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In order - the newest listed first
BBC News: Education
- BNP teachers will not be banned
Members of the BNP or any group which may promote racism will not be banned from teaching in England, the government says.
Crackdown call over school cheats
Whistleblowing hotlines and random checks should be used to catch parents who cheat over school places, a report says.
Over 25,000 make News Day special
BBC's School Report featured a raft of highlights from 25,000 students who produced some amazing reports and features.
Patchy picture on school places
Most families in England were given their first choice of secondary school - but the picture is varied.
Schools offered gang trouble tips
Schools in England are being issued with new guidance on how to spot signs that children are involved with gangs.
In order - the newest listed first
Education Guardian
- No school place for those who lie about address
Schools adjudicator clamps down on parents who deceive to get their children into the best state schools
• Datablog: get the data behind this storyParents caught lying to the authorities to get their offspring into top state schools will have their child's place automatically withdrawn under new rules, the schools adjudicator said today, following indications that more than 4,000 fraudulent applications were made last year.
Officials will conduct random samples of at least 10% of applications to root out deception, and set up a whistleblowers' hotline for parents to report their suspicions about other families. If a family changes its main place of residence within a year of an application, it will trigger an automatic re-examination of the case, to check they have not given false information about where they live to get into a high-performing nearby school.
The adjudicator, Ian Craig, said parents should have to sign a statement promising their application was truthful, after being given clear warnings on the consequences of making a fraudulent application. If they have suspicions, local authorities should instruct their lawyers to send parents letters demanding further signed confirmation that information provided was accurate.
And if cheating were detected, the child's place would be withdrawn immediately, even if he or she had already started at their chosen school. They would be allowed to continue to attend classes until a fast-track appeals panel had heard the case within two weeks, but after that could be forced to leave – particularly if they had not been at the school long.
If the panel allowed them to stay, deciding it was in their best interests, their parents would be penalised by losing the right to get a priority place at the school for their other children through the "sibling link" provision.
There is currently no rule that local authorities must withdraw a place where cheating is found, and they tend not to act if a child has been at the school more than a term. Under the new rules that would no longer be a consideration, at least until the appeal panel convened.
Official statistics published by the department for children, schools and families today showed that one in six children in England did not get into their first choice secondary school.
In total, 83.2% of families were given a place at their highest preference school on national offers day earlier this month, which is unchanged from last year. But there were wide variations around the country – in London and Birmingham, 66% got their first choice school.
Some 94.9% of children got a place at one of their top three preferred schools, which is marginally up from last year.
The adjudicator also recommended a media campaign pointing out that lying to get a place is not a victimless crime, and branding those break the rules thieves.
Craig said local authorities reported 1,400 cases of fraud last year,but that the data suggested that for every case detected and dealt with, there were two more suspected. This meant it was likely that more than 4,200 false applications were made each year, he said.
The schools secretary, Ed Balls, said: "While I am reassured that only a tiny minority of parents apply dishonestly, I am also clear that every place gained by deception is denying another child their rightful place.
"No child should be punished for their parents' actions, but neither should families on waiting lists be unfairly disadvantaged or delayed."
School admissionsSecondary schoolsSchoolsRachel Williams
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Lotteries can be destabilising, admits Balls
It is better for children to go to the same secondary school as their friends, says education secretary
School lotteries can be destabilising for children and bad for their welfare, the schools secretary, Ed Balls, told MPs today.
Balls said he was sceptical about a wholesale move towards a system of allocating all secondary school places on the the basis of lotteries, according to a BBC report. Banded admissions, where a certain number of places are allocated for each ability group, are fairer, he said.
At present, under the schools admissions code, schools can use lotteries if there is they are heavily oversubscribed. The intention is to make the system fairer for all children and prevent schools discriminating on the grounds of ethnicity, parental income or occupation, or on the basis of an interview with the headteacher.
Giving evidence to the cross-party Children, Schools and Families select committee, Balls said: "The reason I'm personally cautious about lotteries is [that] I think the transition from primary to secondary school is a difficult transition, and it's good that children move with their peers and their friends.
"It being a complete lottery as to who gets to move I think is destabilising to children, and bad for their welfare. I think people being able to go to their local school is a good thing."
Balls admitted high house prices around popular schools could create unfairness and said banded admissions were the best way to ensure a comprehensive intake, said the BBC.
Questioned about national tests for 11-year-olds, Balls defended English and maths exams as a key measure of primary school performance.
Two teaching unions announced last month their intention to ballot members on whether to boycott this year's key stage 2 tests.
The National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the Council of the National Association of Headteachers (NAHT) said league tables based on results of the tests negatively affected their members' pay and conditions.
The ballot will open on Monday and close on April 16.
Balls told MPs that he and the schools minister, Vernon Coaker, had written today to primary school headteachers, calling on them to work together to improve the "assessment and accountability system".
The letter said: "With you, we want to create a strong and fair framework for school accountability which encompasses a rigorous assessment system where the contribution of teacher assessment is established and respected."
A new school report card is due to be introduced in 2011, with information on children's wellbeing as well as attainment, and plans are in place to strengthen the weight given to teacher assessment, it added.
But externally validated checks needed to continue, Balls stressed.
The letter said experts had "recommended that key stage 2 tests in English and maths should at this time remain as a key accountability measure for all primary schools".
It continued: "This is a recommendation that we have accepted and we believe, therefore, that it is essential that tests take place as planned, whilst at the same time we continue to monitor and improve the consistency of teacher assessment."
But Balls and Coaker acknowledged concerns about "teaching to the test" and said guidance had been published to help teachers and pupils avoid "last-minute drilling".
School admissionsSecondary schoolsSatsPrimary schoolsSchoolsEd BallsEducation policy
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Science research is key election issue
The data is unequivocal: investing in scientific research during times of recession results in economic growth
On Tuesday night, the science representatives of the three main parties jovially debated in front of a heaving Westminster audience, all pushing the agenda that science is now a central election issue.
Quite right too. All evidence suggests that increased expenditure in basic research results in economic growth. Conservative shadow science minister Adam Afriyie immediately set up their stall the wrong way round, by declaring that mending the economy came before investing in science. Science minister Lord Drayson countered, as he always does, by engaging well with critics, saying the right thing, but appearing hamstrung by his own party.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Royal Society, under Lord Martin Rees's excellent leadership, has the very clearest view on what needs to be done. Published on Monday, their report entitled The Scientific Century: Securing Our Future Prosperity is a masterful document, packed with robust data, and well written to boot. In it, they recommend a long-term strategy of ring-fenced investment, and increased funding towards people rather than projects. It plays down the sometimes false dichotomy of "basic" as opposed to "applied" research, but reasonably promotes revenue generating academic-industry collaboration.
This debate doesn't just centre on research. It also comes in a school education, and the Royal Society's report hammers home the primary importance of specialist science teachers. Afriyie cited shadow children's secretary Michael Gove's predictable declaration last week that the curriculum should return to the old school and comprise "traditional" lessons. Bizarrely, they are claiming to battle endemic dumbing down not by employing the knowledge of education experts, but by asking celebrities. To shape the science curriculum, Gove volunteered public scientists and figures including Lords Rees and Winston, the publicity-courting Lady Greenfield and Carol Vorderman. While no doubt these have all achieved excellence in particular fields, none is a school-level educational professional.
The New Labour project was in the thrall of expert advice, sometimes taking it, and in the case of the sacking of drugs adviser David Nutt, conspicuously ignoring it. The Conservatives appear to be following suit. Alongside their celebrity-endorsed curriculum, yesterday they issued a report by vacuum cleaner manufacturer James Dyson. It's not a bad document, glossy and vaguely in line with that of the Royal Society. But alongside Afriyie's statements in the debate, it's hard to see past this as being anything other than vacuous lip service, if you'll forgive the inevitable pun. Dyson, for the record, manufactures his vacuums, not in the UK, but in Malaysia.
The Lib Dems' Evan Harris is the only MP who genuinely appears to understand both the scientific process and the import of investing in that process to ensure our future. His position that the science budget can only be cut after we are out of recession is spot on. A coalition brought on by a hung parliament could result in the installation of this man as a science minister who will drive a genuinely progressive policy for the benefit of everyone. In a hung parliament, though, his position will be weakened in enacting those policies.
Science must be a major election issue. The data is unequivocal: investing in basic research during times of recession results in economic growth. That investment comes primarily at university level, and in hard times, by ring-fencing research council budgets. The current government has made some key progress on sorting out the science curriculum (such as on the teaching of evolution), but before 2009, the UK failed to meet its targets on attracting more secondary teachers into science and maths every year for a decade.
With little to call between the main parties on many issues, promises on how to bust the economic depression will be critical. Whichever party most heartily adopts the Royal Society's recommendations will secure the UK's future economically and, more importantly, create the science-literate society and research-driven economy we should all aim for. As this august organisation so pithily says: "Unless we get smarter, we'll get poorer."
ScienceConservativesLabourLiberal DemocratsMichael GoveRobert WinstonSecondary schoolsCarol VordermanRecessionGeneral election 2010David NuttResearch and developmentResearch fundingResearchAdam Rutherford
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McGCSE for students on work experience
Award equivalent to B or C grade GCSE introduced by McDonald's in bid to boost job prospects of young people
The fast food chain McDonald's is to become the first UK employer to provide a GCSE-style qualification for work experience, in a move which it hopes will boost youngsters' employability in an increasingly competitive jobs market.
McDonald's has teamed up with the largest exam-awarding body Edexcel to produce the qualification – equivalent to one GCSE (B or C grade) after the successful completion of a ten-day placement with the restaurant chain.
The placement will cover teamwork and communication skills, with individual mock interview practice at the start and finish. Each pupil must also complete the remaining fifth of the work experience module in their normal school environment.
The qualification is also the equivalent of a level 2 BTEC national diploma in work skills.
McDonalds employs a predominantly young workforce – 85,000 people in the UK of whom 60% are between 16 and 21 years of age.
Today it also publishes the results of a poll of 2,000 14-19 year olds which reveals that work experience has become a CV must-have for UK teens but that the quality of placements varies. Nearly one-quarter of young people (22%) complained that their employer had not planned a useful or practical placement while more than half (51%) said there were not enough quality slots available. Those polled also expressed strong support for work experience qualifications: 86% agreed that work experience is more valuable if it leads to a national qualification proving workplace skills.
Announcing the qualification at a conference in Birmingham today, David Fairhurst, chief people officer, McDonald's UK & Northern Europe, will say: "This is the first time a work experience programme has been aligned to a nationally-recognised qualification, and at McDonald's we believe it has the potential to raise the expectations
of employers, educators and students alike. Whether people join McDonald's for two weeks work experience or a full-time job, the aim is helping them build their confidence, gain transferable qualifications and fulfil their potential."
Two years ago McDonald's became one of the first employers in the UK to be given new powers by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) to make its own awards. But critics have questioned the value of "McGCSEs", claiming that they could devalue academic qualifications and casting doubt on whether they would be recognised outside the companies concerned.
In a related move, supermarket giant Asda announced it is to offer 15,000 youngsters the chance of a week's worth of "real" work experience rather than simply making tea or running errands.
The 14 to 16-year-olds will get the chance to work in stock control, delivery and customer services. The company also unveiled plans for 15,000 of its workers to take part in a 12-week apprenticeship programme.
GCSEsFurther educationYoung peopleAll sectorsRebecca Smithers
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Shakespeare brought to life in classroom
Teachers urged to drop 'chalk and talk' technique and let pupils mirror methods of actors by walking around
Eleven-year-olds are to learn Shakespeare using techniques employed by RSC actors, and English teachers will be encouraged to let pupils walk around the classroom rather than reading the plays while sitting at their desks.
Exercises devised by the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Globe theatre in London will see children aged 11 to 14 mirror the methods of professional actors at rehearsal. Written and oral assessments developed alongside the lessons will show how well students have understood the texts.
Following the government's announcement of the new teaching initiative, the RSC's director of education, Jacqui O'Hanlon, said focusing on how actors came to understand the playwright's language had been a vital inspiration.
She said: "Actors have the same nervousness around Shakespeare's language as young people in schools do. We looked at how they get from that to a place of utter conviction, confidence and eloquence in six to eight weeks."
Pupils must study two Shakespeare texts between the ages of 11 and 16, one of them in key stage three before the age of 14.
The schools minister, Diana Johnson, said Shakespeare should be a central part of every young person's education. "Developing a love of Shakespeare at a young age often leads to a lifelong passion for literature and theatre and helps to improve a child's reading and writing."
In one task pupils will work on creating four key physical archetypes, that of king, warrior, lover and joker, before finding which lines of their chosen character go with those traits and the acting them out. Through this they can examine how a character such as Macbeth can switch dramatically within one scene from soldier to kingly figure to trickster.
The tasks also include creating two sets for As You Like It after acting some scenes and analysing the text for inspiration.
O'Hanlon said: "It's really innovative but you're still getting a really rigorous and robust model of understanding. It's miles away from a 'chalk and talk, sit in your desks and read it' world of Shakespeare.
"Within the English curriculum you tend to look at a play text as a piece of literature rather than performance. But you can't possibly understand Shakespeare's words if you're just reading it in your head. He wrote these plays to be spoken and performed. Shakespeare is difficult; it's not a 21st-century text. You've got to use different mechanisms to access it.
"Young people get the most out of Shakespeare when they explore the plays as actors do, when they are up on their feet and confidently exploring the language and characters."
The director: from mumbles to MacbethBill Buckhurst is directing a Macbeth production for teenagers at the Globe
Shakespeare's plays weren't written to be read out loud, they're written to be performed. If you're sitting mumbling the words on a Friday afternoon when you're tired, they won't really mean anything. Getting students to do exercises that mean they have to put some energy behind the words and see how they affect other people, means the text takes on a life.
Hearing the sounds also helps you understand how Shakespeare chooses words that have a real relation to the story he's telling. In Richard III, for example, the first speech is full of sibilants, which makes you think about what kind of character you're dealing with – it can almost sound like the hissing of a snake, appropriate given Richard's slippery nature.
Young people also like knowing this is the sort of work professional actors do – that we're all exploring the plays, coming to them with a certain anxiety.
Actors have to work at Shakespeare too. When I'd just left drama school and went to the RSC I was terrified before the first rehearsal. But I was relieved to find they were all as much in the dark as I was; working it out together was the fun of it.
EnglishSchoolsWilliam ShakespeareRoyal Shakespeare CompanyTheatreRachel Williams
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In order - the newest listed first
Online Publications for Schools - Latest publications
- Narrowing the Gaps: Guidance for Literary Subject Leaders
This guidance is designed for literacy subject leaders in primary schools to aid the regular review of planning, to enable them to support inexperienced colleagues better in meeting the needs of all pupils in the class and to contribute to pupil progress meetings when asked for advice on appropriate next steps in learning.
Challenging practice to further improve learning, playing and interacting in ...
This guidance focuses on developing pedagogy and how to improve outcomes through better learning, playing and interacting (learning and teaching). It provides information on the Early Years Consultant’s role in providing effective setting-based continuing professional development.
It's Your Choice 2010-2011
This publication is aimed at year 10 and 11 students. It provides information about the options available to them, helping them make decisions relating to their post-16 phase of learning.
Practitioners' Guide 2010-2011
This guide aims to help teachers, tutors and advisers assist students with their Key Stage 4 and post-16 choices and to make the most of the 'Which Way Now?' and 'It's Your Choice' publications.
Which Way Now? 2010-2011
This publication is aimed at the Year 9 cohort. It provides information for pupils to assist them with their subject choices and qualifications in Key Stage 4.
Russell Educational Consultancy and Productions