Young people to be funded to remain in foster care until age 21 if they wish

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Chris

Children and young people brought up by foster carers in England will be allowed to remain with families until they are 21 if they choose to under a new legal duty for councils – this is brilliant news – it was always crazy to force young people to live on their own at 18 by withdrawing their funding:

Children and young people brought up by foster carers in England will be allowed to remain with families until they are 21 if they choose to under a new legal duty for councils, ministers will announce on Wednesday.

Charities have long argued for a change in the law, which currently forces many young people to live on their own at 18. The government has set aside £40m for local authorities over the next three years to put support arrangements in place.

The decision marks a U-turn for ministers, who had previously resisted calls to expand Labour’s pilot Staying Put programme – a scheme that gives young people the option to stay with foster families until they are 21.

The Labour scheme had been piloted in 11 English local authorities since 2008 and evaluations showed that young people who stayed on with foster carers were twice as likely to be in full time education at 19 as those who did not.

Education minister Edward Timpson, whose own mother fostered 90 children, said: “I know from the many foster children I grew up with how crucial it is for them to be given sufficient time to prepare for life after care. A growing number of local authorities already offer young people the choice to stay, but with little financial support it can be challenging for their foster families. This is a further reform to our much wider package of support for care leavers, including much greater financial support for young people leaving care at 18.”

The government will now put forward an amendment at the third reading of the children and families bill in January.

Robert Tapsfield, chief executive of the Fostering Network, which campaigned on the issue, said: “This change in the law will make a massive difference to the lives of this and future generations of care leavers in England. This issue has, however, not been resolved for young people in Wales and Scotland. We will continue to campaign for this change in the law to be replicated”.

Currently, local authorities in England fund the cost of children in foster care until they reach 18. At that point, support varies across the country. In many areas, teenagers are forced to live by themselves at an age when others would remain at home. Statistics from the Department for Education revealed only 10 more young people stayed with their foster carers after the age of 18 in 2012-13 than in 2011-12.

Natasha Finlayson, chief executive of the Who Cares? Trust, which supports children in care, said: “This represents the most significant reform to the support children in care are given in a generation. Time and again we hear from young people who are extremely anxious about having to leave their carers when they turn 18 and effectively no longer having somewhere they can call home, especially when the average age for young people who aren’t in care to finally leave home is (at least) 24.”

SEN Conference – Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Chris

The last session of the Hampshire County Council SEN Conference was entitled “Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants” and led by Rob Webster, Principal Special Needs Officer

Working in HCC since April 2013. Was at the Institute of Education in London before that.

Some aims:

Understand why schools need to examine how TAs are used
Take a closer look at factors that affect TAs effectiveness
What is the role and purpose of TAs?
Explore things shcools could do different. Maximising the impact of TAs.

Background

There is an assumption that TAs help raise pupil standards, but there had been little systematic research on impact over long-term and under everyday classroom conditions – there had been bits on literacy interventions etc. The Deployment and Impact of Support Staff (DISS) project (2009) focussed on all support staff, especially TAs. This then led to the Effective Deployment of TAs (EDTA) in 2011.

Scale of the DISS project

17,800+ biennial national questionaire survey.
Analysis of impact of TA uspport on 8,200 pupils in 153 mainstream schools.
Observations of 680+ pupils and 100+ TAs in 114 schools.
Detailed case studies in 65 cschools.
Interviews with 280+ heads, SENCos, teachers and TAs.
Analysis of adult-to-pupil talk (teacher and TAs) in 16 lessons

Comparison of TA Support verses non TA Support within a classroom environment.

Year	National Curriculum sub-level
Year	English	Maths	Science
1	-1.5	-1
2	-1.5	-1	-1
3	-2	-2
6	-1	-0.75	-1
7	-2	-1.5
9	-1	-0.75	-1
10	-1*

expressed as 1 GCSE grade

Pupils with Statements profoundly affected by current arrangements: those with the most TA support, made the least progress.
Used statistical techniques that control for variables known to affect attainment (e.g. SEN, FSM, prior attachment).
It is NOT the fault of TAs
Organisational and structural factors over which TAs have little or no control.

Issues of

Conditions of employment
Preparedness
Characteristics

DISS: Which pupils do adults work with

Interaction by pupil level of SEN	Teacher	TA
Non-SEN	55%	27%
School Action	24%	32%
School Action Plus or SEN statement	21%	41%

TAs rarely worked with middle and higher attaining pupils. The higher the level of need, the more interaction with TAs and the less interaction the teachers.

Teachers spent more time explaining concepts. TA explanations were sometimes inaccurate or confusing.
Teachers provided more feedback. TAs more likely to prompt pupils and supply answers.
Teachers linked current lesson to pupils’ prior knowledge, promoted pupils’ thinking and cognitive engagement in a task. TAs more concerned with task completion.
Teachers ‘open up’ talk; TAs close talk down.

Preparedness

75% teachers have no training to work with/manage TAs
75% teachers no allocated planning or feedback time.
Teacher-TA meetings depended on TA’s goodwill.
TAs underprepared: having to tune into teachers talk for content/instructions.

Key messages from the research

Pupils with SEN receive more support from TAs than teachers
TA support is alternative to teacher support – not additional
Pupils with SEN separated from classroom, teacher and peers
TAs have main responsibility for teaching pupils with statements
Training for teachers key factor in current arrangements
TAs pedagogical input is well intentioned, but unlikely to narrow attainment gap
Currency of statements seem problematic as written in hours for TA.

Implications for practice

A fundamental rethink is required if schools are going to get the best use from their TAs – and help pupils.
Organisational and strucutral factors need attention:
Deployment of TAs (and teachers)
Practice: TAs interactions with pupils
Preparedness of teachers and TAs.

Rethinking the TA’s role

Pupil Premium is built on spending the money leading to outcomes, but that isn’t the case. It is how and on what you spend it than can cause outcomes to be met.

Effective Deployment of TAs Project

Collaborated with 40 teachers and TAs in 10 schools (20 pairs) with the aim to develop and evaluated alternative strategies to TA preparedness, deployment and practice under normal funding.
Developed over one academic year, spending one term on each of the three areas.
This has become the basis for Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants which has a programme of work that any school can work through and examine how they use TAs.

Conduct an audit

Changes cannot be decided until you know what requires change.
Decision-makers: make sure you know what you think you know.
Obtain objective and subjective pictures of current practice.
Opportunity to identify and build on existing good practice.
Check out www.schoolsupportstaff.net/mitatools.html

Decisions about deployment

What do you want the role and purpose of TAs to be? Teaching role and non-teaching roles (admin, SEAL, mobility, class organisation). This is a collaborative process of challenge and change – not about assessing how effective TAs are. The problem arise when TA role “drifts” from non-teaching towards teaching. 25% of the school workforce are currently TAs.

Key questions

Can/should TAs be as effective as teachers without the same professional development? Or pay?
Should TAs routinely teach pupils with the most demanding SEN?
If TAs can be as effective as TAs then teachers should be worried as they cost a lot less!

TAs and Pupils with SEN

What OFSTED are looking for:

Quality of teaching – Inspectors must evaluate the use that is made of TAs.

The Teacher is responsible for progress and development of all pupils.

TAs and Interventions

When TAs lead interventions they often get positive outcomes. Why does this impact get lost in the terms of wider/annual attainment? There often seems to be the world of the Classroom and the world of the TA with the pupils having to make the link themselves. Teachers and TAs need to help them make sense of this. An interventions health check:

Are we using good intervention programmes, are we using good programmes badly?
Do we need to update the training?
How effective are our reporting mechanisms to teachers?
Do teachers engage with interventions and progress data?

Making best use of TAs time

A third of the time teachers are just being part of the classroom audience – that raises questions around value for money. The TA repeats word-for-word the teachers instructions for a specific child, creating “stereo-teaching” – the child is now trying to listen to two voices instead of one.

Decisions about Practice

Set TAs free from unhelpful patterns of behaviour that underpin less effective types of talk:

The impulse to complete tasks
Not allowing time for pupils to think and respond
Taking peer role of “talk partner”

Teachers use more open ended questions than TAs who used closed questioning. Need to reflect on forms of questioning that keep responsibility for learning with pupil. Pupils can become dependent on TA, they can almost not engage with work unless TA does the work for the pupil. Changing this helps to avoid spoon-feeding and pupils developing independence.

Key Findings

All the schools involved made widespread changes “no going back” to how things were. Teachers spent more time with pupils with SEN – a professional satisfaction.

Teachers made better use of TA time in lessons.
TAs questioning improved.
Quality and clarity of lesson plans improved; less “going in blind”.
TAs feel more valued, appreciated, more confident about role.

Questions, Comments, Discussion

In your research were TAs more effectively used in Primary than Secondary given they more often stay in 1 classroom? The research seems to suggest not, but there are greater challenges in secondary schools moving from classroom to classroom, where inconsistency is much more of an issue according to the research.
Where were the schools located? The first study was from England & Wales and representative of the population, e.g. rural v urban.

Further reading

Reassessing the impact of Teaching Assistants – that’s the research
Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants – designed for Head Teachers and Teachers
Teaching Assistants: A guide to good practice – download at www.oxfordprimary.co.uk

Education and schools work update

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Chris

Headlines from the world of education and schools work:

Only 6 per cent learn facts of life from their parents: Most young people learn about sex from television, the internet or their friends, a survey has found.
Teachers caught calling pupils ‘inbred’ and ‘thick’ on Facebook: Teachers have angered parents after posting on Facebook that their children are ‘inbred’ and ‘thick’. But school apologises over ‘inbred’ Facebook comment by teacher: A primary school governing body has apologised to parents after a message appeared on Facebook, apparently posted by a teacher, which described locals as inbred.
Schools are key to safeguarding runaway children: The Children’s Society is calling for better training for teachers so they can help to identify children at risk of running away and take preventive action. The Children’s Society estimates that 100,000 children run away each year. Many are fleeing family conflict, neglect or abuse. Up to a quarter are “kicked out by their parents or carers”, according to the charity’s Make Runaways Safe report.
Award A-level A*s to a fixed percentage of pupils, Gove proposes: The A* grade at A-level could be awarded to a fixed percentage of candidates each year, the education secretary, Michael Gove, has proposed.
A third of teachers face ‘devastating’ false claims by pupils: Tens of thousands of British school teachers have been subjected to false allegations from a pupil that has placed their careers at “significant” risk, new research suggested yesterday.
Mossbourne head is new Ofsted chief: A headteacher hailed as a “miracle worker” for dramatically improving failing inner-city schools will be the new head of Ofsted. Sir Michael Wilshaw, renowned for showing “tough love” to pupils and their parents, will start his new job in January 2012.
Private schools win case over showing benefit to society: Court rules Charity Commission was wrong in defining how private schools show public benefit.
Warning over children’s ‘appalling’ handwriting skills: Children are struggling to write their own name because growing numbers of schools are shunning traditional handwriting lessons, academics have warned.
Schools to ban skirts if pupils don’t lower their hems: Headteachers across the country are banning girls from wearing skirts in school for fear that their ever-shorter hemlines put them at risk of attack.
Bishop of London attacks top public school after it demolishes its chapel: St Paul’s has become the first of Britain’s top public schools to pull down its chapel and do without a place of worship.
School places shortage leave children facing being taught in ‘split shifts’: Children may be taught in “split shifts” at primary schools because of a critical shortage of places sparked by immigration and a rocketing birth rate.

Education and schools work update

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Chris

Headlines from the world of education and schools work:

New university gathers top academics to teach £18,000-a-year degrees: New College of the Humanities promises more direct teaching by likes of AC Grayling and Richard Dawkins. A new private university in London staffed by some of the world’s most famous academics is to offer degrees in the humanities, economics and law from 2012 at a cost of £18,000 a year, double the normal rate.
Exams system risks ‘damaging teenagers’ reading ability’: A-levels often fail to provide teenagers with the tools and hunger to read beyond the narrow confines of an exam specification, says John Newton, headmaster of Taunton School.
Teachers ‘expect less’ from black, middle-class pupils – study: Teachers expect black middle-class pupils and their parents to be far less interested in education than their white middle-class counterparts, a study has found.
Government ‘underestimated’ university tuition fee hike: Ministers “significantly” underestimated the number of universities charging £9,000 tuition fees, MPs warned, raising fears of a huge funding black hole.
Ofsted warning over ‘weak’ vocational qualifications: Pupils are being awarded top grades on “weak” vocational courses that leave them with a poor grasp of business, Government inspectors warned.
Exam boards told to raise game after rogue question in AS-level biology: Exam boards have been told to raise their game after another rogue question appeared on an AS-level exam paper – the third this summer.
Thousands of children ‘fail to make progress in three-Rs’: Up to a third of children are effectively going backwards in reading, writing and arithmetic at secondary school, new figures suggest.
Primary schoolteacher filmed himself abusing pupils: A primary school teacher filmed himself sexually assaulting pupils as young as six in his classroom, sometimes when other children were present, a court has been told.
Fees will put teens off, say 42% of vice chancellors: A poll of university vice-chancellors shows that nearly half believe that it will become more difficult to convince young people of the benefits of a degree once higher tuition fees have been introduced.
Soaring school meal prices threaten to wreck ‘Jamie effect’: The price of a school dinner has jumped 10 per cent this year, an Independent on Sunday investigation has found, sparking fears that the financial crisis and rampant food inflation could jeopardise the “Jamie Oliver effect” of healthy eating for pupils.

Education and schools work update

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Chris

Headlines from the world of education and schools work:

Schools win right to turn away middle class children: Radical reforms could see middle-class children miss out on most popular schools due to their family’s higher income.
14,000 British professors – but only 50 are black: Leading black academics are calling for an urgent culture change at UK universities as figures show there are just 50 black British professors out of more than 14,000, and the number has barely changed in eight years, according to data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
Are these overseas school trips just pricey package holidays?: Fans say they give children useful lessons outside the classroom, but Genevieve Fox is not sure.
School reprimands seven-year-old boys for playing ‘army game’: A primary school has been condemned by parents for disciplining two seven-year-old boys after teachers ruled playing army games amounted to “threatening behaviour”.
University applications rise 1.4%: The number of university applicants was up 1.4% this year, raising fears that more students will miss out on a place.
School dress code ‘to deter paedophiles’: Parents have been advised not to allow their children to go to school in short skirts and tight trousers because of fears they could be targeted by paedophiles.
Three in 10 UK children ‘own no books’: Three in 10 children in the UK do not own a single book of their own, with alarming implications for their future prospects, according to new research. The survey by the National Literacy Trust also shows that boys are less likely to own books than girls.
Student outrage over ‘impossible’ A-level maths exam: Students are demanding a second chance at an A-level exam after being set an “impossible” question. Board says sorry for impossible maths question: OCR said students will not be unfairly disadvantaged by mistake, amid fears it could affect their chances of getting into university
Thousands of children ‘not ready for school’ at five: Up to half of five-year-olds are not ready for school as working parents increasingly abandon traditional games, nursery rhymes, bedtime stories and lullabies, according to research.
Brian Blessed to run for Cambridge University chancellor: Brian Blessed has announced he will stand as a candidate to become the chancellor of Cambridge University.
Divorce hits children’s maths results – but not their reading: Children of divorced parents tend to do worse at maths than those whose mother and father stay together, a study has found.

Education and schools work update

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Chris

Headlines from the world of education and schools work:

British Crime Survey finds one in five children frightened by bullies: Nine out of 10 report bullying taking place at school in the past year, with boys aged 10 to 12 the most likely victims.
Education spending in UK reaches £87bn: Public spending on education and training has more than doubled in the last 20 years, according to the latest Social Trends study, published by the Office for National Statistics.
Help with homework part of the curriculum: Parents will be expected to spend more time helping their children with schoolwork under plans to extend the reach of the national curriculum beyond the classroom and into the home.
Creationism ‘banned from free schools’: Creationism, intelligent design and other theories that contradict evolution are to be banned from being taught as science in free schools.
Children growing weaker as computers replace outdoor activity: Modern life is ‘producing a generation of weaklings’, claims research as physical strength declines in 10-year-olds. Children are becoming weaker, less muscular and unable to do physical tasks that previous generations found simple, research has revealed.
Labour ‘failure’ blamed as truancy rate hits record high: More than 64,000 pupils skipped school every day last year as truancy rates hit a record high.
Warning over drop in GCSE and A-level entries: GCSEs and A-levels are in decline as more teenagers turn to practical courses in subjects such as food safety, sports coaching and health, official figures show.
Give children feedback to improve standards in school, says new guide: Forget school uniforms and streaming by ability: schools will raise standards if they focus on giving children effective feedback. New guidance developed by academics at Durham University shows what works and what doesn’t to improve exam performance. Reducing class sizes and setting homework for primary school children are among the least effective ways to raise standards, the research finds.

Education and schools work update

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Chris

Headlines from the world of education and schools work:

Church of England to reduce school places for Christians: The Church of England is planning to put a strict limit on the number of places reserved for pupils from Christian families as part of the biggest shake-up of faith schools’ admissions policies for decades.
School chaos warning as NUT threaten pensions strike: Millions of children face being turned away from school as teachers prepare for their first national strike in three years.
Teachers ‘considering suicide’ over classroom inspections: Teachers are being driven to the brink of suicide and alcoholism because of the stresses of the job, it was claimed.
Schoolboy given standing ovation from NUT over plea to save grants: Joe Cotton, a 15-year-old schoolboy, turns heads as he attacked the Coalition policy from the podium.
Fewer British pupils in private schools as fees rise: Fewer children are being sent to independent schools after average fees climbed above £13,000 for the first time, it emerged.
Up to 17,000 jobs to go in schools: Schools will have to make up to 17,000 staff redundant as they struggle to cope with budget cuts, headteachers warn.
Nadine Dorries: Teenage girls should be taught how to say no to sex: MPs narrowly pass first reading of Nadine Dorries’ bill to start classes in abstinence for girls aged 13 to 16. Speaking in the Commons on Wednesday, Nadine Dorries, the MP for Mid Bedfordshire, proposed a bill that would result in classes in abstinence, but only for girls aged 13 to 16. Nadine Dorries’s abstinence bill is a definite no-no: Dorries wants just girls to be taught how to say no to sex. Sarah Ditum believes such grim sexism is a bad way to prepare children for relationships
11 per cent denied ‘first choice of primary school’: One in nine children is being denied their first choice of primary school, new figures suggest.
David Cameron under pressure to boost religion GCSEs: David Cameron is facing calls to revise exam league tables to ensure that religious education is at the heart of the secondary school curriculum.
Boy wears skirt to school in protest against ‘discrimination’: A 12-year-old boy has worn a skirt to school in protest against ”discriminatory” rules which ban boys from wearing shorts.
David Cameron slaps down David Willetts over ‘buying’ uni places scheme: David Cameron was forced to slap down a senior minister after he risked fuelling public anger over tuition fees by suggesting wealthy students could ‘buy’ their way into top universities.
London School of Economics academics narrowly vote in favour of £8,000 fees: The London School of Economics’ academic board, which represents its academic staff, voted by a narrow margin to reject charging the maximum £9,000 tuition fees. The board voted by 68 to 67 votes against charging £9,000. It voted by 65 to 64 votes in favour of charging £8,000.* This fee would be the lowest in the Russell Group of universities.

Education and schools work update

Posted on February 5, 2011 by Chris

Headlines from the world of education and schools work:

Michael Gove condemns charities’ ‘don’t touch’ warning to teachers: The education secretary said telling teachers to avoid physical contact with students was ‘playing to a culture of fear’

GCSE league tables: thousands of pupils failing in key subjects: Up to 500,000 teenagers are leaving school without a decent grasp of traditional academic subjects, league tables show.

Head urges parents to apply for free meals: Parents who fail to claim for free school meals for their children, despite being eligible for them, are being urged by a secondary head to apply in order to boost school funding under the new pupil premium scheme announced last month.

The King’s Speech shines light on stammering: Just as The King’s Speech puts a spotlight on children who stammer, services to help them are being cut

’70% would drop out’ if EMA is scrapped: Seven in 10 poor teenagers would drop out of school if controversial plans to scrap the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) go ahead, research suggests.

National curriculum review: compulsory subjects ‘could be axed’: Compulsory lessons in subjects such as citizenship, IT, music and design and technology could be axed under a sweeping review of the national curriculum.

Write it don’t type it if you want knowledge to stick: Children and students who write by hand learn better than those who type, a study shows.

Text messaging ‘improves children’s spelling skills’: Mobile phone text messaging can boost children’s spelling skills, according to new research.

Ofsted: white boys ‘held back by low expectations’: White working-class boys are falling behind their classmates after being let down by unambitious teachers, according to the education watchdog.

Mayor caught speeding by local schoolchildren: The Mayor of Doncaster has been caught speeding by children in a police road-safety exercise.

Religion must be in key school exam, insist faith leaders: Bishop of Oxford says anti-Islam protests make the subject essential for the English baccalaureate. Religious leaders and theologians have condemned the decision to leave religious education off the list of GCSEs that go towards the controversial new English baccalaureate.

Coalition seeks to introduce post-exam university admissions: Can the coalition succeed where Labour failed, to make university admissions follow A-level results?

The Children’s Manifesto of 2001: This is what the school children of Britain wanted back in 2001

Unruly behaviour in schools ’caused by boring lessons’: Boring lessons are fuelling bad behaviour in the classroom as unruly children “muck about” to kill time, MPs warned.

Writers speak up over plans to close 450 libraries: Protests against the planned closure of more than 450 library services were staged today. Library users, authors, parents and children took part in “read-ins” and demonstrations at libraries in South Yorkshire, Lancashire, Gloucestershire, Dorset and in Oxfordshire, where 20 of the 43 libraries still running are earmarked for withdrawal of funds.

Education and schools work update

Posted on January 3, 2011 by Chris

Headlines from the world of education and schools work:

Education review of the year 2010: review of the year by the Telegraph.
Children in poverty ‘as happy as more affluent classmates’: Research shows kids are most likely to say they feel happy if they can talk to their parents about their worries. Children living in poverty are as happy as classmates from wealthier homes, a study of 32,000 young people has found.
More than 500 pupils excluded for assault or abuse every school day: On an average school day 511 pupils in primary, secondary and special needs schools across England are excluded for abusing or assaulting an adult, according to statistics from 2008-9. On average, 503 of the exclusions are temporary. Of these, 412 are for verbally abuse or threats, while 91 are for physical assault. A further eight exclusions are permanent and are equally distributed between physical and verbal abuse. In total, 96,990 pupils are excluded each school year. Ministers said the statistics, from the Department for Education, justified their view that plans to “restore discipline in classrooms” were long overdue.
Schools ban pupils from using gossip website: Several leading independent schools are trying to block a “pernicious” website which they say encourages pupils to bully each other by posting anonymous gossip.
Scrap compulsory acts of worship in schools, say teachers and campaigners: The National Secular Society (NSS) has written to Michael Gove arguing that the legislation, dating from the 1944 Education Act, infringes children’s human rights and discriminates against pupils of no faith and non-Christians.
No web access at home for 2m poor pupils, warns charity: E-learning Foundation fears gap between rich and poor at school will widen unless more get home internet access. More than one million children in Britain live in homes without computers and a further two million have no internet connection at home. The charity analysed a survey of family spending in Britain, published by the Office for National Statistics last year. The study found that 75% of households had a home computer and 71% had an internet connection, a rise of three and five percentage points respectively on 2008. In the richest 10% of homes, 98% had a home computer and 97% had internet access, but in the poorest 10% of homes only 38% had a home computer and 30% an internet connection.
Poor pupils ‘fall further behind between seven and 16′: The gap between rich and poor pupils widens throughout primary and secondary school, figures show, as middle-class children benefit the most from state education.
Rules on school expulsions ‘will fuel bad behaviour’: Schools will be powerless to expel the worst behaved children under controversial Government reforms, head teachers warn.

Education and schools work update

Posted on December 23, 2010 by Chris

Headlines from the world of education and schools work:

Half of pupils on free school meals can’t read: Nearly half the 11-year-olds on free school meals cannot read or add up properly by the time they leave primary school.
Religious education ‘could be marginalised in schools’: Religious education risks being marginalised in schools after the Government barred the subject from a list of “preferred” GCSEs.
Tackling bad behaviour ‘is not our job’, teachers claim: Teachers are reluctant to tackle badly behaved children because it is “beyond their remit”, according to Government research.
Council budget cuts will hit the most deprived areas, says study: Cuts to local authorities will fall hardest on the poorest areas as the coalition reverses some of Labour’s funding mechanisms, councils are warning before the unveiling of next year’s budgets for schools, police forces and local services.
Schools’ budgets will not rise above inflation for four years: Schools’ budgets will not rise above inflation for the next four years, the government has admitted.
Almost a thousand primary schools failing to hit targets: Almost a thousand primary schools are failing to give their pupils a decent grounding in reading, writing and arithmetic, official figures suggest.
Travel grant for poorest pupils may be scrapped: The government is considering abolishing a £20m grant that has helped the poorest pupils afford the cost of travelling to school.
UK falling behind other countries in mathematics: The UK is lagging behind in mathematics as fewer teenagers study the subject to a high level than in other developed nations, according to research.
Primary school league tables: faith schools dominate top positions: Faith schools dominated new league tables today as head teachers rejected claims they boosted results by selecting “by the backdoor”.
Bishop of Lincoln: tuition fees hike is against teaching of Jesus Christ: The trebling in student tuition fees will normalise debt and is contrary to the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Bishop of Lincoln has said.
A third of children leaving primary school are overweight: The number of pupils classified as obese is also rising, new NHS statistics show. Almost a quarter of children are overweight or obese by the time they start primary school, and more than a third are by the time they leave.
More than 50% of five-year-old boys making too little progress, data shows: Figures published by Department for Education based on teachers’ observations of hundreds of thousands of five-year-old pupils show more than half of all boys in England are not making good enough progress at school by the time they reach the age of five.
Thousands of boys start secondary school ‘barely able to read’: Nearly one in 10 boys reading well below expected standard, although data show overall improvement. Nearly 19,000 boys are starting secondary school with a reading age of a seven-year-old or below, government data has shown.
Special needs pupils account for seven in 10 permanent exclusions from school: Children who just miss out on obtaining a “statement” guaranteeing support for special educational needs are being excluded from school at an alarmingly high rate, it has been revealed. Official figures show that children on “school action plus”, the status ascribed to those who fall short of qualifying for a statement but have special needs, accounted for 44% of all permanent exclusions in 2008-09.
Universities face £400m ‘lag’ before fees income rises: Higher education budget reduced a year before higher fees income is recieved.
University places to be cut by 10,000 by 2012, minister reveals: David Willetts says this year’s extra funding to meet surge in applications will be withdrawn. The number of places on degree courses in England will be cut by 10,000 by 2012, according to a government letter that outlines future funding cuts to higher education.
U-turn as Michael Gove agrees to continue funding school sports system: Michael Gove today performed a major U-turn by agreeing to continue funding the schools sports system in England he had previously pledged to scrap.
‘Name and shame’ unfair universities: A report by the education charity the Sutton Trust reveals that three of Britain’s leading universities – Oxford, Cambridge and Bristol – have fewer than one in 100 students from poor homes.

Education and schools work update

Posted on November 21, 2010 by Chris

Headlines from the world of education and schools work:

Boys lag behind girls after two school years: Boys are lagging behind girls in the basics after just two years at school, official figures show.
NUS starts campaign to oust leading Lib Dems: National Union of Students launch ‘decapitation’ strategy aimed at ousting Nick Clegg and other top Liberal Democrats in protest at the party’s U-turn on tuition fees.
Heads back plans for central funding of schools: Head teachers have given a broad welcome to plans for Whitehall to take full control of state school funding in England.
Sure Start children’s centres told to charge for some services: Sarah Teather, the children’s minister, says in an interview with the Observer that services should be targeted at the neediest. Middle-class parents are likely to be charged for an increasing number of services at their local children’s centres under radical plans to overhaul Sure Start – the Labour government’s flagship childcare programme.
Teachers fear restraint powers will bring chaos: Thousands of teachers in the UK fear chaos in the classroom if the Government goes ahead with plans to give them powers to restrain and search unruly pupils without proper training.
Exams culture ‘fuelling teenage mental health problems’: A toxic mix of exam pressure, celebrity culture and the internet is fuelling mental health problems among schoolchildren, according to a leading headmistress.
700,000 children acting as carers, survey shows: BBC survey finds roughly 8% of secondary school pupils tested taking on caring roles. Almost 700,000 children in the UK may be acting as carers for parents or other relatives.
Badly behaved pupils ‘should be banned from mainstream school for 12 months’: Badly behaved children are being fast-tracked back into the classroom after being suspended from school for just a few days, according to research.
Law on religious assemblies in schools ‘should be axed’: Laws forcing schools to stage a daily Christian assembly should be scrapped because children should not be “coerced” into religion, according to a head teachers’ leader.
School pupils plan national walkout over tuition fees: Thousands of schoolchildren and sixth formers are expected to take part in a national walkout on Wednesday as student protests over fees, which saw more than 50,000 people march in London last week, are stepped up across the country.
GCSEs to punish poor spelling: For seven years, spelling, punctuation and grammar have been deemed less than essential in GCSE exams, but under rules set to be outlined in an education White Paper, pupils will lose as much as five cent of their marks in all subjects if they fall short with their written English.
Teachers stunned after Michael Gove scraps ‘sport for all’ funding: Schools fear for health of children and Olympic legacy following decision to axe £162m of government money for sport.

Education and schools work update

Posted on August 19, 2010 by Chris

Headlines from the world of education and schools work:

Ministers launch investigation into special needs: Ministers have launched a formal inquiry into children with special needs amid concerns that the numbers being diagnosed have shot up in recent years.

A fifth of girls pregnant by 18, survey reveals: Almost one in five girls say they have been pregnant at least once by the age of 18, according to a Government survey.

Fall in drug use among schoolchildren: Biggest decline in smoking, where number of 11- to 15-year-olds who had smoked has fallen to 29%, from 54% in 1982. Fewer schoolchildren are smoking, drinking or taking drugs, according to an NHS report which contradicts the widespread belief that such behaviour is increasingly popular with young people.

One in five pupils receive wrong Sats grade: As many as one in five pupils are given the wrong grade in some Sats papers due to inconsistent marking, according to a study by the exams watchdog.

Sharp fall in pupils expelled from school: Dramatic drop in school exclusions prompts claims that problems students are being passed from school to school

Summer-born children ‘lag behind at school’: Summer-born children are more likely to fail their exams, be victimised by bullies and have special needs, according to a study.

Sats row as four-in-10 children ‘fail’ tests: Around four-in-10 children are expected to start secondary school in September without a proper grasp of the basics.

Who will advise young people if Connexions goes?: There is still no sign of what will replace Connexions when it has been decimated by cuts

Youth unemployment rising in most regions: TUC argues young people were hit hard by the recession and their outlook could darken as public sector job losses mount

Pupils do better at school if teachers are not fixated on test results: Institute of Education study finds exam performance improves if students concentrate on learning rather than grades

Universities chief declares death of “gap year” and proposes “bridging year” instead: The era of the traditional gap year is over and students should abandon plans to see the world before going to university, the head of the admissions body has warned.

3,500 straight A students ‘to miss university’: As many as 3,500 students with straight A grades at A-level face missing out on university, a Government minister has warned.

BT receives 24,000 applications for 220 apprenticeships: Telecoms group BT has received more than 100 applications for each of its apprenticeship places this year

Local authorities and schools losing track of children, claims Ofsted: Survey of 15 LEAs by education watchdog reveals none of them are confident they know about all children living in their area

A-level pass rate rises to 97.6%: A-level pass rates today rose to another record high of 97.6% while an unprecedented 27% of entries achieved an A, in results which will sharpen the intense battle for places at university this year.

A-level results: Gender gap narrowing: Boys are catching up with girls as the gulf between the sexes reaches its narrowest point in almost a decade.

12 3 4