ISC Daily News Summary

Various newspapers yesterday reported on views expressed by Don Tapscott, author of the bestselling book 'Wikinomics' and a champion of the 'net generation'. Mr Tapscott believes that schoolchildren should no longer be forced to memorise facts and figures because such information is readily available on the internet. Headmaster of Brighton College, Richard Cairns, is quoted in the Times, stating that 'it's important that children learn facts. If you have no store of knowledge in your head to draw from, you cannot easily engage in discussions or make informed decisions.' Reference is made to Wellington College in the Daily Telegraph piece.

Google generation has no need for rote learning (Times)
Learning by heart is 'pointless for Google generation' (Daily Telegraph)
‘Don't teach children facts, they can search online' (Evening Standard)

Figures published by the government's National Assessment Agency (NAA), which co-ordinates Sats, show that 70% of English secondary schools have already ordered Key Stage 3 test papers for next year, even though the exams are no longer compulsory.

Teens to sit Sats at three quarters of schools despite axing of compulsory test (Daily Telegraph)

Comment piece in today's Independent by Shadow Children's Secretary, Michael Gove, in which he discusses the merits of the Swedish education system.

‘We need a Swedish education system' (Independent)

The true scale of the collapse of the college grant system is today revealed in figures which show that more than 100,000 students are still awaiting support payments nearly three months after they were due. The statistics were obtained through a Parliamentary question by the Conservative party.

Three months late, more than 100,000 students wait for grant (Guardian)

An additional Parliamentary question by the Conservative party has revealed that far more students than had been thought are likely to be affected by cuts in university grants in England from next year. Up to 90,000 more students look set to lose out on student grants when they start university next autumn as household income thresholds change.

Many more affected by grants cuts (BBC News Online)
Grant cuts 'to hit up to 130,000 students' (Daily Mail)

Comment piece in Times2 on how TV quiz 'University Challenge' could be perceived to be biased towards Oxbridge colleges, and how the universities can potentially overcome their privileged reputations.

The university challenge that faces Oxbridge (Times)

Further coverage of the fallout surrounding the tragic case of Baby P, with a number of newspapers reporting on a series of articles on child maltreatment, published today in the Lancet medical journal. The studies claim that 10% of children in wealthy countries suffer ill-treatment every year, and teachers, GPs and community health workers often fail to tell social services about suspected child abuse cases for fear of causing more harm than good.

Teachers, GPs failing to report abuse (Guardian)
MPs summon Ofsted head to explain Baby P lapses (Guardian)
New inquiry at council over second abuse case (Independent)

Thousands of schoolchildren in the north west of England swapped lessons for sledging yesterday as the cold snap brought a blanket of snow to parts of Britain. Some bookmakers have consequently trimmed the odds offered for a white Christmas in London to 11-4 from 3-1 following a run of bets.

Snow shuts schools as forecasters warn of worse to come (Guardian)
Hundreds of schools closed as forecasters warn of more snow (Daily Telegraph)
Snow shuts 200 schools in the North West (Times)
Bookies slash the odds on a white Christmas after Arctic winds bring four-inch snowfall (Daily Mail)