Powerful immunosuppressant drugs are not justified for non-life-threatening conditions and even disciples of self-improvement such as Ms Jackson would draw the line at taking potentially toxic doses.James Frame, consultant plastic surgeon at St Andrew's hospital, Essex, who has been doing research in the area for four years, said: "What the transplant world is waiting for is a way of overcoming the rejection problem without drugs."The best candidate is "transfection" - a method of transferring genes to the new tissue, using a virus as a carrier to "infect" it, ensuring that it is accepted by the recipient of the transplant.Mr Frame said the first candidates for a face transplant, were it to become possible, would be cancer patients. "If someone has surgery for cancer of the mouth the best we can do for them is lift a section of skin from their back and transfer it to their face The results are not very good. I feel as a cosmetic surgeon we ought to be able to offer them something better."But creating a new look for the vain would be more difficult than replacing skin and underlying tissue with someone else's face Mr Frame said: "It can't be done The skeleton would still be there. Because of that basic background, whatever you put over the top you would still be left with the same individual.". When Adrian Thompson was eight, his mother, Shirley, received a letter from his school saying that he was in danger of being excluded unless his behaviour improved. Now Adrian is ten and, his mother says, he is still in school thanks to the help he has received from the Children's Society's Shine project (Schools Have Inclusive Education). She says: "He was on the verge of being excluded for difficult behaviour.
He was very hyperactive and he kept throwing things across the classroom. He was also being bullied and, every time something went wrong, he felt that he was blamed for it."But he didn't know how to express himself. When I asked, he said he was fine."His behaviour problems meant that he was also struggling with his work.Part of the trouble, Mrs Thompson says, is that she is a nurse working night shifts so that she was not always available when Adrian came home from school.Jill, the project worker, persuaded Adrian to talk, and a pattern was worked out between Mrs Thompson, Jill and his tutor so that one of them was always available to talk.Adrian, who attends Trinity St Mary's primary school in Balham, south- west London, enjoyed his one-to-one sessions with Jill each week. "He felt someone was interested in him and that gave him confidence," his mother said "She showed him how to deal with his anger. They made toys which he could smash."I was frightened about what would happen when he went back into class but there has been no problem. He has learnt to read and he now likes school."I don't know what we would have done without the help.
There needs to be a system so that parents and teachers get together and communi- cate properly.". Students applying to the University of Wales, Bangor, have the chance to win the equivalent of a year's tuition fee under a new scholarship scheme. The university launched the offer, which it plans to extend next year, as it emerged that other institutions are also considering similar moves amid fears that tuition charges being introduced next September could deter potential students. Under the Bangor scheme, eight departments from English to engineering will each offer a pounds 1,000 scholarship, to be awarded by competition based on an essay, project or assignment.The sum, payable in three instalments during the undergraduates' first year, exactly covers the maximum amount students will be expected to pay annually for tuition under plans announced by the Government in July.Charges will be means tested according to parental income, and about one-third of students will be liable for the full amount, while a further third pay nothing and the rest are charged on a sliding scale.Bangor's academic registrar David Roberts said that, at a time when students were increasingly worried about their finances, the scholarships were expected to be "extremely attractive" to applicants.The offer also represents a useful marketing tactic at a time when universities fear a rush for the last free higher education places this year and initial wariness over fees could mean fewer applications for next September.The applications process for 1998 entry has already begun, but the Government has not yet spelt out the detail of its fees proposals.At a conference of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals last week, the higher education minister Baroness Blackstone promised an announcement within a fortnight, but universities fear some questions could remain unanswered until later in the autumn, when many applications will have already been made.Dr Geoffrey Copland, vice-chancellor of the University of Westminster and chair of the 26-strong Coalition of Modern Universities, an organisation representing many of the former polytechnics, said many institutions were considering offering scholarships and bursaries but could not act without more detail on fees.He said: "There is a real concern among CMU and I think widely that there may be students who will be deterred from taking up places.". The Children's Society is piloting a scheme which sends experts into schools to work with primary children who are at risk of exclusion. Teachers and parents can refer children for support, and children themselves can also volunteer to be helped The charity's two-year project began a year ago. So far, the society says, feedback from both parents and children has been encouraging.
One four-year-old who had been excluded from another school has been able to remain in his current primary school, thanks to the efforts of the project workers. The rate of exclusions is rising more quickly in primary than in secondary schools. There was a 30 per cent increase in exclusions from primary schools to 1,872 during the last year.Research suggests that primary school children who are permanently excluded from schools lose an average of three-quarters of a year's schooling. Exclusions of pupils of all ages have risen by 450 per cent over the last five years and topped 13,500 two years ago.The Children's Society is sending two project workers into two London schools four mornings a week to give one-to-one help to those at risk of exclusion, and to work with groups on issues such as friendship and bullying.Pippa Bremner, the project leader, said that most children had been referred to them by teachers but they were delighted by the number of parents who had come forward. She added: "A couple of children have also come to us, but they tend to be more concerned with the immediate situation: they are having a lot of difficulty in the playground or nobody is talking to them."The project also helps withdrawn children who are not disruptive but who are not fully included in the life of the school.In addition, it runs parents' groups and advises on the training of classroom assistants. The idea is to get the whole school thinking about how exclusions can be reduced.Ms Bremner said: "These schools show that, with outside support and the commitment of schools, parents and pupils, children who might otherwise be excluded can be given a real chance.
If you're excluded at the age of five, what hope does that give a child for the rest of its life? The national figures for black children, particularly those from Afro-Caribbean backgrounds, are inexcusable."Afro-Caribbean pupils are four times as likely to be excluded from school as other children.Ian Sparks, the society's chief executive, said that exclusions amounted to "state-sanctioned truancy. While the Government has announced some welcome plans to tackle truancy, we want to see more work on preventing exclusions."The statistics are a shambles. No one knows how many children are excluded temporarily and there's even doubt about the figures on permanent exclusions."For children in difficulties, he said, it was a frighteningly short route from primary school to prison. A recent Audit Commission report found that 78 per cent of permanently excluded pupils and 31 per cent of those temporarily excluded committed crimes.. Vowing to complete the revolution of 1989, leaders of the disparate strands of Solidarity celebrated their comeback to the centre-stage of Polish politics yesterday and began the arduous task of putting together the next government.