New research sponsored by BT Coaching for Life, has found football to be the most sociable sport, with 59% of children who play football regularly having 17 friends or more. Three quarters of those parents described their kids as active and sporty.

Coaching for Life programme is aimed at 6 to 11 year olds, and encourages parents and carers to help children try different sports. The programme also includes 12 flexible games available as a downloadable application.

Schools across the country are being encouraged to put pen to paper as part of National Doodle Day. The event, on Friday 2 March, raises money for UK charity Epilepsy Action. Pupils and teachers will join celebrity scribblers including Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park, David Cameron, Miranda Hart, Joanna Lumley and Rolf Harris by taking part in the event.

By Mike McCann, PE Teacher at Douglas Ewart School

A survey conducted by Fit for Girls, an initiative aimed at raising physical participation among girls aged 11 to 16 years, has revealed that over half of the girls questioned had not participated in the government recommended one hour of physical activity each day. Many had not even taken part in an extra-curricular activity or sport in the preceding week.

In 2009 research carried out by Stabilo revealed that modern technology and poor teaching skills mean millions of children are no longer able to write properly.

Half of teachers said they do not spend enough time on handwriting in school, with 20 per cent saying they do not actually think it is important.

Almost 28 per cent even admitted that they do not feel confident teaching children how to handwrite properly.

Education Today talks exclusively to Joe Lyons, Education, Employment, Enterprise and Skills Manager at the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation.

Tell me about the Spurs Learning Zone?

“The Spurs Learning Zone is a state-of-the-art classroom facility situated within the iconic venue of White Hart Lane, offering young people a fun, dynamic and unique environment in which to learn. It is an ICT suite fully equipped with an interactive whiteboard and 32 workstations to accommodate most class sizes.

9,000 fewer vulnerable children will receive one-to-one support to help them learn to read and write this year, a drop of 43% on last year, according to figures published by Labour last month. The news comes despite the fact that an analysis of the scheme by the Department of Education showed that the ‘Every Child a Reader’ programme, which includes ‘Reading Recovery’ support, has made a significant difference to the ability of children to read and write.

Students in the UK and around the world this year put their chemistry skills to the test in a new competition supported by the University of Cambridge Department of Chemistry, The Rushton Bequest from St Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge International Examinations and OCR (Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations).

Jonathan Wall, assistant greenkeeper at the Royal Hong Kong Golf Club, was presented with the 2011 Ransomes Jacobsen-sponsored best student award at Myerscough College’s recent graduation ceremony.

Jonathan graduated with a BSc (Hons) degree in Turfgrass Science and was presented with the Ransomes Jacobsen Cup in recognition of his commitment and contribution to the study programme.

Now you can give your catering staff the training they need to provide safe, nutritious meals without blowing the school budget. Online food safety courses from award-winning training company, VWA, start at just £25 + VAT, including City & Guilds certificate. Plus, each course consists of a series of easy-to-follow modules so staff can learn in their own time and at their own pace.

To celebrate the early success of Zing, the lightly sparkling ‘stealth health’ drink designed by teens for teens, Aimia Foods is giving pupils at the 500+ secondary schools that stock the drink the chance to win a BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet PC – 16GB worth £400.

To be entered into the weekly draws between 30 January and 30 April 2012 pupils will simply visit  and enter the last six digits of a Zing can barcode.

Econsultancy has announced the recipient of its new Excellence in Digital Marketing award, named in memory of one of the UK’s foremost digital marketing trainers, speakers and practitioners, David Hughes.

Jenny Thaw, who graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University in July with a BA in Retail Marketing Management, was awarded the newly launched prize after gaining top marks in the dissertation element of her degree.

Clockaudio, the leading microphone and microphone systems solutions manufacturer, is launching the CW-200 dual channel wireless conferencing system at ISE. The company is showing the new system along with its current market winning range of microphone and microphone management solutions, for conferencing and AV, at the forthcoming exhibition.

Teaching children good hand-hygiene skills has always been important, but with an emphasis on minimising the spread of infections it has never been so crucial.

TEAL, a specialist manufacturer of portable handwash units, has developed the Kiddiwash range to encourage pre-school and school children into life-saving hand-hygiene habits both in and outside the classroom.

SCA has introduced a new antimicrobial foam hand cleaner and two eco-labelled foam soaps. Containing 40% ethanol which destroys bacteria, viruses and fungi, Tork Antimicrobial Foam Cleanser is kind to the hands and incorporates lower concentrations of alcohol than other sanitisers on the market.

Global education technology company, Promethean, today unveils ActivTable for public preview at BETT 2012. The new technology shakes up the classroom environment by providing a dynamic and interactive learning experience.  ActivTable inspires users to take an active role in their own learning and that of their friends by driving student engagement, participation and creativity.