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Pupils at a Bristol school became scientists for a day to understand more about how PCR testing works to diagnose for COVID-19. Four Acres Academy is one of many local schools that are taking part in a ground-breaking University of Bristol research project to increase researchers understanding of infection patterns of COVID-19 in children.

An "astonishing" deficit of data about how the global boom in educational technology could help pupils with disabilities in low and middle-income countries has been highlighted in a new report.

An 'astonishing' deficit of data about how the global boom in educational technology could help pupils with disabilities in low and middle-income countries has been highlighted in a. Despite widespread optimism that educational technology, or 'EdTech', can help to level the playing field for young people with disabilities, the study found a significant shortage of evidence about which innovations are best-positioned to help which children, and why; specifically in low-income contexts.

Children conceived through medically assisted reproduction who are born small do just as well in cognitive tests during childhood and adolescence as naturally conceived children who are born a normal weight, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The new research, published today in the International Journal of Epidemiology, is one of the first studies to examine the links between medically assisted reproduction (MAR) - including techniques such as IVF treatment, artificial insemination and ovulation induction - birth weight and cognitive development.

Wider restrictions must remain in place if schools reopen in March in order to keep the epidemic's R number below 1 in the UK, a new UCL-led modelling study suggests. The pre-print study, published on the site medRxiv, suggested that reopening schools to all pupils in some form on March 8 may lead to an increase in cases but that, if a broader lockdown remained, it was unlikely to cause the R rate to go above 1 and lead to the epidemic growing again.

Teaching children in a way that encourages them to empathise with others measurably improves their creativity, and could potentially lead to several other beneficial learning outcomes, new research suggests. We clearly awakened something in these pupils by encouraging them to think about the thoughts and feelings of others Helen Demetriou The findings are from a year-long University of Cambridge study with Design and Technology (D&T) year 9 pupils (ages 13 to 14) at two inner London schools.

Dr Bastien Blain (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology) co-authors an article on his new research, which finds how we learn about our world may be more important for how we feel than the rewards we actually receive. Our obsession with happiness isn't as modern as it may seem. Philosophers from Aristotle to Jeremy Bentham have all argued that subjective wellbeing is crucial.

Family courts are misunderstanding and misusing research around how children form close relationships with their caregivers, say an international group of experts. The decisions reached by family courts can have a major impact on a child's life, but as we've seen, these decisions may be based on incorrect understanding and assumptions Robbie Duschinsky Seventy experts from across the globe argue that widespread misunderstandings around attachment research have hampered its accurate implementation, with potentially negative consequences for decisions in family courts.

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.