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Amrit Virdi

Editorial Graduate @ Music Teacher Magazine and Children & Young People Now

Gold Standard Level 5 NCTJ-Accredited Journalist

Bylines @ Stylist, Clash, OK!, DIY, Women's Health, London Runway, LeftLion etc

Podcast Producer @ CYP Now and Former Formula One Podcast Host

Music Teacher •

Surrey Hills Young Composer Competition prizewinners announced

Borimir Ivanov, 16, takes first prize at the Surrey Hills International Music Festival's competition for young composers

The Surrey Hills International Music Festival (SHIMF) has announced the prizewinners of the 2024 Young Composer Competition.

Borimir Ivanov, 16, from Tiffin School (Kingston upon Thames), was awarded first prize for his piano duo Festival of the Hills, described by the competition jury as 'lively, joyful, and rhythmically exciting — a perfect way to celebrate the Festival’s
CYP Now •

Children with SEND disproportionately excluded from primary school, research finds

Almost all primary school aged children who experience exclusions have a special educational need or disability (SEND), research has found.

Chance UK’s latest research highlights that children with special needs or from poorer backgrounds are disproportionately affected by exclusion and suspension.

Some 70% of pupils excluded or suspended from primary schools were eligible free school meals, with 60% identified as a 'child in need’ by social services. Some 97% are classed as having SEND, accor
CYP Now •

MPs back plans to tackle youth vaping

MPs have backed major plans to tackle youth vaping and smoking including a ban on the marketing of vaping products aimed at children.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill has been passed through to the next stage in Parliament following a vote in the House of Commons last night (16 April).

If successful, the Bill will restrict how vapes are marketed to children and lead to fines of up to £2,500 for people who sell non-nicotine vaping products to under 18s.

Packaging, contents and flavouring of vapes ac
CYP Now •

Councils face £300 million shortfall in youth homelessness funding

English local authorities are facing an annual shortfall of £332 million in youth homelessness funding, economists have warned.

Newham Council, in London, was found to need as much as £32mn, with Liverpool, Hammersmith and Fulham, Cornwall, London boroughs of Ealing and Bexley needing in excess of £10mn, according to research published by youth homelessness charity Centrepoint.

Rising costs to meet obligations under the Homelessness Reduction Act (HRA) were found to be a key factor behind the
CYP Now •

Falling school rolls spark fears of £1bn funding drop

State-funded primary and secondary schools in England are set to lose out on £1 billion worth of funding by 2030 driven by a projected 1% drop in pupils numbers each year over the same period, researchers warn.

A report by the Education Policy Institute (EPI) on the effects of falling school rolls has found that all regions will experience a decrease in primary school funding between 2023/24 and 2029/30, with the North East projected to experience the largest decrease of 9%.

The East of Englan
The Rodeo Magazine •

English Teacher captivates listeners with theatrical debut

Leeds-based four piece English Teacher make a theatrical and unique mark on the British-indie scene with their strong debut, This Could Be Texas, which emphasises the band’s lyrical talent alongside their stellar experimental sound.

The highly anticipated album follows the band’s 2022 debut EP Polyawkward – and pre-released singles from the LP, such as ‘The World’s Biggest Paving Slab’, have already amassed over one million (well-deserved) listens.

What has always made English Teacher unique a
CYP Now •

Scouts wins £129,000 DfE contract to boost teacher recruitment

Scouts has been handed a £129,000 government contract to promote teaching as a career pathway to its young members.

The Get into Teaching Candidate Pipeline Strategy aims to tackle teacher sufficiency by increasing the recruitment of young people who may not have considered it as a career.

The strategy focuses on promoting teaching through partnerships to a younger audience, with a focus on areas where recruitment is most challenging, including: science, technology, engineering, and mathematic
CYP Now •

Merseyside young people develop career skills through literary self-expression

Marginalised young people are empowered to express themselves by writing books about their lived experiences.

Comics Youth CIC, an organisation helping young people to publish comics, launched the Marginal Publishing House in Merseyside to give young people who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity a chance to share their stories.

The youth-led organisation publishes solely marginalised authors under the age of 25. Originally funded by the National Lottery and set up as a coaching and mentor
Music Teacher •

Liverpool’s ‘In Harmony’ programme promotes resilience in children and families, study shows

University of Liverpool publishes research demonstrating the benefits of a local programme introducing orchestral music-making to disadvantaged communities.

In Harmony Liverpool, launched by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic in 2009, has benefitted over 4,000 young people. Children and young people make music every week free of charge as part of the orchestral programme, learning an instrument, composing, singing, and performing a wide range of music in schools and venues throughout North Liverp
CYP Now •

Tackling decline in London pupil numbers

A fall in children attending London schools is putting pressure on budgets and experts warn it could impact wider community support.

Latest analysis of school capacity data by London Councils has highlighted a drop in demand for secondary school places in London, which children’s services leaders fear could have a devastating impact on wider support services.

Analysis by the umbrella body for the capital’s 32 boroughs, projects there will be a 4.4 per cent decline in reception pupils and 4.3 p
CYP Now •

Charity highlights importance of specialist roles to support neurodiverse children

Safer London has said its expert caseworker roles to support neurodiverse children are vital at a time where there’s a “lack of money for services”.

The two caseworker roles were introduced in August 2023, with the specialists having training and advanced knowledge in working with neurodiverse children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Safer London say 26% of young people they worked with last year were neurodiverse.
• Additional Family Costs for Children
CYP Now •

Programme launched to promote evidence-based parenting interventions

The Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) and Foundations have collaborated on a programme which will trial evidence-based parenting interventions in four pilot areas.

York, Merton, Stockport and Wirral are the four pilot areas for the scheme. Foundations and YEF will work with these local areas and their family hubs over the next two years to show the impact of local evidence leadership on evidence use and implementation as part of a family hub approach.

Funding will be given for specific parenting inte
CYP Now •

Majority of councils lack sufficient SEND childcare provision, survey finds

Just 6% of councils now say they have sufficient childcare provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), a major new report finds.

According to Coram Family and Childcare’s annual Childcare Survey, local authorities which say they are able to provide sufficient childcare for all children in their area with SEND, from the early years until they turn 14, has dropped from 12% last year.

Some 63% of local authorities are also concerned about sufficiency for childre
CYP Now •

Davina McCall meets kinship carers for Red Nose Day

TV star Davina McCall, who grew up in kinship care herself, met with kinship carers in a new film to raise money and awareness for Comic Relief.

McCall met with Wendy, Kelly and Meyrem, from Kinship, a charity supported by Comic Relief, to raise awareness about the role of kinship carers. The presenter was looked after by her grandmother from the age of four.

As part of last week’s Red Nose Day coverage, a film has been released documenting the meeting. Money raised by Comic Relief will suppor
The Rodeo Magazine •

Blossom Caldarone on her London influences and Fair Play

Blossom Caldarone is set to bring her fun and expressive music to Manchester for Fair Play Festival 2024 on 6 April. I spoke to Blossom ahead of the festival to find out more about her musical journey… and her love for Manchester.

[AV]: Where did your love for music begin?

[BC]: Probably with the Annie soundtrack as a very small child – I loved the theatrics and storytelling. And then playing in orchestras, as I loved being part of something. Music always makes you feel like a part of somethin
The Rodeo Magazine •

Lauran Hibberd creatively tackles grief and heartbreak

Lauran Hibberd showed the world her emphatic pop-punk sound on her debut album, Garageband Superstar. Her stellar sophomore release, girlfriend material, continues to do just that while adding an extra layer of maturity to her sound.

In the time between her album releases, Hibberd unfortunately lost her father, and as a result this album is a carefully crafted cathartic release for her heartbreak. Opening track ‘I suck at grieving’ deals with the topic head-on while sticking to her light-hearte
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