Nursery's home comfort for Jessica - Newspaper article

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Kiteto Christian College

Those with children attending the Nursery's School in the spring will perhaps recall that we agreed to sponsor the building of and equipping a classroom at the Kiteto Christian College in Tazmania.

Chris Lee, whose sister was one of the very first pupils at the Nursery School, is studying to be an Anglican Minister and currently works full time at the college and it is through him that we have been given the opportunity to help the local children obtain the education so often taken for granted in this country.

We are delighted to say that the Classroom is now built and equipped. We will be keeping in touch with the college and hopefully getting some news directly from the children in Africa on how they like their new classroom.

The Cleverness Capsule

Jamie Oliver may be responsible for revolutionising school dinners, but now it seems one simple change to children's diet could not only boost their brain power but also make them better behaved.
A major new study found that a daily dose of fish oil supplements had a dramatic effect on the abilities of underachieving children in Durham
Now in an exclusive Daily Mail study, conducted in conjunction with eminent specialists, fish oil supplements have been found to have a dramatic, and at times almost immediate, effect - even on children who have not been diagnosed with learning or behavioural problems.
Children on both trials were given similar doses of a fish oil supplement called Eye Q, containing Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids.
The main difference was that in the Mail's study, the supplement (available as capsules or a fruit-flavoured solution) was offered to pupils regardless of whether they exhibited behavioural or learning difficulties.
The results, according to parents and Dr Madeleine Portwood, a Senior Educational Psychologist at Durham LEA and principle investigator of both trials, were impressive.
At the start of the experiment Dr Portwood's tests revealed that the Mail's children - seven and eight-year-old pupils from Little Heath Primary School in Potters Bar, Herts - already had an average reading age nine months above their actual age.
But after just three months on the fish oils, they were reading at 18 months above their age.
Improvement in memory
In addition, more than half showed a 10 per cent improvement in memory, while eight pupils improved by 20 per cent and one by 30 per cent.
Among the parents, about 35 per cent say their children showed significant improvements in reading, concentration, focus or behaviour. Many also reported that the children were much 'calmer', more 'confident' and 'grown up'.
Marina Breeze, headteacher at Little Heath, says some of the improvement in reading age could be put down to the intensive reading practice children do in the spring term.
But she adds: "The fact that the children have inreased their reading age by a year in just three months is more than we would have expected, so there must be something in these supplements that helps."
The improvements, says Dr Portwood, demonstrate that fish oils - or essential fatty acids - can make a huge difference to children's performance regardless of current ability.
"The results from the Daily Mail trial are particularly exciting as they show significant changes in children who were not identified as having specific problems and so suggest that dietary supplementation can help children of all abilities," she says.
Significant changes
In contrast, the Durham Schools Trial, conducted by the local education authority and Oxford University, tested 110 children aged six to 12, who were selected from schools in County Durham on the basis of co-ordination problems (dyspraxia).
Many also had accompanying conditions such as ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and dyslexia.
Results at the end of the double-blind placebo-controlled trial were just as impressive as the Daily Mail's study.
They revealed that 40 per cent of the children who took the fish oil supplements for a minimum of three months showed a significant improvement in reading and spelling skills.
Those suffering from ADHD showed improvement in symptoms similar to that seen after treatment with the controversial drug Ritalin.
"Children who had specific difficulties in the classroom have seen a tremendous increase in performance," says Andrew Westerman, former head of Timothy Hackworth Primary School, Shildon, County Durham, one of the schools participating in the trial.

by TANIA ALEXANDER, Daily Mail 10th May 2005

Eye Q can be purchased at any boots store in their 3 for 2 offer

Other useful links on this subject: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/dmsearch/overture.html?in_page_id=711&in_overture_ua=cat&in_start_number=0&in_query=Eye+Q+tablet+tests&siteOr=

Parents warned over food additives

Parents have been warned of the dangers of artificial additives in drinks, sweets and processed foods after new evidence emerged about a possible link to hyperactive behaviour in children.
The Government's food advisers immediately hardened their dietary advice after the biggest study of its kind to date found normal children given a cocktail of additives behaved impulsively and lost concentration.
But food safety campaigners urged the Government to go further and put legal limits on additives in food.

Psychology Professor Jim Stevenson, who led the Food Standards Agency (FSA)-commissioned study, said: "We now have clear evidence that mixtures of certain food colours and benzoate preservative can adversely influence the behaviour of children.
"There is some previous evidence that some children with behavioural disorders could benefit from the removal of certain food colours from their diet.
"We have now shown that for a large group of children in the general population, consumption of certain mixtures of artificial food colours and benzoate preservative can influence their hyperactive behaviour.
"However, parents should not think that simply taking these additives out of food will prevent all hyperactive disorders.
"We know that many other influences are at work but this at least is one a child can avoid."
Following publication of the report, the FSA urged parents of children with hyperactive disorders to stop giving them food containing the artificial colours used in the tests.
A spokesman for campaign group The Food Commission said food manufacturers should "clean up their act" by voluntarily removing the additives from their products.

"Daily Mail" on 6th September 2007

Use Full links on further discussions and a print out guide to the "dirty Dozen"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/dmsearch/overture.html?in_page_id=711&in_overture_ua=cat&in_start_number=0&in_query=Danger+additives&siteOr=