Life Magazine autumn 2015

Life MAGAZINE FOR LIFE MEMBERS

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COVER FEATURE

HEAD FOR FIGURES? School leaders are having to make sweeping cuts to balance the books. For many it feels an impossible task with 80 per cent predicting an adverse impact on school performance.

INSIDE

EDUCATION CONFERENCE CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION THE SMOKING GUN OF COPD

AUTUMN 2015 ISSUE 87

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Editorial Meeting the challenge

CONTENTS

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his edition of Life highlights why the job of school leader is so challenging. On the one hand, the government is doing all it can to convince voters that it is being tough on ‘coasting’ schools with the Education and Adoption Bill, (page 5). At the same time, the Department for Education is cutting funding to schools, which are having to make savings that will have a real impact on performance (pages 4 and 10).

But that’s only half the story. School leaders are also at the mercy of society’s ills. This was exemplified by Emma Jackson, one of the keynote speakers at NAHT’s autumn education conference, held in both Manchester and London.

Emma, a survivor of the child sexual exploitation scandal in Rotherham, asked school leaders to look for signs of abuse on their school roll and to help any victims.

“Make them realise what they are capable of,” she said, “so they might decide that they are worth more than being raped multiple times a day.”

NAHT president Tony Draper invited Emma to speak at the conference because she had an important message.

NAHT’s message was also driven home at the events – that the association is there to support members and it is doing it very successfully in a variety of ways (page 5).

NAHT is also seeking to improve the way it communicates with you and we are developing new approaches for 2016. We look forward to involving you and your input will be most welcome; please let us know what you think by emailing publications@naht.org.uk. More is to follow on this topic in the coming weeks and we will be contacting you in due course.

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NAHT PARTNERS Selected services for members.

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NEWS NAHT survey reveals bleak outlook for school due to funding cuts.

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NEWS The Education and Adoption Bill is creating a ‘climate of fear’.

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OPINION NAHT past president Dr Rona Tutt.

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EDUCATION CONFERENCE NAHT’s annual conference was held in Manchester and London.

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I WILL SURVIVE Rotherham child sexual exploitation survivor Emma Jackson.

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10 HEAD FOR FIGURES School leaders tell Life about the struggles they face to balance budgets.

12 HEALTH Many smokers have chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder.

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13 RECIPE Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on how to make Sunday lunch last longer.

14 TRAVEL Cruising is the holiday for the retired, so will these offers tempt you?

16 CONTACTS AND CROSSWORD Find a local group; and test our life member crossword compilers.

Tip: don’t look at the answers below.

Steve Smethurst, Managing editor

CROSSWORD SOLUTION EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES

EDITORIAL

Life is published by Redactive Publishing Limited on behalf of NAHT

Managing editor: Steve Smethurst Designer: Adrian Taylor Senior picture editor: Claire Echavarry Production director: Jane Easterman Printed by: Gemini Press

ASSOCIATION ENQUIRIES NAHT, 1 Heath Square, Boltro Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 1BL www.naht.org.uk Tel: 0300 30 30 333

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NEWS

Finances at ‘breaking point’ NAHT SURVEY REVEALS A BLEAK PICTURE FOR SCHOOLS DUE TO FUNDING CUTS

ISTOCK

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n NAHT survey has revealed that nearly two thirds of school leaders (64 per cent) are making ‘significant’ cuts or dipping into reserves to stave off deficits.

The ‘Breaking Point’ survey found that four in five school leaders (82 per cent) said that budget cuts would have a negative impact on standards.

Almost half of school leaders (45 per cent) thought their budget would be untenable on current projections within two years and two thirds (67 per cent) said they would not be able to balance the books in four years’ time. Seven per cent of those surveyed were already running a deficit.

NAHT general secretary Russell Hobby said: “Flat cash education spending at a time of rising costs is pushing many schools closer to breaking point.

Employer costs for national insurance and teachers’ pensions will increase by more than five per cent from this school year, adding to already over-stretched budgets. School leaders are being forced

to cut spending in all areas, including essential maintenance (50 per cent) and – most worryingly – on teachers and teaching assistants (49 per cent).”

Mr Hobby continued: “The money coming into schools is not keeping up with expenditure. As the Institute for Fiscal Studies pointed out recently, the government’s funding commitment equates to the first real terms cut in education spending since the 1990s.

Education is an investment in the future, leading eventually to higher productivity, better social outcomes and reduced spending on other public services; cuts are a false economy.” www.naht.org.uk/breakingpoint

Public sector workers who are made redundant could see their compensation cut, following government plans to restrict exit payments.

Following a government consultation in the summer, the government announced it will set a £95,000 limit on the amount that can be paid out to anyone working in a public sector role.

NAHT is strongly opposed to the changes. General secretary Russell Hobby (right) said: “This is an ideological response to a few isolated high-profile cases that have been highlighted in the media and a proper evidence-based evaluation of the issue would not have arrived at this policy proposal.

“To limit the absolute safety net that exit payments represent in the way proposed will act as a further deterrent for head teachers to take on the most challenging school settings and will add to the school leadership recruitment

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JAMIE TOPLISS-YATES, PW PHOTOGRAPHY

Public sector redundancy pay NAHT fights changes ‘remove safety net’ pension change

crisis, particularly for schools working in areas of high deprivation.”

NAHT has also rejected the government’s proposals to ‘simplify’ redundancy payment exemptions, as it means only those with 25 years’ continuous service will benefit from full tax-free limit on payouts – currently, the first £30,000 of any redundancy payment is exempt of tax and National Insurance.

Twelve professional organisations, including NAHT, have joined forces to challenge the government’s proposals to reduce tax relief on pensions.

NAHT has been working alongside other professional bodies, including the British Medical Association and the Chief Police Officers’ Staff Association, to issue a joint response to HM Treasury’s recent Green Paper, Strengthening the incentive to save: a consultation on pensions tax relief.

In the written response, the bodies argued the changes could affect their members’ incentive to pay into pensions: “Our associations believe we should maintain the current system of pensions tax relief as it is the most effective method of achieving the legitimate aims of government – to foster a culture of saving and provide all working people with a satisfactory standard of living in retirement.”

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NEWS NAHT SUCCESS

Bill is creating a ‘climate of fear’

SEND needs fairer funding The NAHT’s Fairer Funding campaign has a strong focus on special schools, said Kathy James, NAHT’s deputy general secretary. She told Life: “The current system isn’t delivering fairly for everybody and although there have been

The association’s year in review

TEMPEST

The Education and Adoption Bill is creating a climate of fear across England due to the emphasis on coasting schools and the accompanying standards through which regional schools commissioners can force academisation, NAHT president Tony Draper (right) has said.

He told delegates at the NAHT Education Conference: “Regional schools commissioners’ job descriptions specifically state their role is to achieve as many conversions as possible in their region. This is wrong as they will approach the role with a mindset of: ‘I’m being paid to find a sponsor to force academisation on this school.’

General secretary Russell Hobby added: “NAHT will push for open, fair and stable criteria for decision making so that we can be clear what will free a school from the threat of intervention.

Above all, we will ask government to reduce its over-reliance on sanctions and focus on building capacity, investing instead in the quality of teaching.”

improvements we want to get to a place where schools feel they are receiving adequate funding for pupils with specific needs and no one is disadvantaged.

“The government commissioned an independent review and we are talking to ministerial teams to ensure whatever is implemented is done so effectively.” www.naht.org.uk/schoolfunding

Improved democracy and decision-making NAHT is embarking on a significant restructuring of the association that will result in a smaller National Executive, with members elected directly from the regions and better representation for individual sectors at national level.

NAHT general secretary Russell Hobby said: “The regional review will strengthen our democracy and help us to grow as an association, both in terms of the people we represent and our influence at national and local levels.”

Key changes include the abolition of electoral districts and the election of National Executive members directly from their region. Each region will have a minimum of two seats on the National Executive, with an extra seat for each additional 1,000 members (or part thereof above 3,000).

In addition, regional executives will have more control over funds and the power to spend these on local needs.

It will result in the National Executive being reduced by about 20 per cent.

With the support of our members we’re proud of what we’ve achieved for school leaders this year. Here are some of the ways we’ve represented your interests at a national and local level: Stopped the return of no-notice Ofsted inspections; Blocked dozens of unjustified forced conversions into academy status; Secured a commitment to retain universal infant free school meals; Persuaded the government to properly review funding for 30 hours free childcare a week; For now, prevented the re-introduction of external tests at key stage one; Achieved an independent review panel for Ofsted complaints; Persuaded the government to abandon a dangerous model policy on parental complaints; Helped to place a fair funding formula on the agenda; Supported the creation of a College of Teaching; Ensured progress rather than attainment is used as a measure of school performance; Gained parity for special schools regarding inspection notice periods and initial teacher training; Launched our own alternative inspection model – Instead; and Involved more than 100 schools in our Aspire project to help them become better protected from the threat of takeover; Please get in touch if you have any queries about NAHT campaigns. info@naht.org.uk

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VIEWPOINT

Opinion People watching WHO’S WHO IN EDUCATION? YOU MAY RECOGNISE DAVID WALLIAMS, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE POLITICIANS?

RONA TUTT VIEW FROM A PAST PRESIDENT

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change of government is usually of greater significance than a party in opposition electing a new leader. So far, however, moving from a coalition government to a Conservative party which doesn’t have the LibDems attached seems less of a change than Labour replacing its leader.

As the TES put it: “Jeremy Corbyn has surprised almost everyone, possibly including himself.” And with the new leader comes a new shadow cabinet.

Lucy Powell, who entered Parliament as recently as 2012 and is the Labour and Cooperative MP for Manchester Central, has been appointed shadow secretary of state for education. In her first major speech she said the ‘relentless mission’ of her team would be to hold the government to account for its failures.

Another person who plans to do this, despite being a Conservative, is Neil Carmichael, MP for Stroud, who has taken over from Graham Stuart as chair of the Education Committee. Judging by his interests, which include hedgehogs, herbs and tractors, he may turn out to be an interesting character.

Already, he has put a more modern stamp on the committee by launching a blog and encouraging stakeholders to express their views on what the select

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committee should investigate (emails to neil.carmichael.mp@parliament.uk).

Also in the limelight is the latest in a long line of behaviour experts. Tom Bennett has blogged that a pupil’s love of iPads doesn’t necessarily lead to a love of learning, but rather to an interest in Kim Kardashian and Jessie J, among others, who may or may not be appropriate role models for the young.

A neglected area More recently, and, for the first time, a mental health tsar for schools has been announced: Natasha Devon, a writer and founder of two organisations concerned with self-esteem and body image. Since BESD (behaviour, emotional and social development) changed to SEMH (social, emotional and mental health difficulties) in the 2015 SEND Code of Practice, there has been a belated focus on the mental health needs of pupils.

Natasha has been given the opportunity to be at the forefront of tackling this neglected area and helping to remove the stigma attached to it, so we wish her good luck.

Meanwhile, secretary of state Nicky Morgan has been roping in the great and the good – or at least the well known – to further some of her causes. David Walliams, famous for his double act with Matt Lucas and writing children’s stories

Nicky Morgan has “ been roping in the great and the good to further some of her causes

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with titles such as Gangsta Granny, has joined the secretary of state to make pupils in England the most literate in Europe within five years.

Speaking (appropriately) at the Charles Dickens Primary School in London, Ms Morgan spoke of the children for whom reading is a closed book, pointing out that, although our nine and 10 year olds are ranked sixth in Europe, this puts them behind Finland, (the most phonically regular language as opposed to the most irregular), and Northern Ireland, which is a real credit to our members there.

There are many other new names – too many for a single article – but at least it makes a change to concentrate on people rather than policies. If only governments would let us concentrate on pupils rather than processes, practices and procedures.

Rona Tutt is a retired head teacher and a past president of NAHT

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JAMIE TOPLISS-YATES, PW PHOTOGRAPHY

NAHT EDUCATION CONFERENCES

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undreds of school leaders attended NAHT’s Education Conferences in Manchester and London this autumn. What they experienced was a dizzying mixture of the profoundly shocking (see page 8), rewarding professional development, insights into the turbulent political landscape and a rallying call to unite as a profession.

The conference’s theme, set by NAHT national president Tony Draper, was ‘Catch the Energy – Release the Potential’. “How do we do that?” he asked. “By taking the risks that turn our good schools into great schools and our good leaders into great leaders.”

One of the ways NAHT is taking that on board as an association is through the work of NAHT Aspire, a school improvement initiative in partnership with EdisonLearning. One of the workshops open to delegates featured Sarah Holland, head teacher at Lovers’ Lane primary in Newark, which was supported to improve from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’ through the NAHT’s Aspire pilot, a scheme that is now open to all schools.

Mr Draper informed delegates that the day’s workshops offered something for everyone, and so they did. Life columnist Rona Tutt (see page 6) spoke at a session on mental health in schools, including the expectations of recent legislation and ways in which schools can support pupils. NAHT senior regional officer Rob Kelsall talked about safeguarding and challenging extremism, while workshops titled ‘Do Less Achieve More’ and ‘Achieving a Successful Work/Life Balance’ offered

We can achieve great things NAHT’s Education Conferences have taken Manchester and London by storm with a wide range of speakers and workshops the potential to make school leaders become even more effective than they are already.

The afternoon keynote speaker was Brentwood County High School head Stephen Drew, best known for his

appearances on TV’s Educating Essex and Mr Drew’s School for Boys. His theme was ‘No excuses’.

He told delegates: “In education, if we try to explain why something doesn’t work, we feel as if we are making excuses and ‘excuses’ is a dirty word. That’s a dangerous phenomenon because our entire ethos as teachers of young people is to encourage them to take risks and that failure is no bad thing. I feel there’s a disconnect and it’s a risky position to be in.

“It’s almost as if you can have either results or excuses. If you talk about exam results in the context of losing science teachers halfway through the year or a particular cohort, you are told you are a bad leader.” His conclusion was that school leaders are the polar opposite of excuse makers – and sometimes they should make excuses. “We need to change that mindset. Collectively, we should be very proud of what we do.”

Then it was the turn of NAHT general secretary Russell Hobby to run through the latest policy developments, many of which are covered in Life’s news pages. During the next ‘challenging’ five years, he said, there would be more pupils, higher demands, fewer teachers, reduced funding and lower pay – all capacity issues – but that government strategy was “an old fashioned battle for autonomy and accountability”.

“How do we seize back control?” he asked. “We take responsibility for each other, we take back ownership of standards. It’s about groups of schools making sure they look out for each other and making sure no school falls behind.” www.naht.org.uk

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CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION

JAMIE TOPLISS-YATES, PW PHOTOGRAPHY

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mma Jackson began with a simple statement.

“I am from Rotherham and I am a survivor of child sexual exploitation (CSE).

I am going to take you through my experiences of being exploited.”

Emma explained to delegates at NAHT’s Education Conferences that as she travels the country talking to victims of CSE, the only difference is that some are exploited online. “The tactics are the same. That fear is the same. Because if something works, why change it?”

Emma’s first experience of being groomed came at 12 years old at Sheffield’s Meadowhall shopping centre.

She met a group of boys who were 14 years old and, although she didn’t realise it, they started to groom her.

“I would meet them every weekend and we would do things like play on the car games in the arcade, get a McDonald’s or an ice-cream and I would go home. And if it had stayed there that would have been fine.”

But after a few months of building her trust, they brought older teenagers along. “They were friends of friends,” says Emma. “I trusted the younger boys, so I trusted whoever they hung around with.”

After another few months the older boys brought people with them who were in their 20s. From Emma’s work in schools, she knows most children have a fixed idea of what a paedophile looks like, and it’s not friends of friends in their early twenties.

“I never saw it as a problem because, even though they were adults, they didn’t fit into the category of someone who could be of harm to children.”

It was at this point that the grooming stepped up a gear. “I started going into Rotherham town centre and seeing them every day. The younger boys who I met originally stayed at Meadowhall to find the next group of young girls.

“I was now being introduced to more and more men every day. They offered me soft drugs and alcohol and I took it because of peer pressure.”

Emma comes from a good, loving

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I will survive

Child sexual exploitation survivor Emma Jackson shocked delegates at NAHT’s AHT’s Education Conferences with the ordeal she went through as a teenager family and knowing they would disapprove added to the excitement,” she says. “I was a good kid. I was in the top sets all the way through school, I was doing well and I was expected to go on and achieve whatever I wanted to achieve. I never had any issues with attendance or behaviour until my sexual exploitation started,” she says.

‘It became normal’ The CSE began when one of her friends was exploited in front of her.

“We were 13 at this point and men would take her down an alleyway and she would give them oral sex, one after the other. I used to watch and it became normal because everybody made out that it was normal. I thought she was the issue, because she never screamed, she never said no, she just did it. Even at that point, I never thought it would happen to me.

“Then one of the men in the gang started to single me out. He was quite feared, a bit of a gang leader. It drew me to him because it is about being popular and being in the `in’ crowd.”

Emma then described what happened on a dark January evening in Rotherham. “My main perpetrator took me to a market stall. We used to hang out around there and there

was no one around. The next thing I knew, he was ripping my clothes off and other members of the gang appeared. I had my main perpetrator pushing me into the ground, I had a man holding my wrists above my head and trying to shove his penis in my mouth, a man holding me down by my ankles and my main perpetrator on top of me, raping me. That was my first experience of CSE. “My best friend told me: ‘You need to stop crying, I am going to take you to the toilets, I’m going to clean your clothes up so you can go home and then we are never going to mention this again.’

“She was the one who was there in my moment of need and I went along with it because I wanted somebody to make it better. I went home, hid my clothes in my bedroom, I had a bath and when I got out of the bath my perpetrator had texted me to make sure I had got home safe.

“I was never taught that sometimes rapists might text you, they don’t always hide in a bush, they are not always someone you don’t know. In fact, most of the time they are somebody that you

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have a rrelationship with in some way or another. I didn’t even know that what another happened was wrong. I’d had no sex had hap education within school, I didn’t know educati what a normal sexual relationship was.”

The next day, Emma went to school n and told her friend she had been upset previous night because she lost her the prev virginity: “And that must be how you virginit when you lose your virginity.” feel wh She went back into town, met her w perpetrator and had a “really main pe night”. She explains: “They gave good ni alcohol, they gave me drugs. He me alco took me for some food, then he took home. I felt quite safe and I actually me hom believed what had happened was a big misunderstanding and that it wouldn’t misund happen again. Boy, was I wrong.”

As Emma told delegates: “I quickly Em learned to do what I was told. I have young women who had the ends of met you cut off with cigar cutters their fingers n for sayi saying no. Who have been raped vaginally vaginal and anally by smashed-up vodka bottles and who will never, b ever, ha have babies. And I’m talking about children.” c As Emma travels the UK speaking Em about CSE, she says that nine out C of 10 of of 10 o the children she meets who are who a being sexually exploited have been permanently excluded have from education.

“We need to keep them in “ education.

So, please, if there are ed young people within your schools yo being exploited, and there b probably will be, make sure you identify it and that you treat them with respect and dignity. They are going through things that a lot of people would t not survive and yet they still get every morning and they put their up ever uniform on and they come to school.

So work with them, give them their education, give them their tools to move educati because a lot of people involved in on, beca ever leave it. Make them CSE never, ne what they are capable of, so they realise w decide that they are worth more might d being raped multiple times a day.” than be www.stop-cse.org ww

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TIM GEORGE/UNP

SCHOOL FUNDING

Head for M figures School leaders are having to make sweeping cuts to balance the books.

For many it feels an impossible task.

By Carly Chynoweth 10

oney is tight and it’s only getting tighter.

That’s the overwhelming message from more than 1,000 school leaders in England who responded to NAHT’s recent survey on the topic (see panel).

Nearly half the members questioned feel their budget will be untenable within two years. Look ahead four years and this applies to two thirds. Almost the same proportion, at 64 per cent, said they only balanced their budget this year by making significant cuts, and/or carrying over a surplus. One in 14 have already reached a deficit budget.

One school grappling with a potential shortfall is Robert Mellors Primary and

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SCHOOL BUDGETS: BREAKING POINT • Almost half (45%) think their budgets will be untenable in two years’ time (by 2017/18) or before; • Two thirds (67%) think their budgets will be untenable in four years’ time (by 2019/20) or before; • Almost two thirds (64%) say they balanced their budgets only by making significant cuts and/or carrying over a surplus; • One in 14 (7%) has reached a deficit budget; and • Four in five (82%) agree or strongly agree with the statement ‘operating with the current budget will have a negative impact on the performance of the school’.

• Half (53%) of those who had a surplus budget said it was because they were planning for a deficit in coming years.

• And to make their budgets balance, members most commonly: Use reserves (76%); Reduce investment in equipment (64%); or Reduce number or hours of teaching assistants (49%).

Nursery School in Nottingham, which has 225 primary pupils at the moment, but which will be expanding to 315 over the next six years. Head teacher Susan Laplanche (pictured) says: “We don’t have a deficit but each year our carry forward gets smaller and I have needed to use it to set the budget until I know my full income. I am predicting I will need an additional £55,000 to cover increases in wages, superannuation costs and so forth. I will have to make cuts.”

Pension changes and the rise in national insurance have also hit 300-pupil Dobcroft Infant School in Sheffield Hallam – one of the wealthier areas of the northern city – with just 2-3 per cent of children attracting

the pupil premium, says head teacher Cathy Rowland.

“I don’t see finance getting better in the next five years and I don’t see where else I can make more savings, or any way that we can attract more money into the school. My deputy has chosen to go down to four days per week, but the job that she was doing on that extra day hasn’t gone away. Sometimes she has to come in on supply on the extra day even though she hasn’t wanted to.”

One of her big concerns is that reductions in income will affect staff, both teaching and support. Not simply in terms of redundancies, but because they are so committed to pupils they take on extra work and risk wearing themselves out rather than restricting what they offer children.

Cathy worries that another longterm effect of this growing burden on teaching staff is that more will leave the profession – earlier this year research showed the number of teachers leaving in their first year had risen sharply, to almost four in 10 – and that fewer will be inclined to move into leadership roles. Equally, heads themselves may be less likely to stick around, which would cause problems given that many schools already struggle to recruit replacements.

Head teacher pay has not helped here either, she says. “In the latest pay structure, there was no pay rise at the top of the scale, so the most experienced heads get nothing. I do not see any point in that given that there is a shortage of heads applying for roles.”

There are two separate but connected

factors when it comes to the current state of school budgets, says Valentine Mulholland, a policy adviser at NAHT. “The first is that school budgets have not increased for a number of years, which means that they have decreased in real terms, and that this year there has been an increase of more than five per cent in costs from the increase in national insurance and pension contributions,” she says.

“The key issue coming out of NAHT’s ‘Breaking Point’ survey is that 80 per cent of members were only able to break even by making cuts and carrying over a surplus. That is not sustainable,” she says.

NAHT has made a submission to the government making the case for more funding for schools but it is “pretty clear” that it will not be forthcoming, says Valentine. “The second issue is that we need a national fair funding formula. The funding we have at the moment is not fairly allocated. Funding should go directly to schools, with possibly an element of top slice to the local authority.”

Sally Bates, head at Wadsworth Fields Primary School and chair of NAHT’s funding sub-committee, says: “The government must consider the findings of our survey if we are to maintain choice and quality across the education system. We will be pushing them hard before the Spending Review.

It is time to stop viewing education spending as a cost and to start seeing it as an investment.” www.naht.org.uk/breakingpoint

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Health The smoking gun MANY SMOKERS HAVE HAD CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE FOR YEARS WITHOUT REALISING IT – AND TREATMENT OPTIONS ARE LIMITED

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hronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the most common respiratory diseases. It’s a term used to describe a number of conditions, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Emphysema affects the air sacs in the lungs (pictured right, with fluid in the left lung), and chronic bronchitis affects the airways.

It is estimated there are more than three million people living with the disease in the UK, of which less than a third have been diagnosed. Many people who develop symptoms of COPD do not seek medical help because they dismiss their symptoms as a ‘smoker’s cough’ and it is not until they reach their fifties and the condition has worsened that they see a doctor and receive the diagnosis.

Not surprisingly, the main cause of COPD is smoking.

The likelihood of developing COPD increases the more people smoke and the longer they’ve been smoking. Smoking irritates and inflames the lung and, over time, the inflammation leads to permanent changes in the lungs.

One effect is that the walls of the airways thicken and more mucus is produced. Damage to the delicate walls of the air sacs in the lungs causes emphysema and the lungs lose their normal elasticity. The smaller airways also become scarred and narrowed. These changes cause the symptoms associated with COPD: breathlessness, cough and phlegm.

People who don’t smoke but have long-term severe asthma

PHOTOGRAPH: SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR You may experience these symptoms all the time, or they might appear or get worse when you have an infection, or breathe in smoke or fumes.

• Wheezing, particularly breathing out; • Breathlessness when resting or active; • Tight chest; • Cough; and • Poducing more mucus or phlegm than usual.

If you have severe COPD, you may experience weight loss or ankle swelling, or you might lose your appetite.

can also get COPD. It can also be caused by long-term exposure to air pollution, fumes and dust from the environment or your place of work, but these causes are much rarer.

Diagnosis and treatment To confirm that you have COPD, you will need to take a breathing test to measure the size of your lungs, and to measure the amount of air flowing in and out of your lungs in a spirometry test. The doctor will determine how severe the condition is by looking at how narrow your airways are, how often your symptoms flare up and how breathless you feel during everyday activities. This will help to decide on the right treatment options for you.

Although the damage that has already occurred to lungs cannot be reversed, it is possible to slow the progression of the disease. Stopping smoking is the most important factor.

Research has shown people are up to four times more likely to succeed in giving up smoking if they use NHS support along with stop-smoking medicines such as patches or gum. It is also advisable to avoid exposure to any tobacco smoke.

Treatments for COPD usually involve relieving the symptoms with medication, for example by using an inhaler to make breathing easier. Pulmonary rehabilitation – a programme of exercise, education, and support to help patients breathe more easily and function at the highest level possible – may also help increase the amount of exercise people are capable of doing.

Although COPD causes about 25,000 deaths a year in the UK, severe COPD can usually be prevented by making lifestyle changes. Financial support and advice about relationships and end of life care is also available for people with the disease.

British Lung Foundation helpline: 03000 030 555 Lines are open 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

www.blf.org.uk

helpline@blf.org.uk

NHS Smoking Helpline: 0300 123 1044 (England only) Lines are open 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday; 11am to 4pm at weekends.

www.nhs.uk/smokefree Sources: www.nhs.co.uk / www.blf.org.uk

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Recipe Lamb and mint couscous HUGH FEARNLEY-WHITTINGSTALL TEACHES US HOW TO LOVE OUR LEFTOVERS IN HIS LATEST BOOK, NOT LEAST HOW TO MAKE OUR SUNDAY ROAST GO FURTHER

150g couscous or barley couscous 300ml hot water or stock and/or gravy, if you have it (or the amount of liquid specified on the couscous packet) 1–2 tablespoons olive oil, plus an extra splash for the dressing 1–2 tablespoons mint sauce or jelly Finely grated zest and juice of ½ a lemon ½ teaspoon ground cumin ½ teaspoon ground coriander ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon 100g roast lamb, diced 100g cooked peas 100g cooked carrots, diced Small handful of mint, parsley and/or coriander leaves, roughly chopped or torn, plus extra leaves to finish Salt and freshly ground black pepper

What I love about this recipe is how easily it turns Sunday’s lunch into Monday’s lunchbox. If you have some leftover gravy, heat it up and add it to the liquid or stock you use to cook the couscous.

I’ve added carrots and peas, but you can be pretty inventive with what you throw in – if it tasted good with your roast dinner, it’ll taste good in your couscous too.

I season this with a dollop of mint sauce or jelly and stir in some perky herbs too, to add freshness.

SIMON WHEELER

INGREDIENTS

SERVES TWO AS A MAIN COURSE, FOUR AS A LIGHT LUNCH METHOD To prepare the couscous, put it into a bowl, add the hot water or stock and olive oil, then cover and leave to soak for a short time, according to the packet instructions.

When the couscous is swollen and tender, add the mint sauce or jelly, lemon zest and juice, and sprinkle on the ground spices. Fork the couscous gently to fluff it up and combine it with the seasonings.

Add the lamb, vegetables and herbs and toss gently to combine. Taste and season with salt and pepper, a little more lemon if you like, and a splash of olive oil.

Serve in bowls, scattered with extra herb leaves.

TIPS AND SWAPS Fruity couscous and lamb Add a small handful of dried fruits such as raisins, barberries or chopped unsulphured apricots. First, soak the fruit in hot water or tea for about 10 minutes to plump it up a bit, then drain before stirring it into the couscous.

Extract taken from: River Cottage Love Your Leftovers

by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Published by Bloomsbury, £20, hardback

Minted quinoa and lamb Use quinoa in place of the couscous.

Swap the meat This dish gives a good second life to roast meats other than lamb – try it with chicken, beef or pork.

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ISTOCK

Travel

Sailing into the sunset A CRUISE IS THE ARCHETYPAL HOLIDAY FOR RETIRED PEOPLE. IF YOU HAVE THE TIME AND THE MONEY, IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE A MORE CONVENIENT WAY TO TRAVEL

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ancy a tour of the Mediterranean, taking in Venice and Dubrovnik, or a shorter trip to the fjords to wonder at the Northern Lights or, perhaps, a once-in-a-lifetime adventure that takes in the world’s most far-flung corners?

Nor are there only destinations to entice you, there are also themed cruises. So if you’re into food and drink, music or have always harboured a secret desire to be scolded by Craig Revel Horwood, there’s a cruise out there for you.

There are many things to bear in mind when booking a trip. Do you need to fly to the embarkation port? Can you handle seeing the same people day after day? A cheaper inside cabin or a room with a view? And have you budgeted for extras (drinks, tips, excursions and spa treatments)?

Once you’ve made these vital decisions, the high seas await!

For the nervous first-timer Mini cruises are perfect for weekend getaways and city breaks.

Royal Caribbean offers a three-night Paris and Bruges trip that docks at Zeebrugge and Le Harvre giving you the chance to spend a day in the French capital and the Venice of the North.

Departs 23 October 2016. Prices from £311 per person.

one of the best places on earth to see the Northern Lights.

Departs 5 March 2016. Prices from £1,259 per person. www.fredolsencruises.com/find-your-holiday/northern-lights-cruises

A seven-night classic Not all cruises depart from Southampton - and this is but one example. You’ll need to get yourself to Venice where’ll you board the Queen Victoria for a seven-night voyage that takes in Dubrovnik, Heraklion and Santorini. You’ll then fly home – or onto another adventure – from Athens airport.

Departs 20 August 2016. Prices from £999 per person. www.virginholidayscruises.co.uk/details.phtml?id=19326

If you want a ball This two-week trip to the Canary Islands should put a spring in your step. The Strictly stars are yet to be announced, but 2015’s cruises featured the likes of judge Craig Revel Horwood and dancers Ian Waite and Natalie Lowe. There are Q&As, book signings and a live performance. You can even become one of the stars of on-board competition. Departures in April, May and June. Prices from £899 per person. www.pocruises.com/strictly-come-dancing

www.royalcaribbean.co.uk/why-cruise/mini-cruises

If you don’t like hot weather This 13-night cruise lets you enjoy some of Norway’s awe-inspiring natural wonders at their snow-capped best.

Landmarks include the Seven Sisters mountain range and the Unesco-listed Bryggen Wharf in Bergen and the Old Town district in Stavanger. In addition, Alta is considered

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Time and money to spare?

If you really want to go for it, this cruise is hard to beat.

Queen Mary 2’s 120-night adventure takes you to Easter Island and the Polynesian islands of Papeete and Moorea.

You’ll call at 39 ports in 27 countries. Departs 10 January 2016. Prices from £12,799 per person. www.cunard.co.uk/cruise-types/world-cruises/2016

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HELP US SUPPORT CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE WITH CANCER

Every day, 10 children and young people in the UK hear the devastating news they have cancer.

CLIC Sargent is the UK’s leading cancer charity for children and young people, and their families. We provide clinical, practical and emotional support to help them cope with cancer and get the most out of life.

We need your support to fund our vital work.

Find out how you can help at www.clicsargent.org.uk

Registered charity number 1107328 and registered in Scotland (SC039857). 15SM070A

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Cryptic crossword 1 5

2

6

3

Please email naht@redactive.co.uk or telephone 020 7880 7666 with any additions or changes

4

7

9

LIFE MEMBERS’ REGIONAL GROUPS

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11 12 13

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17 18

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LONDON BOROUGH OF SUTTON Janet Overell Tel: 01737 556 684

BATH, NORTH EAST SOMERSET & WEST WILTSHIRE Anna Grayson Tel: 01225 742 877 Email: annagrayson@icuknet.co.uk

LONDON Diana Bell Tel: 020 8769 3483 Email: dbell_is@yahoo.co.uk

BOLTON Brian Essex Tel: 01706 221 028 Email: essexbrian@hotmail.com BRADFORD Marten Lougee Tel: 01535 636 487 Email: c.lougee369@btinternet.com BURY (LANCASHIRE) Dorothy Bailey Tel: 0161 766 3972. Email: dorothoy.bailey @ntlworld.com

20 21

AVON Beatrice Murray Tel: 0117 962 0573 or Daphne Spitzer Tel: 0117 950 4936

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Several of the answers are of a kind and therefore not further defined.

Across

Down

5 A strange tea set is what is left behind. (6) 7 An angry sounding twitch. (8) 9 Pound led astray, right? (8) 10 Lo and hearing insect got the final putt. (6) 11 Formerly Mrs Lennon, mother to short-story writer originating in America. (12) 13 Sounds like Charles has become arty. (6) 15 See 20.

18 Are alms group confused?

(7, 5) 21 A cluster found oddly in choir by a mob. (6) 22 Sharp feeling for male sheep.

(8) 23 If you only played these, you would finish on the 17th. (3,5) 24 Appreciate muck following publicity. (6)

1 Players met group with their nemesis reversed minus every single interesting starters. (8) 2 Elm rot leads to good wine.

(6) 3 Poles met bad rogues initially leading to difficulties.

(8) 4 Breathing 3 as the endless degree indicates. (6) 6 Amazing nuns rest. (8) 7 Suddenly crab ruptures internally. (6) 8 Man misled in the middle.

(4) 12 One who profits after sucker at first making a piercing cry. (8) 14 Grope in tiled board. (8) 16 Prat fell into part of trap covered by tarp! (8) 17 Shrimp changes vowel then changes into changes.

(6) 18 Footnote on unknown rebel spirit. (6) 19 Person in flight without article essential for flight. (6) 20,15 Old roads in Tyne’s companion in front of church.

(4,6)

CORNWALL Christine Williams Tel: 01288 355 075 Email: chriswilliams04@btinternet. com or Jan Allen, Tel: 01872 863 090. Email: bullseyeallen@btinternet.com COVENTRY & WARWICKSHIRE Yvonne Rich 11 Field House, Priory Road, Kenilworth, Warks CV8 1RA DONCASTER Mike Townsend Tel: 01302 728 032 Email: mickayt@tiscali.co.uk ESSEX Moreen Healy Tel: 01245 472 773 or Helen Jackman Tel: 01277 822 247

NAHT CYMRU Carys Brown Tel: 01656 650 685 Email: carysbrown@gmail.com NORFOLK Jill Wigy Tel: 01603 432 115 or Bill English Tel: 01362 850 433 NORTHERN IRELAND Dr Desmond Hamilton Tel: 028 9076 0731 Email: desmondhamilton@ btinternet.com NORTH EAST Eric Fisk Tel: 01669 620 112 Email: cloudcottage@fsmail.net NORTH WEST Stephen Hyde Tel: 01253 825 415 Email: stephen.hyde@sky.com NORTH YORKSHIRE Sue Lonsdale, York.

Tel: 01904 744 209 Email: sue.lonsdale@tiscali. co.uk NOTTINGHAMSHIRE Robert Tristram Tel: 0115 926 3909 Email: rtristram2@sky.com OLDHAM Ossie Millar Tel: 0161 624 7268

GWENT John Granger Tel: 01633 769 684 Email: john.granger@ntlworld.com

SURREY & SOUTH EAST Auriel Rankmore Tel: 01252 326688 Email: rankmore@deepdene. cdr-i.net

KENT & MEDWAY Jean Pilcher, 34 Sandown Drive, Rainham, Kent ME8 9DU. Email: jeanpilcher@ hotmail.com

WAKEFIELD (two groups) Recently retired heads: Colin Moran Tel: 01924 240 494 Email: cmoran@nahtwf.force9.co.uk

LEEDS Peter Spencer Tel: 01943 872 722 LINCOLNSHIRE Gini Smith Email: vasmith@ hotmail.com or Malcolm Shore Email: berilldon@aol.com

Senior retired heads: Alwyn Peel Email: alwyn. peel@ntlworld.com WESSEX Ralph Cooper Tel: 01202 513 101 Email: ralphandcarole. cooper@ntlworld.com

Compiled by Life members Gale Freshwater and Anthony Hunt.

Answers to the crossword can be found on page 3.

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