During Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday and in briefings afterwards the Conservatives claimed there was no evidence that the schools had been registered or inspected by Ofsted, the education standards watchdog; they also said the schools had received money from an anti-terrorism fund. But yesterday the claims were beginning to unravel. The most obvious mistake was the allegation that they appeared not to have been registered or inspected.

In fact, one of the ( Read more... )
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Sir David thinks ignorance is no excuse. He believes that the governors should have asked questions about the student drop-out rate and the shambolic data collection. The university's excuse for the poor data was that it had two systems to reconcile as a result of the merger of the University of North London and London Guildhall University in 2002 to form London Met. But that merger was seven years ago. The university had industrial action for a year after that. But that is no excuse either. Other ( Read more... )
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Let her go ? and if you are seriously worried about how the trip is likely to be conducted, speak to the teacher in charge to outline your fears and demand to know what measures will be in place to ensure orderly behaviour.

But stay realistic. Young people do sometimes behave badly on school trips, but rarely is any lasting damage done. The worst that is likely to happen (leaving aside the kind of terrible accident that can happen anywhere) is that she might get drunk. ( Read more... )
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Our government and its lower layers is becoming obsessively prescriptive about how UK universities should behave. This is damaging. It will do the reverse of what is intended. The latest attempt is in the design of something called the REF. This will be unreliable and is suitably named ? I write this article after the handball, missed by the referee, by Thierry Henry that put Ireland out of the World Cup.

The acronym stands for the Research Excellence Framework. I don't ( Read more... )
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These teenagers were getting lessons for free from the school's star-studded maths department as part of a controversial programme by St Paul's to help out neighbouring state schools that can't give their children the high-quality maths teaching that St Paul's pupils get.

The St Paul's teachers are amazingly well-qualified, including an Olympiad champion, a chief examiner and the editor of a prestigious journal of mathematics. No pupil at St Paul's in south-west London gained less than an ( Read more... )
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He claimed in Prime Minister's Question Time that the Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation (ISF), which runs them, was a "front organisation" for the hardline group Hizb ut-Tahrir.

Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, retorted that the schools had been inspected and allegations of extremist links were found to have no substance. He said the cash they had received went on providing nursery places at the school in Tottenham. Farah Ahmed, the head of the Slough school, protested that ( Read more... )
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Lessons on equality and domestic violence will be included in personal, social and health education, which from 2011 will be a compulsory part of the curriculum.

Before they can qualify, trainee teachers will have to learn about gender awareness and domestic violence.

Officials will produce new rules for teachers on tackling "sexist, sexual and transphobic bullying" in the classroom and schools will be marked by inspectors on how well they are ( Read more... )
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Unveiling the annual Ofsted report yesterday, Christine Gilbert, the Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills, said: "There can be no hiding place for poor practice. Weak regulation serves no one's real interest, not even vested interests."

Ms Gilbert's comments came as the barrage of criticism over tougher Ofsted inspections intensified. Shireen Ritchie, of the Local Government Association, said the watchdog had "to have the trust and respect of the people it works with" ( Read more... )
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There remained a "stubborn core" of inadequate and satisfactory teaching in England's schools which was failing to challenge and inspire pupils, Ofsted's annual report found.

Ofsted Chief Inspector Christine Gilbert said that, while she was encouraged by the improvements which had been made in schools and children's services this year, there was still much that was "mediocre or worse".

In her fourth annual report, she highlighted ( Read more... )
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While starting your working life cold-calling households in search of a 25 per cent commission on sales of scent and lipstick might seem a comedown from the graduate traineeship you had earmarked in law or accountancy, Avon insists you'll gain transferable skills that could prove vital in your future career.

Richard Pinnock, executive sales director of the New York-based company's UK arm, said: "Becoming a self-employed Avon representative is a great opportunity for ( Read more... )
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A study of 500 teachers on the Teach First scheme, which recruits hundreds of the brightest graduates to learn how to teach on the job in urban schools, says there are "a range of benefits" in teaching in mixed ability classes.

"There is evidence that mixed ability classes have a positive effect on the attitudes and self-esteem of all pupils regardless of their ability level," it says.

By contrast, allocating them to classes according to their abilities "has been shown to reinforce ( Read more... )
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A letter seen by The Independent from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) to the chairman of governors at London Metropolitan University calls on members of the governing body and senior staff to "consider their position".

It follows two damning reports which revealed that the university falsely claimed funding for thousands of students. As a result it has been ordered to repay an unprecedented £36m in funding ? which is expected to lead to hundreds of job losses among ( Read more... )
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The Schools Secretary paved the way for the test to be replaced by internal teacher classroom assessments ? thus softening his previous stance on SATs which are taken by 600,000 children in English, maths and science every year.

His move comes as ministers face the threat of a boycott of them by both heads and teachers next May.

In an announcement yesterday coinciding with a shake-up of the primary school curriculum, Mr Balls announced that ? from next year ? primary school league ( Read more... )
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One of the enduring problems of English schools is their practice of setting by ability, which means that many thousands of students languish in low sets on diets of low-level, uninteresting work. Most of these are capable of achieving infinitely more, but their experience of being told that they are incapable turns them against learning and against school.

England is more committed to setting than most countries, and this practice continues despite numerous reports pointing to its ineffectiveness. ( Read more... )
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Today's schoolchildren care little about politics and know even less about the subject, according to a poll out today.

Only one in four could identify Labour as the party of government, a survey of 14- to 16-year-olds for Ofsted, the education standards watchdog, revealed. And 4 per cent thought the Conservatives were in power, while 2 per cent thought the Liberal Democrats were the government of the day. Two-thirds admitted they had no idea.

Nearly half said they did not think ( Read more... )
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"Comments like this are a form of snobbery, often from people who don't want to acknowledge the great work in the profession," says Keen, "Nursing is one of the hardest jobs out there ? physically, mentally and emotionally ? and nurses are proud of all the work they do. It's an insult to belittle their role in this way."

Like it or not, nursing no longer fits our nostalgic stereotypes. The image of the bustling rosy-cheeked lady with the bedpan has long passed. In its place, a new generation ( Read more... )
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The move follows protests from scientists that there had been no mention of the topic in a previous consultation document published earlier. Some said the topic, to be introduced in science lessons, was necessary to combat growing attempts to bring creationism into the curriculum.

Announcing the move, Schools minister, Vernon Coaker, said: "Lots of teachers came forward and said it should be part of the compulsory programme of study."

Under the proposals, children would start to learn ( Read more... )
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Now, however, the school that educates princes and Tory politicians is about to share some of its campus with the masses. Eton College has gone into partnership with one of the Government's newest flagship academies which means that local state school pupils can use their fantastic facilities.

It will give Langley Academy, near Slough, in Berkshire, which opened officially last week, a unique selling point for a state-funded school with a comprehensive intake and pupils from almost 30 different ( Read more... )
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This is the conclusion of a report published today by the think-tank, the Higher Education Policy Institute, which finds that Oxbridge is unmatched when it comes to the ability of its students and the achievement of its graduates.It clearly produces many of the leaders in society as evidenced by the number of graduates in Who's Who and the number of professors who have been to Oxbridge. We should not be surprised because the universities have a significantly higher income than ( Read more... )
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Less than half (48 per cent) of male, white British 11-year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds reached Level 4, the standard expected of the age group, in these subjects, according to statistics for 2008/09 published by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).

This is compared with a national average 71.8 per cent of all boys and girls that are reaching the expected standard - an attainment gap of 23.8 percentage points.

The attainment ( Read more... )
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