Government proposals for children in care to be educated in state and private boarding schools are to be taken a step forward, it was revealed yesterday. The Department for Education and Skills is expected to pilot the plans, which could give the most vulnerable youngsters at risk of poor educational achievement the advantage of regular, continuous schooling, funded by the taxpayer.

Indoor cannabis farms, which can produce up to £250,000 of the class C drug each year, are appearing in quiet residential streets throughout the country in unprecedented numbers, police have told the Guardian. A clampdown on the farms in big cities is forcing drug syndicates to decamp to converted family homes in the suburbs, detectives said.

A recent study by Barnardo’s highlighted how children in care are being failed by the education system; but for black children that failure is even more pronounced. The Barnardo’s report: Failed by the System aimed to highlight “the shocking levels of disadvantage” faced by children in care, in respect of their education, whom Barnardo’s claim are being virtually “written off”. Pam Hibbert, Principal Policy Officer for Barnardo’s told Black Britain: “This report doesn’t actually tell us anything that we didn’t already know,” given that there is already a plethora of research into the poor educational achievements of children in care.

Residents of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead who have care provided through social services are being encouraged to take advantage of a scheme that will give them greater freedom to choose who comes into their home to help them, and when. Direct payments gives people more power over the purse strings for their care, enabling them to arrange for their own care at times best suited to them and with services tailored to suit their way of life. From September 1 direct payments will be looked after by a dedicated borough team who will be available to all care users to discuss how the scheme could make their lives easier and give them control over the way their assessed packages of care can be delivered for their particular needs.

A teenager with severe psychiatric problems escaped after attacking his carer during an organised fishing trip. William Pritchard, 16, had been sent to St Nicholas Hospital, Newcastle, from a young offenders’ institution under a mental health order. On an outing in Felton, Northumberland on Monday, he threatened to sexually assault his carer, before attacking her and running off, police said. Northumbria Police said he might try to contact relatives in Worcestershire.

One in ten teenage girls self-harm each year, claims the largest-ever study of self-harm amongst 15 to 16-year-olds by Bath and Oxford universities. In a survey of 6000 teenagers, researchers found girls are four times more likely to have self-harmed compared to boys. The survey found 64.5% of self-harm was inflicted by self-cutting. The research took place in 41 schools across Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire and Birmingham in 2000 and 2001. The survey also found 11% of girls had self-harmed in the last year compared to 3% of boys. Only 13% of self-harming incidents the pupils reported resulted in a hospital visit.

About 27,000 people joined a march on Sunday protesting at hospital cuts in Cornwall, campaigners have said. The one-and-a-half mile march through the centre of Hayle started at St Michael’s Hospital at 1700 BST, and was described as good-natured.The hospital is threatened with closure as the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust tries to make savings because of a forecast deficit of £31m. The trust says it is looking at several options to reduce the debt.

Homophobic bullying is an “effective and powerful” form of abuse and a growing cause of concern for youngsters, according to research due to be published this week by the NSPCC children’s charity. Calls about homophobic bullying accounted for 27% of the April 2006 calls relating to sexual orientation issues to the NSPCC’s child protection helpline, ChildLine, the report reveals. The charity’s analysis of the calls represents what it claims to be the first detailed insight into the extent of homophobic bullying based on the recent experiences of teenagers.

The liberal legal establishment has been condemned by the Director of Public Prosecutions for its patronising attitude towards the public and victims of crime. Ken Macdonald, QC, head of the Crown Prosecution Service, said that elitist attitudes had helped to break the bond of trust between the public and the criminal justice system. In an extraordinary warning, he said that the country would enter dangerous territory if the public felt that justice was not being delivered by the courts.

The world’s first non-surgical diagnostic test for Alzheimer’s disease is to be unveiled in Edinburgh next month. Nymox, a Canadian company, is poised to market the urine-based test – which is designed for physicians to administer – in the UK but concern has been raised it could be a precursor to the development of a DIY dementia test.