Here are links to some of this week’s education-related news:
Schools:
- All children should be assessed by a school doctor before starting full-time education amid fears too many infants are unfit for the classroom, a leading academic has warned.
- Jamie Oliver has made a blistering attack on Michael Gove over school food, claiming that some of the education secretary’s flagship academies are lowering nutrition levels among pupils.
- Pupils should be tested every year to stop them “drifting” between key stages of their education, Michael Gove has said. He has also claimed that there is a direct link between children doing well academically and their chances of indulging in “risky behaviour”.
- The number of teachers in England’s state school system fell by 10,000 in the year to November, new figures show.
- Children are growing up lacking a proper understanding of the past because key swathes of British and European history have been dropped by schools, academics have warned.
- Growing numbers of children are turning up at school malnourished, dirty and struggling to concentrate because of soaring poverty levels in the recession, a study suggests.
- The chief inspector of Scottish prisons has called for the creation of behaviour units in more schools to prevent young people ending up in jail.
- More than half of teachers took almost two weeks’ worth of sick leave last year amid rising concerns over stress, workload and pupil behaviour, figures show.
Exams:
- A-level science exams do not contain enough maths questions to prepare students to progress to science degrees or related jobs, says a report.
- Exam board seminars relating specifically to named GCSEs and A-levels taken in England are being halted from next year.
Other News:
- More than half of parents (55%) in England admit having taken a child on holiday during term time, a poll suggests.
- Parents are helping their children to set up under-age profiles on social networking site Facebook, Children’s Minister Tim Loughton has said.
- Outdoor play is making a come back as cash-strapped parents swap spending on DVDs and the cinema for free days out in the park, research suggests.
Next week’s Teaching Events include:
- 7th April to 7th May - National Pet Month
- 28th April - Astronomy Day
- 29th April - International Dance Day
- 30th April to 6th May - Sun Awareness Week
- 30th April to 6th May - RSPCA Week
- 1st May - World Asthma Day
- 1st May - May Day
- 1st to 31st May - National Share-a-Story Month
- 1st to 31st May - Local and Community History Month
- 4th May - International Firefighters’ Day
- 5th May - Wesak
