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.

Image – bullying-739607

• 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.

The Speak up to your Teacher DVD was featured on Teaching News in February. The DVD offers a musical performance which encourages pupils to think about bullying and how they can help to stop it. Since my last post, the creators of the DVD have set up a new website which has lots of useful information.

The site has information about the DVDs and videos of the musical being performed in schools. There is also a useful online book with bullying advice for children, along with lesson ideas and resources for teachers.

Here are a selection of links to some education news stories which have appeared this week:

• Michael Gove, the new education secretary, has said that outstanding schools will no longer face routine inspections. This will allow Ofsted to ‘focus their efforts on failing schools instead’.
• Despite the planned £6.2bn of savings in 2010-11, the government has promised to protect schools, Sure Start and spending on education for 16-19 year olds.
• The education secretary has also promised that all schools will be able to break away from authority control and become academies. A BBC report outlines how these changes might affect schools. However, the Times Online reports that headteachers are ‘lukewarm’ about this invitation. The video below shares Michael Gove’s plans:

• An academy that was previously classed as ‘outstanding’ has now been given an ‘inadequate’ rating by Ofsted, casting doubt on the government’s plans.
• Groups of parents are to be allowed to set up their own schools under new plans. Some parents are putting the finishing touches to their plans already.
• Up to a third of England’s colleges may have to merge or work closely together in order to survive. These warnings have been given because of changes to the way that colleges are funded.
• The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency has been scrapped. It was created by the previous government to develop the curriculum and administer tests. The agency’s work on tests and exam adminstration will continue until it can be transferred.
• The chairman and chief executive of the Student Loans Company have resigned after the publication of the report which criticised them.
• Estimates suggest that a new A* grade being awarded in A-levels this year could go to 7% of the entries.

Image – Bullying

• New research has shown that children who stand up to bullies are more likely to develop social and emotional skills.
• The Science Museum has opened a new gallery which aims to ‘deepen [visitors'] understanding of climate science in an enjoyable, engaging and memorable way’.
• All parents of children beginning secondary school in Scotland are to receive a letter from the Education Secretary in a bid to allay fears over the controversial new Curriculum for Excellence, which has come under fire from teachers.
• A children’s sports competition that was cancelled to protect young players from becoming upset if they lost has been reinstated after parents campaigned against the decision.
• Finally, a decision is due to be made about the closure of a school which will have no pupils at the end of this academic year.

November saw Anti-Bullying week throw the spotlight on cyber-bullying and the distress caused by the spread of malicious video content across the internet through social networks, video sharing websites, e-mail and mobiles.

The Department for Children, Schools & Families have created a set of videos with the aim of demonstrating how a seemingly harmless and funny internet clip can be something far more sinister, and can even make the viewer an unwitting accomplice in the cyber-bullying chain.

It was also announced last week that lessons in using the internet safely will be a compulsory part of the English primary curriculum from 2011. The lessons are one element of a new government strategy called “Click Clever, Click Safe”. The main messages in the lessons are ‘Zip It, Block It, Flag It’:

Find out more in this BBC article.

Bullying UK is a registered charity which was founded in 1999 by journalist Liz Carnell from Harrogate and her son John, as a direct result of their experience of dealing with school bullying. Liz has been researching and writing on school bullying issues for 14 years and now uses the Internet to provide information and advice.

www.bullying.co.uk

The Bullying.co.uk website has a huge collection of articles for young people, schools, parents and other adults. There is also a useful section about cyberbullying. Don’t forget to follow Bullying UK on Twitter, or consider making a donation if you can.

It’s time to get up, pull on the school uniform and the tie with
that dreaded knot – the special knot that would otherwise show you up.
Downstairs you eat the breakfast your oblivious parents have prepared
on automatic drive, grab the school bag, say goodbye to “Frazzle” the
dog who looks back with those large caring eyes, head slanted and tail
still.  He knows; he is the only one who really knows.

You leave for the longest journey on earth. It lasts a lifetime but
takes only 15 minutes. Goodbyes are muted and you force yourself out of
the car and through the front gate for the day ahead. You have arrived
at school, the place you dread more than anything.

Being bullied and suffering from low self esteem is
an awful predicament. It’s there as a constant, like toothache it
pervades every thought. The trip home the only relief, the chance to
recover suffer in silence and hide from the outside world. And your
performance at school is well down compared to your real ability.

A recent survey in Northern Ireland shows 22 % of all children have
been physically attacked by school bullies, 39% bullied in other ways
and thanks to modern technology 10% percent had been bullied by
Internet.

Bullying takes many forms; name calling, rumours, being pushed
threatened, belongings stolen or damaged.  But these are the outward
signs.  Internally the physical and psychological damage can be immense
and long lasting.

Pip Jaffa, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Parents Advice
Centre explained “The impact depends on the kind of bullying and the
resilience of a child. This can include not sleeping and not wanting to
go to school, as well as physical symptoms like having a sore stomach
or headache as a way of showing they are upset.”

In the clamour of family life these subtle changes can go unnoticed
for some time before the child opens up or you spot a growing
reluctance to go school or join in. Bullying has a knock on effect, it
lowers self esteem and the defence mechanism is breached.

Bullies need help too, often compensating for their own problems or
influences. Parents can sometimes induce bullying. Their children
mismanage advise that to succeed you need to dominate other children or
push them around.  Such advice can be given by parents who were
themselves bullied at school or suffering from issues at work.

There are many ways to support bullied children.  Diligent
observation of a child’s behaviour is the start.  Changes in routine
and demeanour, a reluctance to participate are just some of the outward
signs.  A routine child’s “health check” needs to be completed subtly
by parents. If a parent is concerned that bullying is taking place in
school, they should contact the school and ensure something is done.
They need to be persistent and remember that they are the voice for the
child.

Help is also available for the home. It is important a child – like
us all have positive self esteem. This essential ingredient can help
build up a positive attitude that will last a lifetime.  The foundation
work can be achieved through playing educational games in self esteem.
Played at home, as well as school, the benefits are something to
consider as 25% of children will come across some form of bullying
during their schooling.

Alistair Owens writes for keen2learn