news 2020

Storytelling is the most effective way of teaching school children about evolution, say researchers at the Milner Centre for Evolution. Last updated on Tuesday 8 December 2020 A randomised controlled trial found that children learn about evolution more effectively when engaged through stories read by the teacher, than through doing tasks to demonstrate the same concept.

Tutoring programmes and storybooks can help improve children's attainment in maths, according to a new evidence review led by UCL researchers. The evidence review, published today by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and written by a team from the UCL Institute of Education, the University of Brighton, Loughborough University and Ulster University, synthesises the best international evidence about the teaching and learning mathematics for children in Early Years and Key Stage 1 (between the ages of 3 and 7).

Children of the 90s, a health study based at the University of Bristol, has today [10 November] published results from a study testing almost 5,000 participants for COVID-19 antibodies. The results found 4.3 per cent reported a positive result, of which a quarter were asymptomatic and did not report any symptoms in previous questionnaires.

Children are more likely to introduce violent themes into their pretend play, such as imaginary fighting or killing, if they are with playmates whom peers consider bad-tempered, new research suggests. For some children, this could actually be a way of developing their social and emotional skills Zhen Rao Academics from the University of Cambridge believe that the tendency for children to introduce aggressive themes in these situations - which seems to happen whether or not they are personally easy to anger - may be because they are 'rehearsing' strategies to cope with hot-headed friends.

The common cuckoo is known for its deceitful nesting behaviour - by laying eggs in the nests of other bird species, it fools host parents into rearing cuckoo chicks alongside their own. While cuckoos mimic their host's eggs, new research has revealed that a group of parasitic finch species in Africa have evolved to mimic their host's chicks - and with astonishing accuracy.

Image by Jürgen Eick from Pixabay.com Parental influence has a far greater impact on a child's attainment in mathematics than any factor related to school environment, a new study published today from the University of Sussex reveals. Parents' own academic ability and their relationship with their child are much stronger indicators of a pupil's likely success with the subject than a pupil's feelings towards their school or individual teachers, new research by psychologists at the University of Sussex indicates.

Children growing up in families with expensive homes have fewer emotional and behavioural problems, finds new research led by the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) based at the UCL Social Research Institute. The study, published today in Child Development, is one of the first to look at the links between family wealth and children's development.

Children in Wales have some of the lowest levels of wellbeing among children across 35 countries, a team of Cardiff University researchers has found. The team, from the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data (WISERD), surveyed over 2,600 children from across Wales about their own happiness, satisfaction and psychological wellbeing, as well as how respected they feel and their inclusion in decision-making processes.

A new research project will look at how touchscreens affect the way two and three year olds play and what impact this has on children's development. Leading the study is Dr Elena Hoicka , a senior lecturer in Psychology at the University of Bristol, whose research focus is on the role of creative play in early cognitive development.

Lockdown has also had a disproportionately negative impact on parents, especially mothers, with a majority noting that they have been carrying out more housework and care New research from the University of Kent and the University of Birmingham has found that mass homeworking during the COVID-19 lockdown has presented significant challenges for parents, particularly mothers, but has also changed the way that many people intend to work in the future.

People with learning disabilities in England continue to die prematurely and from treatable causes of death, the latest annual report from the Learning Disabilities Mortality Review (LeDeR) programme shows. Treatable causes of death accounted for 403 per 100,000 deaths in people with learning disabilities, compared to just 83 per 100,000 deaths in the general population, according to the University of Bristol's 2019 LeDeR Annual Report.

Children who have a harmonious relationship with their parents have the edge over their peers in maths, a new study by the University of Sussex reveals. The progress in maths made by year six pupils with the most harmonious relationships with their parents was a third higher compared to children with the least harmonious, according to the study published today by the Royal Society.

Families of autistic children have been greatly impacted by lockdown reveals a study by UCL, the University of East London and the University of Bedfordshire. It found that despite the relaxed legislation on lockdown measures for autistic people brought into effect in April, 86% of those surveyed still felt that the needs of autistic people and their families were not adequately planned for or addressed by officials during the pandemic.

Government and employers must take stock to ensure mothers' long-term employment prospects are not disproportionately impacted by lockdown Childcare responsibilities during lockdown are not being shared equally between working parents, psychologists at the University of Sussex have found. Inequalities between parents for childcare and domestic duties have increased during the Covid-19 period.

Parents/carers of children aged 4-10 years of age reported that over a one-month period in lockdown, they saw increases in their child's emotional difficulties, such as feeling unhappy, worried, being clingy and experiencing physical symptoms associated with worry, according to early results from the Co-SPACE study, asking parents and carers about their children's mental health through the COVID-19 crisis.

Parents should not feel pressured to make their young children undertake structured learning or achieve specific tasks, particularly during lockdown. A new study of children under the age of two has found that parents who take a more flexible approach to their child's learning can - for children who were easy babies - minimise behavioural problems during toddlerhood.

Different learning difficulties do not correspond to specific regions of the brain, as previously thought, say researchers at the University of Cambridge. Instead poor connectivity between 'hubs' within the brain is much more strongly related to children's difficulties. Between 14-30% of children and adolescents worldwide have learning difficulties severe enough to require additional support.

A study evaluating the effectiveness of the widely used 'Daily Mile' intervention in schools to tackle childhood obesity has found that the benefits are small, and may be greater in girls than boys. The study concludes that whilst interventions such as The Daily Mile are not going to reduce childhood obesity alone, they could be an important part of a wider population strategy to tackling this challenge.

A study evaluating the effectiveness of the widely used 'Daily Mile' intervention in schools to tackle childhood obesity has found that the benefits are small, and may be greater in girls than boys. The study concluded that whilst interventions such as The Daily Mile are not going to reduce childhood obesity alone, they could be an important part of a wider population strategy to tackling this challenge.

A public ban on smoking in cars in England and Wales has led to fewer children being exposed to cigarette smoke, according to new analysis. England and Wales banned smoking in cars carrying children in 2015, with Scotland introducing a ban the following year. But to date, the impact of the legislation on children's exposure to cigarette smoke has been unclear.