
What makes YOUR school kind?
Greig Trout, from the charity, said: "Be kind is their school motto, and that is incredible. It's so lovely to be here and see it in action."The school was presented with the award by a team from 52 Lives. "It cements our passion as a school to teach our children to be kind and to keep on moving forwards with that," said Kelly Roberts, who is the primary's mental health lead.
We want to know, what makes your school kind?Perhaps you all look out for one another, maybe there's a big focus on looking after your mental health, or you have very supportive teachers and staff.Whatever it is, we want to hear from YOU!Leave us a comment below...
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Telegraph
31 minutes ago
- Telegraph
‘I gave up a career as a criminal barrister for a £7-an-hour job'
Georgina Gracen Salders-Hill became a sheep farmer almost by accident. She was training to be a lawyer, and hoped to be a criminal barrister. But while studying, she took a £7.05-an-hour job working on a dairy farm between 5am to 9am, when the cows are milked. She took it simply to earn money for four hours' work before she went to lectures at the University of Worcester, as no other job allowed her to start so early. But, to her surprise, she found that she loved it. So much so, she decided to no longer pursue a career in law, and instead turned her hand to farm work. After graduating, Salders-Hill went to work for the farm full time – milking, calving, driving tractors and foot trimming. Now, she has one wish in life: to own her own herd of 300 sheep. It does mean that she is sacrificing a potentially lucrative career for one that is very much not. She says she will be lucky to earn £30,000 a year, compared to the £60,000-plus she thinks she would have made going into law. 'The salary difference doesn't really bother me,' she says. 'I've worked some jobs on farms that are really low paying and I've always made do purely because I love the job. 'I don't think many people would get up at 4am to go to a minimum wage job if they didn't love it.' According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) figures, in 2024, there were 22,404 male casual farm workers in total, compared to 11,905 who were female. However, the youngest age group – under 35s – had the highest percentage of female principle farmers and holders, at 17pc. She feels that not having a family farming background has occasionally held her back. Her mum is a foster carer, while her father died when she was younger. 'Not coming from a farming background did have its negatives,' says Salders-Hill. 'When I wanted to try tractor driving, no one would take me. I had even been told because I was a girl with little to no experience it would be a massive risk. I then found a farm who took me as their first female tractor driver and, to this day, I still get told that I was a better and more cautious driver than the boys. 'But I found it really hard that without previous experience, I'd often be turned away. I'd apply for jobs here, there and everywhere, and travelled miles. When I did find a job, I always gave it my all.' After a period of travelling, she landed a job in animal tech at Hartpury College, where she started lecturing in animal agriculture. 'A lot of the students coming in were young women who'd never stepped foot on a farm before. It felt really empowering. I thought, 'I've done it, so you can do it'.' She quit the job in 2023 after having to undergo IVF to conceive, and started as a marketing executive at a dairy farm equipment company. That same year she and partner, Josh Lea, decided to start their own herd of sheep with a view to eventually living off the proceeds. Lea, 30, is a fourth-generation farmer, but currently only does part-time work for his dad, and is a self employed landscaper the rest of the time. This year, he plans to become a partner in his father's 450-acre arable farm in Stratford-upon-Avon, which is moving into regenerative farming, planting things like wildflowers. It is also where the pair – who are expecting a baby next month – now live, rent-free, and have a herd of sheep, although they do help out around the farm in return for their lodgings. They bought 10 sheep for £1,000 in 2023. The herd is now 45-sheep strong, and they fit caring for them around their other jobs. The plan is to double the size of the herd every year. But the couple admit they are unlikely to earn much more than £30,000 a year each, unless they also take on other work. In 2023-24, the average farm business income across Britain was just £41,500, according to Defra. However, the figures vary hugely, with 29pc of farms not making a profit at all. 'To support two people, you would need a lot of sheep,' says Salders-Hill. 'We sold five sheep at an abattoir for £550, which isn't great. 'It's traditional to live off just farming, but I know a lot of farmers that need to have a side businesses – like opening up a cafe, or selling their produce in a farm shop – just to get that additional money.' British farming is under threat – a record number of farms were forced to close for good this year. Salders-Hill would be forgiven for having turned her back on farming altogether after Chancellor Rachel Reeves introduced sweeping new tax rules. At last year's autumn Budget, Rachel Reeves introduced a 20pc rate of inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1m. The Treasury estimated that 27pc of farmers would be affected by the tax changes, but further analysis by the Office for Budget Responsibility showed that could actually be as high as 75pc. But while Salders-Hill accepts for many farms it has been incredibly stressful, she says there may be a positive spin. 'It has made farmers seriously think of succession planning sooner,' she says. 'And it has allowed some of the younger farmers to actually come into the family business, who otherwise might have been undecided. 'We have definitely found that – it was necessary to prevent us losing the family farm. I think there will probably be some positive stories that come out of this.' Salders-Hill is also aware that farming can be a dangerous career choice. In 2017, she was milking a herd of cows and spilt boiling water into her boot, leaving her with third degree burns on 9pc of her body and scarring to her leg. 'I thought it was just a bit of water. That's the farmer mentality. You just carry on,' she says. Farming continues to have the poorest safety record of any occupation in the UK and Ireland, with 23 fatalities in 2024-25, according to official figures highlighted by The Farm Safety Foundation. But she says not much will stop her continuing a career in farming – even if she never makes much money. 'I'd absolutely encourage people without a farming background to go into it. I enjoy every minute of it,' she says. 'If you love animals and you want to give back to the community, it's definitely worth doing. I love learning, I love driving tractors, I feel empowered when people see a girl on the road.'


BBC News
31 minutes ago
- BBC News
Yacht sinks at the Skerries as sailor rescued by RNLI
A sailor was pulled from the water after his boat smashed into a rock and sank off the coast of Anglesey. Chris Cowlard, 71, from Porthmadog, Gwynedd, ran into trouble at the Skerries, a group of islets off Anglesey, on 24 June when his yacht hit a submerged rock. The retired firefighter and experienced yachtsman was forced to abandon his 26ft (8m) boat in his life jacket and wait to be rescued after a wave took out his life raft. He was pulled from the sea by the RNLI's inshore lifeboat from Holyhead, after being directed there by HM Coastguard. "There was a thumping great bang. I knew what was happening immediately. I was being lifted by the waves and dropped. "The mast went down and over the side," he said. Three weeks previously, Mr Cowlard had bought an emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) which he was able to broadcast his location with. It meant he was able to share a radio mayday as soon as he got into trouble accurately showing where he was, before inflating his lifejacket and going into the churning sea. "I could hear them say they were receiving the EPIRB and it was in a similar position to mine. I just said a quick prayer not to let me die."Mr Cowlard said he heard a voice from the radio so he was confident someone had received his mayday call. He was pulled from the water 30 minutes later and he said all he felt was bump on his shoulder. "I was so relieved. The moment I hit the bottom of that lifeboat I knew I was safe."The sailor was taken to Ysbyty Gwynedd Hospital in Bangor via search and rescue helicopter. He was cold and had suffered a bang to the nose but was otherwise unharmed."When I called my wife Pauline she said, 'You have done what?!'" Mr Cowlard recalled. "I said to her, 'Is there any chance you could pick me up from the hospital and bring a complete set of clothes?'"Thanking HM Coastguard and the RNLI for the "textbook" rescue, Mr Cowlard said: "I was not getting out of it on my own, that's for sure. Without them, I would have bobbed around until I fell unconscious.


BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
New secondary school for SEND pupils to open in York
A new independently-run special school is set to open in Inspire Academy, on Cornlands Road in Acomb, has been officially registered by the Department for Education, following a successful pre-registration inspection by facility is due to open its doors for the upcoming autumn term to 40 pupils aged 11 to a statement headteacher Rickie Wilson said he was "thrilled" to open the school, which had been developed with a "commitment to creating a nurturing and ambitious environment for young people who need it most". A spokesperson said the school would serve children with "social, emotional and mental health and other special educational needs".They said the curriculum would be "ambitious, inclusive, and responsive to individual needs, preparing students for GCSE qualifications and life beyond school".The Ofsted inspection, which took place in June, praised the school's "broad and well-sequenced curriculum" and said it had "established the foundations of a strong culture of safeguarding".Inspectors confirmed that Inspire Academy was "likely to meet all the independent school standards when it opens."Each place will cost £20,000 in state funding. On the academy's website, it said referrals for admission would be decided by whether a child was on-roll at an Excel Learning Trust mainstream school, required respite to support their existing school place, or were at risk of permanent for places for pupils from other schools or directly from a local authority could also be made directly to the head of school. Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.