The scale of interest in non-University options has been unprecedented this year.  notgoingtouni.co.uk reported a record 10,000 visitors to the website on A-Level Results Day, around double the level from the previous year.

Managing Director Spencer Mehlman believes “there has definitely been a change in student’s perceptions towards university, its associated debt and its value to their career. Today’s students are keen to explore vocational qualifications and are starting to view them as a viable route to success”.

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There are a number of things you can do to help keep your child safe when they go on the internet, and to prevent them from seeing content which is of an adult nature.

Learn to Surf for Yourself
If you don’t know what’s out there, it is going to be difficult for you to know how best to protect your child, so get yourself onto the internet and learn how it works for yourself.  There are plenty of adult education classes available around the country where you can take lessons if you aren’t sure where to begin.

Parental Controls
Set in place parental controls on all equipment that can be connected to the internet.  This means that you lock out any sites that you do not wish your child to see, and create rules that control which sites they can gain access to according to its content. Some ISP’s also offer child safety measures so it’s always worth asking what they provide.

Take Control
Put the computer in a family room where its screen is visible to you.  Set up passwords so that your child cannot access the internet when you are not there, and learn to use the ‘history’ on the computer to see what sites your child is accessing when they do surf the internet.

Get Your Child Involved
Kids generally react better to rules if they understand why they are in place, so involve your child.  Explain to them that the internet has content that is suitable for everyone and some that isn’t.  Talk to them about safety on the internet just as you would talk to them about safety in the street.  Let them know that certain things are ok and certain things are not, and help them to understand that the boundaries you set are there to keep them safe.

Personal Information
Explain to your child why it is important to keep personal information safe, and why they shouldn’t share details about themselves with strangers.  They should be aware that personal information that they give out can be used to for unlawful reasons which could involve the police if the wrong person steals and uses this information.

Make sure they understand that they must not:

• Give out personal information such as name, address, phone numbers, passwords, pin numbers and bank details.
• Arrange to meet an online friend without your full knowledge, permission and/ or presence.
• Register with any websites without your permission
• Give any indication of their age, name, sex or other personal information in their screen name or online persona.
• Upload or download anything from the internet without your permission including pictures.

Teach Them to Tell You
If your child ever comes across anything which; they don’t understand, frightens or worries them, or; if they are bullied online, if anyone says anything that is inappropriate or tries to get them to do anything you’ve said they shouldn’t then they should tell you immediately.  Make sure that they are not afraid of your reaction, and let them know that you understand sometimes people come across things accidentally and they won’t be the ones in trouble.

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With funding from the Save Our Seas Foundation, MCS is once again sending Cool Seas Roadshow presenter Andy Starbuck and his amazing life-size inflatable sea creatures back on tour.

“It’s great to be back out with the Cool Seas Roadshow again.” said Andy, “It really is a pleasure to see the amazement on pupils’ and teachers’ faces alike when they learn that we have these fantastic whales, dolphins, sharks and even turtles in our cool seas!”

Through Andy’s presentations and giant inflatable models, the Cool Seas Roadshow introduces primary school classes to the UK’s amazing marine wildlife. Andy explains the spectacular lives of some our biggest sea creatures such as whales and basking sharks, and reveals the secretive habits of some of our smaller and lesser known seabed creatures such as the pink sea fan coral.

Andy also talks about the threats these creatures face from pollution and marine litter and, through interactive role-play, demonstrates how we can all play our part help to ensure their survival.

“Most children don’t know that we get turtles in our seas, and that they come here to eat jellyfish,” said Andy, “So when I explain that these turtles sometimes eat floating plastic bags by mistake, which can block their guts and starve them to death, they suddenly realise how important it is to dispose of their litter responsibly.”

The MCS Cool Seas Roadshow has presented to tens of thousands of children and adults at schools and public events since 2006 and this is the third consecutive year that the Save Our Seas Foundation has supported the Roadshow.

“Through the Cool Seas Roadshow, MCS introduces UK children, often for the first time, to the fantastic wealth of life in our seas,” said Peter Richardson, Biodiversity Programme Manager, “Once they learn about our amazing marine wildlife, our younger generations are very keen to do what they can to help protect this marine heritage for themselves and generations to come.   We are sure the Cool Seas Roadshow will leave a lasting legacy for the next generation.”

The Roadshow also leaves a suite of learning materials with all attending pupils and teachers. Each child receives a free Cool Seas Activity Book, each class receives a Cool Seas Poster and there is more information, games and curriculum-linked activities on the Cool Seas web pages.

MCS is now booking Cool Seas Roadshow school term time events for 2010. If you are interested in hosting the Roadshow at your school, please contact MCS on 01989 566017, e-mail infor@mcsuk.org or go to www.mcsuk.org and follow the ‘working with you’ links to see the Cool Seas Roadshow video and download information.

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In the 2008/2009 school year local authorities reported almost 30,000 placing requests compared to the previous year in which 28,500 calls were made, which is an increase of about five percent.  The amount of requests that were granted also rose to a percent at 83.8% compared to 82.3% in the 2007/2008 school year.

The growth appears to suggest that parents are no longer happy with local school options and are thus looking farther for better education opportunities for their children.  In fact, new studies that were published in 2009 show that the gap between the best council schools and the worst council schools is continuing to widen.

In response, the Scottish government is considering putting in place a new regulation that will cap the number of pupils in primary classes at 25 instead of the current 30 in order to protect schools from being forced to accept transfer requests.

A spokesman from the highly sought after East Renfrewshire Council stated that they are aware of the fact that many parents want their children to attend their schools, but it is hard to accommodate everyone given how many requests they receive.

A spokesman for the Scottish government however commented that most parents still choose their local school but out of those that place requests a healthy 80% are usually granted.

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London typically has a lower percentage of students who get a place in their first choice of schools; this is due in part to the popularity of some schools that results in an overload of subscriptions.

In London and Birmingham at least two thirds of the pupils will be able to get their top preference in schools, but the percentage is much higher in some rural areas as many as 95% get their first choice.

According to Graham Carter, chairman of the Admissions Group for London, students got one of their choices in 90% of cases, and first choice was offered to about two-thirds of them every year for the past six years.

Some representatives of the educational system are wondering if all the flurry and anxiety on the part of many parents is really valid.  The ATL teacher’s union general secretary, Mary Bousted, indicated that since most students do get to go to school where they (or their parents) prefer, there is no real need to worry about it.  In addition, educational standards are being raised across the country.

In 1977, parents had a 50/50 chance of their child being ‘allocated’ to a sub-standard school, but there has been great improvement in the secondary schools as far as educational standards are concerned, and school ministers intend to continue and expand that improvement.

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