The Schools' News Service

The Conservative Party is launching a campaign to give teachers’ powers to stop and search pupils. This is being done by citing the fact that police have been called to over 3000 arson attacks in schools in the past two years – a considerable rise on numbers previously released and about double the figure reported [...]

What is the most straightforward proven way of raising student grades throughout the school? By raising grades I am not thinking about the occasional rise of a D to a C at GCSE, welcome though each such improvement is. Rather I’m thinking about the school which in a nine year period went from a 5+ [...]

Last September I reported on Listening Books, a UK audiobook charity that helps those who struggle, or who are unable to read in the usual way, including for example, those with special educational needs such as dyslexia. Stephen Fry, their patron, recently generated a wave of interest after using his Twitter page to announce their new [...]

Handicap International has announced the launch of the second of its ‘Inclusion Rwanda’ trips taking place this summer. The aim is to raise awareness and understanding of cross-cultural approaches to Inclusive Education, and ‘Inclusion Rwanda’ is looking for 15 teachers, head teachers, classroom assistants and other teaching personnel from across the UK to work with [...]

Many of the companies and organizations I write about are referred to me by readers of this service. I talk to them, look at the information, and then use my judgement as to whether to write the details up. So it is good (and for me rather reassuring) when I come across a comment from [...]

What’s the most effective way of changing the attitude and vision of young people? There are many pupils and students who could make much more of their schooling – if only they would take responsibility for their own lives. The central problem is that many young people have negative attitudes, negative views and (as a [...]

I have just come across the story of Hurworth School in Co Durham which, according to the data I have received, in a nine year period went from a 5+ A* to C figure of below 40% of pupils to over 90% of pupils. In other words they went from a very low league table [...]

The plans to make PSHE compulsory from the age of five, have been accepted by the schools secretary, and are now moving to final consultation. The proposals include the right for schools to apply their own “values” to the lessons. This means that they may teach that homosexuality is a sin, a crime, or an [...]

All parents will get regular electronic reports on their children’s progress in future – going far beyond the traditional annual school report, Schools Minister Jim Knight announced this week. All secondary schools in England will be expected to have ‘real-time’ reporting systems up and running by 2010 and all primary schools two years later – [...]

This news item is one of the many that are sent each school day to subscribers to Education Management News. This is a completely free service that brings information by email to teachers who have opted-in. This particular item was sent to the subscribers to the Behaviour, Discipline and Motivation news service. To subscribe free [...]

Children, Schools and Families Secretary, Ed Balls has asked the Chief Schools Adjudicator to carry out a review into the use of and on the fairness of the operation of random allocation to determine school admissions. Ed Balls said: “Our ambition is that every parent has a good local school to send their children at [...]

We used to have pen pals, now we have social networking and I don’t recall anyone undertaking research or surveys about what went on. But Ofcom published a report on the impact of social networks last year, and found that 99% of young people aged eight to 17 use the internet while around 50% have set up their own [...]

In a remarkable and frightening court case a judge has ruled that an accident caused by a pupil who is not technically breaking a school rule, but which causes injuries to an adult, cannot then result in a claim by the adult. What this means is that a teacher, governor, administrator, dinner lady, or anyone [...]

When it comes to putting up a new building speed is obviously of the essence, and when a company says that they can put up a completely new building within ten weeks one certainly has to take notice. Especially when they have already done this in locations as diverse as Camberwell, Tameside, Chelsea and Reigate. [...]