ISC Daily News Summary

The Chancellor of Oxford University, Lord Patten of Barnes, has blamed state secondary schooling for the institution's failure to reach government 'benchmarks' aimed at admitting more pupils from non-fee-paying schools. Speaking at the launch of a campaign to raise £1.25billion for the university, he vowed that Oxford would never 'connive' at lowering entry requirements to admit more working-class students.

Top universities are being made to dumb down, says Patten (Guardian)
Can we have world-class universities as well as social justice in education? (Guardian)
Patten: state schools to blame for Oxford 'bias' (Independent)
An ancient institution and a glimpse of the future (Independent)
It's time for the bold universities to go private (Independent Education)
Oxford won't cut standards to take more state pupils, says chancellor (Times)
Time to take a leaf out of the US book (Times)
Good for Hood - Oxford wants £1.25billion, but it is already halfway there (Times)
Oxford launches campaign to aid poorer students (Daily Telegraph)
University seeks £1.25bn in donations (Financial Times)
US tops the class on endowments (Financial Times)
New fund will help Oxford to break free (Daily Mail)

Statistics compiled by academics at Bristol University suggest that school league tables are almost worthless and do not give parents a true indication of performance. Reference is made to High Master of St Paul's School, Dr Martin Stephen.

Academics say school tables are almost worthless (Daily Telegraph)

The Daily Telegraph has reported today that almost 700 'independent nurseries failed to meet the standards required by Ofsted last year, prompting fears that children could be at risk of injury or neglect.' The article refers to ISC data, which is misleading since the nurseries referred to in this piece are not affiliated to ISC. We will be seeking a correction.

700 nurseries 'inadequate' (Daily Telegraph)

The OCR exam board is investigating suggestions that some teachers gave students hints about what questions would be in an A-level biology exam, after discussions in an online student forum ahead of the exam identified key areas for revision.

Students 'had hints' before exam (BBC News Online)

Dore, a company offering a 'miracle cure' for dyslexia, has closed its UK offices, leaving parents unsure whether their children's treatment will be completed or the cost refunded. The company, which offered an exercise-based treatment for dyslexia, is named after its founder, Wynford Dore.

Dyslexia 'cure' company closes UK offices (Guardian)
Millionaire pulls plug on his dyslexia cure (Times)
Centres offering 'miracle cure' for dyslexia closed (Independent)

A new code of conduct from the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) advises teachers against friendly relationships with pupils using technology such as text messaging and social networking sites.

Teachers warned on online interaction with students (Scotsman)
Conduct code for teachers is sadly just a sign of the times (Scotsman)
‘Some don't read, write or count, yet they can do this...fantastic' (Scotsman)

'Ranking schools according to the number of pupils they send to university just reinforces the prejudice against vocational qualifications in this country.'

Going to university is not always the best path (Times letters)

Today's Independent Education supplement includes articles on school closures in Barrow-in-Furness, an engineering initiative and a new UCL 'branch' in Australia, as well as UCAS Extra listings (not online).

The latest example of 'health and safety gone mad' comes courtesy of Anglia Ruskin University, which has told graduating students that they are not to throw their mortar boards in the air at ceremonies in case the falling headgear hurts somebody.

University bans mortar board celebration (Daily Telegraph)
No hats off to new graduates, says university (Guardian)
Students warned against mortarboard celebration (Times)
Mortar-ly offended (Daily Mail)
Off their heads (Daily Express)
Mortar bores (Sun)
Loonyversity (Daily Mirror)
Graduates asked not to toss hats (BBC News Online)