Here are links to some of this week’s education-related news:
Schools:
- The vast majority of schools are flouting the law by failing to stage a daily Christian assembly, research suggests.
- Primary school pupils can do well at maths even if they do not know simple sums by heart, research suggests.
- Pupils who are taught to “play” with grammar perform significantly better in written exercises, according to research published this week.
- Some teachers feel pressurised into altering pupils’ marks to imply they are making good progress in class, research suggests.
- The Deputy Prime Minister says he wants a second wave of free schools with “higher standards, better integration and fairer chances” to help close the gap between rich and poor students in Britain.
- Thousands of teachers could see major changes to their working hours now that heads and governors have been given powers to transform the structure of the school day.
- School pupils have been missing out on geography and history lessons for classes on the Spice Girls, Big Brother and Cheryl Cole.
- Leading headmasters have called on ministers to launch an investigation after A-level results reveal it is harder to get the new A* grade in some subjects than others.
- Growing numbers of middle-class children are being sent to private tutors to boost exam grades and win places at top schools, research shows.
- School transport spending cuts mean that from this week many pupils will be walking to school along unlit 60mph roads without pavements.
Universities:
- A mentoring project to encourage able students from disadvantaged backgrounds to apply to the top universities is proving a runaway success.
- About 12 universities are looking into reducing their 2012 fees in the wake of policy changes.
Other News:
- Nearly 700 nurseries and childminders have been judged “inadequate” over the past three years, official statistics show.
- Children in the UK are significantly less likely to read for pleasure than in nations such as Kazakhstan, Albania, Indonesia and Peru according to international research.
- Another kind of Olympics is being held in London next month – the biennial Worldskills competition.
- While school and college support staff face the prospect of paying higher pensions contributions, their employers could controversially end up putting less into the pot, it has emerged.
- Parents need to do more to help teachers rather than expect them to be “surrogate mothers and fathers”, according to Nick Clegg.
Next week’s Teaching Events include:
- 1st to 10th September - Festival of Onam
- 10th September - Last Night of the Proms
- 12th September - World First Aid Day
- 13th September - Roald Dahl’s Birthday
- 15th September - International Day of Democracy
