Education and schools work update

Headlines from the world of education and schools work:

• Girls think they are cleverer than boys from age four, study finds: Teachers’ expectations may reinforce gender gap in school performance.  Girls think they are cleverer, more successful and harder working than boys from as young as four, a study has found.
• No male teachers in quarter of primary schools: Growing numbers of primary schools have no male teachers, figures show, prompting fears that boys could be put off education at a young age.
• White British school children ‘worst hit’ by poverty: Poverty has a far greater influence on the performance of white British pupils at school than any other ethnic group.
• Facebook hits exam results by 20 per cent: Students who use Facebook while studying for exams score significantly lower grades than those who do not, according to a study.
• Fewer students ‘will take residential degrees’: Traditional university courses could become the preserve of an elite as growing numbers of students take on-line degrees, according to a report.
• Early learning at home ‘has no impact’: Teaching young children to recite the alphabet, memorise nursery rhymes or play musical instruments may be a waste of time, according to research.
• Half of special needs children misdiagnosed: Ofsted review says many pupils diagnosed as having special educational needs require better teaching or pastoral care.  But Ofsted report on special needs comes under fire, expert says more special needs children are being identified because diagnosis has improved
• One in four youngsters ‘not using contraception’: Health campaigners call on government to give higher priority to sex and relationships education.  One in four sexually active young people in the UK fail to use any form of contraception with a new partner, a survey revealed.
• Michael Gove’s attack on ‘wild and wacky’ teaching: Schools should focus on traditional discipline instead of “wild and wacky” teaching methods, according to the Education Secretary.
• Children like being tested, they just don’t like Sats: A survey of 1,000 children carried out by the Wellcome Trust shows that children are surprisingly positive about assessment, but they don’t think Sats are the best method
• Catholic primary school set to convert to Islamic faith: A Roman Catholic primary school in the heart of an Asian community in Lancashire looks set to become the first in the country to convert to an Islamic faith school.
• Gove persuades headteachers to back down on boycott of SATs tests: Headteachers have called off their boycott of national curriculum tests for 11-year-olds after being promised an independent review by the Education Secretary, Michael Gove.
• Child poverty: five-year-olds are the key to social mobility: We can’t afford to wait until they reach school age to help Britain’s poorest children, says Frank Field.