passive Me, Aggressive You released in September, proving they were more than electro synth-rock band.

The band is made up of producer, singer and co-founder Thom Powers, producer Aaron Short, singer and co-founder Alisa Xayalith, bass player David Beadle, and drummer Jesse Wood.

The BBC list is put together by more than 160 UK tastemakers, including radio DJs and producers, TV presenters and producers, newspaper critics, magazine and website editors and respected bloggers, who were asked to name their favourite new acts.

The Sound of 2011 winner and top five are out in January.

Sound of 2011: The Longlist

James Blake
Anna Calvi
Daley
Esben & the Witch
Jessie J
Clare Maguire
Mona
The Naked & Famous
Nero
Jai Paul
The Vaccines
Warpaint
Jamie Woon
Wretch 32
Yuck .

NEWS BY:http://tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news

U.K. to back Innovation Universities project

The United Kingdom is committed to supporting India as it develops 14 world-class Innovation Universities, said David Willetts, British Minister for Universities and Science.

Addressing academics at IIT-Madras Research Park, Mr. Willetts said eight U.K. universities – Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, Essex, Birmingham, Newcastle, Exeter and the Open University – are eager to forge links during the design and eventual creation of the new Innovation Universities.

“We are keen to identify 14 British universities that can work alongside from the beginning. After talks with Kapil Sibal, I will go back to Britain to identify the 14 British universities to match up with the universities here,” the British Minister said.

Keen on flow of postgraduate and research students and academics between the two countries, Mr. Willetts said he would encourage the British academics to come to India. “There is scope for PG and Ph.D students to study in both countries to obtain a single award. Twinning arrangements between universities sharing staff and resources is beneficial,” he said, outlining the broad contour for collaboration.

The UK already has more than 80 university-related collaborations up and running in India, making it the most active international partner here.

To move things on substantially, Mr. Willetts said he would be visiting India again in November with leading UK university vice-chancellors to establish a framework for collaboration as India and the UK have a solid base to build on.

Recent commitments on co-funded research projects are worth about £60 million. Indeed, funding pledged by the UK bodies for collaboration with India this year has already approached 1 per cent of its science budget, a level that some argue should be the budget set aside for international collaboration, Mr. Willetts said. Jointly funded and administered research programmes will concentrate on priority areas for both countries – food security, water resources and sustainable energy. The UK has offered to commit up to £6 million for research in areas such as off-grid power generation technologies and ICT to improve services in, and the economic capacity of, rural communities in both countries. In the area of civil nuclear energy, the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and India's Department of Atomic Energy are collaborating on five new projects, including areas such as plant safety and nuclear waste management, the British Minister said.

Mr. Willetts held discussions with IIT-M officials led by its Director M.S. Ananth, and then visited facilities at the TeNet Laboratory and Research Park on the campus.

NEWS BY:http://www.thehindu.com