/ Children & Young People

Rawlett School to be expanded
/ Children & Young People/ Education & Employment/ Staffordshire
A TAMWORTH Secondary school will be expanded to accommodate 300 more pupils, it has been announced. Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet has made the decision to expand The Rawlett School, an AET Academy, and increase the...
Tamworth man speaks of years of being bullied – in the hope of helping others
/ Children & Young People/ Education & Employment/ Staffordshire
A BRAVE man from Tamworth has spoken out about years of being on the receiving end of bullies, in the hope that it may help other people or better still, prevent bullying. Mike Jewkes, who...
Youth volunteer group lends a hand to nature reserves
/ Children & Young People/ Community/ Environment & Nature
YOUNG people are being given the chance to learn new skills and gain vital work experience by volunteering on nature reserves across the Tamworth area at a series of free sessions. ‘Youth Action’ has been...
Parents asked to “make a swap” amid reports 10-year-olds in the UK have consumed 18 years’ worth of sugar
/ Children & Young People/ Health & NHS/ Staffordshire
PUBLIC Health England (PHE) is helping parents in the West Midlands to “Make a swap when you next shop” to halve their children’s sugar intake from some everyday food and drinks. Children have already exceeded the maximum...
Parents urged to get their primary school applications in
/ Children & Young People/ Education & Employment/ Staffordshire
PARENTS are being urged to get their primary school applications in over the Christmas period, well before the 15 January 2019 deadline. Last year, the county council offered nine out of 10 parents their first...
Smyths Toys back-track and apologise over Santa incident
/ Business/ Children & Young People/ Community
SMYTHS Toys has this afternoon issued a statement, agreeing that there was a 'misunderstanding' in their Tamworth branch on Monday night (17 December) We reported on Tuesday that Santa was thrown out of the...
“It is a downright lie, I am heart broken” -Response to Smyths Toys
/ Business/ Children & Young People/ Community
TAMWORTH'S much loved charity fundraiser and personality has spoken out in response to a statement from Smyths Toys this afternoon, which accused him of swearing. We reported on Tuesday that Santa was thrown out...
Smyths have their say on throwing Santa out of store
/ Business/ Children & Young People/ Community
SMYTHS Toys have today responded to reports that a local charity fundraiser was thrown out of their Tamworth store whilst dressed as Santa. We reported on Tuesday that Santa was thrown out of the...
Home-Start Tamworth Welcomes Support from Amazon
/ Business/ Children & Young People/ Community
THE Tamworth branch of Home-Start, a national family support charity, has received a donation of £2,000 from the Amazon fulfilment centre in Rugeley. Home-Start in Tamworth provides life-changing support for families when they face...
Santa Claus thrown out of Smyths Toys
/ Business/ Children & Young People/ Community
CHRISTMAS spirit was not in the air at Smyths Toys last night (Monday) when Santa Claus was thrown out whilst attempting to buy gifts for children. The incident happened as Santa and a group...
Presents Bringing Christmas Cheer for Staffordshire Care Leavers 
/ Children & Young People/ StaffordshireHeadline
STAFFORDSHIRE’S young people leaving care are set for a rosier Christmas this year after receiving hundreds of presents. The appeal saw hundreds of gifts donated by County Council Staff, friends and family of staff as...
Nine-Year-Old Sells Xbox Games to Buy Presents for Other Children
/ Children & Young People/ CommunityHeadline
NINE-year-old Bradley Hughes from Swadlincote has sold games and toys to give presents to other children at Christmas. Bradley asked his Nan, Diane, who works for Tamworth Borough Council to take the used Xbox games into...
Drayton Manor Park Welcomes 2,000 Children to Experience Magical Christmas
/ Children & Young People/ Community/ Staffordshire
DRAYTON Manor Park has teamed up with the KidsOut charity and the Rotary International District to welcome more than 2,000 disadvantaged children and their carers to exclusively experience its award-winning Drayton’s Magical Christmas...
Police appeal for help to find missing teenagers
/ Appeal/ Children & Young People/ West Midlands
POLICE in Dudley are looking for help in locating two missing teenagers from the Black Country. The girl and boy, 13-year-old Lucy Oakley and 15-year-old Jay Richardson, who have been missing since 11.50am yesterday morning...
Home education increase under discussion, says County Council
/ Children & Young People/ Council & Politics/ Education & Employment
SCHOOLS should be challenged by Ofsted if too many pupils are leaving the classroom to be home educated to avoid sanctions, says Staffordshire’s education leader. An enquiry found a noticeable increase in the number of...
Tamworth Voices presents special guests at this year’s festive concert
/ Arts/ Children & Young People/ Staffordshire
TAMWORTH Voices popular Christmas concert at St Editha’s Church will be made extra special this year, as winning Christmas poems will be featured as part of a festive Girlguiding Tamworth competition. Rainbows, Brownies and...
Host Family Plea for US and German teens visiting Tamworth
/ Children & Young People/ Community/ Education & Employment
TWO lucky young people from the USA and Germany have been selected by Landau Forte Academy Sixth Form Tamworth to join their sixth form as guest students. They hope to experience life as a British...
Foster carers for teenagers sought in new campaign
/ Appeal/ Children & Young People/ Staffordshire
WITH record numbers of children being placed in care, Staffordshire County Council has launched a new campaign to target a particular shortage of foster carers for teenagers. The campaign is looking for so-called “resilience foster...
Council to consider new approach to children and young people’s mental health
/ Children & Young People/ Health & NHS/ Staffordshire
A PROPOSED new approach to helping children and young people with mental health issues in Staffordshire will be considered by Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet next week (November 21). If agreed, the new joint approach by...
Parents claim millions of hours of childcare
/ Children & Young People/ StaffordshireHeadline
STAFFORDSHIRE parents are claiming millions of hours of funded childcare for their three and four-year-olds. Latest figures show more than 7.7 million hours a year of pre-school care are being claimed by nearly 6...
Consultation begins on special needs education
/ Children & Young People/ Education & Employment/ Staffordshire
PLANS to educate more special needs pupils closer to home are at the heart of a new plan under consultation. Parents, carers and schools are taking part in a countywide consultation over the future of Staffordshire’s...
Have your say on community proposals for crossing patrols
/ Children & Young People/ Council & Politics/ Staffordshire
PEOPLE can their say on proposals to encourage more communities to support and fund their local school crossing patrol. Staffordshire County Council is proposing to no longer fund patrols from September 2019 as it needs to close...