"I never see my friends. I never have time to read a Sunday newspaper. It has taken over my life." The writer and broadcaster Toby Young is reflecting in the garden of his west London home on the personal cost of spending the past 12 months trying to set up a parent-promoted school in Acton. "And," he adds with a laugh, "there isn't even a guarantee that I will be able to get my own kids in. I'll have to apply for a place like any other parent."

How can mainstream young Muslim students get heard when fundamentalists often have a stranglehold on their groups and societies? Saniya Gour, 17, an east London A-level student, has struggled. "Everyone where I live is so extreme. There are very few who are not hardline about things. And, as a girl, they don't want to hear what you have to say. I go to Leyton Sixth Form College and when I asked one of the heads of Isoc (the Islamic Society) if I could speak, he said no. They don't even like me talking to guys. They say: 'You're wearing a headscarf, you shouldn't be talking to boys'."

Traditional play is being sidelined as growing numbers of nurseries teach
young children using computers and state-of-the-art whiteboards, according
to research.

Two out of three young carers are bullied at school, according to a study by children's charity.

The Montessori Schools Association, which advocates letting young children
learn at their own pace, plans to open its first state primary in the UK.