The Schools' News Service

The government is developing its literacy funding so that newly qualified teachers get stronger training in the use of phonics from this year.  At the same time more local authorities in England have been offered £9m extra if they run phonics programmes for young children.The programme is the one that Sir Jim Rose likes, where [...]

QCA was responsible for massive failures, according to an independent enquiry into the disaster of SATS tests. The officials who awarded the £156m contract for the SATs last year couldn’t even be bothered to look up the company that they were about to appoint on Google.  It might seem elementary but it is the sort [...]

It is never nice to knock an institution when it is down – most especially when jobs are at risk – but potential applicants might wish to be warned of the problems facing London Metropolitan University. The university has severe financial problems and according to the union is looking to shed between 350 and 500 staff (between 15% and [...]

Just about the most common illnesses that there are in the UK, and which cause people to miss education and work, are back pain and depression. Now, at last, group sessions will be used in schools to help teenagers avoid succumbing to one of these: depression. More than 7,000 teenagers, aged 13 to 16, will [...]

If it needed illustrating one more time the absolute danger of ignoring teenage culture and local feeling is revealed by events of late at Richard Rose Central Academy, in Carlisle. Here there were two schools (St Aidan’s and North Cumbria Technology College) that were known to have historic enmity between the pupils – and indeed [...]

Local Authorities and Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) are being asked to bid to take part in a £20m, two year pilot scheme for free school meals, Children’s Secretary Ed Balls and Health Secretary Alan Johnson announced today. With the pilots due to start in September 2009, more young children will be able to receive free [...]

As we reported over the Christmas break, the General Teaching Council now say that teachers should be removed from their jobs for social issues, even when they have done nothing wrong at all at school, and when they have not broken the law. An example would be getting drunk at the end of term party.  [...]

The Royal Shakespeare Company will help to develop the new Humanities Diploma, it has been announced.   The first wave of Diploma students are now beginning the second term of the new qualifications and feedback from teachers and learners has been more positive than much of the media would suggest. The RSC will sit on a group [...]

A study (Improving Scottish Education) by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education in Scotland has found that the system is “encouraging” and praised the professional commitment and competence of teachers, but has also said that too many pupils are “underachieving”.  The reason is said to be focussed on the later stages of primary and early years [...]

At 11am I got the call from Radio 5.  Was I free to talk on dyslexia for a few minutes against an MP who has said that it doesn’t exist?   No problem, I replied.   “So what’s the argument against his statement?” asked the researcher.   “There’s two,” I said.  “One is scientific and [...]

Ofsted, the organisation whose social services wing admitted it destroyed all its records after three months, has now said that schools are reluctant to take on the technology that will enable teaching and learning online throughout the day. The government asked for their to be more effective use of technology back in 2005 but the [...]

It doesn’t need much insight to know that anyone leaving school, college or university next summer is going to have a tough time of it.    At least the government seems to have enough foresight to recognize the problem, and they are reported to be drawing up a rescue package.  The proposals, thus far, focus [...]

A survey of the health and social problems of over 3500 adults has suggested that teenage pupils who have problems at school are more likely to experience personal problems in their adult life – including divorce and depression.   The behaviour at 13 to 15 is seen as a predictor of behaviour aged 36 to 53. The [...]

Schools, police and local agencies are being encouraged by the government to sign up to Safer School Partnerships and work more closely together to keep schools and pupils safe and reduce anti-social behaviour.   As part of the Youth Crime Action Plan, published in July this year, the Government committed to making Safer School Partnerships [...]

Careers fairs have become the new student protest arena, according to a report in the Guardian.   While the paper’s claim that there are “scenes reminiscent of the 1968 campus protests” won’t impress those of us (now entering our 60s) who were a) actually there, and b) were cognisant enough for the events to enter their [...]

Channel 4 are running one of the occasional shock-horror investigations into the behaviour of pupils in schools at 8pm on January 5 (repeated Wednesday Jan 7).  However this one does promise to include solutions to the problems some schools face. It’s a new programme which, according to the advance blurb,  is “an investigation into the [...]

During 2008 the school admin web site carried a daily diary of an administrator.  During the course of that year the school was infected with various viruses, including one that made everyone take greater risks, and another which got everybody copying everyone else.  Such diseases are thankfully largely imaginary (although the risk taking issue was [...]

According to a report released this month around a third of all schools are still not up to speed in terms of the new regulations which required SENCOs to be qualified teachers. These regulations state also that SENCOs must also receive additional training relevant to their work.  These rules apply from September 2009 but according [...]