ISC Daily News Summary

A number of newspapers report on Labour’s pledge to introduce a cash incentive to schools to take on pupils from poor homes. The move, announced by Schools Secretary Ed Balls, means that all the main three political parties are now committed to giving schools a “pupil premium” for taking in pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. According to the Independent the policy, first espoused by the Liberal Democrats and also part of the Conservatives’ education manifesto, stems from fears that top performing schools are using covert selection to ensure an intake of middle class students. Even though a compulsory schools admission code should have outlawed obvious cases of hidden selection, such as through parental interviews, teachers’ leaders are adamant loopholes still exist. The “pupil premium” is designed as an incentive to schools to ensure disadvantaged youngsters get a fair deal in the admissions stakes.
Balls commits Labour to ‘pupil premium’ policy (Independent)

A study has found that most UK schools are probably breaking the law by failing to alert students to the cameras monitoring them in playgrounds and classrooms, the Guardian reveals today. Pupils in schools are as frequently monitored by CCTV cameras as inmates in prisons and customers at airports, the report by Salford University says. Most secondary schools have at least 20 cameras. Schools have installed cameras to improve teaching, as well as detect vandalism, intruders and bad behaviour. Researcher Emmeline Taylor examined surveillance practices in 24 comprehensives in north-west England and analysed the law governing CCTV use in schools as part of her PhD thesis. Under the Data Protection Act, schools are required to tell pupils where cameras have been installed and for what purpose the images and sounds captured on them are being used. But Taylor found schools were not aware of this requirement and did not make it clear to pupils where cameras were located.
Schools 'break law' to spy on pupils (Guardian)

The Scotsman reports that the Ministry of Defence spent more than £170 million helping service personnel pay for private education of their children last year. Junior defence minister Kevan Jones said the MoD provided £172,844,735 of funding on the Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) in 2008-9, up from £162,189,373 in 2007-8. The CEA is paid to members of the armed forces to fund the education of their children in independent schools.
MoD private education bill tops £170 million (Scotsman)

An interview with Rachel Wolf, founder of the New Schools Network (NSN), appears in today’s Guardian Education supplement. The NSN was established to provide advice on business plans, planning applications, publicity and everything else needed to set up a school. It is also doing research on "free schools" elsewhere, particularly in America and Sweden, to establish which ones succeed and why.
Free radical (Guardian)

Secondary school pupils could undergo regular fitness tests with the results sent to their parents under proposals set out by England’s top doctor, it is reported today. Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer, said that monitoring children’s fitness levels would dramatically improve the health of the nation and could cut deaths from heart disease, cancer and other major killers. Patients already receive a yearly letter from schools telling them how much their child weighs and if they are overweight. Sir Liam wants to expand the scheme to also give parents a picture of their child’s fitness, which he said was often not accurately represented by measuring their weight.
Schools fitness tests to fight killer diseases (Telegraph)

The BBC reports that concerns about the quality of food given to thousands of toddlers in England's nurseries have been raised in a Government-commissioned report. The School Food Trust report suggests food served by childminders and nurseries is too high in fat, sugar and salt, and lacks essential nutrients. It also warns toddlers could be eating adult portions and additives usually banned from young children's foods.
Warning over 'low-quality' nursery food (BBC Online)

A letter-writer in the Independent suggests that one of the reasons for the emergence of so-called “factory schools” is their ever-increasing size. Meanwhile, the Guardian receives responses to the news that senior university staff have enjoyed large pay rises as the higher education sector prepares for hundreds of millions of pounds worth of cuts.   
Letters: Learning in giant ‘factory schools’ (Independent)
Letters: Election warm-up (Guardian)

India is to lift the ban on international universities opening new campuses on Indian soil to give more students the chance of studying for a degree without moving abroad, the Telegraph reports. The move could benefit British universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, which have established links in India and a growing number of research collaborations. The decision, which must be approved by India's parliament, is aimed at relieving the pressure on India's overstretched higher education system where applications for limited places push entry requirements to unattainable levels for millions of students.
India to allow foreign universities to open new campuses (Telegraph)

A feature appears in the Daily Mail today looking at the various science projects being undertaken by pupils around the country, as schools take part in National Science and Engineering Week.
Science gets a vital spark (Daily Mail – not online)

Grumpy, uncommunicative, easily distracted – these teenage traits are nothing new. But researchers now believe they may be due to sleep deprivation. Schoolchildren are being given lessons in how to sleep in an effort to improve their moods and performance in class. The sessions, run by the charity Sleep Scotland, aim to teach pupils tips such as the importance of a bed-time routine and avoiding late-night television. Teenagers should be sleeping for more than nine hours a night. But researchers found that after going to bed at 11pm or later, many then stay awake for hours longer playing computer games, watching television or surfing the internet, leaving them exhausted in the morning.
Pupils are given sleep lessons to make sure they stay awake in the classroom (Scotsman)