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Education days ‘helping to empower young people’

More than 1,000 young people in Jersey have benefited from a government initiative by learning about key community safety issues, scheme organisers say. The Building a Safer Community (BASC) team, part of the Government of Jersey, said it was celebrating another successful year empowering Jersey’s young people “to make informed choices to keep themselves and our community safe”. Year 8 children from 12 Jersey secondary schools learnt about community safety issues including substance use, fire safety, exploitation and keeping safe, organisers said. They also got the chance to explore fire engines and meet people working for Jersey’s front-line services. More news stories for Jersey Listen to the latest news for Jersey Justice and BASC co-ordinator Cirsty de Gruchy Moseley said the sessions helped students understand more about child exploitation and the impacts of arson and the affect drugs could have on their future. She added they also knew “where to go and who to contact for support”. The trainers team up with front-line workers, including the emergency services, customs and immigration, prison, probation and youth services for the event and aimed to make the sessions “as interactive as possible”, bosses said.

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Royal show organisers stress educational value

The organisers of an agricultural show insist it does offer children an educational experience, amid new figures illustrating school absences. Newly published Department for Education (DfE) data showed there was a spike in absences coinciding with last year’s Royal Norfolk Show (RNS). A record 15,000 children are expected to attend this year’s event at the Norfolk Showground, near Norwich, on 24-25 June. Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association chief executive Mark Nicholas is director of the show and said attending presented a “fantastic opportunity” for young people. Rob Sykes/BBCMany young people take part in the livestock showing classes at the RNS The DfE analysis compared absence rates for schools in Norfolk between the second day of the 2025 show and the previous Thursday. A higher rate of absences was shown across all year groups, with Year 9 boys up the most at 5.1%, compared with 0.8% across England for the same age group. The show was used as an example alongside similar increases in absences among Year 9 and 10 girls in the Liverpool area when Taylor Swift was performing in the city in June 2024. The analysis also found absence rates were higher across all year groups on days that coincided with pupils’ birthdays. Nicholas said many children attend the RNS to take part in livestock competitions and musical performances. He said: “It’s not just coming with the school group to visit the education and learning aspects relating to food farming and countryside. “The Norfolk and Suffolk Music Hub run a huge programme of live music and entertainment and the majority of groups taking part are school bands, school choirs.”

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What are UV levels and how can you protect yourself?

What is UV and why can it be dangerous? UV radiation is emitted by the Sun and penetrates the Earth’s atmosphere. It enables our skin to produce essential vitamin D, which is important for the function of bones, blood cells and our immune system. But too much UV can be harmful. It can lead to skin cancer by damaging DNA in skin cells. UV also plays a substantial role in skin ageing, contributing to wrinkles and loosened folds. It has also been linked to eye problems, including cataracts. “Every exposure to UV, especially every sunburn, increases our risk of skin cancer,” says Prof Dorothy Bennett, from St George’s, University of London. “Melanoma, the most dangerous skin cancer, is now the fifth commonest cancer in the UK.”

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