Despite evolution being an accepted scientific fact, we still allow the teaching of religion to innocent children as part of their state education. There is is no evidential basis for religious beliefs and as such, to influence and indoctrinate young children as they form their view of the world seems to me to be abusive. History has shown us the divisive nature of religious belief and the conflict it can cause. It is time for our children to be taught religious studies in an historical context only.

Approximately 4,000 new cases of cancer in children and young adults are diagnosed in the UK each year. Be Child Cancer Aware, a parent led and run charity has already sent out millions of signs and symptoms awareness cards with the result that a number of families have received an early diagnosis. Ben's diagnosis is featured on their website. We ask the UK government to officially support this campaign to empower parents with the knowledge that might save the life of a child they know or love. The charity Be Child Cancer Aware introduced and has been successfully leading this awareness campaign for over 4 years without any official support. They now look to the government to recognise the importance of knowing the main signs and symptoms of all childhood cancers.

Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of children and teenagers in the UK and our diagnosis time is slower than similar countries to us. Ashya King required two operations to remove his brain tumour, which was reportedly the size of a satsuma. His situation echoes that of our son David, who was treated at the same hospital. Had David's tumour been diagnosed earlier, it would have been smaller. He would probably have needed only one operation instead of the 11 that he endured. I knew nothing about the symptoms of brain tumours at that time. Had I been more aware, I would have taken our son to the doctor weeks earlier. I believe this would have resulted in a better outcome for David, who died in 2012, aged 16. Most parents know the symptoms of meningitis. Few know the symptoms of a brain tumour and yet both these illnesses represent the same risk to a child. The HeadSmart campaign is designed to raise awareness of the symptoms of brain tumours in children, with the sole aim of reducing the average diagnosis time and bringing UK diagnosis times into line with other western countries. Late diagnosis of childhood brain tumours in the UK causes unnecessary suffering, disability and death and is unacceptable. The little help I've received so far from the Department of Health, has been conditional on my NOT being allowed to acknowledge it in the national press. As a mother who had to watch her son die from spinal tumours and full dementia, suffering from a disease that might have been prevented by earlier diagnosis, I beg you to sign this petition and enlist the public help of Jeremy Hunt. THANK YOU

My name is Elysce. I am 11 years old and live in Liverpool. My favourite thing to do in the world is read, and hope one day to become an author and that people will read the stories I have written. I have read hundreds of books and love finding new ones in my library. I think it would be an awful thing to take away the books from people. If I do become an author when I am older, people should be able to visit the libraries and read my stories. I love visiting the libraries in Liverpool, and my mum was happy that I spent lots of time in the summer holidays visiting them. I also went to a 2 week camp called "book it" my mum has told me that the council paid a lot of money for me to go, and that they are partners with the company who organised it, so what I don't understand is, why encourage children to read, and spend a lot of money getting them interested in it, and all of a sudden take it away!! Please please please support and help my to stop the libraries from closing in Liverpool. I couldn't imagine how boring life would be if we had no books. Someone once said: "In the library one often finds, people close their mouths and open their minds" I really think that this is true. Thank you

Tudor Grange Academy Redditch has submitted a business case to pursue their change in age range in order to become a secondary school. This is despite a consultation process which indicated great opposition from parents and educationalists. This will cause chaos and disruption to the other schools in Redditch. Re-organisation will cost the taxpayers millions. Our three tier system is working well, we do not need expensive and unnecessary change.

Healthcare students are at university for a longer period per year than an average student, our terms and academic year are substantially longer for all three years of training. Students completely understand that the government cannot fund them via the student loan once they finish university and therefore will not fund them over the summer after they have taken final exams. However the current standard reduction in the amount available under the student loan of £513 is based on 3 months less funding for students which is not representative for the healthcare student population. For healthcare students this should be a pro-rata reduction, determined by their academic year end date and not the national average. I am a student nurse and my pro rata reduction should be £134 which equates to 3 weeks. My friend is studying physio and her pro rata reduction should be £268.14 which equates to 6 weeks. The reduction in our loan should be directly comparable to how long we spend at University as the current system is inequitable. During my final year I will be placed under increased financial pressure. Rather than increasing the stress of the next generation of healthcare students, why not ensure our transition from student to newly qualified healthcare workers is not plagued by how am I going to pay my rent for the final few months? This rate has been calculated by looking at the full amount a healthcare student (i.e. Nurse, Midwife, OT, SLT, Physio etc.) is entitled to receive per annum in their first and second year from the Student Loan Company (SLC) which is £2324 as a Maintenance Loan. I have then calculated that to be a weekly rate of £44.69. In the final year SLC are offering £1811 which is a reduction of £513 on the previous year. The reduction of £513 equates to a removal of funding for 83 days, about 11 ½ weeks.

SMMC- formerly known as Saturday Morning Music School- provides affordable tuition to students as they progress from their first steps on an instrument to become confident, capable musicians. It is the umbrella group through which Liverpool Youth Orchestra is run, as well as Choral, Wind, Jazz, Brass, String and Woodwind ensembles that accept and nurture students throughout their musical development. It is a Liverpool institution, having played a pivotal role in the musical education of generations of the city's children. It has been the birthplace of the careers of many of the city's musicians, and instilled in many thousands of others a lifelong love of making music. It also provides a wonderful social function, as its students become lifelong friends and travel the globe in ensemble tours. They acquire confidence as they perform in public; self-esteem as they improve their instrumental technique, and rise to meet challenges; and through a busy musical calendar develop personal responsibility and time management skills by being part of a team of people who depend upon each other. As well as the children who attend it, it has long made outstanding contributions to the wider cultural life of the city. Its ensembles have been called upon to mark occasions such as the passage of the Olympic torch through the city, or the city's commemoration of the Battle of the Atlantic. They featured prominently in the city's celebration of its status as the European capital of culture in 2008, and regularly perform at fundraising events for local charities. Resonate claim that they are designing a new provision taking into account feedback from both parents of SMMC pupils and staff. However, it appears that this consultation is merely window-dressing. Questionnaires were sent out in the first week of the summer holidays; parents received them on the Tuesday and the responses were expected by Friday, which is not a great deal of time in a week when many people will be on holiday. Furthermore, a briefing received by a Liverpool councillor -before the consultation had been sent out to parents- outlines the proposed structure of the new provision. This document also makes it clear that SMMC indeed closed at the end of the last term, which has never been explicitly stated to parents. As for consultation with staff, SMMC staff were simply told on the final day of term, with no prior warning, that SMMC cannot afford to continue in its present form, and have not yet even been told if they will have jobs in the new provision. This structure involves simultaneously expanding the service, with the creation of a second centre, whilst simultaneously amalgamating youth ensembles into "Big Bands". It is stated that there will be a large PR campaign in order to recruit new students, and that to facilitate changing to a weeknight, Liverpool schools will be asked to transport children to the new services after school. One of the major factors that has led to the axing of SMMC is that the numbers of pupils attending it has dropped sharply, from 299 in 2009 to 199 today. It seems strange, in our view, to totally restructure a service of 40 years' standing in a way which leaves it dependant upon recruiting large numbers of students to a less focussed provision, when such a drive could instead be used to restore numbers to their levels of merely 5 years ago. This approach seems particularly strange given that no concerted effort has been made to advertise SMMC prior to its closure. It also seems optimistic to design such a system with scant regard to the response from present students and their parents about whether they would be able to access the service, even on the assumption that schools might provide a taxi service with no discernible benefit to themselves. As well as the transport problems associated with travelling to the centres on a weekday evening (when bus routes may stop running, and parents may not yet be home from work to provide lifts) moving to a weekday evening also creates problems with schoolwork that has to be completed for the next day, and for those students who already play in school or other ensembles not affiliated to Resonate- or indeed for those who participate in other extra-curricular activities such as sport after school.

Lord Krebs, Chair of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, said: “When we really need to send the message that international STEM students will get a warm welcome in the UK, they’re getting the cold shoulder and heading elsewhere. The overwhelming evidence that we received led us to conclude that changes to the immigration rules in this country have played a direct part in putting overseas students off from choosing the UK.” Only this week a 17 year old Indian friend of ours, who was on her way to take a two week course here for High School students, and who has UK permanent residency, was turned away and put on a plane back to India because she had not been to the UK for two years. I think you will agree that this is outrageous and will want to help to restore reasonable immigration regulations for foreign students.

JP Morgan identify teamwork, communication, project management, self-confidence and creativity as essential characteristics in graduates. Drama GCSE explicitly teaches and develops all these skills, which are desirable in any work environment. Our nation is famed for its culture. The theatre industry and related tourism brings great revenue to the country, not to mention our fantastic exports in film and television. Far deeper than this is the impact of Drama on a person's character. Shakespeare needs to be performed, spoken, enacted and felt to truly be understood. Reading is not enough. Where will the next Shakespeare come from if we remove Drama GCSE? It would easy to write Drama off as a sub-set of English. As a Head of Drama working for many years in the UK's most diverse postcode I am am keenly aware of the transformational, inspirational effect of practical Drama on young people's lives. Some of my former students are now professional actors. This would not have been possible without GCSE Drama. By removing Drama from the GCSE roster, it would become the preserve of those well-off enough to afford private tuition. We must maintain access for all.

Please do not ignore how important this subject is, it may one day save our planet. Education is the most powerful tool in saving the planet and helping us sustain ourselves and further generations. Environmental Studies has not just empowered students, but also changed the way they think and act about their education, their lives, and where they live. For me it's been the biggest page turner in my life, and without it I wouldn't be where I am now. This subject hasn't just helped me, it has helped countless other young adults in the UK find their passion in life and set them on their path for life, who are we to deprive others of such an opportunity? Furthermore it has actually encouraged students to go into STEM subjects at university, something that the government actually would like more people to do. Whilst some think that Environmental Studies overlaps with the other sciences, i can assure you the approach to similar topics is far from the same and each take their own angles and focus on completely different areas. This is a subject that deserves our attention, our care, and our devotion. We only have one earth, we only have one chance at this life, and how are we supposed to understand how we are affecting our home if we are not educated. If you would like to help us please sign this petition and email ofqual to speak your mind on the matter, we also have a facebook page up and running where we will post updates, important information, and some Environmental Studies related news just to show how much of an impact and how important this subject is! Email: [email protected]

Pre application planning consultation shows Austerity design is worse than anticipated due to Lewisham council not putting funding in to this which they could from the redevelopments that are causing need for school places. Sir Francis Drake Primary school is in one of Lewisham boroughs most deprived areas Evelyn Ward, it a local one form entry community school with capacity for 210 children. 52% of school pupils are have English as a second language, 41% are on free school meals and the proportion of disabled pupils and special educational needs is above average. Despite the disadvantages -Currently it is in the top 8% of school in the country for the 2013 SATS and recognised by the DFE as in the top 250 schools in the country measured by the progress made by disadvantaged pupils. The RT Hon David Laws MP Secretary of State congratulated the school for "being exceptionally effective in educating disadvantaged children providing them with a good start in life and a strong springboard into secondary education". Ofsted: Pupils thoroughly enjoy school and this is reflected in their attendance, which is above average. The school provides a very positive and vibrant learning environment, and pupils therefore feel safe and secure. All pupils are equally valued, as the school motto indicates, ‘Everyone is valued and all succeed.’ This ensures that the school strongly promotes equality of opportunity, and does not tolerate any form of discrimination. Pupils have extremely positive attitudes towards learning, and engage thoughtfully in all activities. Their behaviour around the school is often exemplary. They get on well together, and show considerable respect and care for each other. Despite its success the school has become earmarked for demolition and on its tiny site the plan is to rebuild it as a 3 storey "Pilot" Austerity "baseline design" school with reduced classroom space to provide 30 reception places for 2016 and doubling the capacity of children to 420 on the same small site. Baseline Design schools (Aka Austerity schools) The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is seriously concerned about the unproven ‘Austerity School’ scheme.RIBA President Angela Brady said: 'Our students, teachers and local communities deserve great schools - environments that are beneficial to the best-quality teaching and learning. In these times of austerity of course we need to cut our cloth on all spending; however, the government's proposals for the design and construction of future schools are far too restrictive with too much focus on short-term savings. They say that the scheme’s overall space reduction is ‘ignoring the safeguarding of environmental comfort’ and it is ‘not ensuring discipline and student wellbeing’. They maintain that there is ‘a failure to create functional spaces for excellent teaching’, that ‘students and teachers will be deprived of quality environments that are proven to support teaching and learning’ and the scheme is ‘disregarding statutory requirements for accessibility and inclusion’. The RIBA believe that it does ‘not deliver long-term sustainability and value’. Only time will tell the success of this scheme but for now, the children of SFD will become the first ‘guinea pigs’ for the success or failure of this type of building development. Why is this happening? The council is allowing private developments to build new homes without adequate primary provision. Instead the council has over the last four years opted to enlarge 75% of their primary schools instead. Locally we have 1432 new homes being built but the council says it has no sites to build new schools. Demolishing Sir Francis Drake will not resolve the need for primary places for the developments the council has agreed but it will permanently disrupt and change it irreparably. The council says "The Mayor and Cabinet report (April 9th 2014) provides evidence that there is a need for a school in this locality looking forward to the end of this decade. The due diligence conducted by the government's Education Funding Agency, which would manage the new build, also confirms this." We are asking the council to build a new school that they truly need- a new school would bring an additional 60 reception places in to the locality. We say no to the demolition and rebuild of our successful well maintained, inclusive and diverse little community school so that's it "exceptional work" can go on.

All children deserve to be treated equally, if this is deemed a necessary public health measure, then it should apply to all. Children unable to have dairy milk are just as in need of the calcium etc if not more.