Sparx , the socially focused learning technology company, has today announced the appointment of Tim Oates CBE as the latest member of its Advisory Board.

Tim has had a 30-year career dedicated to educational research and is currently the Group Director of Assessment Research and Development at Cambridge Assessment. Prior to this, he was Head of Research and Statistics at the Qualifications and Curriculum Agency. He was awarded a CBE for services to education in 2015.

Tim’s expertise and experience in educational research, and his passion for evidence-based pedagogy, will...

Yesterday, it was announced that in the UK all non-essential retail stores in England will be allowed to re-open from 15 June, on the proviso they are ‘COVID secure’. The Prime Minister also confirmed that open air outdoor markets and car showrooms can open from 1 June.

While this easing of lockdown restrictions is undoubtedly good news for retailers and suppliers, most of whose businesses will have been hit hard by being unable to trade as usual for the past two months, reopening under social distancing rules now brings a whole new set of challenges.

The impact lockdown...

Empowering people to intervene when they witness unacceptable behaviour can help to prevent domestic violence and abuse, a new study has found.

Specific training for bystanders makes them “significantly” more confident to take action when they see or hear wrongdoing related to domestic abuse in their community, according to the research.

A total of 81 per cent of participants reported being more likely to intervene when they saw wrongdoing after the training, this increased to 89 per cent four months later.

This is the first academic study to examine a bystander...

A group of local musicians and medics have joined together to produce a charity video.

The eighteen talented performers have recorded a version of Help! by The Beatles.

And they all played their part from the safety of their own homes.

The video is raising money for FORCE Cancer Charity, which has continued to support local people throughout the Coronavirus pandemic.

The project was co-ordinated by Shelley and Ian Poole from the multi award-winning wedding and function band Quite Brazen.

Ian plays guitar and piano and is a sound engineer and music...

People are being encouraged to support local businesses during the coronavirus outbreak.

A new campaign – Stronger Together – has been launched encouraging people, including businesses to buy local and support local businesses. To get the campaign running, people are being encouraged to create and share a short ten-second video clip about a local business they love.

Exeter City Council is backing the campaign and has linked up with a number of organisations and businesses to form the Stronger Exeter taskforce. The campaign comes as the government announced that shops and...

The government has published a document for construction workers containing guidelines on how to undertake work during the Covid-19 lockdown. Homeowners are also allowed to arrange for renovation or improvement work for their homes under the new guidelines.

According to a survey carried out by Which Magazine , 6% of people surveyed had an urgent issue that they needed a tradesperson to fix at the end of March, but 73% (three-quarters) of them could not find anybody to do the work.

With the coronavirus lockdown, it has become doubly-difficult and more stressful to get...

Filing tax returns is one of the simplest, yet most crucial obligations which if neglected or improperly done, can land one into some financial hot water with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) department. Nevertheless, since the HMRC has no stomach for letting its subjects slip into tax-related penalties, they have made available an online account where you can register and successfully fulfill your tax obligations.

A Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) number is a ten-digit unique identifier code of a self-assessing taxpayer (individual or business...

The lockdown imposed by the UK Government to reduce the spread of COVID-19 has kept many families together in their homes, but being physically close doesn’t mean that your relationships remain strong.

With anxiety rising and tensions high, it’s understandable that many families are finding their relationships strained as a result of the current, scary situation.

Families fights are incredibly stressful, which is why I’ve put together a list of tips to help you keep your family together so that you come out of the lockdown with stronger bonds, not weaker ones.

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Research is being placed at the heart of GP training in the South West giving four recently qualified GPs and one GP who is still in training the opportunity to offer the Covid-19 research to their patients.

The PRINCIPLE Trial is a nationwide study into Covid-19 which is being delivered in the community. The study aims to enable researchers to rapidly evaluate different treatments of Covid-19 symptoms in older people and hopefully improve outcomes.

Of the 36 number of GP practices that are offering this study to patients, five are being led by GPs who are newly...

Dental practices may be operating differently at the moment, as non-essential routine check-ups are postponed due to coronoavirus (COVID-19).

So parents of younger children are being asked to pay particular attention to their child’s teeth, to ensure that they continue to have good oral health hygiene.

National Smile Month runs from 18 May until 18 June and Devon Public Health, Libraries Unlimited, Devon’s Childrens’ Centres and Action for Children are raising awareness of oral health hygiene in children and families, in conjunction with the Oral Health Foundation....