Here is another collection of links to the latest education news stories:

• SATs for 11 year olds have too high a margin of error to be used to compare schools in league tables, according to the NUT and ATL, who have urged the government to scrap the tests for Year 6 pupils. The leader of the NUT has given hints that there could be another boycott of the SATs next year, although more notice would be given this time around.
• Trade Unions were outraged by the £200,000 pay package of a primary headteacher in south London. Michael Gove has written to the School Teachers’ Review Body to say that he wanted no headteacher to earn more than the prime minister. The TES have published a related article which explains that rocketing headteacher salaries are justified by the ‘mammoth pay packets of singers and footballing megastars’.

Image – Decus Et Tutamen

• Michael Gove has also published the Department for Education’s key policy commitments and invited the public to hold them to account on delivery.
• The chairman of Ofsted has explained that it is not ‘an absolute disaster’ if schools contain bad teachers.
• The scrapping of school building plans has cost education authorities at least £160m, according to the Local Government Association.
• Empty shops could be converted into schools, saving a third of the cost of starting a new building. Meanwhile, a report from the Auditor General for Wales has said that that school buildings in Wales are in a poor state and there is a long way to go before all of them will be ‘fit for purpose’.
• Reforms that will allow every school to become an academy will be rushed through at a pace usually reserved for emergencies such as anti-terror legislation. However, the Director of Education at Civitas has explained that academies are failing to teach traditional subjects in favour of less challenging qualifications in an effort to drive up results.
• Students will have to pay more for university, possibly through a graduate tax, according to the Business Secretary Vince Cable. University students will also be able to take low-cost two-year degree courses in order to save time and money before entering the world of work.
• Thousands of people could miss out on a university place in the UK this year after 660,953 people applied to start full-time undergraduate courses. The Lecturers Union fears that up to 170,000 people could be disappointed.

Image – Graduation Cake Guy

• The debate about school lunches continues as the chairman of the School Food Trust has criticised parents for filling children’s packed lunches with junk food.
• A Scottish government pledge that all school children receive two hours of physical education a week is not being met, according to new figures.
• A group of primary school children have been honoured by the Royal Society of Chemistry for disproving the theory that spiders are afraid of conkers.
• Do you want to get your children more interested in Maths? Why not find out more about the maths buskers who want to communicate the wonder of maths to people in the street!

It’s been another busy week with lots going on in education. Here are links to some of the headlines:

• Hundreds of school buildings projects were scrapped this week. However, there was confusion after the original report included errors which gave some schools hope that their plans were to go ahead, only to be cancelled later. Two headteachers, where ‘buildings are beyond their life expectancy’ have since asked Michael Gove to rethink his plans and the government has faced mounting anger over the decisions. Here is the full list of projects scrapped.
• The government has announced a review of the Early Years Foundation Stage framework, expressing concerns that it is too rigid.
• An author and literary researcher has claimed that it is harder for English children to read and write because of the complexity of the English spelling system.

Image – Extra Credit

• Primary schools in England do not have enough specialist Science teachers, according to a Royal Society study.
• Key Stage 2 test results were released to schools which administered the tests. Michael Gove released a statement about this, revealing that the 2011 KS2 SATs will take place in the week commencing May 9th. It was also revealed that a quarter of schools did not sit the KS2 SATs tests this year.
• A Green Paper will be released in the autumn to look at a wide range of issues for children with SEN and disabilities.
• The education secretary has said that modular A-Levels could be phased out, bringing back traditional exams at the end of two-year courses.
• The National Union of Teachers has claimed that schools could be breaking the law by asking support staff to teach lessons when qualified teachers are absent.
• A BBC Panorama programme reported that 18 UK teachers have been struck off for incompetence in the past 40 years and claimed that bad teachers are ‘recycled’ by moving between schools. This report from the Guardian talks about the issues raised in the programme and complains about the ‘teacher-bashing’.
• Headteachers will be given greater powers to search pupils and clearer guidance on when they can restrain disruptive pupils in a drive by ministers to improve behaviour and discipline. This BBC article outlines some experiences of behavioural issues in the classroom.
• The government plans to cap headteachers’ pay to the £142,500 salary of the Prime Minister.
• Teaching unions have accused the government of ‘cold calling’ headteachers to encourage them to turn their schools into academies.
• Schools are using increasing amounts of CCTV and other security measures, turning them into ‘prisons’, claims a study by Hull University.

Image – Dystopia

• The charity Teach First aims to double the number of top graduates it recruits into the teaching profession.
• University and higher education staff face cuts to their pensions, with a vote about the issue taking place on 22nd July. There is also a risk to university jobs if plans for 25% funding cuts go ahead. The Business Secretary, Vince Cable, has also outlined plans to separate teaching from examining in high education.
• There has been a rise in the number of children eating school lunches in England, according to data from the School Food Trust.
• A new report revealed that the number of NEETs (teenagers not in education, employment or training) may be worse than previously thought. It also shows the effects that being in this situation has on the individuals.
• The Department for Education has revealed that the cost of developing their new brand was £5250 excluding VAT, which included £91 on ‘stationery specific to the change of brand’.

This week’s news has been dominated by stories about the election and new government, which has impacted upon education system in many ways:

• The new Education Secretary is Michael Gove. This week, he set out his priorities for education, saying that they will mark a new era. The BBC has also created a profile for those who would like to find out more about him. You can also read an interesting interview with him from March 2010. Nick Gibb has been appointed the schools minister. The TES has reported that a new Education Bill will be revealed within weeks.
• The Guardian has produced an article which outlines the new coalition goverment’s plans for the public sector, which includes public sector pay restraints and funding for “a significant premium for disadvantaged pupils”.
• The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) has been renamed the Department for Education and it has a new website and Twitter account. The website highlights Michael Gove as part of the ministerial team for education, but doesn’t currently show any others in the team!
• A group of school children shared their suggestions for the next prime minister, which included bottles of water to stop dehydration and a web page where children can have their say about the country.

Other Education News includes:

• Tens of thousands of pupils were affected by the SATs boycott (out of approx 600,000 pupils who were due to take the tests). The BBC produced an estimated snapshot of the areas who were most affected. But, hundreds of headteachers face the threat of docked pay if they refused to administer the tests.
• There has been a slight rise in the number of adults in the UK taking part in learning.
• A Guardian report claims that there has been a 65% increase in spending on drugs to treat ADHD over the past four years.
• Family time is being affected by extra-curricular activities, a leading head teacher has claimed. The chairman of the Independent Schools Association has also criticised the ‘must-have’ culture which pressurises parents into buying the latest gadgets for their children.
• Secondary schools can learn lessons from primary schools about how to stop pupils from falling behind in Numeracy lessons, according to a report from the inspection body Estyn.
• Channel 4 has outlines its plans for education, which include graphic novels and interactive games to engage pupils in a range of topics.
• The Guardian has listed the ‘best children’s books’ for a range of ages:
  • 0-2 year olds,
  • 2-4 year olds,
  • 5-7 year olds,
  • 8-12 year olds,
  • 12 years and over.
• Finally, 3D glasses are becoming a playground fashion trend in some schools!

Image – Newspaper

In a week dominated by election news, here are links to some education-related news articles:

• Ed Balls urged headteachers not to boycott SATs – At last Sunday’s National Association of Head Teachers conference, Ed Balls asked head teachers not to go ahead with their plans to boycott this year’s SATs. Despite this, children in more than 900 schools will not be taking next week’s tests.
• SATs pressure turns children off reading – Almost 100 children’s authors and illustrators sign a letter supporting heads and teachers in their campaign to get rid of national curriculum tests for 11-year-olds.
• ‘Fix or Ditch’ new school curriculum – The Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association claims that the new Curriculum for Excellence is ‘a deeply-flawed programme which is not yet fit to be rolled out fully in secondary schools.’
• Too much TV can be harmful for toddlers – The more TV a toddler watches, the higher the likelihood they will do badly at school and have poor health at the age of 10, researchers warn.
• Education Issues for New Ministers – Whoever forms a government, the Guardian has highlighted ten issues that it thinks education ministers should address. Do you agree with them?
• Poor Literacy and Maths skills for some teenagers – One fifth of school-leavers so illiterate and innumerate they struggle to cope with challenges of everyday life.
• Children will eat more fruit if it looks good – Making fruit look good holds the key to getting children to eat more of it, a study suggests.
• Best children’s books revealed – Publisher Puffin has produced a list of 70 of the best children’s books.

Image – Newspaper

Here are links to a selection of articles from this week’s Education news:

• Headteachers plan to boycott SATs tests – The National Association of Head Teachers is boycotting next month’s SATs tests for 10 and 11 year olds. There is also a ‘Q&A‘ about the boycott.
• School governors attack the SATs boycott – The National Governors’ Association says that a boycott of the tests will damage schools. Parents have also commented that the boycott has come too late.
• Behaviour ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ – Statistics compiled from school inspections in England showed that 74% of schools were rated good or outstanding for behaviour.
• Getting children to behave in class – This BBC report outlines a number of strategies adopted by schools to encourage good behaviour amongst their pupils.
• Teach children how to manage money – A petition is calling on the next government to bring back plans to introduce formal financial education lessons for pupils.
• Scotland’s secondary curriculum will not be delayed – The Scottish Education Secretary says that the introduction of a new curriculum in secondary schools will go ahead in the new school year as originally planned.
• Some schools struggled to open due to transport chaos – Flight cancellations due to the volcanic ash disrupted many lessons as teachers and pupils struggled to return home after their Easter holidays.
• Stranded teachers using webcams to continue lessons – A teacher from Oxfordshire who was stranded in Spain because of air restrictions used an internet cafe to take lessons.
• Students use extra-curricular activity to improve job chances – Undergraduates are using these activities, including the creation of their own radio station, to give them ‘employability’.
• Jamie Oliver to continue work on improving school meals – The celebrity chef plans to spend millions of pounds of his own money, enabling schools to bid for new kitchens and other equipment.
• What else can a primary teacher do? – The Guardian reports on alternative career choices for primary school teachers.

Image – Newspaper

Simon Haughton has put together a really useful site for children to use at home or at school as part of preparations for their SATs. There are links to some wonderful educational sites which primary children (and teachers) will enjoy exploring.

www.parkfieldict.co.uk/sats/

Although there will not be Science SATs this year, those who want some extra Science practice should take a look at the Science Boot Camp.