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Parents who take children on holiday during term time to be fined under new scheme

The government is taking a stand against school absences

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@smalphoto / Unsplash & Gov.uk

Parents who take their children on their jollies during term time will face hefty fines as part of a new government scheme cracking down on truancy. 

Fixed penalty notices (FPNs) will be handed out to parents if their children are taken out of school for holidays, they are late five times in one term, they take five unauthorised absences or are out in public in the five days of an exclusion.

Parents would face a maximum of two fines for each child per school year – if that limit were reached, prosecution would then be considered.

Education Secretary Nadim Zahawi said he hopes the new scheme would ‘help tackle persistent absence’.

Didsbury CE School

He said: “I know from the Children’s Commissioner’s work on school attendance that children themselves hugely value being in school with their teachers and their friends.

“My job is to make sure that every child can get those school experiences.

“The plans set out today to reform how absence fines operate, alongside our Schools Bill currently going through parliament, will improve consistency across the country and help tackle persistent absence.”

According to the plans, Zahawi will also oversee a Whitehall database containing all school registers in a bid to improve school attendance.

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The scheme also suggest pupils younger than compulsory schooling age should still have their absence recorded.

Under the current law, the attendance of these particular pupils does not need to be recorded.

The Government added that pupils absent for fifteen days or more for health reasons should be reported to the local council to make sure they and their family get more support.

Children’s Commissioner Rachel de Souza has backed the new scheme, and called upon schools to ‘do whatever it takes’ to get attendance back up to 100% by this autumn term.

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Northern hiring train drivers with salaries of £54,000 per year

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Northern

Northern, which operate trains across Greater Manchester and the North of England, is looking to hire train drivers.

The company is hoping to entice people who haven’t considered a career in rail before, with no experience required.

If successful you’ll eventually earn £54,000 per year, following a 64-week training course – the starting salary during this training period is £23,000.

Northern


And if you fancy becoming a conductor instead, wages start at £22,000 before rising to £29,000 following a 16-week training course.

Throughout the year Northern wants to hire more than 300 train drivers and conductors,  which breaks down as 108 drivers and 198 conductors.

Recruits will be able to train in both Manchester and Leeds, and you must finish a paid apprenticeship in one of these two training academies.

Available roles will be advertised over the coming months, so keep your eyes peeled.

Northern


The company’s chief operating officer, Tricia Williams, said: “We have a range of rewarding roles for anyone who wants to become part of a dedicated team that runs more than 2,500 services a day to over 500 destinations.

“We are looking for customer-focused people with excellent communication skills who thrive in a dynamic environment and may not have considered a career in rail before.

“Successful applicants will demonstrate a high level of responsibility, a strong work ethic and a commitment to maintaining safety standards.

“We’ll be recruiting throughout the year and provide all the training you need. We want our workforce to reflect the communities we serve and we’re proud to include people from all walks of life in our team, from military veterans and ex-police officers, to former office workers and stay-at-home parents.”

Head to Northern’s careers page here for further info and job alerts.

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Drivers are now realising they’ve been using roundabouts wrong

Are you using roundabouts correctly?

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They may have passed their tests a while ago, but some drivers are only just realising they have been using roundabouts wrong.

When it comes to roundabouts, most drivers will probably feel very confident they know what they are doing and think they how to use them correctly.

So, you know to give way to the right, but which way should you be indicating and which lane should you select for the turn-off you want?

Andrew Skudder / Flickr

We all remember being a nervous learner driver and the sheer panic that would overcome you when approaching a roundabout.

But after plenty of practice they soon become a doddle – until you’ve been driving while and have picked up some bad habits.

Roundabouts are some of the most common places where you hear angry drivers beeping their horns because someone has pulled out or driven into the wrong lane, and all sorts of silly reasons.

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Many motorists will already know that if you’re taking the first exit off the roundabout, you select the left-hand lane and use your indicator to signal left – unless some signs or markings indicate otherwise – as per the Highway Code.

And when you’re turning right, you should select the right-hand lane with your indicator signalling right – and keep to the right before you need to change lanes.

However, if you’re driving straight over the roundabout, this is where many drivers get a little confused and make common mistakes.

Gerald England / Geograph

According to the Highway Code, if your ‘intermediate exit’ is positioned at 12 ’o’ clock, you need to be in the left-hand lane – not the right-hand lane as many drivers seem to think.

It sates that you should ‘select the appropriate lane on approach to the roundabout, you should not normally need to signal on approach, you should stay in this lane until you need to alter course to exit the roundabout, and you should signal left after you have passed the exit before the one you want’.

It says that when there are more than three lanes at the entrance to a roundabout, you should use the most appropriate lane on approach and while you’re driving through it – which basically means you should use your common sense based on the rules of the roundabout.

JanPetterWigum1962 / PxHere

The Highway Code also says: “When reaching the roundabout you should give priority to traffic approaching from your right, unless directed otherwise by signs, road markings or traffic lights, check whether road markings allow you to enter the roundabout without giving way. 

“If so, proceed, but still look to the right before joining, watch out for all other road users already on the roundabout; be aware they may not be signalling correctly or at all and look forward before moving off to make sure traffic in front has moved off.”

And when it comes to looking out for cyclists, it adds: “You should give priority to cyclists on the roundabout. They will be travelling more slowly than motorised traffic. Give them plenty of room and do not attempt to overtake them within their lane. Allow them to move across your path as they travel around the roundabout.”

 

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Millions of Americans think chocolate milk comes from brown cows

‘Knowledge is power. Without it, we can’t make informed decisions’

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A surprising number of Americans believe that chocolate milk comes from brown cows, a survey has revealed.

Around 7% of US adults think the sweet flavoured milk is brown due to the colour of cow it comes from, a survey commissioned by the Innovation Centre of US Dairyside has revealed.

The research was conducted on 1,000 people over the age of 18.

Muhamed Lutfi / Pexels

That 7% equates to around 16.4 million Americans – which doesn’t seem such a small number when you put it like that.

That’s the equivalent of the population of Pennsylvania who are misinformed chocolate milk drinkers, and do not know that the basic ingredients of chocolate milk consist of milk, cocoa and sugar.

While 7% thought chocolate milk came from brown cows, around 48% of Americans said they didn’t know where chocolate milk came from – we’re not sure which is worse.

PxHere / stock photo

Speaking to The Washington Post, Cecily Upton, co-founder of the nonprofit FoodCorps, which brings agricultural and nutrition education into elementary schools, said: “At the end of the day, it’s an exposure issue.

“Right now, we’re conditioned to think that if you need food, you go to the store. 

“Nothing in our educational framework teaches kids where food comes from before that point.”

Hubert Berberich (HubiB) / Wikimedia

Thankfully, the survey isn’t verified and hasn’t been released either, so perhaps the state of the agricultural knowledge of Americans isn’t as bad as it seems.

A previous study – conducted in the 1990s – also showed that one in five adults did not know that hamburgers are made of beef, and many lacked knowledge of basic farming facts.

But it seems many children and adults don’t seem too interested in trying to find things out for themselves either.

Like_the_Grand_Canyon / Flickr

Upton added: “We still get kids who are surprised that a French fry comes from a potato, or that a pickle is a cucumber.

“Knowledge is power. Without it, we can’t make informed decisions.”

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