ISC Daily News Summary

The ISC events team is delighted to announce the launch of two conferences in June this year.

 

2009 ISC Annual Conference - Tuesday 2nd June 2009
With over 25 speakers at the conference, delegates will have the chance to hear the Secretary of State for Education, Ed Balls MP; Sir Roger Singleton, author of the Singleton report into safeguarding children; Lord Coe; Lord Puttnam of Queensgate; Andreas Schleicher, author of the PISA international education research, and many others discussing major issues of vital importance to the independent sector. Topics for discussion include international benchmarking, improving alumni relations, public benefit, new ISC research and strategies for managing the impact of the recession. More information and a full agenda can be found here.

 

ISC Partnerships Conference - Wednesday 3rd June 2009
The recent survey of all schools showed that over 35% of ISC members needed more information about the issues surrounding school partnerships. This groundbreaking conference, produced in association with the DCSF, will look at the National Challenge scheme, academies and trusts, teacher training, federations of schools, sharing facilities, and the legal and practical considerations of forging partnerships between the independent and maintained sectors. Speakers at the conference include Schools Minister Jim Knight, Dr Anthony Seldon, Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas, Mike Simpkin from the Office of the Schools Commissioner, Dr Liz Sidwell, CEO of the Haberdashers' Aske's Academies Federation, Pat Langham and solicitor Glynne Stanfield. More information and a full agenda can be found here.

 

Both conferences will be held at the popular Brewery venue in central London. Each event will cost £195 +VAT for ISC member schools, and delegates can save £95.00 by booking both together for £295 +VAT. Book online here.

ISC yesterday launched the first ISCnews newsletter for schools. This will be sent via e-mail each month and will keep schools up to date on ISC issues, services and activities. It will be sent to Heads, but may also be valuable for governors, bursars and other members of school management teams. The first edition includes material on ContactPoint, public benefit, points-based immigration, ISCias and the ISC census. ISCnews can also be viewed in the ISC Member Zone.

Daily Telegraph, Times, Guardian, Daily Mail, Daily Express, BBC News Online

Parents, security experts and opposition parties have voiced alarm that 400,000 people are to be given access to the ContactPoint database, which will contain details of all 11million children living in England. The government announced the first steps to activate ContactPoint yesterday. ISC has prepared practical advice for schools concerning ContactPoint. This will be issued to schools in the 'early adopter' counties in the North West before the end of the week. Other schools will be able to access it via the legal section of the Member Zone of the ISC website.

First stages of ContactPoint activation starts today (DCSF)
Politicians and Celebrities to be protected from child database (Daily Telegraph)
Alarm over security of children's database (Times)
Vast databases 'no longer the answer to social work failures' (Times)
New children's database faces criticism (Guardian)
Them and us child register: Politicians and celebrities can keep their details off a controversial new database (Daily Mail)
New database of children will be a waste of £224m (Daily Express not online)
390,000 to access child database (BBC News Online)

Guardian, Financial Times, BBC News Online

The government is considering under-writing private finance initiative deals to build schools and hospitals to prevent the public sector building plans grinding to a halt.

Government may have to take on risk of PFI deals (Guardian)
Schools building chief urges use of short-term loans (Financial Times)
College re-building to push ahead (BBC News Online)

Daily Telegraph

Giving evidence to the the Children, Schools and Families select committee, Lord Sutherland warned MPs that new tests being lined up to replace Sats risk failing because they are too complex.

New school tests to replace Sats 'too complex', warns Lord Sutherland (Daily Telegraph)

BBC News Online, Guardian, Daily Telegraph

Government advisor Sir Jim Rose has written to Children's Secretary Ed Balls, warning him that initial success in improving the way young children are taught to read through phonics may peter out if teachers' commitment wanes.

Early phonics success 'may wane' (BBC News Online)
Teaching of phonics receives boost (Guardian)
Schools 'still fail pupils on reading' (Daily Telegraph not online)

Daily Telegraph, BBC News Online

An academy school in Halifax is offering a £120,000 salary to attract a new head teacher. BBC News Online reports that more than 100 teachers in south London are on strike in protest at Croydon Council's plan to create three academies.

Head teacher at government academy to be given £120,000 salary (Daily Telegraph)
One-day strike over academy plans (BBC News Online)

Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph reports that almost 350,000 graduates who took out student loans before 1998 are being forced to pay more than double the existing Bank Rate of 1.5%.

Graduates who took student loans before 1998 miss out on interest rate cut (Daily Telegraph)

Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail

Schools in the North East of England are reportedly handing out booklets that advise pupils how best to smoke cannabis and the benefits of the drug.  

Tips on cannabis being handed out in schools (Daily Telegraph)
Schools hand out booklets on how to use cannabis (Daily Mail)

Daily Telegraph, BBC News Online, Daily Mirror

A teenager has been taken out of her school in Wales by her parents after CCTV cameras were installed in the girls' lavatories. The cameras were installed to combat vandalism in the toilet block.

CCTV in girls' lavatories prompt parents to take girl out of school (Daily Telegraph)
Pupil withdrawn over toilets CCTV (BBC News Online)
School head defends toilets CCTV (BBC News Online)
Parent fury at loo CCTV (Daily Mirror)

The real education priority is to improve state schools (Independent letters)
Not the fault of teachers (Independent letters)

Today's Education Guardian supplement includes articles on child literacy, a college facing fraud claims and Welsh schools.

Daily Telegraph

Cambridge University has appointed Anne Jarvis to be its first female librarian in its 650-year history.

Cambridge University appoints first female librarian (Daily Telegraph)