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

• Children need to leave school with the skills required for the workplace as well as knowledge, believes a head teachers’ leader.
• The government has released data for England’s state schools, showing funding and expenditure per pupil, and how the money is spent. This is all analysed in this BBC report.
• Data published by Ofsted showed 23 per cent of state schools visited over a four month period last year were given a lower overall grade than in previous inspections. Read the official Ofsted report here.
• One in five children in schools in England are classified as having special needs but the government is announcing changes which it hopes will reduce that figure.
• Parents of children in England with special educational needs could get a personal budget to spend on support for their education.
• Just one in six pupils in England has achieved the new English Baccalaureate introduced by the government, England’s league tables show.
• Michael Gove is accused of trying to bring back grammar schools by back door.
• Schoolchildren should be taught how to turn up on time, talk to colleagues and make presentations as part of compulsory lessons in “employability skills”, according to a leading head teacher.
• Parents will get powers to rank local schools using a series of new-style measures under Government plans to stop schools massaging their results.
• The world’s leading thinkers regard the UK as having better universities than any other country apart from the US, a league table shows.

Image – Oxford

• Millions of workers in the public sector should work longer for lower pensions, a major report has said. As a result of this, teachers could take industrial action as soon as this summer, leaving England’s schools facing mass disruption.
• Local authorities have made more than 1,000 school improvement staff redundant since last autumn, prompting fears that more schools could end up in special measures as a result.
• Reforms of the NHS in England are putting the healthcare of children at risk, according to an article in the British Medical Journal.
• England’s schools adjudicator Ian Craig is to leave his post early, months after warning over plans to slim down the rules over fair admissions.
• Nearly half of mothers think the 1970s and 1980s were an easier age for raising children, a report suggests.
• Teachers have given their verdict on the first episode of Jamie Oliver’s new ‘Dream School’ venture, getting accomplished public figures to teach young people who have given up on education. This report from the Telegraph explores how the experience has affected some of the pupils.

Next week’s Teaching Events include:

• 1st to 31st March - Tenner 2011
• 11th to 20th March - National Science and Engineering Week
• 14th March - Pi Day
• 14th March - International Day of Action for Rivers
• 14th to 20th March - Brain Awareness Week
• 14th to 27th March - Cambridge Science Festival
• 15th March - Teaching about the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics
• 17th March - St. Patrick’s Day
• 17th to 19th March - Education Show
• 18th March - Red Nose Day

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

• The chancellor George Osborne has said that schools in England are to get a real-terms increase in funding. This BBC report reveals how the cuts will affect education.
• A government report has revealed that almost one in four primary school boys in England has special educational needs.
• A behaviour expert has warned that excluded pupils can fall into a life of crime and drugs.
• Pupil numbers have fallen at a third of private schools, according to research.
• The proportion of state school pupils getting five good passes at GCSE rose markedly this year.
• Ucas figures have shown that nearly 190,000 applicants to UK universities failed to get a place this year.
• This Telegraph article explores why the primary curriculum and teaching should enable children to discover how to learn as well as what to learn.
• The whiteboard has been around for years, but many teachers still lack the skills to use it to its full potential, says Jack Kenny.

Image – DSC_5564

• Nearly four million school days in England were missed last spring and autumn because parents took children out of school to go on holiday. Read the DfE’s information about this here.
• Ministers are considering abolishing a law which requires schools in England to show they promote community cohesion.
• The academic who inspired Slumdog Millionaire believes all pupils should be given time in groups with a computer to teach themselves.
• The author of the Horrible Histories children’s book series has said that schools only teach pupils enough historical facts to pass their exams.
• Two-year-olds from the poorest homes in England are to be given free nursery places. This article discusses what children should be able to do at two years old.
• This BBC report explores why ‘The Gruffalo’ has become the favourite book of children and parents.
• The Universities Minister David Willetts appears to have ruled out allowing universities to set unlimited fees.

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

I am now on my half term break, so I won’t be posting regularly again until the end of next week.

Here are links to a selection of this week’s education news headlines:

• A review of special educational needs and disability by Ofsted revealed ‘a range of concerns about the current system and how well it is serving children and young people.’ Articles commenting on the findings appear on the BBC (here and here), Guardian and TES sites.
• Plans by the government to raise the bar for trainee teachers in England could worsen the shortage of science and maths teachers, according to a report by Buckingham University.
• An article on the BBC site tries to explain why parents struggle with new methods for teaching Maths.

Image – Finances

• A league table of universities shows that only 14 British universities appear in the top 100.
• A former government adviser has claimed that the exams system is ‘diseased’ with exam boards making profits through textbooks which hint at exam questions.
• Teaching unions are considering joint national strikes over public spending disputes.
• The Guardian are running a special event offering advice for schools teaching with technology on a tight budget.
• The School Library Commission says that good libraries are vital to successful schools and that their importance has been neglected.
• This Guardian article reports on the freedom that children are given in today’s society. What proportion of your pupils are allowed to walk to school on their own?
• This BBC video shows lessons in personal finance which are compulsory for all school children in Northern Ireland.

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

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.
• 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 Autism Network site has lots of free resources for special needs teaching and learning. They also have an active forum with many like minded parents and professionals, all willing to share experiences and help.

www.autismnetwork.co.uk

The site also offers some useful information about Autism and related conditions like ADHD, PDD, PDA – look in the side bar on the left to find out more about these.

I’ve always been a fan of the BBC’s Newsround TV show and website, as they provide current news which is more appropriate for children to read. Simon Widdowson recently shared this fantastic version of the site which is even more accessible.

www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/newsreader

The site has a much simpler interface with less distractions and it will even read the news to you. It is also accessible to those to use switches to use a computer and you change the settings to make the site even more appropriate for your needs.