they said Daryl had behavioural problems, but what he really had was a brain allergy, writes Annette Colman.

Behavioural problems. Learning difficulties. Both traits — the latter often exacerbated by the former — had been attributed to eight-year-old Daryl Lewin by the time he became my new pupil last year.

Following tests for nutritional deficiencies and adverse responses to certain foods Daryl was found to be lacking key trace minerals in his diet and allergic to wheat, dairy and oranges. The introduction of a nutritional programme over the past several months has had a dramatic impact on Daryl’s behaviour.

A once inattentive and disruptive child has now been replaced by a pupil repeatedly selected as his school’s Star of the Week.

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the long summer holidays are here – what to do with the kids? Special focus

Every summer thousands of kids in America and across Europe pack their bags and go off to have fun at summer camp. For American families it is a century old tradition that is as deep rooted as baseball and apple pie.

Summer camps offer a variety of activities from specialist sport to adventure to creative workshops. These can be organised daily, over the weekend or as week-long breaks for children aged from four to late teen.

Parents find that children grow in confidence when away from home. Interaction with other children and adults and the learning of new skills can be very rewarding and beneficial for future experiences, such as starting a new school, social events or even that first job. back

extended schools, employee vouchers and tax credits may help solve some of the child care problems parents face during the summer break, writes Crispin Andrews.

Everybody knows they are coming but it’s almost as if school summer holidays emerge from nowhere and are upon us before we realise it.

For working parents in particular, the perennial problem of finding affordable, accessible and appropriate child care can make the six or seven weeks at the end of the academic year the most stressful and worrying of times. back

for the past 70 years state-funded boarding schools have been one education’s best kept secrets – until now, writes Sue Elkin

Lucy Macdiarmid’s three children have all been weekly boarders at Sexey’s School at Bruton in Somerset. Traditionally this would cost the Macdiarmids a total of some £27,000 in annual fees for George, 20, Fergus, 18, and Pippa, 14. But they have paid nothing. This is because Sexey’s — where Mrs Macdiarmid is also a governor — is a state comprehensive boarding school.

‘It really worked well for George who’s now studying maths and computer science at Bristol University and for Fergus and Pippa who are still there,’ claims Mrs Macdiarmid, who praises the school’s excellent community feeling and the balance between school and home that modern boarding allows her children.

‘They can get nearly all their work done at school during the week as well as taking advantage of lots of sport, drama and music without having to travel. Then we can all enjoy high quality weekends at home,’ she adds. back