How much light your child is exposed to before bedtime and in their bedroom itself can have a significant impact on how well they sleep as light disrupts their circadian rhythm and tells their body it is time to stay awake and alert. However, your child’s sleep isn’t just affected by light levels in their bedroom, but also by light levels during the day.

At Bridge College, we prepare our students for all aspects of adulthood, from community life to independent, healthy living and the world of work. We want everyone to leave feeling confident for their future. Every day, our students develop their work skills and self-confidence. We do this by supporting students to develop on-the-job training through work placements with community-based partners.

Last week, panellists with a range of personal and professional experiences, aspirations and hopes for the care system came together to debate what the future of care should look like for children and young people. The event was held in Coram’s sunny London office space, with around thirty attendees in-person, and over 300 virtual attendees tuning in through Zoom. 

Today is World Asthma Day.

World Asthma Day (WAD) (May 3, 2022) is organized by the Global Initiative for Asthma, (GINA) (www.ginasthma.org), a World Health Organization collaborative organization founded in 1993.  WAD is held each May to raise awareness of Asthma worldwide.

Although asthma cannot be cured, it is possible to manage asthma to reduce and prevent asthma attacks, also called episodes or exacerbations.

Here, the Bridge College Nurse, Sarah Humphreys, tells us what we can do to manage asthma on a daily basis.

With the national walking month coming in May, we caught up with Daniel who is taking on a mammoth walking challenge to raise money for the Together Trust's services. Daniel will be walking the Trafalgar Way. Running from Falmouth in Cornwall to the Admiralty in central London, it is the 271 mile stretch that Lieutenant John Richards Lapenotiere travelled (by coach) to bring news of the Battle of Trafalgar back.

We talked to Daniel about how he feels about the challenge and why he chose to support the Together Trust...

A bedtime routine helps to regulate children’s body clocks and aids relaxation, leading to a good night’s sleep. Often, when trying a new bedtime routine, sleep patterns get worse before they get better. Consistency is important and we advise sticking to the new routine for at least two weeks before you start to see some positive changes.

Below is an example of a bedtime routine for a child whose bedtime is 8:15 pm.

Make sure your child only uses their bed for sleep in order to associate it with relaxation and a pre-bedtime ritual such as reading a book, rather than homework, gaming or playing with toys, for example.

Avoid using your child’s bed for time-out, or they’ll learn to associate it with punishment.

If you were asked whether social media does more harm than good these days, what would you say?

Nicole* is a young girl in one of our residential homes - Linden, where our charity supports children and teenagers with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

Despite her tender age of 16, Nicole has already faced and experienced some of the more damaging effects of social media.

These fears are very normal and usually start showing up around the age of two. The reason for this is that a toddler’s mind is maturing, their memory is getting longer, and their imagination continues to develop. They are starting to become more aware that there are things that can hurt them. They may have even watched a show or read a book that frightened them.