Researchers at the University of Kent are inviting all teachers in England to take part in a current nationwide research project. The short online survey is called “Teachers’ views of girls’ & boys’ academic conduct & achievement”. The team are interested in teachers’ views on how children’s gender relates to different aspects of conduct and achievement at school. The survey should take 10-15 minutes and everyone who participates in the research has the opportunity to be entered into a draw to win one of five £10 prizes.

All student/trainee teachers, NQTs, experienced teachers, teaching assistants, and head teachers (providing they teach classes) who work in a primary or secondary school or college in England can take part by visiting this link.

Here are links to some of this week’s education-related news:

• Education Secretary Michael Gove has announced plans to more than double the number of top head teachers helping struggling schools in England. However, most of England’s best teachers are deterred from becoming heads because of the pressures of targets, according to a survey of their own principals.
• A study by Cambridge University’s international exam group has said that “overbearing assessment” has led to “narrow drilling for tests”.
• Constant changes to the National Curriculum imposed by Labour are overloading schools and promoting a “tick list” approach to teaching, ministers have been warned.
• The education secretary is expected to unveil reforms to the BEd and the PGCE as he looks for greater efficiencies in how entrants join the profession and moves training away from universities.
• All schools in England will be given the chance to convert into independent academies under Coalition plans.
• Laws forcing schools to stage a daily Christian assembly should be scrapped because children should not be “coerced” into religion, according to a head teachers’ leader.
• The Centre for Policy Studies has produced a study which claims that badly behaved pupils ‘should be banned from mainstream school for 12 months’.
• Unruly children may be temporarily suspended before Ofsted teams arrive, or supply teachers brought in to cover “terrible” classes of disruptive pupils because inspectors are known to be unlikely to observe those lessons, the education select committee has heard.
• A new Ofsted report explains that the best primary schools teach virtually all their children to read, regardless of their social and economic background, ethnicity, language spoken at home, special needs and disability.
• Some young children are unable to speak and listen properly when they start nursery school because of continuous noise and poor conversation at home, according to a new Ofstead report.
• Up to 40 new university technical colleges (UTCs) could open in England, according to Lord Baker, the chair of the trust developing a new type of vocational education for teenagers.

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• The Schools Minister Nick Gibb has spoken about the importance of tackling bullying in schools. Also, three quarters of a million people are supporting Beatbullying’s campaign for a new law against bullying over the internet and in schools.
• School music lessons could be hit as local councils make savings and school budgets are redrawn.
• Bestselling writer Nick Hornby has started a project to encourage east London school children to read and write more. You can also watch a video report from the BBC about this news story.
• Almost 300 school staff have suffered “major” injuries as a consequence of violent attacks so severe, in the past 10 years, that they have had to leave in an ambulance, new Government figures show.
• A school is to ban pupils from putting up their hands when they know an answer in class – because it “alienates” less intelligent children.
• Thousands of highly trained dogs are being primed for calls from schools looking for a sympathetic, albeit furry, ear for children with reading difficulties.

Visit Teaching Events to find educational events to use in your classroom.

Here are some of this week’s education-related headlines:

• “No touch” rules discouraging teachers from restraining and comforting children are to be scrapped.
• Surrey County Council is exploring plans to turn all of its secondary schools into academies. Meanwhile, the Lib Dem executive member for education has written a letter to the Guardian claiming that academies will damage schools. This report in the Guardian questions whether the new free schools will have to employ qualified teachers.
• The Shadow Education Secretary, Ed Balls, has criticised the coalition government of ‘abandoning’ the schools and pupils in most need of support.
• The Education Secretary will speak at his party conference next week, making commitments to cutting red tape and focussing on discipline and keeping order in the classroom.
• Headteachers have pledged not to repeat their SATs boycott next year after the government announced an independent review of England’s primary tests. The Department for Education published this response to the news.
• 52% of the newly qualified teachers who finished training in 2009 had not started their induction years by the end of March 2010, due to a lack of permanent jobs.
• Pushy parents are putting teachers under ‘considerable pressure’ to deliver top exam grades to boost children’s chances of getting into the best universities.
• Top independent school heads have criticised the state sector for producing teachers who have ‘formulaic’ classroom methods and are uncomfortable teaching ‘off piste’. This article in the Telegraph reports on the removal of boys from state schools and placing them into single-sex prep schools because ‘they know how to inspire boys’.

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• A special scheme in Brighton has started to teach children how to use their scooters more safely.
• England will become the most expensive place in the world to take a degree under plans to increase student tuition fees, according to research.
• The leader of the lecturers’ union has argued that cuts in science funding will lead to ‘brain drain’ in the UK.
• Welsh councils have reported that hundreds of their school buildings have major defects or are at risk of imminent failure.
• Highly paid school leaders could be driven to cut their own salaries when budget cuts start to take effect, according to the president of the Association of School and College Leaders.
• The first direct evidence of a genetic link to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been found, according to a new study by Cardiff University.
• Researchers have found that Labour’s attempt to hold parents accountable for children’s bad behaviour has failed to improve discipline in the classroom.
• This BBC video reports on the use of sloppy language, after Emma Thompson claimed that young people make themselves sound stupid by speaking slang outside of school.
• More and more US parents are pressing schools to withdraw books with bad language or sexual content.
• A sociologist and author has revealed the five most important things that he has learned in his life. What would your five things be?

Visit Teaching Events to find educational events to use in your classroom.

The majority of parents frequently struggle to support their child’s learning outside the classroom according to a new report commissioned by Becta – the Government’s agency for technology in education.

The study of 2000 parents and 2000 nine to 13 year olds, found that:

• There is a desire from parents to become more involved in their child’s education with the majority (81%) calling for more guidance and advice on how best to support their children’s learning outside of the classroom
• 84% of parents revealed that currently their child’s school offered little or no resource to help support their child’s out of school learning.
• Nearly a quarter (22%) of parents admitted they frequently feel unable to support their child with their education at home.
• The core subjects of Maths and Science top the list as the most difficult for parents, according to 37% and 27% of parents respectively.
• More than one in three (37%) children admitted they were sometimes unable to complete their homework because there was no one to help them
• If they can’t complete their homework, 36% of children feel frustrated and want to give up completely, 29% feel embarrassed and 27% say it makes them feel like they are no good at the subject

Anson Primary School in Brent was recently awarded an ICT Excellence award for the pioneering work it has done to extend learning beyond the classroom. Headmaster Jeff Smith, comments: “Parents want to take an active role in their children’s education and the school works hard to make the most of this valuable relationship. However, it is essential that there is a consistency in teaching styles and techniques. Anson offers training sessions for parents on subjects such as Maths so that they can be informed of the ways that we teach different processes. Each parent is then empowered to support their child at home.”

“Our learning platform provides links, materials and tutorials for the child and parent to work through together. There is no doubt that helping parents to support their children has had a significant impact upon learning outcomes as well as developing even stronger links between the school, parent and child.”

Niel McLean, Executive Director of Becta, said; “Becta believes that when used effectively both in schools and at home, technology can be extremely beneficial to a child’s education. Schools benefit from proactive involvement from parents and if children feel they are getting the right support from the schools and families, this has a positive effect on their grades.”

“Many schools are already using technology in innovative yet practical ways to advise parents on how best to support children’s education at home and are reaping the rewards as children’s performance improves at school.”

How does your school support parents with homework and learning at home?

A survey from BBC Newsround has found that many children are kept up late at night by video games, mobile phones and televisions. An article on the BBC News site explains that:

“Newsround sent a questionnaire to 1,000 children aged between nine and 11 at schools across the UK. Most said they went to bed at 2130, but a quarter said bedtime was 2200 or later and half said they were not getting enough sleep and wanted more.

Health experts have linked a lack of sleep to problems with concentration, behaviour and school work. About half the children asked said they were staying up to play on computer games or their mobile phones or to watch television.”

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The article goes on to explain that:

“Scientists have linked a lack of sleep in children to problems with concentration and schoolwork. Energy levels can be lower and sleep-deprived children can be irritable or behave badly. A recent study by academics in Finland suggested a good night’s sleep could reduce hyperactivity and bad behaviour among children.”

Does this affect the children in your classroom?

Digital Adwise offers teachers a tool to engage KS1 and KS2 students, and teach them about marketing communications. The interactive online lessons can be used by individuals or small groups on classroom computers. The lessons are tailored to teaching needs and are highly flexible for teachers to modify as they see fit. They aim to help children to identify and understand the commercial purpose behind online marketing techniques such as viral marketing, the use of social marketing sites and online games.

The lessons are now available for all schools to access online and free of charge at www.digitaladwise.mediasmart.org.uk

The BBC recently reported on some new research which states that a quarter of children read just one book with their teacher each year. This is due to the use of extracts, rather than reading (and enjoying) entire stories.

How many books do you read with your class each year? I generally read lots of short stories, but try to read longer stories when possible. Although reading with the class is one of my favourite parts of the job, one of my concerns is having time to fit it in.

What do you think?

Breastfeeding may be particularly important to the educational and emotional development of children from single-parent and low-income families, new research suggests.

Previous studies have reported that the high nutritional content of breast milk can increase a baby’s IQ. Other research has found that breastfed children are at an advantage because their mothers are, on average, better-off and more articulate.

However, a new study from the Institute of Education, London, which involved 1,136 mothers, strengthens the argument that breastfeeding is also associated with more positive parenting practices that can continue beyond infancy.

Researchers who analysed the behaviour of mothers reading a storybook to their one-year-old children found that, on average, those who breastfed made more effort to engage their infants in the book than mothers who bottle-fed. In general, mothers with more positive attitudes towards breastfeeding also appeared to have a warmer relationship with their babies.

The greatest differences in behaviour were between two groups of single and low-income mothers – those who breastfed for between 6 and 12 months, and those who bottle-fed. Poorer women who breastfed interacted with their babies during the book-reading exercise almost as well as more advantaged mothers did. However, low-income mothers who bottle-fed their babies tended to communicate with them much less well than other mothers, the researchers say.

Marital status had no effect on the quality of a mother’s interaction with her child, provided she had breastfed for 6 to 12 months. In fact, single mothers who had breastfed for this period made slightly more effort than other mothers to explain the storybook to their child.

A repeat experiment four years later found that mothers who had been on a low income when their child was one, but had breastfed for more than six months, had a higher quality of interaction with their five-year-old than other mothers. They also made more effort to engage their child in the book-reading exercise than mothers who had not breastfed. By contrast, breastfeeding appeared to have no lasting effect on the parenting behaviours of married and higher-income mothers.

The report’s principal author, Dr Leslie Gutman, research director of the Institute’s Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning, says that the age five findings underscore the “protective” influence of breastfeeding for lone parent and low-income families.  Future studies should investigate the processes behind the findings, she suggests. Researchers should attempt to establish, for example, whether skin-to-skin contact forms stronger bonds between breastfed infants and their mothers which, in turn, lead to more positive parenting practices.

Dr Gutman also says that the findings provide support for government policies that encourage breastfeeding, particularly for more disadvantaged mothers. “Mothers in such challenging circumstances may face more obstacles to breastfeeding, especially for a longer period of time,” she points out. “They may lack role models and encouragement, or they may be under greater pressure to return to work when their child is still very young.”

If a mother works on a short-term casual basis, or is an agency worker, she may not qualify for maternity leave, and if she earns less than £90 per week, on average, she does not qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay. This may act as an incentive to stop breastfeeding and return to work as soon as possible, the study says.

“New mothers, particularly in deprived communities, may therefore require more than information leaflets,” the researchers comment. “Rather, interventions that offer early and ongoing support and encouragement to manage breastfeeding may be needed: this may come from financial support in order to enable a delay in return to work and/or workplace nurseries where mothers can visit and breastfeed their babies during the day. Meanwhile, campaigns such as ‘Be a star’, run by Blackpool Primary Care Trust (PCT) and North Lancashire Teaching PCT to provide role models for young mothers, may be a way of highlighting the issue.”

The Institute of Education research, which was funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, is based on a new analysis of previously unreported data that were originally collected as part of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children in the mid-1990s.

Dr Gutman and her colleagues also found that mothers with extensive social networks interacted with their infants more positively, on average, than mothers with more limited social circles. “At a community level, the finding implies that the networking and social interactions that go on between parents in children’s centres, early-years settings, community groups and many other community venues,  such as libraries, and health and leisure centres, are of great value,” they say.

Efforts to improve maternal health could also help to build parenting capabilities as post-natal depression impairs communication between mother and child, the researchers add.

Nurturing parenting capability: the early years, by Leslie Gutman, John Brown and Rodie Akerman, can be downloaded from the website of the Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning www.learningbenefits.net from today.

Many babies who are looked after by grandparents while their mothers are out at work might be better off in nurseries or crèches, a new study suggests.

Grandparents can often help to develop a baby’s vocabulary but they may be unable to provide other educational and social experiences that an infant needs, say researchers at the Institute of Education, University of London.

They have found that children looked after by grandparents at the age of 9 months were considered to have more behavioural problems at age 3 than those who had been in the care of a nursery, crèche, childminder, nanny or another family member. The research involved 4,800 UK children born in 2000 and 2001 who are being tracked by the Millennium Cohort Study. All of the children had mothers who worked when they were babies.

According to their mothers, children who had been cared for by grandparents – more than one in three of those studied – were more likely to have difficult relationships with other youngsters at age 3. Boys were said to have particular problems relating to their peers. The behaviour issue affected families of all social backgrounds.

Dr Kirstine Hansen and Dr Denise Hawkes also found that three-year-olds who had been in nurseries and crèches at 9 months were often more ready for school than those who had been looked after by grandparents, childminders, family members or friends. On average, they achieved higher scores in an assessment that measured their understanding of colours, letters, numbers, sizes, comparisons and shapes.

However, children with highly educated mothers tended to have more extensive vocabularies if they had been looked after by a grandparent – the maternal grandmother in most cases. Grandparents also had a positive effect on the vocabularies of children living in two-parent families, those with older mothers and those in families that were not claiming benefits.

“This may, of course, reflect the better vocabulary skills of grandmothers in such families,” says Dr Hansen, research director of the Millennium Cohort Study. “But it may also be partly because grandparents talk to children more than other carers, not only because they have more time, but because they compensate for a reduction in physical activities with the child.

“There is also evidence that older people are more likely to use grammatically correct sentences and speak more slowly to children. They are also less likely to tolerate grammatical errors and will correct their grandchildren’s language.”

The study did not investigate why children looked after by grandparents appear to exhibit more behavioural problems. But the researchers point out that some previous studies suggest pre-school settings such as nurseries can help children to develop the social skills they need to get on with their peers. “Children who are looked after by grandparents, on the other hand, spend more time with adults,” they add.

However, the researchers argue that grandparent childcarers deserve support rather than criticism. “Our research shows that grandparent care contributes both positively and negatively to child outcomes, and perhaps with government support this situation could be improved,” they say.

There are currently no allowances, tax breaks or grants for grandparents who care for grandchildren. If grandparents register as child minders they can receive support and training and can be paid by the parent who can claim back some of the cost through Working Tax Credit. However, at present, grandparents can only do this if they also care for a child who is not a relative.

“Understandably, many grandparents are unable or unprepared to take on this additional burden,” Dr Hansen says. “Perhaps a more flexible approach which offers training and support for informal carers should be considered rather than encouraging them down the formal care routes. It should be possible for grandparents to receive recognition and reward for the caring they are already doing.”

The study also found that girls appeared to benefit especially from time spent in nurseries and crèches, as did children from two-parent families and those with better-educated mothers. However, children with younger mothers and those living in households claiming benefits were also found to be more ready for school if they had attended nurseries or crèches.

“This is almost certainly because nurseries and crèches are more likely to offer structure and content to daily activities with children and their staff are more likely to be trained, to have better facilities and resources and to provide more educational stimulation,” the researchers say. “This is another of the study’s important findings because it suggests that this form of childcare has the potential to reduce inequalities.

“Our study therefore delivers a reassuring message for the UK government, which has invested a great deal in policies that are aimed at improving child outcomes and reducing the achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged families.”

The study’s findings will be reported in an article, “Early childcare and child development”, that will appear in the forthcoming issue of the Journal of Social Policy, published by Cambridge University Press. The online version of the article can be accessed via the CUP website http://www.cambridge.org from today (February 10).

Television is now less than half of children’s viewing time, in competition with the internet and computer games.  More than one in three children told researchers the possession they could least live without was their computer.

The overall time spent in front of screens by five to 16-year-olds in Britain was nearly six hours a day. The survey by the Childwise research agency found that YouTube was the most used website, followed by various social networking sites.

The survey of 1,800 children, taken last autumn, found they were spending 2.7 hours per day watching television, 1.5 hours on the internet and 1.3 hours on games consoles.

You can read more information about the findings at on the Guardians website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jan/16/television.socialnetworking