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Your support makes all the difference.New TV nation The arrival of television on the South Atlantic island of St Helena marks the beginning of seven years of research into the effects of TV viewing on young children.
Researchers from Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education have already been studying children in St Helena, who have so far been among the minority on the planet not brought up on TV. Earlier results from the research show that St Helena school pupils are among the best behaved in the world and spend far more time on teacher-approved work than do their counterparts in the UK and the United States. Will they stay that way? We shall see.
Pre-school problem
The shortage of full-time provision for pre-school children in Scotland results in many children being shuffled around more than one centre outside the home, according to a major study produced by the Scottish Council for Research in Education and Children in Scotland for the Scottish Office Education Department.
More than half the playgroups and nurseries surveyed said that their children also went elsewhere, most commonly to other playgroups or child minders. This was generally because opening hours were not long enough to meet the needs of parents, particularly working ones.
Dr Janet Powney, of the SCRE, one of the report's authors, says the implications of the effects of multiple carers for very young children outside the home needed further research. The full report, We are Getting Them Ready for Life: Provision for Pre-Fives in Scotland, is available, price £11, from SCRE, 15 St John Street, Edinburgh, EH8 8JR.
Goal for boys
Footballers Ian Wright and David Platt feature in a poster campaign by the National Literacy Trust aimed at encouraging reading, particularly in boys. Posters will be distributed to schools via the Football in the Community scheme. Schools not covered by the scheme can get the posters free (£2 post and packing) from the National Literacy Trust, 1a Grosvenor Gardens, London, SW1W 0BD.
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