Today’s news review looks at comments from Sir Anthony Seldon about measuring well-being in schools and a new OECD report looking at the cost of childcare in Britain.
Well-being league tables
Yesterday, 10 October, Sir Anthony Seldon gave a speech at the Tatler Schools Live conference in which he said that well-being league tables should be introduced in schools to address pupils’ mental health. Speaking on World Mental Health Day, Seldon points out that schools which prioritise well-being perform much better academically.
His comments were reported in BBC Online, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and The Sun.
We recognise that schools and colleges play a critical role in supporting the well-being and mental health of young people. Indeed many schools already provide fantastic pastoral care and specific mental health support, such as counselling.
We are currently conducting a large-scale survey of schools to explore what programmes they offer to support their pupils' mental health and how these can be improved. We expect to publish the results next year.
A Department for Education spokesperson said:
Every young person deserves to grow up feeling supported and confident. That is why we are supporting schools to teach children about mental health and well-being through PSHE, and working with them to roll out counselling services. This builds on the great work we know many schools are already doing through their pastoral systems to support the well-being of their pupils.
OECD report on childcare costs
Today, 11 October, the OECD released a new report which suggests that childcare costs in Britain are among highest in the Western world.
It is reported that couples spend more than a third of their income on nurseries and childminders in the UK – more than three times the cost in France and Germany.
The Daily Mail and Evening Standard have both reported on the OECD’s findings.
The cost of childcare is something countless families tell us they struggle with and is why we are doubling our free childcare offer to 30 hours for working parents. Making childcare more affordable will help support parents to work and builds on the success of the existing 15 hours offer which is now accessed by almost 1.34 million children.
This is backed up by our record investment in childcare - £6 billion per year by the end of this Parliament.
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