Veteran delighted with success of teaching tool

  • Buddy Box is a free online learning tool that was created by Mark Hill in 2018, to help teach English to refugee children in schools.
  • It has since been used to teach English and maths to pupils worldwide.
  • The project started out as a series of around 60 flashcards that translated Arabic to English and has since progressed to a cloud-based resource with virtual teachers.
  • For more on this story, please visit the BBC News website.

New trend sees Grandparents turning to gaming with the younger generation

  • New research from Samsung has shown that 85% of over 65s enjoy gaming at least once a week and more than a third game every day.
  • 42% use gaming to bond and spend time with family members.
  • Nearly a quarter of overs 65s are gaming to improve their mood and cognitive functioning.
  • Although this older generation are seemingly enjoying gaming, 32% do not understand the technology and 31% state ‘needing someone to explain how to play’.
  • To help the older generation, Samsung have teamed up with Twitch and Youtuber, Gee Nelly to teach TikTok star, Grandad Frank to game.
  • For more on this story, please visit Samsung’s website.

Children punched and hit in care homes rated ‘good’

  • A BBC investigation into Doncaster children’s homes has learned of more than 100 concerns.
  • Leaked documents also showed that Ofsted was alerted 40 times about incidents, but the home still retained their ‘good’ Ofsted rating.
  • More than 100 vulnerable children are feared to have been harmed, many of which would be non-verbal.
  • The homes which included two residential special schools, charged £250,000 to local authorities a year to care for each young person.
  • For the full story, please visit the BBC’s website.

The safeguarding picture in Peterborough

  • Latest government figures have shown that Peterborough has a higher rate of children in care than Bedford, Luton and Essex.
  • These findings were included in the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Safeguarding Children Partnership Board’s annual report.
  • The report also found a “dramatic increase” in the number of child sexual abuse and exploitation offences.
  • To read the full story, go to the Peterborough Today’s website.