A high profile national campaign to teach schoolchildren skills which could save lives has been backed by Cambridge MP, Julian Huppert.

Julian visited the British Heart Foundation shop in Burleigh Street yesterday (Monday, January 9) to show his support for the charity’s campaign to teach Emergency Life Support.

Hard man actor, Vinnie Jones features in the television advertising for the campaign which urges people, worried about giving the kiss of life to forget it and go for chest compressions (CPR) instead to the beat of the Bee Gees’ classic, Stayin’ Alive.

The BHF, working with the Resuscitation Council UK, is calling for youngsters to be taught CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and to learn how to deal with serious bleeding and choking.

Julian, who used to volunteer with Cambridge’s St John Ambulance, said: “Teaching our children these basic skills would put hundreds of thousands of potential lifesavers out on the streets every year.

“This is a very straight forward procedure but, when someone collapses with a suspected heart attack people are often afraid to act; hesitating could literally mean the difference between life and death.”

According to a BHF survey 40 per cent of youngsters in the South East feel powerless to help someone who has collapsed in the street despite more than two-thirds wanting to be able to help.

“Teaching our children what to do in an emergency such as this would give them a life-long skill which could help save lives,” added Julian.

Interim figures released by the University and College Admissions Service suggest that school leavers have not been put off applying to university by the introduction of higher tuition fees this year, although this might not apply to older students.

From October, English universities will be allowed to charge undergraduates from the UK and European Union up to £9,000 a year to, compared to the previous limmit of £3,375. The increase caused widespread concern that poorer students in particular would be discouraged from applying for university.

The Ucas figures show that the number of British 18-year-olds who have already applied to university for 2012 is 2.4% lower than the figure for last year, but according to official population projections, this figure is roughly equal to the demographic fall in the number of people in that age bracket.

The interim Ucas figures account for the number of applications received by mid-December and they should improve by January 15, which is the deadline for most courses.

Mary Curnock Cook, Ucas chief executive, said:

“Evidence of a late surge … is now emerging.”

“Applicants are taking longer to research their choices but the applications flow has speeded up, as these statistics show. It remains too early to make predictions about the final year on year figures but we will be able to get a clearer picture after the deadline has passed.”

Previous rises in the level of fees have not had a long term effect on the number of application, with prospective students continuing to apply in increasing numbers.

While the application rate for younger students appears to be stable, the number of applications from mature students from the UK and abroad has fallen by 13%. This has reduced the overall volume of applications by 6.4%, and the number of non-EU applicants, who are not affected by the new rates of fees, is 13.3%.

Les Ebdon, chair of the Million+ universities think-tank, and vice-chancellor of Bedfordshire university, said:

“Ministers need to launch a campaign to ensure that older students understand the [student] loan system and the opportunities available.”

“A failure to do so will overshadow the success the government has had in persuading younger applicants that university remains one of the best career moves that they can make.”

North East Lincolnshire Council is dedicated to making this process as straightforward for families as possible. With this in mind the local authority is consulting on the proposed school admission arrangements for the 2013-2014 school year for admission into:

o the Reception Year at all primary and infant schools and academies;
o Year 3 in all junior schools and academies; and
o Year 7 in all secondary schools and academies

The council is the admission authority for the community and voluntary controlled primary schools in its area. Primary, secondary schools and academies are their own admission authorities, but the council will also be consulting on their behalf.

Copies of the proposed school admission arrangements for 2013-2014 are available to view at:

Directorate of People and Communities,
Access and Education Welfare Services,
Western Site,
Cambridge Road,
GRIMSBY,
North East Lincolnshire,
DN34 5TD

and on the council’s website here.

Responses to the consultation can be made by February 29 2012 in writing to the above address or by e-mail to schooladmissions@nelincs.gov.uk. for community and voluntary controlled schools and in writing or by e-mail directly to those schools and academies that are their own admission authorities.

North East Lincolnshire Council would like to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to respond to this consultation. All children and young people should be able to access education fairly and we aim to ensure that this is possible, so your views are important to us.

The following article by Nick Thornsby origially appeared on the Liberal Democrat Voice:

Following Manchester Labour’s extraordinary attack on the pupil premium – describing the policy as a “sham” – news reaches The Voice via Lib Dem councillor Steve Beasant that a Labour cabinet member on North East Lincolnshire Council has joined his Manchester colleagues in their criticism.

As Paul Walter reported earlier, Nick Clegg was asked about the comments of Manchester’s Labour councillors at Tuesday’s Deputy Prime Minister’s Questions by Lib Dem MP Duncan Hames. Here’s the full exchange:

Duncan Hames (Chippenham) (LD): Wiltshire schools have long felt short-changed by funding allocations for education, so they will welcome the doubling of pupil premium moneys for our schools in Wiltshire to more than £5 million next year. Now that Labour councillors in Manchester have voted for the pupil premium to be scrapped, will the Deputy Prime Minister consider giving our schools next year some of the more than £80 million of pupil premium that their council has rejected?

Deputy Prime Minister: The pupil premium, which by the end of this Parliament will be £2.5 billion of extra money to help schools that are educating children from the most challenging backgrounds, is a very powerful, progressive policy, and I am very proud that we have delivered it, as a coalition Government. We have been searching in vain for months to find out what the Labour party would actually cut in public expenditure. Now, we have the answer: Labour councillors want to cut the pupil premium that benefits some of the most deprived children in this country. That is progressive politics for you!

The government is set to announce that up to half a million more children from disadvantaged backgrounds will benefit from the pupil premium.

The premium of £488 per child is given to schools in addition to their main funding.

At present the pupil premium only applies to children who are currently receiving free school meals, but in future anyone who has been registered for free meals in the past six years will be eligible.

The children’s minister said it would help schools tackle inequality.

The pupil premium was a key part of the Liberal Democrats’ last general election manifesto, and was adopted by the Conservatives when they entered coalition.

The government said it was increasing the availability because research shows that children who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in their school career had consistently lower educational attainment than those who never have been eligible.

It also said secondary school pupils were less likely than those at primary level to be registered for free meals even when they were eligible, and those children would be picked up by the new approach.

Children’s Minister Sarah Teather said:

“In a fair society, it is the government’s responsibility to close the gulf in achievement, where the poorest children are less likely to leave school with five good GCSEs than their less-deprived classmates.

“[The pupil premium] will help schools tackle the inequalities that have been a part of our state system for far too long. Thousands of children will finally be getting the extra support they need to succeed.”

Ms Teather will also tell Parliament on Monday how much the pupil premium will be increased to in 2012-13 as well as the total amount that will be allocated.

Total funding for the scheme in 2011-12 is £625m and is due to rise to £2.5bn a year by 2014-15.

Liberal Democrat Business Secretary Vince Cable today announced details of how Government funding will support thousands of apprenticeships up to degree equivalent, enabling employers, colleges and universities to deliver the advanced skills most critical for growth.

£18.7m from the Higher Apprenticeship Fund will support the development of 19,000 new Higher Apprenticeships in sectors including construction, advanced engineering, insurance and financial services. Around 250 employers, including Leyland Trucks, Unilever, TNT, and Burberry will benefit from world class, nationally accredited technical training delivered in the workplace.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said:

“Investing in skills is central to our drive to boost business and productivity and make the UK more competitive.

“By radically expanding the number of degree level apprenticeships for young people, we will put practical learning on a level footing with academic study. This is an essential step that will help rebalance our economy and build a society in which opportunity and reward are fairly and productively distributed.”

Skills Minister John Hayes said:

“By reviving apprenticeships the Government has started to build a world class skills system to rival our country’s great reputation for academic excellence. We’ve driven up quality across the board, more than doubled the number of new advanced apprenticeships, created new routes into higher levels of practical learning and given employers more control of how the training budget is spent. We’re now targeting resources even more closely on the skills, firms and sectors that will lead economic recovery.”

The winning bids were unveiled as Dr Cable visited the distribution company TNT in Bodmin, Cornwall. TNT is part of a successful bid to the fund and will help deliver Higher Apprenticeships in Express Logistics.

The funding announced today is part of a £25m fund for Higher Apprenticeships announced in July. A second round of bids to the fund will be invited early in the New Year, focusing closely on further areas needed to support economic growth.

Nineteen partnerships comprising employers and training providers will receive a total of £17m, following a competitive bidding process. A further £1.7m has been invested in two new ‘Trailblazer’ projects in information technology and science, engineering and manufacturing, delivering 6,000 Higher Apprenticeships.

Recent reforms to the apprenticeships programme include initiatives to cut bureaucracy, provide financial incentives for small firms to hire apprentices, and reduce the time it takes an employer to employ an apprentice. Provisional data indicates record growth in apprenticeships numbers, with some 440,000 people starting an apprenticeship in 2010/11.

The following schools in North East Lincolnshire are expected to be closed on Wednesday November 30 due to industrial action.

Please note that this information may change; any updates will be reflected on this page as soon as possible.

Schools expected to close include:

St Andrew’s College
Healing – A Science Academy
Humberston Academy
Oasis Academy Immingham
Allerton Primary
Bursar Primary
East Ravendale CE Primary
Fairfield Primary
Great Coates Primary
Laceby Acres Primary
Macaulay Primary
St Josephs’ Catholic Primary
St Mary’s Catholic Primary
St Peter’s CE Primary
South Parade Primary
Springfield Primary
Stallingborough CE Primary
Weelsby Primary
Wybers Wood Primary
Yarborough Primary
Scartho Junior
Queen Mary Avenue Infants’
Scartho Infants’
Cambridge Park Academy College
Phoenix House
Park House
Schools expected to be partially closed include:

Edward Heneage Primary
Grange Primary
Lisle Marsden Primary
New Waltham Primary
Willows Primary
Signhills Academy

For the first time the Princes Trust TEAM Programme will be delivered in Grimsby and nine local young people are lucky enough to be taking part.

The programme, delivered at Peaks Lane Fire Station, is helping students to build self confidence, motivation and the skills needed to gain an education, training placement or employment as well as offering them an opportunity to recognise their own learning whilst gaining a nationally recognised qualification.

The team of nine, aged 17 – 26, will coordinate a community project to redesign the Princes Trust classroom to open it as venue for other local community groups to use, raising the funds themselves. They will also take part in team building activities and work placements.

The qualification, delivered in partnership with Humberside Fire and Rescue Service, is a 12 week personal development programme that aims to re-engages young people and encourages them to think about their future.

In final week of the programme, which will take place in December at Grimsby Town Football Club, the team will deliver a presentation where each member will speak about their experiences throughout the programme to members of the community, family and friends and potential employers.

Rich Fowler, Team Leader from Humberside Fire and Rescue Service said:

“These young people have come together from a range of diverse backgrounds to complete this intensive work-based learning programme and have so far excelled in all areas. This is the first time this type of programme has been introduced in Grimsby and we hope to build upon its success with two further programmes in 2012.”

Free early education will be extended to 140,000 disadvantaged two-year- olds, and parents will be able to access the free entitlement more flexibly, under plans published by the Government today.

In North East Lincolnshire around 600 two-year olds are expected to benefit from the proposals.

Liberal Democrat Children’s Minister, Sarah Teather, announced a consultation today on how this commitment will be implemented. The plans include proposals to help parents and children alike by making the free entitlement of 15 hours per week of early education more flexible, so it can be taken between 7am and 7pm across two days instead of the current three days.

Helping 600 two-year-old children from the poorest backgrounds in our area will benefit them for years to come.

High quality early education is the key to making a difference early on in a child’s life and help make Britain a fairer and more equal society.

Improving social mobility is a Liberal Democrat priority in Government and early year’s education is crucial to achieve this.

Targeting early education at those who stand to benefit most, it is important to achieve this goal. It will be an integral part to disadvantaged children’s healthy development. This means they’re not falling behind before they have even started primary school.

Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg said:

“I want us to give every child the best possible start – so free education for toddlers from the most disadvantaged homes will now be a right and not a privilege.

“Crucially the extra care will be flexible and easy to access. Parents across the country are bending over backwards to balance work and home. The Coalition wants to help in whatever way we can.”

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Liberal Democrat children’s minister Sarah Teather have published proposals to give 140,000 disadvantaged toddlers 15 hours of free early years education.

This is a key Liberal Democrat policy delivered by the Coalition Government. It builds upon our achievement of extending free childcare to 15 hours a week for all three and four-year-olds.

Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said:

“Giving children a fair start in life is at the heart of what I and the Liberal Democrats are about. It is an absolute disgrace that a child born today in one the poorest neighbourhood in Sheffield, where I am an MP, can expect to live 14 years longer than one born in the wealthiest neighbourhood.

“We know that the earlier we help children the bigger difference we can make to their lives. That’s why I am proud to announce plans to give 15 hours free childcare for the 140,000 two-year-olds most in danger of falling behind.”

Liberal Democrat children’s minister Sarah Teather said:

“Our priority is to increase social mobility by helping children from the poorest backgrounds in their earliest years. High quality early education is the key to making a difference early on in a child’s life. It’s crucial for their healthy development and means they’re not falling behind before they have even started primary school.

“We want more children to be able to access their full early education entitlement. Too often, the most disadvantaged children don’t get what they are entitled to. It’s important we target early education at those who stand to benefit the most.

“We also want to make the entitlement more flexible, so that children don’t miss out on early education and parents can help balance their work and family life more easily.”

The announcement is part of a consultation, published today, on changes to free early education. The proposals published in the consultation will:

Make the free entitlement to 15 hours per week of free early education more flexible. This means parents would be able to access it earlier and later in the day – between 7am and 7pm – and across two days instead of three days.

?Use the criteria which is used for free school meals to decide which disadvantaged two-year-olds should qualify for free early education.

?Include two-year-olds who are looked after by the state in the eligibility criteria for free early education.

?Slim down the guidance for local authorities from 100 pages to fewer than 20 pages.

Nick Clegg announced in October 2010 that the Government would extend 15 hours of free early education – currently available to all three-and four-year olds – to disadvantaged two-year-olds. From September 2013 up to 140,000 disadvantaged two-year-olds will stand to benefit.

Local authorities in England have been delivering a targeted offer of between 10 and 15 hours of free early education to some of the most disadvantaged two-year-olds since September 2009. The extension of 15 hours to all disadvantaged two-year-olds will mean an increase in the number of places from 20,000 per year to around 140,000 per year