A school has created a wellbeing garden for children and teachers whose mental health have been affected by the pandemic.

An unused courtyard at Chapel Allerton primary in Leeds has been transformed into an “oasis of calm”.

Community groups have worked alongside the school to create a space where pupils can relax and enjoy nature.

Headteacher Nicholas Sykes said the “mental and emotional wellbeing” of everyone at school was very important.

The garden will be used for mindful activities and lessons and also be a place that pupils and staff can got to for some quiet time.

Not a single secure bed was available anywhere in the UK last week for a suicidal teenager, according to a high court ruling that highlights the chronic shortage of accommodation to support the country’s most vulnerable children.

Mr Justice MacDonald said the lack of places – partly caused by Covid-19 restrictions – left him facing a “stark choice” either to send the 16-year-old girl to an unregulated placement – meaning she would not inspected – or into the community “where she will almost certainly cause herself possibly fatal harm”.

MacDonald said he had no option but to choose the former in his damning judgment, which began with the Nelson Mandela quote: “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”

The lack of secure placements emerged when Lancashire county council sought a place for the girl after she had spent a period on an adult mental health ward where she had threatened to abscond, kill herself and kill staff. A search for a place in an NHS child and adolescent mental health psychiatric intensive care unit was also unsuccessful.

In his written ruling, handed down on Friday in the family division of the high court, the judge said the teenager was “in urgent need of a secure placement” but that “as of this morning, no such placement is available anywhere in the United Kingdom” – putting “anywhere” in italics to highlight his apparent incredulity.

Lack of access to public transport and the internet is leaving children in remote, rural communities facing “prolonged isolation, exclusion and insecurity”, a report warns.

Children in remote rural and coastal communities “have been overlooked for too long”, according to the Centre for Mental Health.

Its report, funded by BBC Children in Need, found that eight to 13-year-olds are struggling to get mental health support because of poor transport, digital connectivity and a lack of safe spaces to meet.

We need to take action now to ensure no child’s mental health is put at risk because of where they live.

Rural areas often appear to be “poorly served” by specialist services, the report entitled The Space Between Us found.

It is calling for more funding for local councils to invest in digital infrastructure for places with limited connectivity, to develop peer support services and invest in parks, schools and community centres.

Centre for Mental Health deputy chief executive Andy Bell said: “Children in remote rural and coastal communities have been overlooked for too long.

“While rural life can be good for mental health, children growing up in poverty, with disability or in a marginalised or oppressed community face a high risk of poor mental health with little support close to home.

“Without access to public transport or digital connection, children face prolonged isolation, exclusion and insecurity.

Blackpool council has said it will invest an extra £14m in its beleaguered children’s services by axing up to 75 jobs and raising council taxes.

Since 2012, the council has received several “inadequate” ratings from Ofsted. The most recent inspection raised concerns vulnerable children were being left at risk of “significant harm” including from sexual exploitation and going missing.

Figures show the cost of all social care in Blackpool accounts for more than three-quarters of local authority spending. Budget proposals for the forthcoming financial year show cuts of £5m, which mean savings of £19.6m must be found across all services when the funding for children’s services is factored in.

The council has announced that up to 75 jobs will be lost, while council tax is expected to rise by the maximum 4% allowed by the government.

In January last year, children’s social care in the Lancashire resort was deemed inadequate because of “key weaknesses” in support services. The inspection report also found that some children were left to “live in situations of chronic neglect for long periods of time”.

The number of children in care has gone up by 28% in the past decade with council leaders warning of unsustainable pressure being placed on support services for young people.

Official figures show there are now 78,150 children in care in England, up from 75,370 in 2018 and almost 20,000 more than in 2009 when 60,900 children were looked after.

The Local Government Association (LGA) warned the huge increase in demand, combined with funding shortages, is putting immense pressure on the ability of councils to support vulnerable young people who need help.

Judith Blake, the chair of the LGA’s children and young people board, said the demands being placed on councils were “unsustainable”. “These figures show the sheer scale of the unprecedented demand pressures on children’s services and the care system this decade,” she said.

Councils were forced to overspend on their children’s social care budgets by almost £800m last year in order to try and keep children safe, the LGA said. This happened despite them allocating more money than in the previous year to try to keep up with demand.

Data shows councils have experienced a 53% increase in children on child protection plans – an additional 18,160 children – in the past decade.

There has been a 139% increase in serious cases where the local authority believes a child may be suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm, to 201,170 cases.

Snacking should be banned on public transport and extra taxes placed on unhealthy foods to tackle child obesity, England’s outgoing chief medical officer says. 

In her final report as CMO, Dame Sally Davies also called for tighter rules on advertising and takeaways.

She said children needed more help as they were “drowning in a flood” of unhealthy options.

If ministers were not bold, she added, they would fail to cut obesity rates.

A target to halve rates by 2030 has been set.

Dame Sally said: “The unavoidable fact is that over time our environment has become very unhealthy without us realising. 

“Our children are now suffering from painful, potentially life-limiting disease. 

“Our politicians need to be bold and help everyone embrace healthier life choices.”

The proportion of obese and overweight children has doubled in the past 30 years.

Today around a third are obese or overweight by the age of 11 in England – with a minority, but growing number, classed as severely obese.

A photo-finish was needed to determine the winner of the Shetland Pony Grand National.

Zak Kent, 12, was handed the victory beating second place rider Lucas Murphy by a nose-length.

Thirteen riders took part in the charity race at Newmarket Racecourse over a distance of two-and-a-half furlongs – four miles shorter than the fully-sized race at Aintree.

Rules dictate the jockeys have to be between nine and 14 years old and be under 5ft tall.

Every schoolchild in England should get the opportunity to “spend a night under the stars” in an idyllic landscape, an independent review has suggested.

Helping pupils connect with nature through visits would ensure protected areas such as national parks are “open to everyone”, the review’s author said.

Julian Glover was asked to review England’s 70-year-old national park system and areas of outstanding natural beauty by the environment secretary.

He says they need to be “re-ignited”.

Mr Glover’s review says challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss and a trend towards increased urban living mean fresh ideas are needed to give England’s protect landscapes new purpose.

Among his recommendations are a National Landscapes Service to act as a unified body for the country’s 10 national parks and 34 areas of outstanding natural beauty, and a 1,000-strong “ranger service” to help engage the public.

Soaring numbers of children seeking help for mental health issues have been blamed on savage cuts to local authority budgets.

Politicians and council leaders are calling on the government to inject funding into children’s services as an analysis of figures reveals the number of youngsters identified by councils as having mental health problems has surged by 54 per cent in four years.

The figure rose from 133,600 in 2014-15 to 205,720 in 2017-18, with more than 560 cases recorded every day last year on average.

The Local Government Association (LGA), which carried out the analysis, said children’s centres and family support services – “vital” for looking after children before problems become more serious – had lost 60p out of every £1 they had from central government over the past decade.

Some of these services have subsequently been stripped back or ended altogether, with about 1,000 Sure Start centres – which provide early years health and education services – having been forced to close down since 2010.

Opposition against the removal of schools from local authority control has resurged as families march in the streets and headteachers reignite calls for forced academisation to end.

Parents are increasingly leading the battles against schools being converted into academies, which are state schools independent of local councils, as they become more aware of negative stories.

The increased use of WhatsApp and social media groups connecting opposing parents across the country, including those who have been successful in their fight, has also spurred families on.

The opposition from parents comes as school leaders at the National Association of Head Teachers conference in Telford this weekend debate a motion calling on the teaching union to reaffirm its opposition to forced academisation.

Some headteahers and parents fear that joining an academy trust, which sets its own policies on admissions, behaviour and the curriculum, could result in the school’s identity and staff being lost.

High-profile reports of the large salaries of academy chain CEOs, at a time when schools are struggling to provide even the basics to pupils amid cuts, has also fuelled opposition to the system.