Latest Educational News
Bromley backs expansion of selective school places
by LocalGov, February 21, 2012
Classified as 11 Plus.
The Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Harriet Harman, famously sent her son Joseph to the selective St Olave's Grammar School in Orpington. The school is heavily oversubscribed. But Conservative-run Bromley Council would like the excellent education provided to be available for the many - not just the Shadow Cabinet Minister few.
Wirral pupils get sneak preview of Olympic Torch
by Wirral Globe, February 21, 2012
Classified as 11 Plus.
WIRRAL pupils were treated to a sneak preview of the Olympic Torch – three months ahead of its official relay across the UK.
West Kirby Grammar School student Jodie Simmons persuaded her stepfather Nick Raines, who is leading the torch’s security team, to show the iconic symbol to her classmates on Monday.
University access tsar Les Ebdon will be monitored, says David Willetts
by Telegraph, February 21, 2012
David Willetts, the universities minister, has promised that the new controversial access tsar will be monitored by the select committee and "called to account" for his decisions.
Vince Cable defied many senior Conservative critics and the Business Select Committee to appoint Professor Ebdon as director of the Office for Fair Access.
Today Mr Willetts endorsed the appointment but said Prof Ebdon would be watched.
I'll get places for the poor, says new university access watchdog
by Independent, February 21, 2012
The new university access watchdog intends to seek wider-ranging powers to penalise universities which fail to meet targets for recruiting more disadvantaged students.
Professor Les Ebdon was confirmed as head of the Office for Fair Access (Offa) yesterday despite a backlash from Tory MPs and some academics.
Nick Clegg pledges to get get teenagers active
by Independent, February 21, 2012
Nick Clegg has pledged to deal with the "ticking time bomb" of teenagers who are not in work, school or training.
The Deputy Prime Minister announced a £126 million scheme to get 16 and 17-year-olds back into employment or education.
The initiative is part of the coalition's Youth Contract scheme, announced last November in a bid to tackle youth unemployment.
Fee-paying Yorkshire school battles ‘scandal’ claims of sacked whistleblower
by Yorkshire Post, February 21, 2012
A PRIVATE Yorkshire college is in a court battle with a former guardian of 30 of its Chinese students who has accused it of putting its under-performing pupils into a separate school.
Dr Chaunjie Zhou is attempting to sue Queen Ethelburga’s College, near York, after they removed him from his role for failing to ensure that some of his pupils were placed in supervised accommodation during school holidays.
However he believes the school wanted to get rid off him because he could have been seen as a “whistleblower” on what he called Queen Ethelburga’s “wrongdoing and unprofessional behaviour”.
Nick Clegg to offer 'neet' solution for unemployed 16- and 17-year-olds
by Guardian, February 21, 2012
£126m scheme seeks to encourage employers to take on young people not in education, employment or training
Nick Clegg will vow to deal with the "ticking time bomb" of teenagers who are not in work, school or training.
The deputy prime minister is due to announce on Tuesday a £126m scheme to get 16- and 17-year-olds back into employment or education
Neet England: how many young people are Not in Employment Education or Training?
by Guardian, February 21, 2012
The latest figures show that the number of NEETs in England are at a record high. Download the data for yourself
Neets are in the news. Not in Employment, Education or Training figures were highlighted by deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg who has unveiled a work programme for what he describes as "disengaged" 16 and 17-year-olds.
Organisations offered £2,200 to support teenagers into work
by Children & Young People Now, February 21, 2012
The government is inviting organisations to bid for contracts worth up to £2,200 to help 55,000 16- and 17-year-olds who are out of work, education or training.
The £126m scheme will be open to charities and businesses across England that offer tailored support to teenagers out of work or education, with no good GCSEs who are at risk of long-term disengagement.
Twigg calls for independent school standards agency
by BBC, February 21, 2012
Labour education spokesman Stephen Twigg is calling for the creation of an independent office to raise standards in education in England.
Mr Twigg says an "Office for Educational Improvement" could use objective research evidence about what really works in schools.
It would also consider standards in terms of international comparisons.
'Pay-per-Neet' scheme aims to help teenagers find work 'Pay-per-Neet' scheme aims to help teenagers find work
by BBC, February 21, 2012
Firms and charities are to be invited to bid for a payment-by-results scheme to try to get "Neet" teenagers into work or training, in a project launched by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.
The £126m scheme is aimed at 55,000 teenagers in England with poor qualifications who are currently not in education, employment or training.
Mr Clegg says it will help youngsters "into the world of work".
School bus fees 'may deter poorer pupils from grammars', says headteacher
by Bucks Free Press, February 20, 2012
Classified as 11 Plus.
LESS wealthy families will be hardest hit when changes to free school transport come in, a leading grammar school headteacher says.
Pupils may be deprived of grammar school education if new fees prove too costly, which is 'regrettable', Dr Peter Holding believes.
The county's education chief Cllr Mike Appleyard said recently most grammar school pupils will have to pay for the school bus in future as cash-strapped Buckinghamshire County Council tries to save £1.4m.
At my free school, the end of term will be too good to miss
by Telegraph, February 20, 2012
As well as clamping down on headteachers, there are other ways to keep pupils in school, says Katharine Birbalsingh.
n classrooms across the country, it has become the expected thing for some children to disappear a week or two before the Christmas or Easter holidays begin. Plane tickets to faraway destinations are so much cheaper bought outside of holiday time. So families think nothing of taking their children out of school for them to enjoy an extra-long stint abroad.
Excellent universities, not social engineering
by Telegraph, February 20, 2012
Telegraph View: Professor Les Ebdon will force our best universities to take less well-qualified candidates.
Professor Les Ebdon will this week be confirmed as the new head of the Office for Fair Access (Offa), the new gatekeeper to our universities. He has made it clear he will force our best universities to take less well-qualified candidates than they do at the moment in an attempt to promote social mobility – and has the power to impose stiff financial penalties in pursuit of that goal.
Russell Group attacks university admissions targets
by Telegraph, February 20, 2012
Leading universities clashed with the Government’s new higher education access tsar today by criticising the imposition of controversial admissions targets.
The Russell Group, which represents 20 top institutions, said that forcing universities to meet tough benchmarks on admitting poor pupils would fail to resolve the “real problems” in the education system.
It warned that poor A-level grades remained the “key reason” why low numbers of students from deprived backgrounds get into the best universities.
Vince Cable appoints controversial university access tsar
by Telegraph, February 20, 2012
The Business Secretary has defied many senior Conservative critics to appoint Professor Les Ebdon as director of the Office for Fair Access.
Professor Les Ebdon will take up the key role as director of the Office for Fair Access (Offa) later this year, charged with ensuring that working-class students are not deterred by tuition fees of up to £9,000, the Business Secretary announced.
£157m school 'rebranding' disaster as council flops to bottom of education league tables
by Daily Mail, February 20, 2012
A council which spent £157m rebranding its schools as 'centres of learning' and renaming teachers 'progress leaders' has slumped to the bottom of the national league tables.
The huge sum was spent on seven new centres in Knowsley, Merseyside, under Labour's ambitious Building Schools For The Future Scheme.
The project, which was billed 'ripping up the rulebook', involved replacing classrooms with 'democratised' spaces called 'homebases' and 'warehouses'.
Children who have few words aged two 'risk future problems'
by Independent, February 20, 2012
Scientists devise test for toddlers that could help diagnose likely developmental difficulties
Toddlers at the age of two who have a vocabulary of less than 50 words are at risk of developmental problems that can persist into later life according to scientists who have devised a speech test for young children.
Most two-year-olds have a vocabulary of between 75 and 225 words but a minority of less than 15 per cent are "late talkers" who do not use more than 50 words, said Professor Leslie Rescorla of Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania.
Primary school classes 'could be taught in sheds'
by Independent, February 20, 2012
Rising birth rates and immigration sees a growing shortage of classroom places
Thousands more young children will have to be taught in temporary buildings, converted sheds and even former shops because of an increasing shortage of primary school places, the Government was warned last night.
Parents Warned Of Term-Time Holiday Fines
by Yahoo News, February 20, 2012
Education Secretary Michael Gove is reportedly planning to fine parents who take their children out of school to go on holiday.
The move is said to be part of new proposals from the Department for Education following a review of school discipline and attendance rates.
