ISC Daily News Summary

15 May 2009


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Independent sector

Independent schools seeking work experience

Times
Jonathan Cook, general secretary of the Independent Schools Bursars Association (ISBA), has said that schools are trying to encourage alumni who have flourished in their chosen professions to offer work experience.
Independent schools after skills, not money (Times - not online)

General education

Good classmates can improve a child's education, say scientists

Daily Telegraph
Researchers have discovered that the language skills of pupils are influenced by their peers as well as by their parents and their tutors. The more articulate the class, the more articulate the individual pupils.
Getting your child into the right school with the right classmates really does matter, scientists find (Daily Telegraph)

General education

Is history so horrible?

Times2
With the numbers of boys taking history exams falling, plans are being made to make it more exciting.
Is history so horrible? (Times2)

Scottish education

Free school meals for 44,000

Scotsman
Free school lunches are to be extended to pupils whose parents receive both the maximum child tax credit and maximum working tax credit. The Scottish Government said the move would see an additional 44,000 children benefit from August this year.
Free school meals for 44,000 (Scotsman)

Scottish education

Thousands to lose bonuses for staying on at school

Scotsman
More than 10,000 Scottish teenagers are to have cash payments for staying on at school scrapped under new government plans.
Thousands to lose bonuses for staying on at school (Scotsman)

Scottish education

Class divide 'still playing big part in how children do at school'

Scotsman
A new report indicates that the social divide in the Scottish education system remains "as powerful as ever" in determining how well a child performs at school.
Class divide 'still playing big part in how children do at school' (Scotsman)

Faith

Cambridge college to scrap Christian grace

Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Daily Express
Students at a Cambridge University college will no longer say their traditional Christian grace before dinner as it is deemed too religious. It is to be replaced with a secular version to reflect the multi-faith make-up of the college.
Grace is ditched before dinner... it's too religious (Daily Express)
Cambridge college to scrap Christian grace (Daily Telegraph)
Thank God for our dinner? Cambridge students axe traditional grace as it is 'too religious' (Daily Mail)

Sport

MSPs: Children being failed by lack of PE

Scotsman
Children in Scotland are receiving too little physical education because of a "lamentable" failure by authorities, the Scottish Parliament's health committee has said. A target set in 2004 for all youngsters to receive two hours of PE a week has been missed.
MSPs: Children being failed by lack of PE (Scotsman)

Health

Swine flu scare sees Scottish teachers cancel conference

Scotsman
The NASUWT conference has been cancelled after one of the delegates revealed his wife had suspected swine flu. The conference was called off as a precaution to prevent potential spread to pupils. However, it later emerged that the delegate did not have the virus.
Swine flu scare sees Scottish teachers cancel conference (Scotsman)

Education supplements

A selection of articles from the THE

Here is a selection of articles from the THE:
External examiners 'not taken seriously' says QAA (THE)
Criticism of marking system "kept hidden" (THE)
Quality concerns take centre stage as staff quit over dramatic changes (THE)
Lifelong learning 'on verge of extinction' across the UK (THE)
Professor defends modern students (THE)

Education supplements

A selection of articles from the TES

Here is a selection of articles from the TES:
Tories will boost heads' powers to observe lessons (TES)
'Ofsted inspections are means of state control' (TES)
Nearly a third of teaching assistants verbally abused, says union (TES)
Exam boards say league tables drag down standards (TES)
Plea to keep PE off the sidelines (TES)
Schools urged to sign charter to help asylum-seekers settle in (TES)

That Friday feeling

Meet the lawnmower on legs

Daily Mail
On farms and in fields and gardens across the countryside, wallabies are increasingly taking the place of sheep, pigs and horses as low-maintenance lawnmowers.
Meet the lawnmower on legs: Why wallabies are taking over England's gardens in leaps and bounds (Daily Mail)

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