Dizzy Thinks (Free subscription) | 20/11/2009
Ed Balls MP, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, is a man very proud of children's achievements in schools. He also, as the man who would be Chancellor likes to think of himself as a bit of an economics/maths whizz kid. This makes the following from Parliament from Balls quite funny, because, whilst discussing GCSE questions he said the following, The third question comes from...
Labour Matters (Free subscription) | 20/11/2009
At the Council meeting in September the Liberal Democrats and Tories who run Brent Council rejected a Labour motion to pursue the compulsory purchase of land adjoining the new Crest Academies (formerly John Kelly schools) to ensure outdoor sports facilities. They rejected the motion on the basis that further delay would jeopardise government funding. The Council's failure to pursue the purchase of...
Nipper News (Free subscription) | 20/11/2009
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8369172.stm Primary school children in England will have to learn about evolution and British history under a shake-up of the national curriculum. Schools Minister Vernon Coaker says the subjects will be compulsory elements of a new primary school curriculum being introduced in 2011. Scientists and humanists had lobbied ministers for the inclusion of evolution in...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
Our new primary school curriculum trusts teachers' professional judgment, as we move towards a consensus on education Over the past six months of being schools minister, I've had the pleasure of getting back into schools, meeting teachers, pupils and others on the front line in education. It's a different world from when I started out as a history teacher in 1976 – a definite change for the...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 19/11/2009
Primary pupils in England will have to study evolution, British history and sex education, under a new curriculum for 5-11 year olds announced today. Ministers said they had moved to solidify the place of British history in the primary syllabus after claims that the new system, which replaces 13 individual subject areas with six "areas of learning", would water down traditional subjects....
My World Earth (Free subscription) | 18/11/2009
Sham: Jelili Adesanya and his 'wife' Karimotu Adenike pictured in Britain Big day: The happy 'couple' in their bogus wedding photo A Nigerian Home Office worker 'married' his own daughter to get her a British visa, the Daily Mail can reveal. The extraordinary scam was apparently executed by Jelili Adesanya while ministers turned a blind eye. Mr Adesanya, 54, has lived here for more than 30 years and...
Department for Children, Schools and Families (Free subscription) | 12/11/2009
You’re starting out on your school leadership careers at a time of unprecedented change. And we certainly think about schools very differently today from when I was a teacher. But similarities do remain – and many of the longest held, and best, traditions of this country’s education system, are still very much a feature of our schools. Not least of which is the universal respect,...
Lobbydog (Free subscription) | 11/11/2009
Alan Johnson will finally announce the Government’s proposals for keeping details of innocent people on the DNA database today in a written statement. Given the contentious nature of the database you’d think they’d give people a chance to debate it in the House. But on this issue they’ve not been shy about squeezing things through on the quiet where possible. As expected Johnson...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 05/11/2009
Trust urged to improve standards at existing 17 schools and two due to open in 2010 The government has banned the largest sponsor of academies from taking on new schools until it dramatically improve the ones it already runs, the Guardian has learned. The United Learning Trust (ULT) was called into the office of the schools secretary, Ed Balls, last week and told it could not sponsor any more schools...
Les Bonner (Free subscription) | 05/11/2009
Schools Minister Vernon Coaker has welcomed a substantial increase in the number of pupils gaining at least five GCSE passes including English and Maths. The pass rate in North East Lincolnshire has improved by almost 6% to 45.4%, and 69.9% achieved at least five passes at grade A* - C, an increase of 11.3% over last [...]
Department for Children, Schools and Families (Free subscription) | 03/11/2009
When we talk about funding formulas, we shouldn’t really be talking about winners and losers. We should be talking about what’s fair – about which children stand to benefit the most from that increased investment we’ve seen over the years. And behind all the complexity of formulas, funding mechanisms and finances – I think that’s what really matters today.
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 02/11/2009
Teaching unions ballot members to gauge level of support for a boycott aimed at forcing government to drop the tests for 11-year-olds More than 100,000 teachers in England were today asked to support a boycott of Sats this summer, in a bid to force the government to drop the tests for 11-year-olds. The National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) – whose...
Lobbydog (Free subscription) | 29/10/2009
I know this looks like a longy. But read on, it’s interesting. There was a story in the Daily Mail today to which there are a few hidden details which merit an airing. I actually thought the tale deserved a better show – it appeared at the bottom of page 19 under the headline DNA of innocents will be kept for six years . A bit of background – the Government has a huge DNA database...
Jon Slattery (Free subscription) | 29/10/2009
The Newspaper Society has warned that a national online jobs website for schools launched by the government last week could divert millions of pounds in advertising revenue away from the local media. Schools Minister Vernon Coaker announced last week that the Schools Recruitment Service portal would save up to £30 million annually if all schools in England signed up. The Schools Department said...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 20/10/2009
More children are missing lessons despite tough line from schools Truancy rates are rising with more than 240,000 children in England skipping at least one day of school each week, government figures reveal today. The government calculates absence and truancy rates by the number of half-days of school missed. In the autumn term of 2008 and the spring term of this year, pupils in state primary and...
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