School children leading the way on the environment

Following a year long quest, today 22 children are representing Britain’s 4 million schoolchildren to present their manifesto for a greener Britain to MPs. A group of bright young children from across the UK will set out their plan at meetings with Ed Miliband, Secretary Of State For Energy and Climate Change and Greg Barker, Shadow Minister for Climate Change

The Generation Green think tank has been set up by British Gas as part of its Generation Green schools programme.

The manifesto is calling for the following:

• All UK schools to set clear goals to cut their carbon and to be able to see how much energy they are using, so they can work with their teachers to find ways to cut down;
• Green issues to become a part of every lesson on the school timetable and for teachers to be given more training and support to help them do this;
• All schools to be given Government funding for green energy, in the same way as schools are given funding for books and other essentials;
• A ban on the standby button – stopping manufacturers from making electrical items with standby buttons;
• Government to make it easier for people to recycle by putting more recycling bins in public places like parks, city centres and restaurants;
• Government to make it easier for local businesses to recycle their waste.

Funding Your Child’s Further Education

Having children is certainly an expensive business. Young families usually have to cope with owning one of their first properties along with maintaining the child’s welfare, and as they grow older this can get a whole lot trickier. Not only have you got to think of how to spend money to keep your child happy, there’s also their higher education to consider. If you want your child to get through university, then it can present a financial conundrum - university costs £9,000 in tuition fees alone, and when accommodation and living costs are factored in this can double. So where are you going to find the £18,000 to finance your child’s education?

Student Loan

Unless you have a large amount of cash spare, then making sure your child has a student loan is essential if they are going to feel financially comfortable through university. A student loan has a rate of interest that matches the rate of inflation; therefore it is quite simply the cheapest loan your child will ever get. Even if it’s not needed, it’s worth getting and then putting into a savings account, as you will make a profit on the interest accrued - take a look at Alliance and Leicester for a comprehensive range of savings accounts. One thing to note about the student loan is that it’s purely for upkeep and accommodation. Fees are only repaid after university through whatever salary the graduate will have. So long as it’s over £15,000 a year, they will be repaying their student loan and fees as if it was another tax.

Child Trust Funds

If you’ve got your child’s further education in mind from their early age, then you’ll be on the right track for funding them through university - the earlier the better. One of the best ways to save is through a child trust fund. This is a stock market based investment, which the government will contribute to, and expires when the child reaches a certain age. Over the long term, the stock market is normally the best way to accrue the best return on your money, and investing regularly will see the value rise neatly. Just think, if you put in just £50 a month for 18 years, then that’s £10,800 even before the return on investment is considered! Basically, it will pay a lot to think of this early.

Banking and Insurance

Funding your child’s way through university is only part of the financial planning you’ll need to consider. Sure enough, if you take out a student loan and have an effective saving plan in place, then you’ll have much of the finance you’ll need to see them through the three or four years. Apart from this, you should also consider a student bank account. These are standard savings accounts with large interest free overdrafts - normally between £1,000 to £2,000. They can also offer perks for opening one, such as a free young person’s rail card for five years, or a £50 cash incentive. Further to this, student insurance is also vital. Considering the often lax security of student accommodation and the value of student property, it’s an important thing to consider - it might even be the most important thing to consider if something of high value was damaged or stolen!

Bill Bailey shows the not-so-funny-side of drinking

This is the fourth film in this series to raise awareness about alcohol drinking with teenagers.

This ‘Behind the Scenes’ video shows the shooting of Comedian Bill Bailey’s film for the “Alcohol. It’s No Joke” campaign. Bill Bailey’s film talks about growing up and attitudes shared by friends and family, It talks about how drunken behavior can lead to out of character actions and on some occasions, accidents.

Also check out what Jo Brand has to say on this at http://kidszine.co.uk/2010/01/jo-brand-talks-about-perils-of-teenage-drinking/

Speekee Spanish learning programme gets the young speaking Spanish

Despite Kirsty Young’s recent statements in the press about pushy parents sending their tiny tots to Mandarin and violin lessons being wrong, exposing your child to a foreign language from a young age DOES make it far easier for them to learn new languages in later life.

And being bi-lingual or multi-lingual is hugely beneficial. Speekee is a Spanish language programme that children as young as 2 can watch without the pressure of going to lessons – and thanks to its ‘total immersion’ approach, children quickly pick up the language without realising it.

We know of a 4 year old boy who has watched it a handful of times (apparently he asks to watch, rather than being prompted to watch) and he can now count to ten in Spanish, say ‘hello’, ‘how are you’ and ‘my name is’. He also knows a few of other words and he can sing along to all the songs. We are also told that his mother has also learnt a lot of Spanish by listening along with him, which helps with her New Year resolution to learn a new language!

This is a fab tool for families – especially those considering a sunny Spanish holiday this year after the freezing winter. It’s brilliant for home educators too.

Jo Brand talks about perils of teenage drinking

We are pleased to be able to publicise this video from Jo Brand on behalf of the Alcohol It’s No Joke campaign.

It’s all too easy to laugh off the effects of alcohol and forget that drink can put young people in vulnerable situations. It’s no joke. Recognising that alcohol is a serious issue and talking about the good and the bad sides can help young people stay safe, confident and responsible as they grow as teenagers.

In this clip, Jo Brand to talk about her experiences of alcohol as a teenager. Jo talks about how she experienced the consequences of alcohol firsthand and in her job as a psychiatric nurse. As a mother to two young girls, she explains how she aims to talk to them about alcohol as early as possible.

The aim of this film is to show that alcohol can make young people vulnerable. Although parents worry about unprotected sex, drugs and crime, drinking alcohol is often not top of the list. Alcohol can be the thing which leaves young people vulnerable and in situations they might not know how to deal with.

This film is the one of a series featuring other comedians including Bill Bailey, Russell Kane and Josie Long and is part of the build-up to a big campaign launch in mid-January.

More infoamtion at www.itsnojoke.tv

Live Web TV Show about protecting your children online

Do you know what your kids get up to on the internet?

Log onto our live WebTV show for top tips on protecting your children online.

Chat date: Friday 20th November

Chat time: 14:30 to 15:00

[If you miss the show, it will be subsequently available as a webcast]

As parents we’re becoming more aware that dangers to our kids don’t just lie on our streets - the internet and online world can also pose a number of serious risks. Yet despite this, millions of us still lack the basic knowledge to safely and effectively monitor our children’s internet usage.

Did you know that a child can’t legally use a social networking site until they are 13 years old? Perhaps not. And how often do you think to check which sites your child has been visiting? Many of us might not know that it’s possible for children to hide any dubious internet activity by simply deleting their browser history!

According to research by Talk Talk, many parents are still letting their child loose on the internet without having any filtering software on their family computer.

While we might never know what our kids get up to online, it’s important for them to be able to surf the internet safely. In our live and interactive Web TV show renowned child psychologist Professor Tanya Byron will be giving you some top advice on protecting your child online. You can submit your questions ahead of the show or ask them live when it premieres on Friday 20th November.