Posts filed under 'Politics'
Education and schools work update
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.
Add comment August 19, 2010
Education and schools work update
Headlines from the world of education and schools work:
- Councils merge education departments: Westminster, and Hammersmith and Fulham councils’ attempt to slash budgets by pooling resources is first such move in UK
- Street talk is ‘breeding illiteracy’: Teachers failing to correct pupils due to misplaced fear of interfering with self-expression, says a pamphlet backed by the London mayor, Boris Johnson.
- Clearing 2010: the end?: This year, instead of giving out last-minute university places, staff are preparing to cope with distraught teenagers … and parents
- Councils focus too much on ‘at-risk’ teens: Councils are focusing too much on providing support for “at risk” children and neglecting the needs of the majority of young people, a government watchdog said.
- Minister urges unsuccessful university applicants to reapply: David Willetts says disappointed teenagers should do work experience or an apprenticeship and apply to university at a later stage
- World Cup effect prompts primary school to ban playground football: Football has been halted in a primary school playground amid concerns that children could be copying the poor behaviour of professional players that they witnessed during the World Cup.
- 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.
- One in five girls pregnant by age of 18, government study finds: Overall figure at lowest for 20 years, but almost one in five girls who are sexually active at the age of 18 say they have been pregnant at least once, according to a major government study published today.
Add comment July 22, 2010
Education and schools work update
Headlines from the world of education and schools work:
- Sex education is a mess, so can a TV series help teenagers?: The Sex Education Show is important and useful but young people need compulsory school lessons.
- Gove sets limit on headteacher pay: Headteachers are facing a limit on their salaries to the £142,500-a-year pay of the Prime Minister. Education Secretary Michael Gove wants to impose the cap on all salary deals agreed from September.
- Every school needs a ‘naff’ teacher says Ofsted chair: Every school should have a “useless teacher” so children can learn to deal with incompetent people in authority, the outgoing chairman of the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) has claimed.
- Council tells schools to rearrange exams and cancel swimming for Ramadan: A council has encouraged schools to rearrange exams, cancel swimming lessons and stop sex education during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
- Parents told packed lunches ‘too unhealthy’: Packed lunches filled with junk food by parents should be banned, the government body in charge of healthy eating has said.
- School children disprove theory than spiders are scared of conkers: A group of primary school children have been honoured by the Royal Society of Chemistry for disproving the theory that spiders are afraid of conkers.
- Up to a quarter of a million could miss out on university places: Almost a quarter of a million students will miss out on a university place after economy worries prompt a sharp rise in applications.
Add comment July 16, 2010
Education and schools work update
Headlines from the world of education and schools work:
- University clearing places ‘to be cut’: Thousands of students face being left without degree courses as universities are forced to slash the number of places available through the traditional clearing system.
- Government to introduce ‘school Olympics’: The coalition Government is pledging to create an annual school Olympic-style games as part of a drive to bring competitive sport back to the playground.
- Parents warned over exam binge drinking: Parents have been accused of fuelling binge drinking among their children by purchasing alcohol for end-of-exam celebrations.
- Ucas to review university admission points system: The university admissions system is to be overhauled amid fears that the practice of scoring applicants’ qualifications has become outdated, and is being wrongly used by employers to recruit graduates.
- England’s exams chief resigns over Gove’s plans: The head of England’s exams regulator has resigned. Kathleen Tattersall, chairwoman of Ofqual, said she was stepping down “with immediate effect”.
- Building Schools for the Future plans to be scrapped: Michael Gove, the education secretary, postpones plans to rebuild more than 700 schools across Conservative constituencies.
- AS-levels dropped to revive ‘deep thought’: Education secretary Michael Gove wants to limit the modularisation of A-levels and scrap AS-levels
- Tory MP spurns ‘Oxbridge types’: The new Tory MP for Harlow plans to hire an apprentice instead of getting a free ‘posh’ researcher
- Warning as quarter of schools boycott Sats: The Coalition risked a fresh clash with teachers by vowing to press ahead with Sats tests next year.
- Teachers to get new powers over troublemakers: Teachers will be handed tough powers to search pupils for alcohol, drugs and mobile phones in a Government crackdown on bad behaviour.
- Gap-year students choose jobs over jollies: School leavers are getting serious, says Christopher Middleton.
Add comment July 8, 2010
Education and schools work update
Headlines from the world of education and schools work:
- Are breakfast clubs under threat?: Breakfast clubs are a lifeline for children who come to school hungry. But will the new government continue to support them?
- Home computers ‘harm children’s test results’: Parents who buy computers for their children may be damaging their exam results, according to new research.
- Brightest pupils ‘need more support in school’: Bright children could be missing out in the classroom as education policies focus on “overcoming social disadvantage”, according to a leading head teacher.
- More students ‘opting for vocational courses’: Record numbers of teenagers are opting for practical courses such as construction and tourism to secure jobs in the recession, according to research.
- Warning over school ‘drinking culture’: Researchers have warned of a “drinking culture” in schools with large numbers of white, middle-class children.
- Chair of Ofsted resigns: The chair of the education and children’s social services inspectorate Ofsted Zenna Atkins has resigned, fuelling speculation that ministers plan significant changes at the organisation.
- Michael Gove lists the schools that could become academies: The names of 1,700 schools that have asked the government about becoming academies was published by the department for education today.
Add comment June 25, 2010
Education and schools work update
Headlines from the world of education and schools work:
- Boarding schools fight ban on cakes: State boarding schools are being threatened with court action for giving pupils sweet treats between lessons.
- Secondary school bans girls from wearing skirts: A secondary school has banned girls from wearing skirts, regardless of length, to prevent them from attracting unwanted attention.
- Puberty: little girls really are growing up faster: A new study says girls are hitting puberty at the age of nine.
- Theresa May halts ‘draconian’ child worker vetting scheme: Child protection measures are disproportionate and will be scaled back to ‘common sense’ proportions, home secretary says
- Charities warn against scaling back vetting and barring scheme too far: After home secretary pledges to bring scheme back to ‘common sense’ levels, charities appeal for system to remain robust
- Nick Clegg to unveil new taskforce on childhood and families: Nick Clegg announces the government is setting up a new childhood and families taskforce that will have to resolve fundamental coalition differences on family policy and whether marriage should be recognised in the tax system.
- Home school parents ‘should be made to register with council’: Parents of home schooled children should be legally obliged to register with their local authority and undergo annual “inspections”, Ofsted has recommended.
- Pupils in smaller classes score higher in exams: Pupils who are taught in smaller classes achieve higher marks in exams, a study claims, raising questions about group sizes in British schools.
- Two-thirds of top schools want to be academies, says Gove: But Catholic church warns its schools against applying for academy status. Nearly 70% of secondary schools rated as outstanding have now expressed interest in becoming an academy, the education secretary, Michael Gove, revealed.
- Michael Gove ushers free schools into shops and houses: Education secretary says planning laws were being rewritten to allow ‘imaginative’ use of small spaces; parents can set up their own schools in shops and houses.
- Separate GCSEs for boys and girls: Boys and girls could be able to sit different GCSEs under plans by Britain’s largest exam board to introduce gender-specific qualifications.
Add comment June 19, 2010
Education and schools work update
Some headlines from the world of education and schoolswork:
Headteachers could have pay docked if they boycott tests: Primary school governors told they can punish principals who refuse to fulfil ‘professional and moral duty’.
Watching TV ‘makes toddlers less intelligent’: Parents, beware CBeebies: watching television makes toddlers fatter and stupider at primary school, according to new research.
Exam time: Hold your tongue, breathe – or leave: Parents should give teens space during exams, advises Marianne Kavanagh.
Left-handed children ‘struggling at school’: Thousands of left-handed schoolchildren are struggling in the classroom because of a failure to meet their needs, according to experts.
Sats boycott ‘to hit up to half of schools’: Sats tests for thousands of schoolchildren will be thrown into chaos next week as head teachers across England stage a mass boycott of exams.
General Election 2010: More freedom for schools, no matter who wins: Schools will be given more power to control their affairs under one of the biggest overhauls of state education in a generation.
Add comment May 6, 2010
Election day
Tonight’s going to be interesting, it’s looking like one of the closest elections in decades. My hope is that people take the 5 minutes it requires to vote. I thank God that I live in a country which has democracy, gives me the right to choose my leadership. I owe a lot to the generations before who have fought in many different ways for that freedom.
My plea is that people don’t become too cynical or tactical, they don’t sit on the fence (as seen in this picture going round blogs, twitter and facebook) but vote with their heart for the things that they think will benefit them, their community and our country.
Add comment May 6, 2010
Foreign Office apologises for Pope ‘condom’ memo
I can’t believe the story in the Sunday Telegraph tomorrow: Ministers apologise for condom insult to Pope. The Government has apologised to the Vatican over official documents that mocked his forthcoming visit to Britain by suggesting he should bless a gay marriage and even launch Papal-branded condoms. The ideas in the paper didn’t seem to seriously plan an itinerary, but instead just went to extremes.
The proposals, which were then circulated among key officials in Downing Street and Whitehall, also include the Pope opening an abortion ward; spending the night in a council flat in Bradford; doing forward rolls with children to promote healthy living; and even performing a duet with the Queen.
In reference to the hugely sensitive issue of child abuse engulfing the Catholic Church, the Government document suggests that the Pope should take a “harder line on child abuse – announce sacking of dodgy bishops” and “launch helpline for abused children”.
The document was sent out by a junior Foreign Office civil servant with a covering note admitting that some of the plans were “far-fetched”.
Recipients of the memo were furious at its content and an investigation was launched. One senior official was found responsible and has been transferred to other duties.
David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, was “appalled” to hear of the proposals, according to a source close to him, and blamed “a colossal failure of judgement” by officials involved.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “This is clearly a foolish document that does not in any way reflect UK Government or Foreign Office policy or views. Many of the ideas in the document are clearly ill-judged, naive and disrespectful. The text was not cleared or shown to Ministers or senior officials before circulation. As soon as senior officials became aware of the document, it was withdrawn from circulation. The individual responsible has been transferred to other duties. He has been told orally and in writing that this was a serious error of judgement and has accepted this view. The Foreign Office very much regrets this incident and is deeply sorry for the offence which it has caused.”
Add comment April 24, 2010
Questions for the Westminster Declaration
A few weeks ago I signed the Westminster 2010 Declaration of Christian Conscience. A number of key Christian leaders including former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey, the head of the Evangelical Alliance Steve Clifford, and the head of the Catholic Church in Scotland Cardinal Keith O’Brien are among over 36,000 people who have signed this declaration.
I now regret signing this declaration. It seems very narrowly focussed, urging Christians to vote according to their conscience in the General Election, with three issues particularly in mind – protecting human life, protecting marriage, and protecting freedom of conscience.
Much of the Declaration is positive. In what it does say about protecting human life, marriage, and the freedom of conscience, I would be comfortable with. My issue is more with what is not mentioned in the document, it seems to be too narrow, for example in the section written about Human Life the declaration lists a number of issues that threaten human life, which I agree with, including abortion, euthanasia, poverty, and environmental damage. But it doesn’t seem to make any reference to the damage from warfare. On the point regarding religious conscience it seems to be framed around Christians being persecuted, which seems to ignore the wider issue of religious liberty within the UK, for example how we support those Muslims who have been unfairly targeted in recent years.
But even more than a wider view of conscience and ethics I find it amazing that it says so little around key issues for this election: trusting elected representatives working in a seemingly corrupt system, potentially massive cuts in public services which will disproportionately hit the weakest in our local communities since they are the ones who depend most on those services. Surely without being overly party political there could have been a way of touching on this issues.
As Faithworks has said , the “government should [not] be chosen according to their responses to only three issues – protection of human life, marriage and conscience – rather than the impact of the spectrum of their policies locally, nationally and internationally”.
According to Christian Today cross-party group, Christians in Politics, have also expressed concerns, saying that while there was “much to commend”, there was “much to question about its timing, depth and tone”…
“It has also been inevitably hampered by the lack of consultation with Christian Parliamentarians and the main Christian groups involved in praying and serving with our political infrastructure. There is also a danger that people will judge the faith of a Christian standing for election, merely by whether or not they have signed this pledge. We urge people not to do so.”
Add comment April 24, 2010
Education and schools work update
A round up of headlines from the world of education and schools work:
- Labour has failed to reduce ‘Neets’, say MPs: The number of school-leavers without a job or education place has failed to drop under Labour, despite a raft of high-profile reforms, according to MPs.
- Video game and cartoons used to shock school children about violence: Primary school children are being shown images from the controversial video game Grand Theft Auto in a project designed to prevent them from becoming violent.
- Inspectors give wrong ratings to schools: Three schools judged to be “inadequate” by Ofsted were later told that they were actually “outstanding”, in a move which has raised concerns over the quality of inspections.
- Selective schools not more socially exclusive, says study: Top comprehensive schools are more socially exclusive than selective grammar schools, according to a major study.
- Disadvantaged pupils learn faster in weekend schools: Children from disadvantaged homes learn faster if they have attended supplementary Saturday or Sunday morning schools, according to a government study.
- Home tutors reject ‘intrusive’ child safety database: Hundreds of thousands of teachers are refusing to register for the Independent Safeguarding Authority’s vetting scheme.
- Headteachers vote to boycott Sats tests: Two biggest teaching unions – NUT and NAHT – to take action against tests due to be sat by 600,000 children in May.
Add comment April 16, 2010
Education and schools work update
More headlines from the world of education and schools work:
- Pupils humiliating teachers in interviews: Union considers industrial action to stop pupils’ questions that include: ‘if you could be on Britain’s Got Talent, what would your talent be?’
- Headteachers to vote on Sats boycott: Ministers are heading for a collision with headteachers over a threatened boycott of national tests for 10- and 11-year-olds.
- MPs warn over ‘shocking decline’ of school trips: Traditional school trips are in “shocking” decline because of fears over health and safety, lack of funding and bureaucratic rules tying teachers to the classroom, according to MPs.
- Schools should open at weekends, say Tories: Schools should operate 10-hour days and open at weekends to give children extra tuition in the three-Rs, music and sport, according to the Conservatives.
- Working class boys let down by ‘lack of male role models’: Traditional working class values are being eroded as children increasingly look up to highly-paid footballers, pop stars and celebrities, according to teachers.
- Smacking to be outlawed in all schools: The government promises to close a legal loophole that means it is still legal for private tutors and teachers in Sunday schools and madrasas to smack pupils [I still can't believe this loophole hadn't been closed down years ago - I know we'd never allow that to happen in our Sunday school]
- Primary teachers ‘most at risk of assault’: Primary school teachers are more than twice as likely to be assaulted by pupils than their colleagues in secondary schools.
- Hundreds of heads and church leaders oppose sex lessons for seven-year-olds: Compulsory sex education in primary schools will erode moral standards and encourage sexual experimentation, a group of hundreds of head teachers, school governors and faith leaders say.
- Parents struggle to help with homework: Five out of six parents find helping with homework too difficult.
Add comment April 6, 2010
The National Bullying Helpline
What a crazy week for bullying charities. Christine Pratt the Chief Exec of the National Bullying Helpline decided to wade into the issue of bullying at No 10 Downing Street breaking all kinds of confidentiality. Her ill thought through remarks could have identified those people at No 10 Downing Street who had contacted her charity. This then led to the patrons of the charity resigning and the charity itself suspending business.
This all leaves me with a number of concerns
- A clear breach of confidentiality has happened which could have identified those people at No 10 Downing Street who had contacted her charity.
- The blaming of other bullying charities for being in competition with the National Bullying Helpline. Firstly this seems irrelevant – who cares if there are other charities helping to deal with bullying, and secondly, many of them are dealing with different types of bullying, for example, Bullying UK, deal with school bullying.
- Her claims will no doubt have put other people off from disclosing their problems with being bullied.
- Christine Pratt is now being represented by Max Clifford, I hope that this story doesn’t rumble on, and more importantly that other information and data from the Helpline is published – we don’t need any more breaches of confidentiality – enough damage has been done.
Add comment February 27, 2010
Education & schools work update
Stories from the world of education and schools work:
- Girls to receive pregnancy tests at school: Schools criticsed for distributing pregnancy tests and other sexual health services to girls.
- Free laptops and broadband to help poor families: Gordon Brown will promise free laptops and broadband access for 270,000 low income families so they can better follow their children’s progress at school.
- Pupils could study Facebook and Twitter for new English GCSE: Facebook, Twitter and other social networking websites could become part of the school curriculum under plans for a new English GCSE.
- Pupils ‘must have a say on school rules’: Teachers will be forced to ask pupils’ permission before altering the curriculum and length of the school day under new plans.
- Schoolboys ‘learn better if they are allowed to walk around in class’: Schoolboys should be allowed to walk around during lessons to boost their learning skills, research suggests.
- Exams watchdog steps in over Facebook protest: The exams watchdog has stepped into the row over an A-level biology paper which led to thousands of students launching a Facebook protest against the exam board AQA for setting questions they felt were unfair.
- To do their homework, children need space at home: If the housing budget is cut, children who live in overcrowded conditions will be the losers – and their school work will suffer, says Peter Mortimore
- Excessive internet use linked to depression, research shows: Leeds University study finds people classified as internet addicts are more likely to be depressed than non-addicted users
- Violent deaths of children ‘down 40%’: Researchers say child death rate has plummeted in the last 30 years, thanks to ‘improvements in social care systems’
1 comment February 7, 2010
Education & schools work update
My last education and schools work update for 2009:
- ‘Panic’ buttons to help children report inappropriate material online: Computers will have ‘panic’ button software to help children report inappropriate material online.
- Vote could force U-turn on Sats boycott: The National Union of Teachers is under pressure to do an embarrassing U-turn on its threat to boycott Sats after a ballot of members drew responses from only 25% of its membership.
- Heads reject plan to report bullies: Logging and reporting cases of bullying to local authorities would be a waste of time and effort, say school leaders
- Poor white boys ‘fall further behind at school’: Working class white boys are falling further behind their classmates at school.
- For children, an extra day’s holiday: The heavy snow led to more than 500,000 schoolchildren getting an extra day’s Christmas holiday.
- Faith academies fuel rise in school chaplains: The number of dedicated school chaplains has increased by 25% in five years, fuelled by increasing numbers of faith schools in the state sector, figures released by the Church of England show.
- Mandelson: do your degree in two years: Universities face a move towards two-year degree courses as the Government dramatically reduces higher education spending.
Add comment December 23, 2009
Copenhagen – failure?
I’ve been disappointed with the action that’s come from the Copenhagen summit. To finish such a big event with an agreement which isn’t even legally binding and lacks detail (for example it doesn’t spell out the levels of CO2 reductions required to make the 2 degree change happen).
It seems that the biggest issue with the summit wasn’t the target, or even the industrial nations blocking the targets but a lack of leadership. Despite words from heads of state and other foreign ministers saying they would provide needed support—pledges from Europe, China, and the U.S.—no one actually stepped up and led the summit.
The structure of the summit also ensured that no resolution would be possible. For example, the way in which Tuvalu (an island of 12,000 people) was able to halt negotiations and demand atmospheric carbon levels be kept to lower levels (350 parts per million) than the recommended level (450ppm) by the the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In one sense I admire the way in which Tuvalu has the same power as say China to share the climate agreement, but in another sense, only in a highly undemocratic institution could 12,000 people (Tuvalu) be given equal weight as 1.3 billion (China).
All I do is hope and pray that this summit leads onto further discussion and action that does lead to real change.
Add comment December 22, 2009
Third of pupils miss SATs targets
League tables are out for primary schools today, and amongst all the arguments over whether or not league tables are helpful (normally the sides split by those who do well or struggle in them) the stat to be published everywhere is that 28 per cent of 11-year-olds miss SATs targets. More than one in four 11-year-olds still fail to master basic levels in English, Maths and Science by the time they leave primary school.
As someone who works in schools, and having been a governor I’m well aware there can be lots of reasons and explanations for this; I’m also aware that data can be manipulated to pull a headline from nowhere, but this stat doesn’t look good. After all the initiatives and schemes that the government have put forward, is it actually helping teachers to educate young people?
Add comment December 1, 2009
Global warming is a ‘scam’ – oh no it’s not!
Last night on BBC Question Time the Daily Mail columnist Melanie Phillips said global warming is a ‘scam’, she isn’t the only one. A recent article in the Huffington Post reports on a recent poll:
Just 57 percent [Americans] think there is solid evidence the world is getting warmer, down 20 points in just three years, a new poll says. And the share of people who believe pollution caused by humans is causing temperatures to rise has also taken a dip, even as the U.S. and world forums gear up for possible action against climate change.
That is down 20% from three years ago. I find this really worrying, most scientists seem to be in agreement that the world is
A map has been published by the UK Government which explains the consequences of failing to keep climate change to under 2 degrees Celsius. The Copenhagen Summit is crucial to seeing change happen.
I remember reading that Lord Stern had said that the economic effects of climate change could cost us more than two world wars and the great depression combined.
We must take notice of this, we must listen to the science, and we must push our politicians to ensure that the Copenhagen Summit results in a global agreement to limit temperature rises to two degrees.
Add comment November 27, 2009
Education & schools work update
Recent headlines from the world of education and schools work:
- Teachers threaten Sats boycott: Teachers are pressing ahead with a proposed boycott of Sats tests for 11yearolds.
- Parents urged to increase schools contact: Parents are taking a back seat in their child’s education, with almost two thirds saying they have little contact with their youngster’s teacher.
- Parents lose right over sex education: Sex education will be compulsory in all schools it was announced. Thousands of parents lose the right to opt their children out of the lessons.
- Tories to raise entry requirements for teachers: A Conservative Government would make it harder to become a teacher by raising entry requirements for the profession, the party’s education spokesman Michael Gove declared.
- A child’s eye view of the Kingsmead estate: Children from a deprived London housing estate were given cameras to record the detail of their daily lives – with beautiful results
- Behaviour report for every child in school shakeup: Schools will be forced to provide annual reports about children’s behaviour for the first time under Government plans.
- Dyslexics find it hard to filter out background noises: Dyslexics find it hard to concentrate on reading and listening because they are missing an inbuilt “background noise filter” usually found in the brain a study finds.
- Churchill’s speeches fail exam: Texts written by masters of the English language including Winston Churchill Ernest Hemingway and William Golding would have been deemed below average under a new computerised exam system.
- Half of 14-year-olds have been bullied: Nearly half of England’s 14-year-olds have been a victim of bullying, research has found.
- Social networking sites criticised for failing to protect children: Facebook and MySpace condemned for not installing tool for reporting abuse
- Poor white boys are ‘worst performers’ at 11: Working class white boys are officially the worst-performing group in English primary schools, official figures show.
- One in 10 teenagers classed as ‘Neet’: 261,000 had no job or training place, despite 11 years of education.
- Ed Balls tells schools to make £750m savings: Ed Balls ordered schools to tighten their belts, setting out measures to save £750m a year by turning the lights off, cutting back on heating bills and sharing cleaners.
- Faith schools ‘better at tackling extremism’: Faith schools are better at tackling extremism and promoting race relations than ordinary comprehensives, research suggests.
2 comments November 27, 2009
Education and schools work update
The latest news from the world of education and schoolswork:
- Teaching ban for BNP members to be examined: Any teacher found to be a member of the British National Party (BNP) faces being banned from the classroom after the Government announced it is to launch a fresh attempt to stamp out racism from Britain’s schools.
- School trips put off over teachers’ fears: Children are being denied school trips for fear teachers will be sued if something goes wrong, despite the fact that only 156 recorded legal actions have ended in compensation in the past decade, new research reveals.
- School asks parents to stop drinking at gates: A school governor has called for a ban on parents drinking alcohol while picking up their children.
- School first with rooftop nature reserve: A primary school has become the first building in the country to have a Local Nature Reserve on its roof Natural England said.
- Google ‘ranks websites by how true they are’ say UK children: One in three British teenagers believes that Google ranks websites according to how “true” they are new research suggests.
- Free toilet paper for Irish school: Loo roll company comes to the rescue of cash-strapped school that had asked pupils to supply their own.
- Special needs children excluded eight times more often: Number of school exclusions has dropped overall, figures show, but those with special needs, on free school meals and from certain ethnic minority groups are sent home most often
- Sats tests ‘should be axed’ in school shakeup: Sats tests should be scrapped in their current form as part of a major overhaul of English primary schools a landmark report will conclude.
- Churches defy writers over schools vetting: The Churches Child Protection Advisory Service has backed the new Independent Safeguarding Authority.
- Children educated at home at severe disadvantage: Home pupils more likely to be known by social services and be out of work, education or training
- Should we keep paying pupils to stay on?: The £545m-a-year “cash for lessons” scheme, under which the government pays young people up to £30 a week for staying in education beyond the age of 16, should be scrapped because it is a waste of money and has had little impact, according to a major new study.
- Rowan Williams condemns ‘oppressive’ English educational system: Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, has set out a devastating critique of the “oppressive” English education system accusing successive governments of prioritising test marks over children’s spiritual or emotional happiness.
- Teacher of the year award for dyslexic: Dyslexic teacher Edward Vickerman was told he would never have a future in the classroom. But the 26-year-old proved his critics wrong by winning a national award for the UK’s outstanding new teacher of the year.
- 54% of Britons back teaching creationism: British Council poll finds UK adults overtake Americans in wanting science teaching in schools to include intelligent design
- Teachers fight false claims of pupil assault: Poll by Association of Teachers and Lecturers reveals that quarter of school staff have faced unfounded accusations
- NUS calls for student loan boss to resign: The National Union of Students has called for the head of the company charged with administering student loans to resign after figures showed that more than 100000 students are still without full funding this year.
Add comment October 27, 2009
