ISC Daily News Summary

Large feature in the Sunday Times news review section on why journalist Christina Lamb has chosen to send her son to an independent school.

I've joined the exodus from state school mediocrity (Sunday Times)
Real failings of the great state-school experiment (Sunday Times letters)
Atrocious lessons and daily bullying...why I won't send my children to a state school (Daily Mail)

A number of newspapers reported this weekend that grammar and state schools are seeing a 'surge in applications' as a result of the recession. Reference is made in many articles to the recent HMC survey of schools, published last week, which indicated that more parents are trying to get children into independent schools despite fears over the recession.

Councils hit by rise in school applications (Daily Telegraph)
Surge in school applications puts pressure on school places (Sunday Telegraph)
Grammar schools see rush of applicants (Financial Times)
Demand for grammar school places surges (Financial Times)
State primaries short of places as parents shun private education (Evening Standard)

A study by the exam board Cambridge Assessment suggests that forcing summer-born children to start school at four instead of five could cause them long-term problems. The findings are in contrast to those of a government-backed review, which last year recommended that children start school at four instead of five because of concerns that summer-born babies get fewer terms of schooling and their achievement suffers permanently as a result.

Summer-born children 'more likely to struggle at school' (Daily Telegraph)
Don't send children to school at four, warn experts (Guardian)

The regulator of qualifications, exams and tests in England, Ofqual, has admitted that it is unsure about how to prevent A-level and GCSE exams becoming easier. The admission was revealed in the minutes of a board meeting of the government's Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), seen by the Observer. The Financial Times reports on views expressed by Schools Minister Sarah McCarthy-Fry, who believes that the new diploma should 'be the qualification of choice' for school-leavers.

New fears over dumbing down of key exams (Observer)
Exam standards body unsure how to prevent dumbing-down (Daily Telegraph)
10 A-levels? Easy (Sunday Times)
Diplomas better than GCSEs, says minister (Financial Times)

Schools labelled as failing and threatened with closure by the government last year have been told they will receive as little as £5,000 to help them improve, according to figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats.

Cash plan to rescue schools 'is a sham' (Guardian)
Headteacher paid £60,000 to run school that doesn't exist in town with no pupils after planning delay disaster (Daily Mail)

Figures published today by UCAS show almost an 8% increase in applications for full-time study at university, with a significant increase in the number of older applicants. The recession and rising unemployment have been blamed for the surge.

Universities warn of stiff competition as recession prompts big rise in applications (Guardian)
University applications rise by 8% as recession bites (Times)
Students in hardest fight for university (Sunday Times)
Number applying to university rises sharply (Daily Telegraph not online)
Graduates will go where the money is (Financial Times letters)

The Director of the National Theatre, Nicholas Hytner, has criticised the next generation of actors, who he says are being taught theatre theory above drama skills. He believes that universities and drama schools are under pressure to reduce the practical content of courses and increase the academic content in order to qualify for government higher education funding.

National Theatre boss attacks the drama schools producing theorists who can't act (Times)

Feature on the return of student activism in today's Times2 supplement.

Angry young things (Times2)

Figures published by the University of Cambridge show that black applicants are less likely to get into the institution than white candidates. 14% of applicants from black and dual heritage backgrounds were admitted in 2008, compared with 31% of white applicants.

Black students 'struggling to get into Cambridge' (Daily Telegraph)
Cambridge University is twice as likely to accept white applicants than black ones (Daily Mail)

The Independent reports on a pioneering initiative in Brighton, under which foreign students studying in the UK are hired to teach languages in secondary schools. The scheme is having a dramatic effect in reviving language lessons in the area.

Foreign recruits boost language learning (Independent)

Various features and articles over the weekend on Christianity in schools.

Losing our religion (Sunday Telegraph)
Bishops back Christian in school religion row (Sunday Telegraph)
Hounded out (Daily Express not online)

Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that more than 300 children have been excluded from schools in England after taking blades, including machetes, into lessons.

Pupils as young as six excluded for taking knives into school (Independent)

Saturday's Daily Telegraph magazine included a feature on schools in inner-city Paris, which have inspired the award-winning film, 'The Class'.

Bonjour, Monsieur Frites (Daily Telegraph magazine)

Cheese closes school (Times letters)
Reading tree 'magic' (Times letters)
Should our son change schools? (Times2 not online)
Answer the question (Sunday Times)
Brave teenager who challenged creationist teacher (Independent letters)
Teaching qualifications (Independent on Sunday letters)
The case against choice in education (Sunday Telegraph letters)

Research by the human evolutionary ecology group at University College London suggests that wealthy parents are making their first-born the focus of family ambition, giving them a disproportionate share of time, care and attention. Younger siblings, by contrast, are apparently being held back in their lives by a relative lack of attention.

Rich lavish most love on first child (Times)
Middle-class parents give firstborn more than their fair share of care (Daily Telegraph not online)