ISC Daily News Summary

3 July 2009


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Independent sector

Non-funded sector must give councils data on five-year-olds from this month

Times Educational Supplement
Councils will get powers to require independent schools to pass on data about five-year-olds’ academic and social achievements. The regulations will bring into line the estimated 225 independent settings that do not receive state funding with other early-years providers. While non-funded schools have to carry out the assessment on five-year-olds, known as the early years foundation stage profile, they have not previously had to pass on the results. ISC opposes the move, asking why the 95 per cent of data already available is not sufficient for effective analysis.
Non-funded sector must give councils data on five-year-olds from this month (TES)

Graduates

Graduates face tough job hunt

Most national newspapers
According to the Association of Graduate Recruiters, this year’s graduates are facing the toughest recruitment conditions in almost twenty years. Whilst they hope that an improvement will be seen by 2010, the problems could carry over for another twelve months. However, they claim that it is a myth that students who graduate this year will suffer permanent career damage because they cannot find work.
Graduates face tough job hunt (Financial Times)
Jobs for graduates vanish as the recession bites (Daily Telegraph)
Extra 22,000 graduates set to join unemployed (Guardian)
16,000 graduates still jobless after 6 months (Times)
Jobs misery looming for graduates (Daily Mirror)
Life on dole for students (Daily Express)
Graduates taking pub jobs to beat recession (Daily Mail)
More school-leavers out of work (Scotsman – not online)

General education

Tories to raise the bar for teachers

Daily Telegraph, Times, Daily Mail, Sun
Shadow Schools Minister, Michael Gove, has said that a Conservative government would make it harder for people to train as school teachers in England.  The minimum entry qualifications for primary teachers would rise from grade C GCSE in English and maths to grade B.  A degree at 2:2 level or above would become the minimum for all teachers, including those in secondary schools, with Thirds no longer acceptable. They would also allow only one resit of basic literacy and numeracy tests.
Tories to 'raise the bar' for teachers (Daily Telegraph)
Tories to raise the bar for teachers (Daily Mail)
Gove’s ban on thirds (Times – not online)
Teacher tests call (Sun – not online)

Child welfare

A sorry idea

Daily Mail
‘Trendy’ approaches to tackling bullying are not working in many schools, a Cambridge University researcher has warned. More than 600 schools use the ‘restorative justice’ approach which allows bullies to face their victims and apologise, rather than receive a punishment. Schools highlight a reduction in suspensions and expulsions as proof that it works, however it has now been claimed that the success of this method is exaggerated.  It is unlikely to work unless pupils are encouraged to adopt strong values and an anti-bullying culture, the researcher said.
A sorry idea (Daily Mail)

Child welfare

Teachers alerted to forced marriage risk

Times
Teachers have been issued with guidelines that aim to identify girls who could be forced to marry while abroad in the summer holidays. Chris Bryant, the Foreign Office Minister, said that every school should be looking at the issue as he acknowledged some may have been “uncertain” about cultural sensitivities.
Teachers alerted to forced marriage risk (Times)

General education

'If ministers won't learn, neither will children'

Times
The Times features a comment piece on the new education white paper, claiming that the need to impart basic knowledge has become obscured by ‘jargon’ and ‘well-meaning guff’.
If ministers won't learn, neither will children (Times)

Higher education

Income gap in university admissions narrows slightly

Scotsman
Students from rich backgrounds are still twice as likely to go university than those from the poorest homes. According to figures published by DBIS, only 2.9 per cent more young people from poor backgrounds are going to university than five years ago, however there has been some improvement in closing the gap – it has shrunk by 7 per cent since 2002-3 and 3.3 per cent since 2005-6.
Income gap in university admissions narrows slightly (Scotsman)

Other

Schools in court row over new buildings

Daily Telegraph
Neighbouring state schools have clashed in court in a legal battle over new buildings. The two comprehensives, a girls’ school and a boys’ school, met to dispute a large-scale redevelopment after the boys’ school received funding to expand their building. Lawyers accused the girls’ school of delaying tactics in a bid to see the boys’ project scrapped. Judges have reserved their decision.
Schools in court row over new buildings (Daily Telegraph)

Other

Pupils told to leave before end of exam

Daily Telegraph, Sun
A group of GCSE pupils missed part of a maths exam after being mistakenly told by invigilators to leave after completing one of two papers.
Pupils told to leave before end of exam (Daily Telegraph)
Half-wits at exam (Sun – not online)

Education supplements

A selection of articles from THE

Education supplements

A selection of articles from TES

That Friday feeling

Pigeons prove to be culture vultures

Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph
Scientists claim they can explain why pigeons flock to Trafalgar Square - they’re there to visit the National Gallery. Pigeons, it seems, can discriminate between art techniques, and can even judge their quality.  According to scientists, racing pigeons can be trained to study the colour, texture and pattern of paintings and evaluate them like an art critic.
Some good news for Peckasso: pigeons can become art critics (Daily Mail)
Pigeons prove to be culture vultures (Daily Telegraph)

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