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A narrative therapeutic group intervention, Tree of Life, was carried out with groups of ethnic minority parents of children with special educational needs and/or disability (SEND) in a mainstream primary school. A participatory research approach was used, involving collaboration with the group of parents and involvement of a parent co-researcher. Qualitative data were collected through a focus group with six parents on their views of the sessions. The parent co-researcher carried out the analysis of the data, using thematic analysis. The main themes identified were: "Sharing", "Self-awareness" and "Change". Strengths and limitations of the participatory research project are considered. The findings are discussed in relation to the experiences of ethnic minority parents of children with SEND. They are also considered in the context of educational psychologists engaging in critical and transformative practice through using narrative, strengths-based approaches, responding sensitively to diversity and working in ways which empower service-users.

In 2016, the British Educational Research Association (BERA) Commission on Poverty and Policy Advocacy brought together several academics from across the four jurisdictions of the UK already engaged in work on poverty, education and schooling. The aim of this BERA Commission was to build a network of research-active practitioners across the UK and, internationally, to engage in knowledge building about poverty and multiple factors of deprivation as these find expression in education and schooling. The Commission also aimed to facilitate counter discourses to be voiced and articulated in contrast to the dominant pathologising discourses of poor people and their education. The Commission therefore addressed the question: what can research tell us about the ways that different devolved policy contexts impact on the learning and well-being of young people living in poverty? This article describes the methodology used by the Commission to bring together researchers, policymakers, practitioners and children and young people to learn about the price of poverty in education and to reflect on the implications for policy. In so doing, the article addresses some challenges, opportunities and outcomes in terms of knowledge production, as well as implications for critical scholarship, with a focus on poverty and education.

The article offers information on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), which is a group of conditions caused by prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE). Topics include the importance of confirmation of PAE and a thorough alcohol history for identifying at-risk children, the lack of a cure for FASD but the efficacy of early targeted interventions, and the significance of gathering information about PAE when children enter care for future diagnoses.

This article is concerned to respond to recent UK governments' attitudes to teachers, who are predominantly women, and who are denied a voice and sense of professionalism. It looks to the role of teacher research in school decision-making, including school improvement, historically in England, which set a pioneering example in years before the Thatcher government, and in Australia, where it became a central logistical feature in generations of "poverty programs", as well as the current conjuncture. It documents recent efforts to build school-university partnerships for school improvement geared to support teachers' knowledge-building about working with disadvantaged pupils who are disengaged and under-achieving. It maps the educational political context, framed by the global neo-liberal policy agenda, and charts efforts to support school staff develop a research perspective on the complexities of schools' work in a system geared to a relentless focus on attainment targets, performance, and school league tables. It develops a responsive theoretical-strategic framework for a local north of England "knowledge-building programme" of continuing professional development (CPD) with optional accreditation, intended to counter the system's lack of a broad and creative pedagogical "imaginary". The resultant project is inspired by a democratic impulse and progressive social justice goals to facilitate learning about what this Leeds network of schools needs to be doing itself to address issues of concern about pupils marked by poverty and deprivation.

Little research has been conducted to date exploring the extent to which treatment can impact upon dynamic factors thought to be related to sexually harmful behaviour in adolescents. This study explores the within-treatment change in a group of adolescent males who have sexually harmed. Pre- and post-treatment psychometric data for 34 participants who had completed an offence-specific group work programme while residing at a specialist residential treatment provision for adolescent males who have sexually harmed were analysed to investigate if the treatment had affected their scores on measures of psychosocial functioning and offence-related attitudes. Results supported the hypothesis that treatment would impact positively on the post-treatment psychometric scores, although the limitations of the study hinder the extent to which any firm conclusions can be drawn. Some corroborating data from relevant domains on the ERASOR risk assessment protocol is also presented for a subgroup of 24 individuals. (Contains 8 tables.)

This article outlines the findings of a new study that explores the portrayal of disability within a sample of the primary-age children's literature most readily available to UK schools. The kind of literature to which children are exposed is likely to influence their general perceptions of social life. How disability is handled by authors is therefore important from the standpoint of disability equality. Findings suggest that whilst there are some good examples of inclusive literature "out there", discriminatory language and/or negative stereotypes about disability continue to be present in a range of more contemporary children's books. Clearly, more "still" needs to be done to ensure that schools and teachers are provided with information relating to the best examples of inclusion literature and efforts must continue to be made to inform authors, publishers and illustrators about how to approach the issue of disability. (Contains 1 table and 1 note.)

There is an abundance of evidence showing relatively strong associations between family characteristics and a child's psychological functioning--both within the normal range and, also, with reference to psychopathology. That has sometimes led to the assumption that equally strong associations should be found within adoptive families. Nevertheless, the available evidence indicates that, to the contrary, the associations tend to be much weaker than those in biological families. In this chapter, the authors sought to determine whether variations in the qualities in the adoptive home might provide the explanation. There was no evidence that postadoption environmental features accounted for the presence of DSPs, but that did not necessarily rule out the possibility of effects on psychopathological features outside of DSPs. The findings certainly do not mean that the huge improvements in functioning following adoption were not a consequence of the adoption. To the contrary, there is ample evidence that this was a causal effect. (Contains 11 tables.)

Whereas metaanalyses of cross-sectional adoption studies have indicated that there is an impact of early deprivation on adoptee's cognitive ability, these effects generally diminish markedly after upbringing in adoptive homes. Outcomes in terms of scholastic attainment were not quite so positive in a cross-sectional metaanalysis, but the Swedish follow-up study of male conscripts did not find that scholastic attainment was impaired relative to IQ. Both initial impairment and catch-up vary as a function of the length and severity of deprivation experienced. Previous analyses of the ERA data patterns of educational attainment at age 11 indicated that these were largely predictable on the basis of cognitive ability, although symptoms of inattention also played a minor role. In this chapter, the authors tackle two key issues: the validity, and the meaning of, a general factor of overall intelligence "g"; and whether these specific cognitive functions are regularly associated with different types of scholastic performance. (Contains 5 tables and 1 figure.)

It has come to be generally accepted that the psychopathological effects of psychosocial stress and adversity are diagnostically nonspecific. There is a good deal of supporting evidence in support of this assumption, even though it may be that the nonspecificity has been exaggerated through a failure to take account of comorbidity. This chapter presents findings on the designation of deprivation-specific psychological patterns (DSPs). These included an early onset (at least by age 6 years, the earliest age at which data were available for the whole sample) and persistence to 11 years of age. The persistence to 11-year requirement was introduced particularly because minor manifestations of DA were so frequent at age 6 years in the pooled comparison group. Without the persistence criterion, the association of DSPs with institutional deprivation would be much weakened. (Contains 5 tables and 8 figures.)

In chapter IV, the authors focused on their findings on the developmental course of deprivation-specific psychological patterns (DSPs). The authors rediscussed the syndrome concept in the light of two main considerations. First, the findings indicated substantial overlap among the four postulated DSPs at 15 years including CI and I/O before requiring cooccurrence with Q-A or DA. Second, they realized that, ordinarily, syndromes are defined on the basis of a unifying pathophysiology rather than a mere clustering together of symptoms. Although they have not identified the nature of such pathophysiology, the strong continuing association with institutional deprivation extending up to at least 6 months of age, plus the findings from the pilot brain imaging study points to the likelihood that there is a unifying pathophysiology. Accordingly, they conclude that, on balance, a coherent syndrome remains a strong possibility. (Contains 6 tables.)

This monograph is concerned with the mid adolescent follow-up of a group of adoptees from Romania and from within the United Kingdom who were first assessed at the age of 4 years (or 6 years in the case of the oldest children). Chapter I provides the background as it applied at the time that the study began, and then goes on to outline the overall research strategy and the measures relevant for the first assessment at age 4 years. It then goes on to summarize, briefly, some of the key findings from the follow-ups undertaken up to the age of 11 years. In the authors' published papers on the age 4-, 6-, and 11-year assessments, they mainly dealt with findings in relation to key outcome variables. In this monograph, they have adopted a different strategy that capitalizes on the unique features of their study. Their study is the only investigation with detailed interview and observation measures, together with psychometric assessments, spanning a 10-year follow-up period. Most especially, their study is unique in having systematic, standardized measurements of key behavioral patterns that seem to be specific to institutional deprivation. Accordingly, the authors have been able to focus on the crucial issue of the extent to which these patterns account for the deficits and problems that have persisted to age 15 years. In order to do that, it was first necessary both to determine which patterns met criteria for specificity to institutional deprivation and to determine their boundaries. This topic is tackled in Chapter III, after outlining the methods and measures in Chapter II. Chapter IV builds on the authors' prospective data over the course of a decade in order to describe the developmental course of the deprivation-specific psychological patterns (DSPs) defined in Chapter III. To facilitate this, the several apparently DSPs are pooled, having noted the major overlap among them. Chapter V considers disturbances of emotion, conduct and peer relations--that is, the three major domains of psychopathology that, up to age 11 years, appeared "not" to follow a DSPs. Chapter VI takes as its starting point the major catch-up found in cognitive functioning following adoption and goes on to ask how far cognitive findings vary according to specific cognitive function and how far cognitive gains up to age 11 have been translated into meaningful educational attainments at age 15-16 years. Chapter VII reevaluates these findings in the light of the age 15 results and examines the physical growth and maturational effects of institutional deprivation. It considers how far the findings differ according to the presence/absence of institutional deprivation-specific features. Chapter VIII reexamines the issue of possible postadoption environmental mediators, paying attention to key methodological challenges. Throughout their study, there has been abundant evidence of heterogeneity in outcome. Chapter IX seeks to pull together the relevant findings with respect to possible biological moderators and mediators. There is reexamination of the apparently protective role of minimal language skills, of genetic influences on environmental susceptibility, of possible effects of social cognitive features, of the role of subnutrition, and of impaired head growth. Finally, Chapter X provides an overview of the findings at age 15, together with the theoretical and practical implications of these findings. (Contains 48 tables and 21 figures.)

In the United Kingdom, the introduction of the Disability Equality Duty 2006 has provided a new window of opportunity to promote the idea that education has a role to play in changing non-disabled children/young people's attitudes towards disabled people. This article explores the issues raised by the application of the Disability Equality Duty to English schools. The remainder of the article then seeks to 'map the territory' for future research into the role that education might play in challenging disabling attitudes and building an inclusive society. (Contains 5 notes.)

Theory of Mind (ToM) and Executive Function (EF) have been associated with autism and with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and hence might play a role in similar syndromes found following profound early institutional deprivation. In order to examine this possibility the current study included a group of 165 Romanian adoptees, of whom 144 were adopted into the UK from deprived institutional settings before 43 months of age, and a group of 52 within-UK adoptees, all adopted before 6 months of age. Both groups were assessed at 6 and 11 years. The Strange Stories task was used to assess ToM and the Stroop task was used to assess EF, both at age 11. The Romanian adoptees displayed deficits in both ToM and EF compared with the within-UK adoptee group. The degree of deficit was greater for children who had experienced more than 6 months of institutional deprivation. Deficits in both domains (ToM and EF) were associated with each of the three apparently deprivation-specific problems, namely quasi-autism, disinhibited attachment and inattention/overactivity. Statistical analyses indicated a mediating role for both ToM and EF with respect to quasi-autism; possibly a partial mediating role for EF with respect to inattention/overactivity; and probably no mediating role for either ToM or EF in the case of disinhibited attachment. In conclusion, there is evidence for a possible mediating role for ToM and EF in the development of some apparently deprivation-specific difficulties in institution-reared Romanian adoptees, but neither accounts for the overall pattern of deprivation-related difficulties.

The current study examined the persistence and phenotypic presentation of inattention/overactivity (I/O) into early adolescence, in a sample of institution reared (IR) children adopted from Romania before the age of 43 months. Total sample comprised 144 IR and 21 non-IR Romanian adoptees, and a comparison group of 52 within-UK adoptees, assessed at ages 6 and 11 years. I/O was rated using Rutter Scales completed by parents and teachers. I/O continued to be strongly associated with institutional deprivation, with continuities between ages 6 and 11 outcomes. There were higher rates of deprivation-related I/O in boys than girls, and I/O was strongly associated with conduct problems, disinhibited attachment and executive function but not IQ more generally, independently of gender. Deprivation-related I/O shares many common features with ADHD, despite its different etiology and putative developmental mechanisms. I/O is a persistent domain of impairment following early institutional deprivation of 6 months or more, suggesting there may be a possible pathway to impairment through some form of neuro-developmental programming during critical periods of early development.

Academy sponsors have generally behaved with great arrogance, knowing that they enjoyed the enthusiastic support of Tony Blair's Government. And this has been particularly true of Catholic and evangelical sponsors, who believed that Blair's premiership was the best chance they would ever have of bringing about a seismic shift of power in schools from the state to the churches. Yet it seems clear that the academy project is not working out as its supporters originally intended, and it might well be that Gordon Brown's new Government will feel obliged to jettison large parts of the original scheme. (Contains 3 notes.)

The relationship between severe early institutional deprivation and scholastic attainment at age 11 in 127 children (68 girls and 59 boys) adopted from institutions in Romania was compared to the attainment of 49 children (17 girls and 32 boys) adopted within the UK from a non-institutional background. Overall, children adopted from Romania had significantly lower attainment scores than those adopted within the UK; the children within the Romanian sample who had spent 6 months or more in an institution had significantly lower attainment scores than those who had spent less than 6 months in an institution, but there was no additional risk of low attainment associated with longer institutional care after 6 months. The lower scholastic attainment in the children adopted from Romanian institutions, as compared with domestic adoptees, was mediated by IQ, and to a lesser degree, inattention/overactivity. When these factors were taken into account, only small between-group differences in attainment remained.

Background: Some young children reared in profoundly depriving institutions have been found to show autistic-like patterns, but the developmental significance of these features is unknown. Methods: A randomly selected, age-stratified, sample of 144 children who had experienced an institutional upbringing in Romania and who were adopted by UK families was studied at 4, 6, and 11 years, and compared with a non-institutionalised sample of 52 domestic adoptees. Twenty-eight children, all from Romanian institutions, for whom the possibility of quasi-autism had been raised, were assessed using the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) at the age of 12 years. Results: Sixteen children were found to have a quasi-autistic pattern; a rate of 9.2% in the Romanian institution-reared adoptees with an IQ of at least 50 as compared with 0% in the domestic adoptees. There were a further 12 children with some autistic-like features, but for whom the quasi-autism designation was not confirmed. The follow-up of the children showed that a quarter of the children lost their autistic-like features by 11. Disinhibited attachment and poor peer relationships were also present in over half of the children with quasi-autism. Conclusions: The findings at age 11/12 years confirmed the reality and clinical significance of the quasi-autistic patterns seen in over 1 in 10 of the children who experienced profound institutional deprivation. Although there were important similarities with "ordinary" autism, the dissimilarities suggest a different meaning.

Longitudinal analyses on normal versus impaired functioning across 7 domains were conducted in children who had experienced profound institutional deprivation up to the age of 42 months and were adopted from Romania into U.K. families. Comparisons were made with noninstitutionalized children adopted from Romania and with nondeprived within-U.K. adoptees placed before the age of 6 months. Specifically, the validity of the assessment, the degree of continuity and change in levels of functioning from 6 to 11 years, and the factors in the pre- and postadoption environment accounting for heterogeneity in outcome were examined. Pervasive impairment was significantly raised in children experiencing institutional deprivation for =6 months of life, with a minority within this group showing no impairment. There was no additional significant effect of duration of deprivation beyond the 6-month cutoff, and few other predictors explained outcome. The pattern of normality/impairment was mainly established by 6 years of age, with considerable continuity at the individual level between 6 and 11 years. The findings are discussed in terms of the possibility of a sensitive period for development.

Background: Disinhibited attachment is an important sequel of an institutional rearing, but questions remain regarding its measurement, its persistence, the specificity of the association with institutional rearing and on whether or not it constitutes a meaningful disorder. Method: Children initially reared in profoundly depriving institutions in Romania and subsequently adopted into UK families were compared with respect to findings at 11 years with children who had not experienced institutional deprivation and who had been adopted within the UK before the age of 6 months. Measures included parental reports, a Strange Situation procedure modified for use in the home and systematic standardised investigator ratings of the children's behaviour. Results: Disinhibited attachment, as reported by parents, showed a high degree of persistence from 6 to 11, but also a reduction over time in its frequency. Investigator ratings validated the parental reports but suggested that much of the fall in rate of disinhibited attachment was a function of the parental measure being less developmentally appropriate at 11 than it had been at 6. Disinhibited attachment was strongly associated with institutional rearing but there was not a significant increase in relation to duration of institutional deprivation beyond the age of 6 months. Mild, but not marked, disinhibited attachment was quite frequent in non-institutionalised adopted children but both the course and correlates indicated that its meaning was probably quite different. In the institution-reared children, disinhibited attachment was associated with a marked increase in service usage and associations with other forms of psychopathology. Conclusions: Disinhibited attachment constitutes a valid, and handicapping, clinical pattern that is strongly associated with an institutional rearing.

Background: There is uncertainty about the extent to which language skills are part of general intelligence and even more uncertainty on whether deprivation has differential effects on language and non-language skills. Methods: Language and cognitive outcomes at 6 and 11 years of age were compared between a sample of 132 institution-reared Romanian children adopted into UK families under the age of 42 months, and a sample of 49 children adopted within the UK under the age of 6 months who had not experienced either institutional rearing or profound deprivation. Results: The effects of institutional deprivation were basically similar for language and cognitive outcomes at age 6; in both there were few negative effects of deprivation if it ended before the age of 6 months and there was no linear association with duration of deprivation within the 6 to 42 month range. For the children over 18 months on arrival (range 18-42 months), the presence of even very minimal language skills (imitation of speech sounds) at the time of arrival was a strong beneficial prognostic factor for language and cognitive outcomes, but not for social/emotional/behavioural outcomes. Individual variations in adoptive parent characteristics were unrelated to differences in language or cognitive outcomes, possibly as a consequence of the limited variability in the adoptive family group. Conclusions: Minimal language probably indexes some form of cognitive reserve that, in turn, indexes the degree of institutional deprivation.

Despite a rapid growth in research interest and treatment facilities for adolescent sex offenders, understanding of how these adolescents differ from non-offending adolescents remains incomplete. This study contributes to knowledge of the distinguishing characteristics of offenders and focuses on levels of sexual knowledge and empathy that differentiates adolescent sex offenders and normative comparators. Data were collected from 55 male non-offending adolescents and compared to 221 male adolescent child molesters of a similar age who had attended a treatment clinic. Measures used were the Sexual Matters Questionnaire (ADOL) and the Victim Empathy Scale. The present study found that adolescent sexual offenders have less sexual knowledge and less victim empathy skills than non-offending adolescents. Results are discussed in terms of ethical, methodological and intervention implications. (Contains 4 tables.)

Cognitive outcomes at age 11 of 131 Romanian adoptees from institutions were compared with 50 U.K. adopted children. Key findings were of both continuity and change: (1) marked adverse effects persisted at age 11 for many of the children who were over 6 months on arrival; (2) there was some catch-up between ages 6 and 11 for the bottom 15%; (3) there was a decrease of 15 points for those over 6 months on arrival, but no differentiation within the 6-42-month range; (4) there was marked heterogeneity of outcome but this was not associated with the educational background of the adoptive families. The findings draw attention to the psychological as well as physical risks of institutional deprivation.

This article explores the rarely considered role of friends and peers supporting young people after sexual abuse experienced in adolescence, drawing on participatory research with 32 young people in the UK with lived experience. The article considers ways in which relationships with friends and peers interplay with recovery from abuse. This includes friends and peers as recipients of disclosure, conduits to professional support, sources of emotional support and distraction, and being embroiled in often challenging, precarious peer cultures that young people navigate post‐abuse. The article explores young people's rationale for, and experiences of, reaching out to friends and peers. It considers what young people seek and gain from these relationships in the aftermath of abuse, while acknowledging complex risks and precarity of these relationships. It argues that support from friends offers something distinct to family and professionals. It explores benefits of these relationships, but also potential for peer responses to undermine wellbeing if not sufficiently supportive or informed. The article ends by arguing for professionals to better recognise and respond to these relational contexts and consider whether there are safe and appropriate ways to 'support young people to support' without responsibilisation, and recognising welfare needs of those providing such support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, valuable datasets have been collected on the effects of the virus SARS-CoV-2. In this study, we combined whole genome sequencing data with clinical data (including clinical outcomes, demographics, comorbidity, treatment information) for 929 patient cases seen at a large UK hospital Trust between March 2020 and May 2021. We identified associations between acute physiological status and three measures of disease severity; admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), requirement for intubation, and mortality. Whilst the maximum National Early Warning Score (NEWS2) was moderately associated with severe COVID-19 (A = 0.48), the admission NEWS2 was only weakly associated (A = 0.17), suggesting it is ineffective as an early predictor of severity. Patient outcome was weakly associated with myriad factors linked to acute physiological status and human genetics, including age, sex and pre-existing conditions. Overall, we found no significant links between viral genomics and severe outcomes, but saw evidence that variant subtype may impact relative risk for certain sub-populations. Specific mutations of SARS-CoV-2 appear to have little impact on overall severity risk in these data, suggesting that emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants do not result in more severe patient outcomes. However, our results show that determining a causal relationship between mutations and severe COVID-19 in the viral genome is challenging. Whilst improved understanding of the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 has been achieved through genomics, few studies on how these evolutionary changes impact on clinical outcomes have been seen due to complexities associated with data linkage. By combining viral genomics with patient records in a large acute UK hospital, this study represents a significant resource for understanding risk factors associated with COVID-19 severity. However, further understanding will likely arise from studies of the role of host genetics on disease progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Throughout the global COVID-19 pandemic, nosocomial transmission has represented a major concern for healthcare settings and has accounted for many infections diagnosed within hospitals. As restrictions ease and novel variants continue to spread, it is important to uncover the specific pathways by which nosocomial outbreaks occur to understand the most suitable transmission control strategies for the future. Methods: In this investigation, SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences obtained from 694 healthcare workers and 1,181 patients were analyzed at a large acute NHS hospital in the UK between September 2020 and May 2021. These viral genomic data were combined with epidemiological data to uncover transmission routes within the hospital. We also investigated the effects of the introduction of the highly transmissible variant of concern (VOC), Alpha, over this period, as well as the effects of the national vaccination program on SARS-CoV-2 infection in the hospital. Results: Our results show that infections of all variants within the hospital increased as community prevalence of Alpha increased, resulting in several outbreaks and super-spreader events. Nosocomial infections were enriched amongst older and more vulnerable patients more likely to be in hospital for longer periods but had no impact on disease severity. Infections appeared to be transmitted most regularly from patient to patient and from patients to HCWs. In contrast, infections from HCWs to patients appeared rare, highlighting the benefits of PPE in infection control. The introduction of the vaccine at this time also reduced infections amongst HCWs by over four-times. Discussion: These analyses have highlighted the importance of control measures such as regular testing, rapid lateral flow testing alongside polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, isolation of positive patients in the emergency department (where possible), and physical distancing of patient beds on hospital wards to minimize nosocomial transmission of infectious diseases such as COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of identifying suitable genome-wide association (GWA) studies and formatting the data to calculate multiple polygenic risk scores on a single genome can be laborious. Here, we present a centralized polygenic risk score calculator currently containing over 250,000 genetic variant associations from the NHGRI-EBI GWAS Catalog for users to easily calculate sample-specific polygenic risk scores with comparable results to other available tools. Polygenic risk scores are calculated either online through the Polygenic Risk Score Knowledge Base (PRSKB; https://prs.byu.edu) or via a command-line interface. We report study-specific polygenic risk scores across the UK Biobank, 1000 Genomes, and the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), contextualize computed scores, and identify potentially confounding genetic risk factors in ADNI. We introduce a streamlined analysis tool and web interface to calculate and contextualize polygenic risk scores across various studies, which we anticipate will facilitate a wider adaptation of polygenic risk scores in future disease research. The Polygenic Risk Score Knowledge Base (PRSKB) is a web-based interface that stores data from >2,300 distinct genome-wide association studies, and can estimate polygenic risk scores for general use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here Francis Beckett, formerly Education Correspondent of the New Statesman and long-time member of the Labour Party "Comprehensive Futures" group set up to further the cause of non-selective schools for all children reflects on the prospects for radical state education in New Labour's third term. He argues that with Andrew Adonis made a lord to enable him to be kept in charge of education the likelihood of progress in directions this journal would support seem highly unlikely. In these circumstances Francis Beckett opts for a "wilderness" that he suggests is likely to be a more comfortable place to be than contemporary alternatives.

Between 27 June and 14 July 2019 aerosol layers were observed by the United Kingdom (UK) Raman lidar network in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. The arrival of these aerosol layers in late June caused some concern within the London Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC) as according to dispersion simulations the volcanic plume from the 21 June 2019 eruption of Raikoke was not expected over the UK until early July. Using dispersion simulations from the Met Office Numerical Atmospheric-dispersion Modelling Environment (NAME), and supporting evidence from satellite and in situ aircraft observations, we show that the early arrival of the stratospheric layers was not due to aerosols from the explosive eruption of the Raikoke volcano but due to biomass burning smoke aerosols associated with intense forest fires in Alberta, Canada, that occurred 4 d prior to the Raikoke eruption. We use the observations and model simulations to describe the dispersion of both the volcanic and forest fire aerosol clouds and estimate that the initial Raikoke ash aerosol cloud contained around 15 Tg of volcanic ash and that the forest fires produced around 0.2 Tg of biomass burning aerosol. The operational monitoring of volcanic aerosol clouds is a vital capability in terms of aviation safety and the synergy of NAME dispersion simulations, and lidar data with depolarising capabilities allowed scientists at the Met Office to interpret the various aerosol layers over the UK and attribute the material to their sources. The use of NAME allowed the identification of the observed stratospheric layers that reached the UK on 27 June as biomass burning aerosol, characterised by a particle linear depolarisation ratio of 9 %, whereas with the lidar alone the latter could have been identified as the early arrival of a volcanic ash–sulfate mixed aerosol cloud. In the case under study, given the low concentration estimates, the exact identification of the aerosol layers would have made little substantive difference to the decision-making process within the London VAAC. However, our work shows how the use of dispersion modelling together with multiple observation sources enabled us to create a more complete description of atmospheric aerosol loading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Areas of land in the United Kingdom (UK) affected by heatwaves between 1960 and 2019 have been analysed using a daily gridded temperature dataset. An new metric, the 'heatwave cumulative area', defined as the sum of the largest single area on all days within a given heatwave, was found to be useful for distinguishing extreme heatwaves (those which lasted for many days and affected large parts of the UK) from lesser heatwaves. At the time of writing, the heatwaves of July 1975, August 1990 and July 2019 had the largest areas. Positive trends in numbers, durations and areas of heatwaves were found as a result of rising summer temperatures. The maximum areas and maximum temperatures of the heatwaves were found to be highly correlated. The heatwave of 1976, in many ways, remains the most extreme event to have affected the UK, owing to its large area and long duration with temperatures above 30°C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Japanese knotweed (R. japonica var japonica) is one of the world's 100 worst invasive species, causing crop losses, damage to infrastructure, and erosion of ecosystem services. In the UK, this species is an all-female clone, which spreads by vegetative reproduction. Despite this genetic continuity, Japanese knotweed can colonise a wide variety of environmental habitats. However, little is known about the phenotypic plasticity responsible for the ability of Japanese knotweed to invade and thrive in such diverse habitats. We have used attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, in which the spectral fingerprint generated allows subtle differences in composition to be clearly visualized, to examine regional differences in clonal Japanese knotweed. Results: We have shown distinct differences in the spectral fingerprint region (1800–900 cm− 1) of Japanese knotweed from three different regions in the UK that were sufficient to successfully identify plants from different geographical regions with high accuracy using support vector machine (SVM) chemometrics. Conclusions: These differences were not correlated with environmental variations between regions, raising the possibility that epigenetic modifications may contribute to the phenotypic plasticity responsible for the ability of R. japonica to invade and thrive in such diverse habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is evidence to suggest that the broad discrepancy in the ratio of males to females with diagnosed ADHD is due, at least in part, to lack of recognition and/or referral bias in females. Studies suggest that females with ADHD present with differences in their profile of symptoms, comorbidity and associated functioning compared with males. This consensus aims to provide a better understanding of females with ADHD in order to improve recognition and referral. Comprehensive assessment and appropriate treatment is hoped to enhance longer-term clinical outcomes and patient wellbeing for females with ADHD. Methods: The United Kingdom ADHD Partnership hosted a meeting of experts to discuss symptom presentation, triggers for referral, assessment, treatment and multi-agency liaison for females with ADHD across the lifespan. Results: A consensus was reached offering practical guidance to support medical and mental health practitioners working with females with ADHD. The potential challenges of working with this patient group were identified, as well as specific barriers that may hinder recognition. These included symptomatic differences, gender biases, comorbidities and the compensatory strategies that may mask or overshadow underlying symptoms of ADHD. Furthermore, we determined the broader needs of these patients and considered how multi-agency liaison may provide the support to meet them. Conclusions: This practical approach based upon expert consensus will inform effective identification, treatment and support of girls and women with ADHD. It is important to move away from the prevalent perspective that ADHD is a behavioural disorder and attend to the more subtle and/or internalised presentation that is common in females. It is essential to adopt a lifespan model of care to support the complex transitions experienced by females that occur in parallel to change in clinical presentation and social circumstances. Treatment with pharmacological and psychological interventions is expected to have a positive impact leading to increased productivity, decreased resource utilization and most importantly, improved long-term outcomes for girls and women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• UK law changed in 2018 to permit cannabis prescribing. Cannabis remains otherwise criminalised. Participants experienced benefits from cannabis across a broad range of conditions. • Most people who need a cannabis prescription in the UK still cannot access one. • Poor implementation of cannabis prescribing policy creates heath inequalities. • Intractable prohibition policy context continues to create social harms. This paper reports on the first qualitative study to interview people prescribed cannabis in the UK. Cannabis is a class B controlled substance under the 1971 Misuse of Drugs (MoD) Act, but a 2018 change to UK regulations provided for the prescription of cannabis for medical purposes. Relatively few people have been able to access a prescription, despite this policy change. This paper examines their experiences. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 people with a prescription for cannabis, or their carers. Data was analysed using a reflextive thematic analysis approach. The findings are discussed using a zemiology (social harms) perspective which provides a language for critical reflection on the current cannabis policy context. All participants reported that cannabis had significantly improved their mental and/or physical health, across a broad range of conditions. Many had been able to reduce their use of conventional medicines and reported that cannabis had relatively few side effects. Despite the potentially life-enhancing benefits of cannabis medicine, patients in the UK face multiple barriers to access. These include a lack of funding streams, bureaucratic supply problems, and a lack of training for doctors and police. Even for the few people able to obtain a prescription, the ongoing criminalisation of cannabis in the UK contributed to their experiences of stigmatisation. This often made it difficult and anxiety-inducing to take their medicine in public spaces. The UK government's lack of implementation of medical cannabis legalisation, combined with their ongoing prohibition position, is producing multiple harms to people who need cannabis medicine. The policy context is perpetuating stigmatising attitudes to cannabis which, as we demonstrate, contribute to social harms. We make recommendations on equality of patient access, and highlight the importance of education and policy change as means of combatting stigma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To describe the incidence, risks, management and outcomes of cardiac arrest in pregnancy in the UK population, with specific focus on the use of perimortem caesarean section (PMCS).Design: A prospective, descriptive study using the UK Obstetric Surveillance System (UKOSS).Setting: All UK hospitals with maternity units.Population: All women who received basic life support in pregnancy in the UK between 1 July 2011 and 30 June 2014 (n = 66).Methods: Prospective case identification through UKOSS monthly mailing.Main Outcome Measures: Cardiac arrest in pregnancy, PMCS, maternal death.Results: There were 66 cardiac arrests in pregnancy, resulting in an incidence of 2.78 per 100 000 maternities (1:36 000; 95% CI 2.2-3.6). In all, 28 women died (case fatality rate 42%); 16 women arrested solely as a consequence of obstetric anaesthesia, 12 of whom were obese. Basic and advanced life support were rapidly delivered. Those who died were more likely to have collapsed at home. Perimortem caesarean section was performed in 49 women, 11 in the emergency department. The time from collapse to PMCS was significantly shorter in women who survived (median interval 3 versus 12 minutes, P = 0.001). Forty-six of 58 babies were born alive; 32 babies to surviving mothers and 14 to women who died.Conclusion: Cardiac arrest is rare in the pregnant UK population, however, nearly a quarter of cases are precipitated by obstetric anaesthesia, suggesting an opportunity to reduce the incidence further. Maternal survival rates of 58% were achieved with timely resuscitation, including PMCS, delay in which was associated with maternal death. Inpatient arrests were associated with higher survival rates than arrests that occurred outside the hospital setting.Tweetable Abstract: 25% of cardiac arrest in pregnancy is caused by anaesthesia. Rapid perimortem section improves survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Specific Escherichia coli isolates lysogenised with prophages that express Shiga toxin (Stx) can be a threat to human health, with cattle being an important natural reservoir. In many countries the most severe pathology is associated with enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) serogroups that express Stx subtype 2a. In the United Kingdom, phage type (PT) 21/28 O157 strains have emerged as the predominant cause of life-threatening EHEC infections and this phage type commonly encodes both Stx2a and Stx2c toxin types. PT21/28 is also epidemiologically linked to super-shedding (>103 cfu/g of faeces) which is significant for inter-animal transmission and human infection as demonstrated using modelling studies. We demonstrate that Stx2a is the main toxin produced by stx2a+/stx2c+ PT21/28 strains induced with mitomycin C and this is associated with more rapid induction of gene expression from the Stx2a-encoding prophage compared to that from the Stx2c-encoding prophage. Bacterial supernatants containing either Stx2a and/or Stx2c were demonstrated to restrict growth of bovine gastrointestinal organoids with no restriction when toxin production was not induced or prevented by mutation. Isogenic strains that differed in their capacity to produce Stx2a were selected for experimental oral colonisation of calves to assess the significance of Stx2a for both super-shedding and transmission between animals. Restoration of Stx2a expression in a PT21/28 background significantly increased animal-to-animal transmission and the number of sentinel animals that became super-shedders. We propose that while both Stx2a and Stx2c can restrict regeneration of the epithelium, it is the relatively rapid and higher levels of Stx2a induction, compared to Stx2c, that have contributed to the successful emergence of Stx2a+ E. coli isolates in cattle in the last 40 years. We propose a model in which Stx2a enhances E. coli O157 colonisation of in-contact animals by restricting regeneration and turnover of the colonised gastrointestinal epithelium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explosive volcanic eruptions can leave behind widespread ash deposits that can subsequently be remobilised during strong winds. The London Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC), based at the Met Office UK, provides forecasts for resuspended ash clouds in southern Iceland. In this article we consider a significant resuspended ash event on 24 April 2017, which was captured by the London VAAC forecast. We examine the meteorological observations and NWP data from the event and identify specific synoptic conditions conducive to significant remobilisation of volcanic ash in southern Iceland. These criteria will help forecasters to predict resuspended ash events in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Viewed as a culmination of broader neoliberal governance within the UK, this paper examines the impact of the government's Transforming Rehabilitation (TR) agenda on day-to-day working cultures at the frontline of probation work. TR has brought with it extensive structural and cultural changes to probation work in England and Wales. Once a single public-sector service with a social welfare ethos of 'advise, assist and befriend', probation has been dismantled, partially privatised and culturally transformed into a collection of fragmented, target-driven organisations, divided according to risk and with an official rhetoric emphasising public protection. The implications of TR are now starting to surface. While much of this attention has focused on the impact of TR on both the supervision of offenders and in terms of public protection, less research has been conducted on how these organisational changes have impacted upon staff. Drawing upon findings from qualitative research, this article suggests that deepening cuts, precarious working environments, and increasingly unmanageable caseloads inflict upon staff what we consider to be a pervasive form of systemic workplace harm, resulting in mental health issues, stress, and professional dissatisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Since 2014, it has been a legal requirement in England and Wales for child care proceedings to be concluded, apart from “exceptional cases,” within 26 weeks. When this was first proposed, there were concerns that it might lead to poorer decision‐making or to delay being squeezed to either side of the court proceedings, before or afterwards. This paper reports on the messages from a pilot programme to hit the 26‐week target that took place in London in 2012–2013. The study compared the progress of the cases from the pilot year with those the year before, 180 cases in total, involving 256 children. The local authorities involved were able to achieve considerable improvements in timeliness, not just in the proceedings, but for the pre‐ and post‐court processes too; and the quality and fairness of decisions did not seem to be impaired, in terms of the plans for the children and subsequent outcomes over a period of 2 years. “Targets” do not generally find a warm welcome in the social work literature, but this paper shows that when collaboratively implemented, with a measure of flexibility and adequate resources, they can be an effective way of helping to achieve positive change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recentJET Anniversary Virtual Special Issue, abbreviated here to JET@40, reproduced its very first editorial with selected articles from Britain and abroad published in subsequent decades. The journal first came into being as a response to damning criticism of the profession via government-sponsored reports and reviews but also to encourage informed debate with particular focus on notions of ‘good teaching’ and the ‘good teacher’. In this paper, we engage with selected contributions in JET@40 to tease out an historical map for teacher education. The task is to glean a sense of the past which resonates with our co-developed, research-informed teacher education programme, and gives insight to a lack of institutional and political support to encourage teacher research activity that interrogates the effects of poverty and cumulative multiple deprivation on disadvantaged students’ lives, learning and urban schooling experiences. Our argument is that JET@40 not only provides us with an indication of the best of what is known and practised but also a ‘usable past’ or history of specific professional insights to inform debate about possibilities and predicaments in our own teacher education programme. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Nottingham workhouse case was a test of the resolve both of the Poor Law Commissioners appointed to administer the post-1834 New Poor Law, and of the strength of the Whig interest in the town’s municipal and parliamentary elections. All eyes were on the implementation of the legislation in Nottingham, partly because of the influential thinking of local administrators such as Absolem Barnett, and partly because the government needed evidence that the system of unions and workhouses set up after 1834 would actually work in industrial towns. The Nottingham case showed only too clearly that the key issue was the trade cycle, and fluctuations in the town’s hosiery and lace trades made it almost impossible to implement the terms of the legislation fully. The key battle was fought over the decision to build a new workhouse, which the Whigs favoured and the Tories resisted. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article explores the efforts of several private organisations in Great Britain to urge men to volunteer to serve during World War I. The war reportedly started on August 9, 1914, which prompted the government to appoint Herbert Kitchener to serve as the Secretary of State for War. Also discussed are the challenges in recruiting men, use of emotional blackmail to urge men to enlist, and the impact on the increasing number of casualties on volunteers.

Background: In the UK, studies suggest that the transition from hospital to home after an injury can be a difficult time and many patients report feeling inadequately prepared. Patients often use primary care services after hospital discharge. These consultations provide opportunities to consider problems that patients experience and to facilitate recovery. Little is known, however, about how patients and service providers view care after hospital discharge and the role played by primary care services, specifically GPs. Aim: To identify good practice and unmet needs in respect of post-discharge support for injured patients. Design and Setting: Qualitative study using semi-structured interviews at four sites (Bristol, Leicester/Loughborough, Nottingham, and Surrey). Method: Qualitative interviews with 40 service providers and 45 hospitalised injured patients. Results: Although there were examples of well-managed hospital discharges, many patients felt they were not provided with the information they needed about their injury, what to expect in terms of recovery, pain control, return to work, psychological problems, and services to help meet their needs. They also described difficulty accessing services such as physiotherapy or counselling. Service providers identified problems with communication between secondary and primary care, lack of access to physiotherapy, poor communication about other services that may help patients, GP service and resource constraints, and difficulties in providing information to patients concerning likely prognosis. Conclusion: Discharge from hospital after an injury can be problematic for patients. Changes in both secondary and primary care are required to resolve this problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is a collaboration between social work and psychology academics, using a quasi-experimental technique to explore the effect of experience, along with moderating cognitive, emotive and demographic factors, on risk judgements by social workers, compared with judgements made by social work students. Participants (forty social workers from two authorities; 105 students from two universities) assessed vignettes of cases where child maltreatment was suspected or likely, and their evaluations were measured using four risk scales. Qualified social workers rated risks lower overall than did students and those with more experience rated risk lower than those with less experience. The largest variation in risk judgements between practitioners and students was for emotional aspects of risk, where student scores were significantly higher. For practising social workers, though, the perceived likelihood of being blamed was significantly positively correlated with risk judgements: the greater chance of blame, the higher the risk rating. No such correlation was found for students. This provides some experimental support for widely held concerns about the influence of the 'blame culture' on practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Background Health care associated infections are a major contributor to avoidable harm experienced by patients in modern health care settings. Recent reports suggest that electronic checklists for the documentation of a central line bundle may significantly enhance documented process compliance and help to reduce catheter-related bloodstream infection rates. Aims This paper describes the use of our electronic tool to monitor and feedback process compliance in conjunction of introducing bespoke central line insertion packs to tackle catheter-related bloodstream infections in our intensive care unit in a medium-sized district general hospital. Design and methods Continuous quality improvement programme with 'Plan-Do-Study-Act' cycles was implemented. The central venous catheter insertion and maintenance bundle was rolled out in 2007. To monitor compliance with the bundle elements, an electronic tool was designed as part of our bedside Clinical Information System. From 2009, regular quarterly feedback was provided on the number of central venous catheter lines inserted, compliance with the insertion and maintenance bundle and catheter-related bloodstream infection rate using the data collected through the Clinical Information System. We have also introduced dedicated line insertion trolleys and factory-prepared insertion packs. We used segmented regression analysis to assess the changes in the catheter-related bloodstream infection rate before and after implementation of the central venous catheter bundle. Results Bundle compliance increased during the implementation period and reached over 95% within 6 months. We observed a significant reduction in the catheter-related bloodstream infection rate from 15·6/1000 days to 0·4/1000 days. Regression analysis showed that only the compliance had significant effect on the number and prevalence of catheter-related bloodstream infections. Conclusion/Implications Implementation of evidence-based care bundles reinforced by real-time feedback on the performance of caregivers can significantly reduce the rate of catheter-related bloodstream infection in the intensive care unit. Ensuring that change processes are seamlessly integrated in the workflow with minimal administrative burden is crucial to the quality improvement process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lord George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron of Rochdale, is known internationally as, perhaps, the most famous Romantic poet of his generation. His work continues to be read across the globe. As a peer (succeeding to the title following the death of his great uncle, the 5th Baron Byron, in 1798) he was entitled to a seat in the Lords, and this article covers the period during which he was active in the House. He took his seat in 1809, but most of his work in the Lords took place between early 1812 and the summer of 1813. Thereafter, his financial troubles, his stellar literary career, and his personal problems, led him to spend little or no time in the House, and he lived abroad between 1816 and his death in 1824. In 1812, before he had become known for his poetry, except among a small London elite, he began actively to cultivate a political career, and he made his maiden speech on the Framework Knitters Bill in 1812. Byron was a prolific letter writer, and from his published correspondence as well as other sources of contemporary information, it is possible to document his growing career in the upper House, and to see how a young peer might make his way into politics in the absence of a particular sponsor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article connects theories of ‘anti-oppressive education’ with Disability Studies perspectives. It outlines and critically analyses a typology of three possible pedagogies for teaching about disability as a form of oppression and disrupting the relations in which disability resides. This typology is employed to examine the approach UK schools are currently recommended to take to teaching about disability. It is concluded that UK schools are being advised to take an approach that whilst at best benign is insufficiently radical. The article explores the potential of and for more ‘radical’ approaches, opening up new avenues for a transformative ‘post-Critical Pedagogy’ that seeks to unshackle the possibilities for what a life can be/do and where a life might go. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]