ISC Daily News Summary

Financial Times, Independent, Daily Telegraph

Children's Secretary, Ed Balls, has said he wants to see state schools setting up branches of the Combined Cadet Forces. Mr Balls yesterday said that one way to achieve this could be to work with the independent sector. He also unveiled plans to give teachers extra powers to search pupils for alcohol, drugs and stolen goods.

Cadet plan for state schools (Financial Times)
Balls to give teachers extra powers to search pupils (Independent)
Teachers to get search powers (Daily Telegraph)

Guardian, Independent, Daily Telegraph, Times, Daily Mirror, BBC News Online

A government-backed study by Warwick University has found that white working-class teenagers perform worse than their black and Asian classmates at GCSEs. According to the research, living in poverty, rented homes or deprived neighbourhoods has a worse affect on the exam results of poor white 16-year-olds than it does on other ethnic groups.

Poorest white pupils worst at GCSEs - study (Guardian)
White working-class pupils are lowest achievers (Independent)
White boys 'make least progress' at school (Daily Telegraph)
White boys suffer (Times)
White boys are 'left behind' at senior school (Daily Mirror)
White working class 'left behind' (BBC News Online)

Times

A pledge by Labour to have half of young adults in university by 2010 is destined to fail, with new official figures showing that the proportion has scarcely risen over the past eight years.

Labour's pledge on university numbers in 2010 is 'doomed to fail' (Times)

Daily Telegraph, Independent, Daily Mail, Sun, BBC News Online

The School Food Trust has recommended that children should be banned from leaving school at lunchtime so they cannot buy junk food.

‘Keep pupils in to stop them eating junk food' (Daily Telegraph)
Pupils face 'lock-ins' to stop junk-food lunches (Independent)
Pupils 'should be locked in for lunch' (Daily Mail not online)
Pupils facing chippy ban at lunchtime (Sun not online)
School-gate junk food ban urged (BBC News Online)

Daily Telegraph, BBC News Online

The NASUWT teaching union has said at its annual conference that school governors are too white and middle-class to make a difference to education. Ed Balls has signalled that a planned review of the size of school governing bodies will be wide-ranging.

System of governors 'unfit for purpose' (Daily Telegraph)
School governors to face review (BBC News Online)

Times, Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail

Further coverage of the Byron Review into child safety on the internet, published yesterday.

Children said to me 'we don't have anywhere to go for advice' (Times2)
Parental guidance (Times)
Playing computer games has been only a benefit to me (Times)
Child internet safety plans under fire over game censors (Guardian)
Good old parenting will keep the online bogeymen at bay (Guardian)
Internet angst (Guardian)
Family 'digital divide' putting children at risk (Daily Telegraph)
Violent video games to carry child age ratings (Daily Mail)

Scotsman

Feature in the Scotsman on the increasing number of Scottish pupils learning Mandarin in schools, with reference to St George's School for Girls.

Why young Scots ought to rise to the Chinese challenge (Scotsman)

Economist

The Economist analyses a US pilot reform to President George Bush's education law - the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The Act, which means pupils in failing schools can supposedly transfer to a better one or get tutoring, has previously been criticised for its flaws.

Left behind (Economist)

Teachers' union should focus on educating pupils and leave the military alone (Daily Telegraph letters)
'Education for peace' is an old message for pupils (Daily Mail letters not online)

The ISC Press Office was unable to obtain a copy of today's TES. A round-up of the TES will therefore be included in the Daily News Summary next week. This week's Times Higher Education (THE) includes articles on the gender gap in British universities, second-degrees and a survey of university staff.

BBC News Online

Hundreds of listeners have contacted BBC Radio 4 after newsreader Charlotte Green dissolved into giggles while reading a bulletin on the Today programme. She lost control after playing a clip of the oldest known recording of the human voice.

Radio 4 news hit by giggling fit (BBC News Online)