Latest Educational News
Children learn to tie shoelaces later than ever before
by Telegraph, May 2, 2013
Today's children may be whiz kids at hi-tech gadgets, but they now learn to tie their shoelaces at a later age than ever before, a new report has found.
Few master the art before the age of six, and some still have difficulty tying their own laces when they are nine or ten years old, it is claimed.
The findings represent a major shift in social habits - just thirty years ago, being able to tie shoelaces was regarded as a skill to be learnt by the age of four, but changes in shoe design and footwear fashions means the skill is no longer essential until much older.
Tips on how to survive the exam season
by BBC, May 2, 2013
Door-slamming, tantrums, and sleepless nights are all too common in many UK homes now the exam season is here - with teenagers, parents and teachers all sharing the pain.
Post-it notes and revision diagrams are plastered on the walls of some teenagers' bedrooms, while others are turning to new technology to help them revise, recording themselves chanting French verb-endings or scientific terms.
Many schools are holding revision classes in and out of normal classroom hours and some parents are digging deep to pay for private tuition - priced at up to £200 a day.
Rise in arts degrees 'has left UK with major skills crisis'
by Telegraph, May 2, 2013
Too many teenagers are being pushed into taking university courses because of Britain’s “snobbery” towards technical qualifications, a former Conservative education secretary has warned.
The country is being left with a major shortage of skilled engineers following a sharp rise in the number of school-leavers studying arts and humanities degrees, according to Lord Baker.
In an interview with the Telegraph, he attacked the “totally unrealistic” target imposed by the last Labour government designed to get 50 per cent of young people into higher education.
Schools 'wasting science lab budget on photocopying'
by Telegraph, May 2, 2013
Hundreds of thousands of pupils are missing out on traditional experiments in science classes because of poorly-stocked laboratories, according to research.
Many schools are unable to offer a full range of practical lessons after blowing a large part of the science budget on photocopying and worksheets instead of vital equipment, it emerged.
Research found that primary schools had access to less than half the materials needed to allow children to carry out experiments.
Shocking underclass of our school system 'creating the criminals of tomorrow'
by Telegraph, May 2, 2013
Schools designed to help the most troubled pupils get back into mainstream education are woefully under-scrutinised, and many are failing, says Chris Skidmore.
Education debates are filled with benchmarks – the number of pupils going on to top universities, for instance, or the proportion who leave school with five good GCSEs.
Such statistics are of course important, but there’s always the risk that we forget to look at the whole educational spectrum. And unfortunately this has led to a long period of neglect for those at the very bottom.
Quarter of Southend grammar school pupils from Southend
by southend standard, May 1, 2013
Classified as 11 Plus.
MORE Southend pupils must be educated at the borough’s four grammar schools.
That is the cry from opposition councillors after it was revealed just 184 of this year’s 772 places went to Southend’s children - less than 24 per cent.
Yet grammar school bosses argue they are in a difficult position as it wouldn’t be right to lower standards.
Independent group leader Martin Terry believes the system simply has to change.
Strong opposition to proposed A Level changes
by BBC, May 1, 2013
Responses to a consultation on A Levels revealed there was little support for the changes confirmed in England, a Department of Education official said, on 1 May 2013.
In January 2013, Westminster Education Secretary Michael Gove announced he would be ending the assessment of "modular" chunks of learning in England.
Speaking to the Education Committee, official Dr David Hughes said consultation responses showed that many school principals opposed the plans to return to a "linear" form, with exams at the end of a two-year course.
This change is coming into effect in England from 2015.
Children shouldn't have best friends, private school head argues
by Telegraph, May 1, 2013
Young children should not have best friends because it could leave others feeling ostracised and hurt, the headmaster of a leading prep school has said.
Instead they should be encouraged to have “lots of good friends” to avoid overly possessive relationships and upsetting fall-outs.
Some parents of pupils at Thomas's private day school in Battersea, South-West London, have been told that their children cannot have best friends, The Telegraph understands.
Gove's warning to sponsors of failing academies
by Oxford Mail, May 1, 2013
EDUCATION secretary Michael Gove has pledged to remove sponsors of academies in Oxfordshire if they fail to turn them around.
During a visit to Abingdon yesterday Mr Gove said the Government would have to intervene if progress wasn’t made at failing schools.
The minister visited Kingfisher and John Mason schools with Oxford West and Abingdon MP Nicola Blackwood and county council leader Ian Hudspeth.
Bullied children using 'wrong jokes'
by BBC, May 1, 2013
Children who use self-deprecating humour among their peers are more likely to be bullied, researchers say.
A study from the University of Keele has examined links between bullying and different styles of playground humour.
It found that some positive types of humour were used by children to raise their status and show social skills.
Reading bids for 'crucial' school place funding
by BBC, April 30, 2013
Reading council has bid for £23m of "crucial" funding to cope with a rising demand for primary school places.
Plans for an estimated 360 extra places needed each year involve expanding schools and building an academy.
The Labour-controlled borough council said every child was offered a primary school place in Reading this year after it invested around £2m.
But a Reading Tory spokesman said the bid to the Department for Education (DfE) could have been made earlier.
New partnership provides free eReaders for schools most in need
by Independent, April 30, 2013
Primary school pupils struggling to read will be given a boost by a new partnership which will bring 1,000 free eReaders into schools.
Under a deal struck between the Evening Standard and America's biggest bookshop chain, Barnes & Noble, children in schools with some of the highest illiteracy rates will be encouraged and helped to read books like Roald Dahl's Matilda via the eReaders.
The free eReaders are being supplied by NOOK Media LLC, a subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, to boost the Get London Reading campaign launched by the Evening Standard, sister paper of The Independent. The campaign has so far helped over 2,000 children improve their reading by raising £1m to fund the training and supply of reading helpers by national literacy charity Beanstalk.
Hundreds of school leaders paid in excess of £100k
by BBC, April 30, 2013
A growing number of England's school leaders are on six-figure salaries, Department for Education data shows.
Around 800 head teachers, deputies and assistant heads working in state schools were earning £100,000 or more in 2012, a census of schools shows.
Of these, some 200 were paid more than £110,000, while 600 were on salaries of between £100,000 and £109,999.
University applications recovering
by BBC, April 30, 2013
University applications in the UK are continuing to show a modest improvement on last year, according to figures from the Ucas admissions service.
The figures for April show an increase of 2.5% against the same point last year - but application levels are still down compared with 2010 and 2011.
Applications had fallen sharply in 2012 with the introduction of higher fees.
Michael Gove is winning the hearts of state heads
by Telegraph, April 30, 2013
Teaching unions don’t want you to know, but head teachers support Michael Gove's education reforms
Michael Gove gave a seminal though little-reported speech last Thursday, his clearest statement yet of his aim for politicians to hand back the education system to the professionals, as long as they maintain the highest academic standards and prove worthy of the trust placed in them. The national curriculum he is introducing should perhaps be the last imposed from the centre; thereafter he wants schools themselves to develop a variety of high grade curricula.
More state school head teachers paid £100,000 salaries
by Telegraph, April 30, 2013
Rising numbers of state school head teachers are taking home six-figure salaries despite a drop in pay for rank-and-file staff, according to official figures.
At least 800 school leaders are being paid £100,000 in the current academic year, up from 700 just 12 months earlier, it emerged.
Figures from the Department for Education show that 200 heads are receiving salaries of more than £110,000.
Tutoring for two-year-olds? That’s really pushing it...
by Telegraph, April 30, 2013
Judith Woods called in a tutor at £58 an hour to see what her young daughter is missing out on
When I heard the news that children as young as two are being signed up for elocution tutorials in order to safeguard their (eventual) seamless entry into prep school, public school, Oxbridge and the upper echelons of business, the judiciary and finance, I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry.
So I took the third, pushy parent option instead: I immediately booked a session with Simply Learning Tuition for my younger daughter. If the Received Pronunciators are going to inherit the earth, I see no reason why Tabitha, aged four, shouldn’t join them.
Cambridge academics baffled by teacher-training shake-up
by Guardian, April 30, 2013
The illustrious secondary PGCE course at Cambridge University is one of those facing an uncertain future after the government's changes to teacher training
Not long ago, Cambridge University academics were celebrating receiving what they say is the first ever "perfect" Ofsted report for a teacher-training course, with no areas for improvement. Now, the future of the prestigious course – and seemingly many others like it – is clouded by uncertainty because of changes to the way teacher training is organised. Elaine Wilson, who runs Cambridge's postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) for secondary school teachers, is baffled by the government's motives.
10 things academics say students get wrong in exams
by Guardian, April 30, 2013
From lack of analysis to regurgitating lecture material, don't let these 10 common mistakes scupper your chances of exam success
Not many students would admit to enjoying taking exams or writing essays, but if you want to get a degree, they're an ordeal you have to survive.
So we've worked out how to make the whole thing a little less stressful. We've persuaded four academics from a range of subject areas to tell us the top 10 things students get wrong in exams and coursework. This is what they've told us:
Panic and procrastination
Sometimes a task can feel so overwhelming that it's difficult to begin, says Amber Regis, lecturer in 19th century literature at the University of Sheffield. Procrastination takes over and you just can't seem to get anything done. The bare white page is a formidable foe when it stares back at you, untouched, from the library desk. Try not to panic, protect and manage your preparation time, and don't put off getting started.
New exam materials for Scots fourth year pupils published
by BBC, April 30, 2013
More support materials for new qualifications being introduced in Scottish secondary schools are due to be published later.
From June, fourth year pupils will study the National 4 and 5 courses which are replacing Standard Grades.
Some teachers had expressed concern that they did not have enough resources to plan new lessons.
Government agency Education Scotland has produced additional course materials and sample lessons.
