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
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'
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
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