ISC Daily News Summary

The Financial Times reports on the latest edition of the Good Schools Guide, which includes over 250 maintained schools for the first time. Secretary of HMC, Geoff Lucas, is quoted. Reference is made to Wimbledon High School in an accompanying article.

State entries rise up Good Schools list (Financial Times)
Stellar results in private stronghold (Financial Times)

Headmistress of Wakefield Girls' High School, Pat Langham, is quoted in a Sunday Express article on parents who are moving houses in order to live in their local grammar school's catchment area.

Parents stake homes in chase for good education (Sunday Express)
Grammar schools: the £70,000 good-news letter (Daily Telegraph)

In a Sunday Times interview, Schools Minister Jim Knight discusses how he wants more links between independent and state schools. He claims that pupils from independent schools could be at a disadvantage in later life if they do not learn how to mix with people from less privileged backgrounds. Reference is made to Eltham College and Epsom College. Mr Knight also announced that he wants to import the teachings of the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius into English classrooms in the hope that they might boost exam results.

Minister turns to Confucius to raise school standards (Sunday Times)
Confucius sayings to be taught in schools (Daily Telegraph)

Principal of The Cheltenham Ladies' College, Vicky Tuck, discusses how to teach pupils about relationships in her online Daily Telegraph column.

Vicky Tuck: The pursuit of love (Daily Telegraph online only)

The Guardian reports that Harrow School's astonishing butterfly collection - donated by former pupil Charles Rothschild - is to be auctioned off. The estimate for the sale is £60,000 to £80,000.

Harrow school to auction off unhappy pupil's astonishing butterfly collection (Guardian)

Our testing obsession has produced poor results (Guardian letters)
End the private school arms race (Sunday Telegraph letters)
Not all of us are winners (Sunday Times letters)
Answer the question with Chris Woodhead (Sunday Times)
City better off without greedy grads (Financial Times letters)
Apprenticeships set a gold standard (Times letters)

In an interview with the Financial Times, the University of Cambridge's Director of Admissions, Geoff Parks, discusses how he does not believe 'enough people are attracted to the teaching profession who would be really good teachers.'

Cambridge attacks poor-quality teachers (Financial Times)

Britain's former polytechnics, which were elevated to the status of 'new universities' in 1992, will revert to their original role and provide vocational degrees under proposed reforms being drawn up by Universities Secretary John Denham. Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that government officials were monitoring 13 universities and colleges deemed 'at risk of failure' as recently as 2004.

New universities to revert to old polytechnic role (Sunday Times)
Road to nowhere (Sunday Times)
New universities could revert to polytechnic format (Daily Telegraph)
Documents reveal risk of failure at universities (Guardian)

Lord May of Oxford, president-elect of the British Science Association, has warned that schools are failing to teach children the knowledge and skills necessary to ensure the country has a new generation of leading scientists.

Science lessons are failing to produce next generation of top British scientists (Sunday Telegraph)

New figures from Ofsted show that parents made almost 1,400 official complaints about teaching, standards and leadership in England's state schools in 2008. However, only 25 of these complaints led to an inquiry, as the vast majority were judged not to qualify under the organisation's criteria.

Hundreds of complaints from parents about schools - but less than 2% investigated (Sunday Telegraph)

Interview in Saturday's Independent with a head teacher who looks after three state schools.

Meet Tarun Kapur, the headmaster of Parrs Wood... Ashton-on-Mersey... and Broadoak schools (Independent)

The government has announced that more than 20,000 apprenticeships will be created in hospitals, schools and town halls across the country over the next couple of years. Ministers also pledged that all construction firms involved in the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme would be required to take on apprentices.

2,000 apprentices to be taken on across public services (Times)
Winners of schools contracts made to offer apprenticeships (Financial Times)
Ministers pledge 20,000 apprentices (Daily Telegraph not online)
School-building firms to be made to hire apprentices (Sunday Mirror)
Apprentices part of schools plan (BBC News Online)
Apprentices target 'to be missed' (BBC News Online)

A number of newspapers report on a website called GradeGuru.com, through which students are able to earn money by making their notes and essays available to others free of charge.

Students earn hundreds of pounds through internet note-sharing (Daily Telegraph)
Oxford students make hundreds of pounds selling work on the internet 'for others to copy' (Daily Mail)
High degree of cheating (Daily Mirror)

A teacher at a school which caters for pupils with special educational needs has translated Bible stories into cockney rhyming slang to get his pupils more interested in the stories. They are now being used in drama workshops at schools across the country.

Bible stories translated into cockney rhyming slang (Daily Telegraph)
Can you Adam 'n' Eve it? Shock as Bible stories are translated into Cockey rhyming slang (Daily Mail)
Pupils will never learn unless we make it fun (Times)

Parents should avoid telling their children what is 'right and wrong' when discussing sex education, according to a new government leaflet. The leaflet - 'Talking to Your Teenager About Sex and Relationships' - will be distributed in pharmacies from next month as part of an initiative led by Children's Minister Beverley Hughes.

Parents told: avoid morality in sex lessons (Sunday Times)
Sex education lessons don't work (Sunday Times)
Parents advised to stay away from 'right or wrong' in sex advice (Sunday Telegraph)
Sex aid: how the government is trying to ease facts-of-life fumbling (Guardian)
Parents should NOT tell their children what is 'right or wrong' about having sex, say ministers (Daily Mail)
TV soap guide to teen sex (Daily Mirror)

In a pilot scheme to be launched tomorrow, schoolchildren in both primary and secondary schools will take part in 'Strictly Come Dancing'-style sessions in school hours in a bid to combat childhood obesity.

Strictly Come Dancing comes ... to school (Independent)

The Guardian reports that civil servants have been asked to make sure the government is targeting its parenting initiatives at fathers as well as mothers, amid concerns that schools, hospitals and other services are preventing fathers from taking a more active role in their children's lives. The Daily Mirror reports that parents could be reported for child neglect if their children do not go to school with dinner money or a packed lunch.

Family policies 'dad-proofed' to give fathers bigger role - but no extra paternity leave (Guardian)
Parents facing neglect probe if kids forget their dinner money (Daily Mirror)

It's the grand final of 'University Challenge' this evening, and Latin scholar Gail Trimble is poised to lead Corpus Christi College, Oxford to victory. She is already being hailed as the greatest competitor in the show's history, having scored more points than her three team-mates combined and left a string of embarrassed contestants quivering in her wake. The final - between Corpus Christi and Manchester University - will be shown on BBC2 tonight at 8pm.

'Greatest ever' University Challenge captain poised to lead team to victory (Daily Telegraph)
In praise of Gail Trimble -- classicist (Times)
Philip Hensher: An ambitious author and a banned book (Independent)
Is this girl the brainiest contestant in the history of University Challenge? (Daily Mail)
It's tough being smart (Daily Mail)
Is this Britain's brainiest woman? (Daily Express not online)
Universally challenged (Sun)