Some headlines from the world of education and schools work in the run up to Christmas:
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Half of pupils below poverty line get no free school meal: Headteachers are to call for an overhaul of the school funding system after figures revealed that half of pupils living below the poverty line are not qualifying for free school meals.
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Environment: Leeds students ban bottled water: Students at one of Britain’s biggest universities have become the first in the country to ban bottled still water from all their bars, cafes and shops, sacrificing annual profits of £32,000.
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Ministers meet agony aunts to discuss family breakdown: The government announced new funding for children caught in the middle of family breakdown when ministers met agony aunts at a relationship summit.
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Ucas-style system for sixth forms could be fiasco, warn colleges: An online admissions system proposed for 16-year-olds seeking places in colleges and sixth forms could turn into another Sats-style fiasco, ministers have been warned by college heads.
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College boom ‘dividing Britain’s youth’: University expansion has exacerbated the problems facing an underclass of young people who are being left to drift into crime, according to new research into the factors driving some teenagers off the rails.
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Education: exclusions from academies hit neighbouring schools: Academies that expel large numbers of disruptive pupils are having a potentially bad impact on neighbouring schools, according to a review of the government’s flagship programme in England.
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Police deal with 7,000 violent school incidents: Police officers have been called to schools in England more than 7,000 times in the past year to deal with violence, according to figures obtained by the Tories.
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Children do better at school if parents read to them: Children who are read to daily are likely to do better when they start school and be better behaved, according to a government study.