It’s the time of year when Scottish pupils are returning to school to learn and eventually gain good qualifications to help them get jobs. Earlier this month, we were inundated with success stories from around the country – pictures of ecstatic young people and their delighted teachers and parents as they opened their Standard Grades results and celebrated. What those stories don’t tell us is the truth of the lives of the children who are written off by the education system – the UK’s children in care. A new report by leading charity Barnardo’s highlights the shocking levels of disadvantage faced by these children, many of whom will struggle to gain even a single qualification.

A charity providing support to young people who have suffered from abuse has launched a website which aims to reduce incidents of violence. The Violence is Preventable project has been spearheaded by the award-winning Dundee charity Eighteen And Under. The organisation is aiming to use the site to share its expertise and experience with people and groups across the country. It is hoped the site will continue to be updated over the coming months.

A police investigation has begun into a mother’s complaint about a nursery’s treatment of her one-year-old daughter. Debbie Rye said Kyla had been strapped into a buggy for four hours on one of the hottest days by staff at the Ideal Start centre at Crookedholm, Ayrshire. She said the toddler suffered friction burns as she tried to free herself and had to stay overnight in hospital. The Care Commission said it had upheld the complaint and the nursery has declined to comment on the incident. Mrs Rye, from Kilmarnock, said she acted after she discovered the burn marks on Kyla on 26 July.

The lives of around 40,000 people with learning disabilities in Scotland have not improved in the last six years and in some cases have deteriorated, a major study has revealed. And equality of opportunity does not exist in the workplace, according to the research which was commissioned by Enable Scotland, the leading charity in the field. The organisation said that the survey had demonstrated that individuals with learning disabilities still did not have equal access to the things in life that most people aspired to and took for granted.

A Dumfries and Galloway councillor has said pensioners should sue the authority if they feel they have been wrongly charged for care. Labour administration member Willie Scobie claimed it could clarify the legal position on meal preparation fees under the free personal care programme. The council dropped its charging policy this year amid claims it breached national legislation. An investigation has started into the council’s potential cost liabilities. Mr Scobie said a legal challenge might be the only way to take things forward.

The owners of a care home where 14 elderly residents died in a fire will appear in court next month. Thomas Balmer, 59, wife Anne , 58, and their son Alan , 32, are charged with breaches of health and safety legislation. Their firm, Balmer Care Homes Ltd will face the same charges. The blaze at Rosepark care home in Old Edinburgh Road, Viewpark, Lanarkshire, on January 31, 2004, led to one of the highest fire death tolls in Scotland in recent years. Heavy smoke from the fire killed 14 of the 43 people staying at the home – 13 women and one man, with the oldest being 98.

‘see me’, the Scottish mental health anti-stigma campaign is calling for people throughout Scotland to have their say on mental health, with the launch of the largest national stigma survey to date. Since 2002, ‘see me’ has been campaigning for the rights of people with mental health problems and tackling the stigma and discrimination of mental-ill health across Scotland. The ‘hear me’ survey aims to gather information about the way in which stigma affects not only those with experience of mental health, but also the people who support them including friends, family and carers.

An alternative plan to halt the controversial sale of six Highland Council care homes is being proposed by the Provostof the city of Inverness. Bill Smith is calling for the establishment of a charitable company to operate care homes which would be developed with sheltered homes for the elderly. Provost Smith claims the scheme is winning wide support from his colleagues and provides a way out of handing the homes over to the private sector.

The cost of free personal care for the elderly has been blamed for a growing budget deficit within Inverness area’s social work department. City councillors fear the gap could widen to £1m unless cuts are made. Transport and home care expenditure is also in the firing line and the cost of looking after 25 people, who have care packages worth £1.2m, will be reviewed. The department’s current deficit is £350,000 for the first three months of the financial year. Area social work chairman Jimmy MacDonald warned this could exceed £1m by next April unless it was controlled.

Victims of abuse at Nazareth House children’s homes have been paid official compensation and more could follow, BBC Scotland has learned. Eighteen residents of the former homes in Aberdeen, Glasgow and Kilmarnock have received awards of up to £7,500. The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) compensated the former residents after a hearing last month. They alleged they were abused, beaten or humiliated as children by some of the nuns who ran the homes. Glasgow lawyer Cameron Fyfe hopes that compensation will eventually be paid to about 100 of his clients, who are now mostly in their 40s, 50s and 60s.