And I’m not sure the new rules require any more than that. So it seems to be a big fat nothing, in practice.

I think schools that rigidly enforce “no smart phones” basically force parents to buy non-smart phones to cover this eventuality. I’ve also heard of schools with elaborate locker systems that phones go in during school hours. But I think most schools just do the “phones must be off in your bag”

That is the best plan
Haikus are silly poems
In my humble view

Phew. Much more sinister otherwise 😂

Nerf?

I LOVED the first few Nevermoor but the most recent is not holding my - or my kids - attention so well. It’s much more of a “girls” book - family intrigue and a mystery - than the previous ones that have been proper adventures!

Totally this. Too often we assume digital exclusion is about age. Well, the digital revolution was kicked off by people now 70+, grandma can probably manage an app if she can see the phone. We don't think nearly enough about digital exclusion caused by disability, affordability & language barriers.

Excellent choice!

The Department of Health and Social Care is running a survey to explore the self-funder care journey and better understand how to support individuals and families in their care searches.

The survey can be found here: forms.office.com/pages/respon...

Could a more joined-up adult social care sector unlock progress on reform? | The King's Fund Kate Jopling and Simon Bottery reflect on early steps to bring adult social care leaders together to work towards reform.

A couple of weeks ago we brought together leaders in adult social care to work out if, and how, they could help break the logjam on reform. You can now read me & @blimeysimon.bsky.social on what happened www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-...

Later on Louise Casey will set out her first thoughts on her Commission on adult social care. Despite consensus that reform is needed, action has largely eluded us.

Happy ‘Thank-goodness-my-kids-are-too-old-for-World-Book-Day’ to all who celebrate

Not at all comforting to see the questions being raised about the integrity of the election / result - the playbook being followed VERY closely here

Sign up for Chloe Green's Social Media to Win Campaigns workshop on 3rd March at smk.org.uk/training-events/social-m...

Broadly: providing group based activities that are accessible & affordable is good for everyone. The most lonely also need 121 support to get to point of joining activities. Models in UK like social prescribing & Local Area Coordination do this & have wider benefits eg reduced health / care need

No. There isn’t. Those of us who work on this issue try to debunk that regularly. But there is a persistent level of loneliness that is very damaging for those who experience it - and the solutions they need bring wider good. There is also some evidence that some people’s loneliness is deepening.

Good to see this - practical proposals for addressing the loneliness that sits beneath and feeds so many of the big challenges we face today

I really hope people advocating to ban kids from SM read this. Some kids are isolated by disabilities or circumstances. Furthermore, some kids grow up in abusive households. “Ideally, a child’s exposure to online worlds should be moderated by their parents” isn’t a reassuring sentiment for everyone

Alaa Abd el-Fattah has shown supremacy of the Stakeholder State My time working in No 10 showed me how much time and energy is sapped by people obsessed with fringe issues. It doesn’t have to be this way

I’m sorry, but if ‘other people have views, and they’re annoying’ is news to you in govt, then you have not properly prepared for government www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

All this government's humiliating retreats could have been avoided if ministers had listened to lobby groups before announcing the policy, rather than waiting until afterwards.

Alaa Abd el-Fattah has shown supremacy of the Stakeholder State My time working in No 10 showed me how much time and energy is sapped by people obsessed with fringe issues. It doesn’t have to be this way

Well, this explains a lot about Labour's travails if little else.

Verging on conspiracism.

Hate to break it to politicians of this and all future generations, you will be governing in a complex society. You need to factor that into your operating model.

www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

The reason for overcrowding of A&E is that too many people haven't got entirely predictable crises managed through anticipatory care and too many people then need an admission. It is not that some people with minor illnesses are there too.

We're probably going to miss our target... donate.biggive.org/campaign/a05...

But if you donate to this excellent cause by noon today your money will be doubled and (if you drop me an email) I'll give you free access to the members-only London Centric stories I'm working on.

The future of adult social care relies on public understanding. So how can we shifting the way we talk to build understanding and strengthen support for investment and reform?

If you want to communicate about social care in a way that connects, these resources will help: bit.ly/3KINLs5

“I tell my story so that future generations don’t have to go through the box ticking I did, to be able to get the care I need.”

Powerful words from Freya who shared her story as part of our Care Can’t Wait campaign.

Read her story: www.adass.org.uk/campaign_art...

#ncasc25 #reframingsocialcare

Enjoying the start of my first #NCASC - @clentonf.bsky.social demonstrating his usual way with words as he argues for storytelling to engage people with social care saying “stories move people, spreadsheets don’t”

I’ll never forget the horror of the Covid wards | The Observer

Powerful piece by @drrachelclarke.com on the COVID inquiry. Those who say it’s easy to be wise in hindsight are being utterly disingenuous. Many of us spoke out at the time, and it’s in the public record.
@independentsage.bsky.social

observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

I hate that AI has made me approach cute animal videos with an air of suspicion. I resent having to harden my heart to the possibility of an unlikely friendship between a very large dog and a very small one

I think they are legally obliged to consult on most of those things. The fact that the consultations are a sham is a lot harder to prove than that they didn’t occur at all.

Progressive thought has been totally expunged from the British political mainstream, and *still* the argument is that there’s an unacceptable institutional bias to the left within the news media.

It is *utterly* mad. Very clear for all to see what’s happening here.