Our children are facing a fatter future
A QUARTER ARE CLINICALLY OBESE
SHOCKING figures have revealed that around a quarter of 10- and 11-year-olds in Nottingham are clinically obese.
The number of overweight children has continued to rise – and public health experts say “reversing it will not happen overnight”.
Teachers called for more to be done in schools to encourage physical activity.
Claire Regan, who teaches key stage two pupils between the ages of seven and 11 at St Margaret Clitherow Academy, Bestwood, said: “I feel like not enough is being done to combat the problem. Schools are a good place to do it. It’s about diet as well.
“It’s children’s lives at the end of
ANGRY students have started a petition because instead of graduating in a “wonderful” new restored chapel, they are going to be on a tennis court.
In summer, Nottingham Trent University held its graduation ceremonies at a refurbished and listed former Wesleyan Chapel in the city centre for the first time.
But the winter graduation ceremonies will be held at the sports centre on its Clifton campus , and some graduants are not happy. Almost 1,000 people have signed the petition to change the venue.
One of the organisers of the petition, who did not wish to be named because she is still awaiting results, said: “We are just really angry. Students are being forced to travel from as far away as China to Clifton to graduate on a tennis court.
“Parents and students were understandably upset with this and have created a petition to try and change the venue.
“With fees of over £9,000 for a masters’ degree, the university should be ensuring that the graduation ceremony is a special occasion, and not on a completely different campus on a sports court.”
The petition reads: “To find out that we will be graduating in a place that we have no memories or emotional connections to, in a sports hall, on a date that has changed multiple times, is the final straw. We ask NTU to reconsider their plans for graduation and give us the graduation ceremony that we deserve.”
The preferred University Hall in Shakespeare Street, built in 1854, is not available because it is in the next stage of its redevelopment – adding an extension for a music centre.
The university believes the replacement venue will still provide “a high-quality experience to mark their special day” with “large-scale decoration” and a lit entrance tunnel.
The format will be the same, and the university says it is working with the students’ union to make sure the day is what students were expecting.
Parking will be easier and it also means they are keeping it in house rather than hiring an outside venue.
A spokesman said: “Many of those graduating will have lived and studied on the Clifton Campus. For those who did not, we can assure them that the occasion and celebration will be every bit as memorable as if they were graduating in the city.”