This week, we feature Longridge Towers School on the Scottish-English border, which is launching a new BTEC course in a bid to give more children the skills and confidence to move into a career in agriculture.

Since its launch in 1984, the school has had a close relationship with the farming world, but while many current and past pupils, staff and governors retain strong farming ties, fewer young people are now following in their parents or grandparents' shoes. Longridge has an extensive Forest School and outdoor education syllabus, and this term launched BTECs in agriculture and business to bridge the gap between learning and employment.

Commenting on the launch, deputy head Jenell Arnott said: "Agriculture is a big part of the world around us at Longridge, and the BTECs are exciting introductions to our sixth form curriculum that reflect that commitment to providing individualised pathways in a diverse, career-ready education."

David Baird is a local farmer providing students with regular access to his farm. He added: "We need to encourage more people into our industry, and that starts with the next generation. Having a partnership with a school has to be a positive move. We have moved a long way away from the traditional view of a farmer and farming and now have so many different elements to agriculture and lots of job opportunities."

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In a letter to The Telegraph, Dame Elaine Paige expresses her support for Julian Lloyd Webber's call to make music compulsory in schools. "Music deserves to be part of every school curriculum, as education should nurture the whole person, not merely measure academic achievement", she writes, adding that it "teaches discipline, resilience, creativity, collaboration and, perhaps most importantly, a sense of belonging and self-worth". Reflecting on the "fundamental" role of music in her own school experience, Dame Elaine says: "Removing or marginalising music in schools risks denying young people an opportunity that could shape their lives in ways that grades cannot always measure." The letter appears at the bottom of the page.

The Telegraph also carries a news item on the calls by prominent industry for prime minister Andy Burnham to make music compulsory in schools. During the summer, the government promised reform to curricula with the addition of "more diverse genres and performance styles", but the paper notes that the plans did not go far enough in making the subject mandatory in schools. By Eric Williams. 

White working-class children are the most likely to leave school at 16 as so-called NEETs, young people not in education, employment or training, according to analysis of Department for Education (DfE) figures. It shows more than one in five white boys from disadvantaged backgrounds are not entering further education, employment or apprenticeships after finishing secondary school, which is more than double the rate for black working-class boys. The rate for white working-class girls is three times that of their black and Asian counterparts. The data comes as ministers vow to reduce the number of NEETs and ahead of the publication of a review of youth unemployment by Sir Alan Milburn, a former health secretary, next month. By Albert Tait, The Telegraph. 

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