Twelve students from The Bulwell Academy have been sharing their thoughts on the most important issues facing them in education and skills as part of a national Youth Commission project.

The Bucks Economic & Learning Partnership (BELP) is pioneering the UK’s first Young Leaders’ Council; a scheme which helps to support and nurture the brightest young business minds in Buckinghamshire.

A poll of primary school teachers released last month, shows more than one in two teachers believe children are starting school having never been read a story at home. The research, carried out by Oxford University Press, also reveals a staggering 72% of teachers think primary school children today are less able to tell stories than they were 10 years ago. These are concerning findings given that reading and storytelling play a huge part in developing and improving children’s writing skills. 

Harrison Catering Services has introduced an innovative new programme offering parents the opportunity to buy freshly baked bread to help school fundraisers. The initiative is going ahead after a successful trial at Kingswood School in Lambeth.

John Stone, Chief Executive of LSN, the experts in learning and skills provision, commented: “I welcome David Willetts’ suggestion that Further Education (FE) colleges should offer degree courses, awarded externally by universities. Indeed many FE colleges across the country are already successfully offering externally-awarded degrees.

The UK’s economic recession has forged a new generation of home-grown entrepreneurs, with more than a third of respondents in the Education sector describing themselves as ‘self-employed’, and among the rest, half expressing a desire to work more independently, according to the latest survey from global workforce solutions leader Kelly Services.

Kneesall C of E Primary School in Newark, Nottinghamshire is set to protect its pupils from the dangers of UV radiation thanks to a Keep It Kool school development grant introduced to help champion the fight against childhood exposure to UV.

The grant, worth £4,000 is top prize in a competition Keep It Kool runs in its monthly e-newsletter and is to spend on improving the school’s external facilities.  Kneesall Primary School was randomly selected from over 700 entries.

With over 600 properties in its portfolio, Lighthouse Property Services is to be the first lettings firm in the UK to offer its student tenants an innovative wireless broadband service that can be used both at home, and throughout the university city of Lincoln - for free.

Chosen technology partner AB internet had earlier formed a ground-breaking partnership with the Lincoln Municipal community and the University as a pilot for similar rollouts across the UK, providing users with wireless broadband connectivity on their ‘phones and laptops, without the low speed, high cost and coverage restrictions normally associated with other technologies, such as 3G mobile internet.

Schools are being encouraged to exhibit the benefits of outdoor learning by turning their playgrounds into art galleries for National School Grounds Week (7^th – 11^th June).

Organisers of the annual event have come up with a range of ways for schools and early years settings to use art to put creative approaches to learning on public display.

Learning through Landscapes (LTL) is offering schools and early years settings practical ideas on ways to harness outdoor art as a vehicle for learning across the curriculum. These activities, ranging from creating full scale models of dinosaurs to recreating doubles of all the school’s children in the form of life size portraits, will enable schools to participate in LTL’s great exhibition mission.

A secondary school teacher is urging others to follow her lead and play their part in developing new donors and "good citizens" for the future by using the award-winning "Give and Let Live" educational resource.

Jeanette Reaney, a teacher of Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE), has based lessons on the Give and Let Live Pack and website since it was first launched in 2007 and is calling for other schools to do the same to help support NHS Blood and Transplant's (NHSBT) aim of encouraging future generations of blood, organ, tissue and bone marrow donors.

Out of the UK secondary schools ranked inadequate by Ofsted in 2007/8, 89% of those re-inspected a year later had moved to either satisfactory or good status, according to new research from the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA).

The findings were launched at a TDA seminar “Challenging schools: the fact and fiction,” which saw education leaders debate the common misconceptions about challenging schools, and how to attract high quality teachers to work in them. 

The University and College Union (UCU) today (Wednesday) welcomed announcements in the budget of extra student places in universities and colleges. However, it said high quality education could not be delivered with fewer staff and bigger class sizes.

The union welcomed news of 20,000 additional university places, largely in STEM subjects, but questioned who would be teaching the extra students. The union said £270m additional funding looked like good news, but wouldn’t be able to repair the damage that will be done by the £900m cuts previously announced. UCU warned that job losses will be a casualty of the cuts, with many institutions already cutting posts.

An Indian street child who became a celebrated photographer, a youth offender from the UK who became a counsellor and a young man from a Nairobi slum who became a youth leader – these are among the stories featured in a new film launched by the International Award Association (IAA).

The film highlights the work of International Special Projects (ISP), an important initiative of the IAA which funds challenging new Award projects that target hard to reach young people. These include child soldiers in Côte d’Ivoire, indigenous youth in Canada and Australia, and young offenders in the UK, amongst others.

A generation of children is set to experience a thrilling journey of discovery from South Africa to the majestic Mongolian plains thanks to FILMCLUB’s ambitious new campaign.

The nationwide after-school initiative’s ‘Film Journeys’ campaign includes two diverse and far-reaching film seasons featuring great films from around the world, and two new world map posters (suitable for Primary and Secondary), which promote international cinema and are available FREE for all teachers - including non-FILMCLUB members. To request one simply email amanda.rook@fimclub.org with your school’s address, stating that you would like the Primary version.

Katie Price, as Patron of Vision Charity, expressed a wish to meet the children who, having seen her run the Marathon for Vision decided to raise money for the Charity. Through a sponsored fancy dress walk these children from The Orleans Park Secondary School in Richmond raised £2500 which they donated to Vision Charity an organisation that raises funds for blind, visually impaired and dyslexic children. She accepted the cheque from the students on behalf of Vision at a special ceremony.

Can you imagine teaching not only without training but without primary school education? This is exactly the situation most teachers face in the scenic region of Ikotos, South Sudan due to the civil conflict that has been raging for the past two decades.

Turbulent Past

The Sudanese conflict between the Christian South and the Muslim Arab-dominated North was the world’s longest running civil war. 2 million civilians were killed in Southern Sudan, and more than 4 million southerners were forced to flee their homes. The civilian death toll is amongst the highest of any war since World War II.

Despite a sharp increase in the numbers of people entering the profession, teaching is still under-rated by the general public and final year students. New research by the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) released today shows that both groups under-estimate the salaries that teachers actually earn and the opportunities they have for career progression. The research is being published to launch a major recruitment drive in the run-up to three national Train to Teach recruitment events across the country.

The earthquake that hit Haiti on Tuesday 12th January is one of the greatest humanitarian disasters of our time.  The death toll is estimated to be over 200,000 and the destruction of capital city Port Au Prince and the surrounding slums of Cite Soleil is near total. 

Launch of new online resource reveals today’s top literacy issues are the impact of technology and family reading

 The new National Literacy Trust website (officially launched on Monday 1st March) is a free resource providing literacy news and debate, opportunities for engagement with our campaigns for reading and better literacy, extensive research and policy information, a Wiki of good literacy practice, and a wealth of resources for professionals.

Celeb and students give Asda a 'bad report' for failing to sellFairtrade school uniforms.

Stacey Dooley, the campaigning star of BBC3s 'Blood, Sweat & T-shirts', supported students from schools across London, in giving a giant mock up 'bad school report', to Asda today, showing its failure to sell any Fairtrade cotton uniforms. The students demanded that Asda start to sell the ethical schoolwear as part of charity People & Planet's new 'Wear Fair' campaign which aims to get all UK schools to adopt Fairtrade cotton uniforms by 2015.

City of Sunderland College staff have received the prestigious Queens Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education at a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace from Her Majesty the Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh.

 The college’s pioneering ‘Test the City’ initiative has already improved the Maths and English Skills of over 7,000 people on Wearside since the project began in 2004. 

The Chief Executive at a top Bedfordshire college has welcomed plans that could see it take over the operation of more underperforming schools.

Barnfield College, Luton, is the first Further Education College in the country and one of only six providers to receive Accredited School Group (ASG) status – a new scheme to ensure the best education leaders are able to form federations, in order to drive up standards at primary and secondary levels throughout the country.

Earlier this year Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that “education will be one of the biggest global growth industries for Britain in the 21st century”. Whether or not the term ‘industry’ is the appropriate way to describe the role of enlightening and inspiring our children with knowledge, we can safely assume that education will be an area that will feature heavily in each party’s campaigning before the imminent general election. A key channel that can be utilised in order to achieve the necessary improvement in the quality of education is broadband provision for all schools and all families, irrespective of income. Whether enabling parents to keep abreast of their child’s progress through online reporting or giving children a platform both at school and home to research, develop and cross-reference their work through high speed internet connections, the ways in which broadband access can facilitate and improve a child’s education are manifold.

£167m of additional funding for out-of-hours school activities is being rolled out nationally from April this year.  The Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) is helping schools improve access to activities for economically disadvantaged children.

The subsidy is designed to improve equal opportunities in schools.  All pupils will now have the chance to take advantage of the extended services provided by their school, such as after-school clubs and holiday activities.  Economically disadvantaged children and young people and children in care, might not otherwise be able to afford some or all of the charges associated with taking part.

The Local Education Authority is based on collaboration between Bradford Council and Serco PLC, an international service company which combines commercial know-how with a public service ethos. It improves services by managing people, processes, technology and assets more effectively.

There are 208 schools in the district and Education Bradford works with 180 of these, which subscribe to its ICT support and training offering. Within these schools, the backup regime has been largely managed by the school and as such a number of different types of tape based technology were used including Digital Linear Tape (DLT) and Digital Audio Tape (DAT). There was also a lack of standard on backup software. For a support organisation this was causing administration headaches for the team and resulting in lost data and time.

At A Glance

Line of Business

The Buckinghamshire ICT Schools Team aims to ensure access to a range of universal services within schools as well as developing more targeted services to meet the specialist needs of individual schools.

Objectives

As an ICT support team, Buckinghamshire ICT Schools Team needed to be able to manage all IT  services remotely, monitor and manage individual devices and networks and pre-empt any potential IT issues.

Result

Over 80 working days saved due to time and efficiency savings generated through automation. Reduced disruption for administrative staff, reduced IT downtime and lower IT risks, enabling schools to be more efficient and effective

On Safer Internet Day, Julian Stanley, Teacher Support Network Chief Executive, said: “Through our free and confidential support services we have seen an increase in recent years in the number of teachers contacting us about their experiences of bullying by pupils, parents and other school staff via new technologies such as the internet and mobile phones.

“What was once a note passed among pupils in the classroom is now posted on the internet for all to see.

“Cyberbullying not only has a negative effect on the wellbeing of teachers but also seriously undermines their ability to deliver high quality education to their pupils.

The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, the Rt Hon Ed Balls MP, saw the first school Energy Display Meter in action as part of a £12 million energy efficiency initiative to help schools and pupils to become more aware of energy use.

In a visit to Pimlico Academy in Westminster, London, the Secretary of State spoke to pupils and teachers about how the new technology, which gives real-time information about electricity use in their school, will help them to understand more about how simple changes in behaviour can make a big difference to the amount of energy consumed in their school.

Earlier this month HRH the Prince of Wales, President, Business in the Community (BITC) led a group of CEOs to see the benefits that partnerships between businesses and community organisations can bring to society.

The visit was to Surrey Square Junior School in Southwark, recently graded as ‘Outstanding’ in all areas, thanks to the work of Liz Robinson, (the youngest head teacher in the country at the time of her appointment), her staff, and the support of a range of local and national businesses. The school community faces a range of serious social and economic challenges, and has found that the involvement of businesses has raised aspirations and expectations. Volunteers read with the pupils each week, and Governors ensure that the strategic leadership of the organisation is at the highest level.

Microsoft survey demonstrates the importance of a connected approach to learning, with responsibilities of both teachers and parents as learning spreads beyond the classroom

The study explored the attitudes of parents of secondary school age children (11-18 year olds) across the UK and revealed that making IT in education a success is more than just about access to the right technology. In order for children to truly benefit, there must be parental understanding of PCs as a learning resource as well as effective parental engagement.

Kids Say Slow Down is the theme of Road Safety Week 2010 and you can take part and help stop the carnage of our children on roads.

Wherever you live around the globe, and whatever you do, you can campaign for slower speeds during RSW10, 22-28 November 2010 and it’s never too early to start planning! Just go to www.roadsafetyweek.org for ideas for you, whether you are a teacher, company, campaigner, or road safety professional.

Chris Sorek, Chief Executive of Drinkaware, says:

“Alcohol misuse among young people is no laughing matter but using comedy is a creative way to get people thinking about it. Although not all young people drink, those that do drink are drinking more and more often, putting themselves at risk.

Teacher’s Got Talent is a new fundraising challenge from international development charity, VSO, working in partnership with education recruitment specialist, Randstad Education, the new name for Select Education. The challenge will raise vital funds for developing countries and provide schools with an exciting new way to teach the Global Citizenship curriculum and the chance to win resources and support. 

VSO, which tackles global poverty by sending volunteers to share their professional expertise in some of the world's poorest communities, is using Teacher's Got Talent to show how skill sharing can be used as a way to help people lift themselves out of poverty.

Celebrity chef Prue Leith opened the new state-of-the-art culinary facilities at Doncaster College yesterday which will provide the latest in the national School FEAST training provision for the school food workforce.

The college is one of 29 specialist centres and partnerships comprising School FEAST (Food Skills and Excellence Training), the national training network. It became a regional training centre for the School FEAST network in November 2008 after a successful bid with partners, Doncaster School Meals Service and NHS Doncaster. As a result, a brand new state-of-the-art training facility has been built at the college.

Government plans to cap state contributions to teachers’ pensions have made retirement planning more important than ever before.

For the proposals announced in December in the pre-Budget report raise the prospect that the benefits former teachers receive from their pensions will be reduced in the longer term.

While the scale of the cut in employer contributions is yet to be announced, teachers’ pensions are thought the most likely to be the first in the public sector to be revalued.

Sir Bob Geldof, co-founder of Groupcall, addressed representatives from 150 Manchester based schools, exploring the issue of unauthorised absences on a nationwide scale.

At the event, which was hosted at Manchester City Football Club, Sir Bob Geldof delivered a speech on how a national problem, such as unauthorised absences, can be eased via parental engagement. The purpose of the event was to celebrate a partnership between Manchester City Council and Groupcall, a leading provider of parental communication products to the education sector, which will see all of MCC’s 167 schools provided with Groupcall’s parental communication system, Groupcall Messenger.

Location:  Writhlington B&E Specialist School, Avon
Main Contractor:  Collinson plc
Application:  4 Court Tennis Hall
Size:  65m x 39.7m (2580m2)
Scope of Works:  Challenger™ Sports Building c/w doors, ventilation, rebound boards, netting, gutters, security cladding and lighting/ electrical controls

Collinson plc completed the construction of a four-court indoor tennis centre at Writhlington School, Bath and North East Somerset in November 2008.  With the previous two-court facility insufficient for their tennis development program, the school wanted to increase the facilities to four new covered courts and being at the top of the Mendip hills they needed a structure that would withstand the windy conditions!

School pupils visiting the Birmingham Botanical Gardens enjoyed all the fun of learning about the Earth’s Tropical Rainforests on special pre-booked sessions involving live animals!

'Tropical Inc' were guests at the Gardens’ Study Centre, teaching school children about the importance of the rainforest habitat and introducing them to a range of rainforest animals from creepy crawlies, to birds, mammals and even snakes.

Museums and archives will work with more than 1,000 trainee teachers to support learning, develop cross-curricular projects and encourage school visits following the announcement of successful bids for the 2009-10 Initial Teacher Education (ITE) Grants Programme.

There are 15 awards across the English regions and the programme will start in January 2010, ranging in focus from projects on World War II, object-based learning, boy’s writing and the history of the Black Country

The School Food Trust is calling for a January sale on school lunches - as new research highlights the importance of price when it comes to encouraging more children to try a healthy school meal.

The Trust – the organisation charged with transforming school food – is urging more local authorities and schools to join the high street in using special offers to tempt customers, at a time of year when cash is particularly tight for parents.

The Court of Appeal recently handed down judgment on an important case* that will help secure the rights of over 150 UK teachers working in European Schools, says City law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain LLP (RPC).  These Schools are funded jointly by the EU Member States to provide education for the children of EU officials.

The teachers who brought the case against the Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) were supported by their unions the NASUWT and ATL.

Discovering the Arctic, a new website featuring a unique collection of videos, photographs and resources about the region, will put GCSE-level students in ‘pole’ position to study the worldwide implications of changes to its environment and peoples.

First-hand stories from people like Inuit lawyer Aaju, biologist Lily Peacock, and Nancy, a resident of Umingmaktok in Canada’s Nunavut Territory, encourage visitors to go on a ‘journey across the top of the world’, to consider what it’s like to live and work in some of the most Northerly communities on Earth.

 Reacting to the Chief Medical Officer’s guidance on the consumption of alcohol by children and young people, Chris Sorek, Chief Executive of alcohol awareness charity Drinkaware, says: 

“The drinking culture in the UK is entrenched and many young people see drinking alcohol as a rite of passage, so this guidance from the Chief Medical Officer is extremely useful. It’s imperative that from an early age, we start to educate children and young people about the dangers of alcohol misuse.

The School Food Trust has welcomed plans announced in today’s pre-budget report that more children will be eligible to receive Free School Meals.  The plans will see the universal free school meals pilots extended to at least one in each English region, as well amending the general qualifying criteria for working families.

The Trust’s Chief Executive, Judy Hargadon, said: “Free School Meals ensure that thousands of children receive a nutritious hot meal every day, and we strongly support any move to increase the number of families who can benefit. 

Teacher Support Network awards over £300,000 in grants during 2009

December 2009 saw 50 per cent more calls to the Teacher Support Network Group from teachers seeking urgent emotional and practical assistance than in the same month in 2008.

Calls on both Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve helped ensure that the four free, confidential 24/7 Support Lines – which cover England, Wales, Scotland as well as colleges and universities – received 1,295 calls in the last month of 2009 compared to 825 in December 2008.

While the majority of the nation’s workforce was taking a well-earned holiday, more than 140 school leaders accessed The Key’s support and guidance services between December 24 2009 and January 1 2010.

Members even accessed the service on Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and on New Year’s Day. 10% of activity on The Key’s website during the festive period occurred between 8pm and 10pm and 8% between 10pm and midnight. These statistics reinforce the view that school leaders are wrestling with a phenomenal workload.

On January 7th 2010 EngineeringUK, The Royal Academy of Engineering and The Lloyd’s Register Educational Trust, will jointly launch Tomorrow’s Engineers, a new enhancement and enrichment partnership to improve levels of science and engineering engagement in hard to reach schools across the UK.  The scheme, which will be announced to teachers at the Association for Science Education Conference in Nottingham, will initially support hands-on engineering activities to 30,000 children and young people aged five to nineteen in 2010.

Students who watch as their peers endure the verbal or physical abuses of another student could become as psychologically distressed, if not more so, by the events than the victims themselves, new research suggests.

Bullies and bystanders may also be more likely to take drugs and drink alcohol, according to the findings, which are reported in the December issue of School Psychology Quarterly, published by the American Psychological Association.

Northumberland-based manufacturer, SCA Hygiene has announced a groundbreaking partnership with Prudhoe Community High School, to provide students with a practical insight into industry as part of a new engineering qualification aimed at year 10 and 11 students.

Staff at SCA’s Paper Mill in Prudhoe - home of the popular ‘Velvet’ brand of toilet tissue - will be working closely with Prudhoe High School’s head of engineering, Geoff Wallman, to deliver a unit of the new Higher Diploma in Engineering at the Mill.

The United Kingdom risks a brain drain of top professors if it pushes ahead with controversial changes to how university research is funded, warns a survey released today (Thursday) by the University and College Union (UCU). Over a third (35%) of professors polled said they would consider pursuing their academic career abroad if the plans were introduced.

The poll further warned that more than one in five (22%) professors already knew a colleague who was also considering leaving the country over the issue. The survey gives a stark insight into the likely impact the new proposals would have on jobs. Half (49%) the professors polled said they thought the changes would influence their department’s hiring and firing plans.

Of all the current changes in the world of education, I personally see none as more exciting than the launch of the new Masters in Teaching and Learning (MTL) - the Government-funded, classroom-based professional qualification aimed at helping teachers to enrich their skills, knowledge and understanding.

The MTL is a new and very different kind of masters. It is a national qualification allowing participants to build on their previous educational development and immediately apply the theory that they’ve learned inside their own classroom – a model that borrows from successful masters in other fields, such as the MBA.

With tax and public spending high on the news agenda, teachers are being urged to take advantage of a free, online teaching resource that helps pupils learn just what tax is all about.

Specifically designed for Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE), Business Studies and Citizenship teachers of pupils aged 11-19, the Tax Matters resource contains three teaching modules, to help secondary school pupils gain an understanding of how tax is raised, what the main taxes are, and what they ultimately pay for.

The Bosch Technology Horizons Award competition is an easy to enter essay writing competition run by Bosch in partnership with The Royal Academy of Engineering. The award is open to all young people aged 14 to 24 with cash prizes available of up to £1000.

Now in its fifth year, the competition aims to raise the profile of engineering and technology among young people.

The deadline for entering the competition is fast approaching and many high quality essays have already been submitted. The deadline is 22^nd March, which still gives plenty of time to start planning, but research and time are needed for a well written essay.

At the 2010 Building Schools Exhibition and Conference (BSEC), Dulux Trade will be inviting delegates to experience its ‘Transforming Schools’ campaign first hand, with a stand that demonstrates how transforming a school’s interior can change students’ attitudes to learning and, subsequently, their academic performance.  

The Dulux Trade stand, 650, will re-create a working classroom environment. Divided into two areas, one side of the classroom will be smart, modern and stimulating, providing an instant visual comparison to its uninspiring counterpart, thereby reinforcing how cost effective changes, such as the colourful re-painting of a room, can improve a school and the learning experience for both teachers and pupils.

The Royal Albert Hall, one of the world’s cultural icons, will provide a free resource to support people teaching pupils outside the school system.  The Royal Albert Hall is releasing Showtime, a free e-learning resource that helps place functional skills into context by showing how English, Maths and ICT work behind the scenes at the world-famous entertainment venue. The Hall’s Learning & Participation Department is offering the interactive resource to home educators in the same way that it provides educational resources for schools. 

Schools across the South East, and from London boroughs south of the River Thames, are being urged to take part in the country’s premier forestry competition – whether or not they have trees on their grounds.

Prizes of £1000 for the winners and £500 for the runner up are on offer.

The Excellence in Forestry Awards 2010, run by the Royal Forestry Society, opens its doors for entries this month (January). As well as London boroughs south of the Thames, the competition covers West and East Sussex, Kent, Surrey, Hampshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire.

Every 16-year-old should study a core of five academic GCSEs according to a new report by the independent think tank Reform. The study finds that academic study beats vocational learning in terms of personal earnings, economic growth and social mobility.  The next government should safeguard the quality of GCSEs by taking control of standards away from central quangos and handing it to groups of university academics.

The UK has dramatically slumped to the bottom of international education tables. In the past 12 years it has been overtaken by countries such as Portugal, New Zealand, Austria, Switzerland, Korea, Ireland, Greece, Hungary and the Czech Republic. The news comes on the day the University and College Union (UCU) launches a cross-party group in Westminster to put UK education back on the map.

School software provider, Bromcom, has made a complaint to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in relation to what Bromcom considers to be anti-competitive practices by Capita Children’s Services (‘Capita’).

Over the past twelve years, Bromcom believes that Capita’s charges for contracts and dominance in the UK schools software market has led to schools over paying by £75.4 million over a ten year period*.

Singer and actress Michelle Gayle has joined national charity The Reading Agency’s drive to bring reading into the 21st century, and inspire more teenagers to read and get involved in creative activities.

During November Michelle ran a series of pioneering workshops in specialist library spaces – known as ‘HeadSpaces’ – designed by local teenagers.

The call for school leaders to take radical action is made by Jonathon Porritt CBE and Professor David Hopkins in a paper published on 7th December by the National College for the Leadership of Schools and Children’s Services.

The paper is supported by a piece of research by the Institute of Education and Forum for the Future, also commissioned by the National College, involving a study of more than 50 schools who are leading the way in developing sustainability in their school and wider community.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is asking young Britons to express their vision of a world free from prejudice as it launches Young Brits at Art 2010 in Liverpool today.

The national art award invites 11-19 year olds to explore their beliefs, opinions and judgments by asking: “What would the world look like if we lived without prejudice?”

After the success of the first year of the awards in 2009, Young Brits at Art 2010 includes new categories such as photography, sculpture and motion animation, as well as its previous sections for painting and drawing.

Applications are invited for the second round of funding available through a £500,000 accident prevention scholarship scheme.

The RoSPA/BNFL Scholarship Scheme provides funding for safety-related research that will produce defined, practical and influential outcomes to help save lives and prevent injuries.

Grants of up to £20,000 per project per year are available. The closing date for applications for the 2010 round of funding is April 2.

Higher Education and university students can now benefit from a new and unique internet based financial funding application form which is not only revolutionizing access to Government student hardship funding, but is helping overcome delays with student loans.  fafgenius offers considerable benefits to both students and HE institutions with its tailored, intelligent and bespoke funding solution.fafgenius, which has been developed by the Student Support department at Aston University, in the heart of Birmingham and Modus Creative, a marketing company based in Worcester, securely calculates ALF (Access to Learning Funds) easily and intuitively.

Michael Gove, the shadow education secretary, has announced that a Tory administration would exempt highly-qualified graduates in physics, among other science subjects and maths, from student loan repayments.

In response to the announcement, Charles Tracy, head of education pre-19 at the Institute of Physics, said, “This is a policy which seeks to address the most serious problem in physics classrooms around the country – the lack of teachers with knowledge and enthusiasm to engage and inspire our next generation of scientists.

In November 1859 Charles Darwin laid the foundations of modern evolutionary biology by publishing his landmark work ‘On the Origin of Species’.  150 years later, post-16 biology students are conducting their own experiments to investigate human evolution by extracting their own DNA and seeing how it compares with that of chimpanzees.

Nowgen, Manchester’s leading centre for genetics in healthcare, is giving school students an opportunity to take part in specialist laboratory workshops with the help of experts from The University of Manchester and the Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.  Over 1,500 students will take part in a total of 75 workshops at the Nowgen Centre between now and July 2010.

Headteachers are among the country’s best leaders, according to a new poll of parents commissioned by the National College for Leadership of Schools and Children’s Services.

Local headteachers scored highly in the independent Ipsos MORI poll of nearly 500 parents across England, with 29 per cent saying they provide the best example of leadership, rated almost as highly as officers in the armed forces who topped the poll at 31 per cent.

Teachers and managers from across the country are invited to attend ‘Protecting Staff and Students Against Armed Attack’ at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London on Monday 18th January.

Over the last 10 years, nearly 400 students and staff worldwide have lost their lives to armed intruders. Speakers at the conference, who have all experienced the devastation an armed intruder can cause, will be offering practical advice on how to protect staff and students in the event of attack.

The Work Inspiration campaign (www.workinspiration.com), launched on September 15th with a Big Conversation between 100 chief executives and 100 young people, has achieved major success in its first 90 days, Sir Stuart Rose confirmed to business leaders today at Business in the Community’s AGM.

Discover if you live on rocks from an extinct volcano, in the middle of an ancient river or deep under a Caribbean-like sea teeming with exotic creatures. This is now possible with the British Geological Survey’s (BGS) release of OpenGeoscience.

OpenGeoscience is a new web service that provides geological maps for the whole of Great Britain, images from its extensive collection of photographs and a wide range of other digital information – all for free.

A new initiative to help teach children about the importance of healthy eating has just been launched in Cambridgeshire.

‘The Lunchbox Challenge' has been created by Cambridgeshire County Council's Personal, Social & Health Education (PSHE) Service with the support of Cambridgeshire Dietetic Business Unit. A key component of the resource is the Top Grub card game developed by Health Enterprise East, the region's NHS Innovation Hub based at Papworth Hospital.

An innovative maths teacher has taken to the web with four short films for the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) to explain how to solve modern maths conundrums, while showing the exciting reality of modern maths teaching.

Matt Parker has devised a set of calculations that he hopes will ease some of the dilemmas of modern life, and save people money into the bargain. The TDA is using the films to encourage more of the right kinds of people to consider teaching maths.

In response to the announcement of forthcoming government security guidance for further education colleges, College and University Support Network Julian Stanley said: "The protection of the wellbeing of both staff and pupils in further education is of paramount importance.

"Although national guidance may be helpful to some colleges, it is more important that each institution develops its own policies that reflect their individual circumstances. A college that has a large number of night classes, for example, will need to take into consideration the particular safety concerns of staff and students staying on site after nightfall.

A new essential resource from the National Strategies offers important guidance for headteachers, school senior leaders and leading teachers to unlock the potential and foster the development of able gifted and talented learners who are, or are at risk of underachieving. Gifted and Talented education: Guidance on addressing underachievement - planning a wholeschool approach is the final booklet in the current series of five titles and builds on the previous publications by:

• offering a definition of underachievement in the context of gifted and talented education
• suggesting a model for planning whole-school provision within the context of personalisation
• providing examples of some effective strategies for recognising and addressing underachievement drawn from current practice in schools
• signposting further relevant materials and resources.

Did you enter the learning and skills sector in a teaching role prior to September 2007? Are you an experienced teacher, tutor or trainer within the sector who does not hold an accepted teaching qualification? Do you want to gain professional standing without undertaking a formal teaching qualification? If you answer yes to the above questions then the GPRLS scheme could be for you.

In the year which it celebrates its 40th anniversary, Chetham's School of Music in Manchester entered a new era as enabling works for its £36m new school building started this month.

The new building will be located in the heart of the Medieval Quarter of Manchester between Victoria Station, the Manchester Evening News Arena and Chetham's. Providing state-of-the-art music and academic facilities for the 290 students at the School, the development will also include a vibrant outreach centre alongside two performance spaces one of which will be a full orchestral auditorium with 400 seats.

The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls, has issued the following guidance regarding swine flu and children and young people with health conditions:

The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) has advised that swine flu continues to be a largely mild illness, and the Health Service has responded in a proportionate and timely fashion to the threat. There is no sign yet of any major change in the pattern or severity of the illness. On that basis, the CMO has confirmed that our advice to schools of 26 August remains our best advice: individual school closures are now of limited benefit in stopping the spread of the disease. However, it is essential that adults or children with flu-like symptoms should stay away until they are free of those symptoms.

Safety Media are delighted to announce a new E-Learning course has been added to its extensive training library.

The Child Protection Interactive Flash course has been developed for use within schools and colleges or for any work that involves interaction with children and young people.

Safety Media are delighted to announce a new E-Learning course has been added to its extensive training library.

The Child Protection Interactive Flash course has been developed for use within schools and colleges or for any work that involves interaction with children and young people.

The University of Northampton's School of Education has won a tender to lead a new national initiative across sixteen local authorities to train around 1000 primary school teachers as Mathematics Specialists over the next three years.

The Primary Mathematics Specialist Programme is a new professional development programme created as a result of a recommendation in the ‘Independent Review of Mathematics Teaching in Early Years Settings and Primary Schools' (June 2008), that every primary school should have access to a Mathematics Specialist Teacher by 2019.

Over 806,000* youngsters aged 4-16 in England are set to learn vital lessons about food through 'growing their own' thanks to a brand new resource for schools, produced by the UK's leading organic growing charity as part of its work with the Food for Life Partnership.

In the next two years, The Food Growing Manual, written by Garden Organic and funded by the Big Lottery, will help 3,600 schools and just under a million pupils, expand their gardening activities into growing food. The newly devised, free resource for infant, primary and secondary schools forms a major part of a project already transforming school food culture - the Food for Life Partnership (FFLP).

Ray Barker, Director of the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) considers how ICT equipment and policy should be changing to deal with ‘green issues'

The British Government became the first in the world to announce plans to slash the carbon footprint of computer systems. But, how does ICT add to the problem of greenhouse gases?

Pupils at Alma Primary School in Enfield are now putting to good use their new school Play Garden which includes an impressive Climbing Structure and water play equipment.

As a school which teaches from a range of culturally diverse heritages and being in the heart of a major conurbation, the essentials of the new Play Garden design had to incorporate enough play elements that it would challenge the children each time they use it. Playgarden is an online retailer, www.playgardens.co.uk the sister company to established natural play specialist Timberplay.

Children are being denied school trips for fear teachers will be sued if something goes wrong, new research by The Countryside Alliance Foundation (TCAF) has revealed.

The Countryside Alliance Foundation commissioned the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) to include questions in its Teacher Voice survey. It found

• Of the 1400 teachers surveyed, 97% of teachers thought it important that pupils learn about the countryside within the National Curriculum.
• 76% felt the main barrier in taking pupils to the countryside to facilitate learning was 'concerns about health and safety'.
• 49% of teachers felt that a main barrier was ‘fear of litigation in the unlikely event of an accident'.

Security has never been more relevant in the UK than it is today, from security at home and at work, to border control and surveillance.

Sadly, in the Education sector, there is a growing concern that schools and colleges are now also becoming subject to violent crime from some students who are smuggling knives and other weapons onto the premises, often concealed in their clothing or bags.

The National Enterprise Academy (NEA) celebrated a landmark achievement yesterday as it launched the first ever educational institution solely dedicated to teaching enterprise and entrepreneurship. Peter Jones led the celebrations during a special ceremony attended by the Rt. Hon. Lord Mandelson, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills and Tom Alexander, CEO, Orange, the exclusive communications and key corporate partner of the NEA.

Dyslexic students need high levels of emotional support and the positive reactions of parents, peers and teachers, in order to prevent their diagnosis from negatively affecting their academic success and sense of identity and wellbeing.

This is the conclusion of research by Professor Robert Burden of the University of Exeter, which will be presented on Saturday 10 October 2009, at the Annual Conference of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) at Newcastle Civic Centre, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Championing improvements in behaviour in schools - Ed Balls has set out plans to raise the bar further to ensure all schools have good, not just satisfactory, behaviour.

The majority of schools have good or outstanding behaviour. Today's behaviour challenge is part of the Government's strategy to raise overall standards and improve behaviour in the secondary schools that remain ‘satisfactory'. The strategy, which includes the Government's action in response to Sir Alan Steer's recommendations, outlines what heads, governors and teachers can do to improve behaviour - learning from schools with good behaviour and working with the support of parents and pupils.

The Initial Teacher Education (ITE) grants programme will build learning partnerships between museums, archives and teacher training bodies.

A scheme designed to build learning partnerships between museums, archives and bodies that run undergraduate and postgraduate teacher training courses, is open for grant applications.

Fifteen venues across the country open their doors to 13 & 14 year olds, 15th October until 2nd December 09, for The National Skills Academy for Creative & Cultural Skills' first interactive Offstage Choices° careers events.

These events offer young people aged 13+ a taste of the job roles available behind the scenes and offstage in technical theatre and live music events.

The Pesticide Residues Committee (PRC) today published findings from the Department of Health's School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme for Spring 2009.

The second report for the school year 2008/9 found that the fruit and vegetables supplied to schools met legal standards with regard to pesticide residues levels and that the presence of residues would be unlikely to have any effect on those who ate the food. The report contained the results for apple, banana, carrot, pear and soft citrus fruits.

Mental health charity Rethink has launched a free guide to help all school staff in England support the mental health and wellbeing of pupils.

The ‘Uthink Resource for Schools' includes information on mental health and practical advice on how schools and teachers can help children and young people aged 5 to 18 maintain good mental health and wellbeing.

Brake is calling on nurseries, schools and colleges to run a BrakeBright day on Friday 27th November to support Brake, the national road safety charity, by raising awareness about road safety.

Taking place on the Friday of national Road Safety Week, Brake hopes that its BrakeBright day, which sees participants donate £1 to wear shockingly bright clothes in a dress down day with a difference, will help raise funds for its care work with bereaved families and injured road crash victims nationwide. Brake is an independent national road safety charity. Brake exists to stop the 8 deaths and 79 serious injuries that happen on UK roads every day and to care for families bereaved and seriously injured in road crashes.

There's no doubt that the internet has made a major contribution to the advance of human civilisation. It's built networks that connect people around the globe. Enabled the free dissemination of opinions, information and news. And broken down barriers and borders to allow new ideas, communities and cultures to flourish.

Of course, it's also massively increased the number of opportunities to spend time doing nothing remotely productive. 

Whether it's updating your status on Facebook twelve times a day, playing bingo at four in the morning, or spending your lunch hour watching clips of silly animals set to pounding techno, we've all experienced the endless possibilities of the internet to simply eat up the day.

Security has never been more relevant in the UK than it is today, from security at home and at work, to border control and surveillance.

Sadly, in the Education sector, there is a growing concern that schools and colleges are now also becoming subject to violent crime from some students who are smuggling knives and other weapons onto the premises, often concealed in their clothing or bags.

With violent crimes on the increase, the question now being asked is, "Can students and pupils (across all age groups) be adequately protected from these disturbing activities?"

ARDEX UK, premier manufacturers of high performance flooring products, teamed up with flooring contractor Sandafloor Limited of Gateshead, to provide over 3,500m2 of flooring underlayments for the new £36 million Bede Academy in Northumberland.

Bede Academy opened in September 2009, and is The Emmanuel Schools Foundation's first 3-18 school with Nursery, Primary and Secondary provision across two sites in Blyth on the Northumberland coast. Specialising in Engineering and Enterprise, the school will focus on extending conventional perceptions of engineering by providing specialist insights into aspects of biotechnology, environmental science and recycling technologies, sound and computer network engineering, medical and animal science, and naval and automotive systems and design. Sir Peter Vardy's Emmanuel Schools Foundation sponsors three other schools, Emmanuel College in Gateshead, The King's Academy in Middlesbrough and Trinity Academy in Thorne, Doncaster.

If they could have anything they wanted, anything at all, what features would caterers build into their 'dream machine' warewasher? That's what Winterhalter set out to discover before developing its new undercounter dish and glasswashers. The company commissioned research and then built a website, www.my-dream-machine.biz, where caterers from around the world were encouraged to build their perfect dream machine.

The result, says the company, is a range of undercounter warewashers that exactly meets the needs of the industry. The four key areas that the research highlighted were ease of operation, quality washing results, ease of maintenance, and low running costs. Winterhalter has developed new technologies to meet the demands of its customers and the UC Series sets the standards in each of the four areas. 

Birmingham Botanical Gardens & Glasshouses, with its well-earned reputation for the quality of its award-winning educational courses and facilities for children, has now also introduced special continuous professional development (CPD) courses for teachers, encouraging them to take their pupils beyond the confines of the traditional classroom.

Starting in September 2009, the courses support the Gardens' cross-curricular approach to learning science, English, geography, mathematics and art through the living world. They are aimed at teachers and teaching assistants, caretakers and youth leaders and other similar groups.

The 2009 GCSE results show the overall A* to C rate has increased by 1.4 percentage points to 67.1 per cent. The overall A* to G rate has also increased from 98.4 per cent in 2008 to 98.6 per cent and the A* to A rate has gone up from 20.7 per cent in 2008 to 21.6 per cent.

Encouragingly, boys are making excellent progress, with their A* to C results in mathematics rising 1.8 percentage points to 57.6 per cent. Boys are also continuing to close the gap overall, their A* to C results improving 1.5 percentage points compared to 1.2 percentage points for girls.

We have been closely monitoring the spread and severity of swine flu over the school holidays. The latest scientific advice to the Government is that individual school closures are now of limited benefit in stopping the spread of disease.

Given the mildness of the virus, the expert medical advice is that there is no good reason for schools to remain closed after the summer holiday. We therefore expect all schools and early-years and childcare settings in England to reopen as planned at the beginning of the new term.

Children transferring to secondary school this September will be the very first who will all need to be in education or training until they are 18, following the passage of the Education and Skills Act last year. A short informal booklet - Moving Up - is being distributed to all secondary schools in the week commencing 7th September.

We are asking schools to pass these on to their incoming Year 7s and where appropriate use them in assemblies or lessons. This booklet will help new Year 7s with the transition, and explain the choices ahead.

Schools Minister Iain Wright hailed a new generation of mathematicians and scientists with top-grade A levels as being the key to building a strong economy and highly skilled workforce.

The UK 2009 A level and AS results, published recently, show the number of learners taking mathematics and further maths A levels at their highest levels for well over a decade.

Schools Minister Iain Wright welcomes research showing that top universities overwhelmingly back the Diploma.

The research, undertaken by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) and University of Exeter, found that all universities questioned would welcome applications from the first Diploma cohort in 2010.

Children are increasingly unlikely to leave school with even the most basic knowledge of modern languages despite Government claims to the contrary, an independent study has found.

Angela McLachlan from The University of Manchester discovered a 'chaotic and ineffective' system of teaching modern languages in a year-long study of four English primary schools.

Reducing HIV infection in young people and improving their sexual and reproductive health require effective education programmes. However, such programmes are still not available in many parts of the world. UNESCO and its partners have now developed new guidelines to address this problem.

The "International Guidelines on Sexuality Education", which are voluntary and non-mandatory in character, provide educators with guidance on how children and young people can best acquire the knowledge they need to protect themselves from coercion, abuse and exploitation, unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.

All schools in London can now apply for a cash award to transform their grounds into an environment for learning, creative play, activity, discovery and social development.

The John Laing Charitable Trust - School Grounds Awards are offering over 50 awards, including cash prizes of £5,000, £2,000 and £1,000 to schools across London to improve their outdoor environments.

C'hief Medical Officer, Liam Donaldson's, recent annual report called for children to be encouraged to use active computer consoles such as the Nintendo Wii to help tackle the increasing rates of obesity in children and young people - a method which is already being used as at The Whitminster Centre, part of Cotswold and Stroud Pupil Referral Service and part of The National Healthy Schools Programme.

Paul Barns, PE Specialist at The Whitminster Centre explains how games consoles are beginning to change their pupils' attitudes and behaviours.

Huge amounts of money are being spent on the Building Schools for the Future and the Primary Capital Programmes, so it is vital that school leaders and decision-makers involved in the procurement process are aware of the importance of selecting suitable school furniture for learners of all needs.

Following its pilot year, thousands of teachers are now delivering the 14-19 Diploma qualifications to students across the country. As a highly vocational course, the Diploma will bring challenges to both those involved in developing and delivering teaching. It brings into focus the need for teachers of 14-19 year olds to have the knowledge, skills and understanding that will enable them to provide an effective Diploma programme.

New research by Glenigan for the UK's leading building show - Interbuild - has revealed that the education sector is likely to help lead the industry out of the recession with underlying construction starts forecast to rebound by over 12% in 2010.

This predicted spike in activity - boosted by the £45 billion Building Schools for the Future programme - demonstrates that public sector investment will continue to be a prime focus for the industry over the next two years.

The new editions of these successful Leapfrogs PE Lesson Plans are packed full with invaluable information for non-specialist primary teachers on how to teach PE, its value and importance to the school curriculum.

Each book covers the national curriculum requirements for each year, covering games, gymnastic activities and dance in clearly labelled sections. Photocopiable lesson plans and additional teacher notes will help any primary teacher teach PE imaginatively and effectively.

FOLLOWING the shocking murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in the quiet Cambridgeshire town of Soham, it became clear that a new system to protect children and other vulnerable groups was vital.

The girls' killer, Ian Huntley, was seen as an individual who could be trusted because of his job as a caretaker at the local community college, despite the fact that he had a history of inappropriate sexual behaviour.

Leading asbestos removal contractor, The Caswell Group are advising UK schools not to leave it too late to plan asbestos removal works over holiday periods.  They are offering all UK Schools a free audit/review of the schools existing asbestos registers. To book an appointment, call the Caswell Group on 01438 312504.

International property developer, Lend Lease, and Birmingham City Council have confirmed their partnership with Interbuild on Interbuild BSF - a new show dedicated to the Building Schools for the Future Programme.

Birmingham's BSF programme is the largest education construction programme in Europe, with 80 schools being rebuilt or refurbished with a capital budget of £4bn. 

Following on from the completion of a successful installation in 2008, Sovereign Play Equipment has been awarded the second phase in the outdoor play development at Springside with Hamer Learning Community in Rochdale.

Jane Herring, Head Teacher of Springside School commented: "Sovereign listened very carefully and really understood the needs of the children when the first stage of work was carried out last year. This success led us to asking them to return and discuss further designs for four different areas on the site."

School has just got a lot more colourful for students at Pudsey Grangefield School, Leeds.

The school's interior walls have been given a high impact new look with the help of super-sized graphic wall coverings and the inspirational images creating a real wow factor throughout the building. These full colour wall murals have been created by large format printers Digital Plus and the idea is set to catch on.

Becta has recently awarded a contract to Insight Direct (UK) to provide assistive technologies on all its Home Access packages when the scheme goes national later this year. Home Access is a government programme managed by Becta. It aims to ensure that more children in state-maintained education in England have access to technology at home to support learning. To ensure that all learners are catered for, regardless of their individual needs, all the packages available under the programme will come pre-loaded with a suite of assistive technology software. This has benefits not only for learners, but for their families too.

The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), which provides examinations and certification for the Commonwealth nations and territories situated in and around the Caribbean, is set to pilot DRS e-Marker® - an exercise which, if successful, could lead to full deployment of the education data capture specialist's electronic examination marking solution in the Caribbean.

With over 60 years experience, KI understand the distinct and evolving needs of the educational environment. They design furniture that facilitates learning and interaction between students and staff.

New Line Learning is an academy whose transformational learning vision is based upon a risk/resilience model. Pupils are individually evaluated over a six week period through curricular, emotional and social competencies, enabling assessment beyond predictive educational needs. The model aims to provide alternative life outcomes for this deprived community.

Hailed as the ‘greatest school renewal programme in British history', the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) initiative is aimed at improving the facilities of every secondary school in England. In recognition of its long standing relationship with the public sector, storage equipment specialists Action Storage is offering a range of products and services to assist schools in taking advantage of the largest capital investment programme in 50 years. 

Voice: the union for education professionals has welcomed the Children, Schools and Families Committee's Report Policy and delivery: The National Curriculum tests delivery failure in 2008 published today (23 July 2009). 

School pets can be great for children but where will they be kept during the school holidays? That's the question posed this week by leading veterinary charity PDSA. Amid concerns over the welfare of school pets during holidays the charity conducted a survey to discover where pets will be housed and who will look after them.  The results indicate that pets are often left with teachers and parents - who may be inexperienced pet owners.

The Childcare Act 2006, states that local authorities are required to provide information to parents and carers about childcare and other related subjects and, in response to this Kiosks4business has launched Parent Information Point (PIP) for schools. PIP is a kiosk-based information system to make family information and services easily available to parents and carers. It offers a touch screen ‘virtual receptionist' helping parents to answer simple enquiries unaided and allowing team members to focus on more complex problems.

The preview site for an innovative web based teaching resource designed to bring the justice system alive for pupils was unveiled today by Justice Minister Bridget Prentice and the Attorney General Baroness Scotland at a meeting of professionals within the Justice and Education sectors.

With the new geography GCSE syllabus, starting September 2009, to include the use of GPS devices, education technology provider DRS is planning to offer its own GPS device to the education market.  Designed as probably the world's simplest GPS device, this unique device was originally intended for census population registration projects around the world, for use in field data collection activities, but is well placed to be used in the new curriculum due to its simplicity and robustness.

Executive summary

As part of its current consultation into AS/A-level criteria in mathematics subjects, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) is proposing to introduce a new A-level in Use of Mathematics, to be taught from September 2011.

July 9th^th 2009 - Research conducted through the university comparison website www.whatuni.com reveals that, despite recent reports indicating up to 40,000 would-be students could miss out on university, a majority of its Year 13 members remain confident they will be offered a place - suggesting that many could be facing an unexpected disappointment come A-level day.  The research was based on a survey of 350 Year 13 students in June 2009.

The Secretary of State Ed Balls today announced the appointment of Christopher Baker as the new Chair of the Training and Development Agency for Schools who will take up the role from 1 September 2009 for a period of three years.

The Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) Clubs Network was launched today (Wednesday 8 July) by former Science Minister and President of STEMNET Lord Sainsbury at an event in Westminster, London.

Reports of a slowing economy and a shrinking graduate job market are damaging university leavers' confidence in finding work. According to Deloitte, the business advisory firm, students have hit a "wall of fear" in the belief that the harsh market is creating too much competition.

Football star-turned-actor Eric Cantona and the legendary film director Ken Loach tonight paid a special visit and gave an exclusive question-and-answer session to young people in East London.

Capita Symonds has completed work on the first stage of The Play Pathfinder - an innovative new playground scheme which is being developed by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council with funding from the Department of Children's, Schools and Families (DCSF).

Online reporting has come a step closer for primary schools with the arrival of specially prepared toolkits for head teachers. The information packs, compiled by Becta, the government's technology agency, have been sent to all primary schools in England and are designed to offer guidance and help for schools wanting to set up or develop their existing online reporting systems.

Responding to Teachers TV statistics showing that over 40 percent of teachers have experienced stress-related illnesses, Teacher Support Network Chief Executive, Julian Stanley, said: "These statistics are in line with our own findings in 2008, which showed that 87 per cent of teachers had experienced stress in the last two years. Of those who identified problems at work as the cause, 78 percent said this was due to excessive workload with 43 per cent citing the rapid pace of change.

The School Food Trust has launched a guide to help special schools prepare for the new nutrient-based standards for school food, which come into force in September. A booklet and CD entitled ‘Eat Better, Do Better: A practical guide to adopting a Whole School Approach to food in special schools' will be sent to all special schools in England today offering advice in achieving and maintaining a positive healthy eating culture for the whole school community.

A Cardiff head teacher says she was absolutely delighted when a group of construction trainees offered to build her pupils a new play house after their old one was damaged in the wind.

UK teachers are being stifled in their classroom creativity by outdated restrictions on IT usage according to new research released today by social media education company, Magic Studio (www.magicstudio.co.uk).

Feeding nearly 400 hungry children is no easy task, but in term time Winchester House Boarding School serves meals to pupils three times a day, every day of the week. A two-stop movemanSKG dumb waiter moves food and beverages from the kitchen to upper level dining rooms.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, last night awarded London businesses including universities such as the London School of Economics, the University of East London and King's College among others for collectively saving almost 120,000 tonnes of CO2 through their exceptional efforts to cut carbon emissions at the first annual Green500 & Better Buildings Partnership Awards, held at the Chelsea Football Club.

More than half of language teachers in the UK are frequently using technology-based tools to support their lessons, with 85 per cent opting for computer-based languagelearning programs that can be integrated into classroom teaching, according to a survey by Rosetta Stone (UK) Ltd.

New research has revealed that our test driven education system has created a nation of crammers. Research from the Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors (CIEA), which surveyed over 1,900 adults in the UK, has found that nearly one third of us (32 per cent) use short-term cramming and memorising of facts to prepare for exams. This figure rises to nearly half (48 per cent) among 16 to 24 year olds.

HMRC has launched a new teaching resource for secondary schools - Tax Matters.

The free, online interactive resource includes videos, quizzes and games, as well as key facts and figures, to help young people learn about tax and its role in society.

Commenting on the change, George Bull, Head of Tax at accountancy firm Baker Tilly said: "Charities will potentially suffer from changes in the way buildings are classified which will come into effect on 1 July 2010.

Knowledgeable, innovative, skilful, fun-loving, caring, supportive, task and pupil centred - it's official - the most effective teachers are in a class of their own.  They stimulate a pupil's imagination, challenge their views, encourage them to do great things and motivate them through tailored teaching practices to ensure that every pupil feels a sense of achievement and valued as part of the class community. These are the latest findings of research funded in primary and secondary schools by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) into what makes good teachers even better. 

The General Teaching Council for England today approved a new Code of Conduct and Practice for registered teachers. The new Code has been developed through an extensive process of public and professional consultation over the last 18 months and will come into use in October 2009.

Schools could save £400 million a year if they bought desks, equipment and services more sensibly, according to a new report from the Audit Commission, the public spending watchdog.

‘Valuable lessons', published today, also says schools are sitting on cash reserves of nearly £2 billion. While the Commission believes it is reasonable for a school to carry over some money from year to year; almost two out of five schools hold more than the recommended amount. These excessive balances total over £500 million. (see * below)

TV Chef Phil Vickery made a special appearance and gave a cooking lesson at a Leicester school yesterday, to cook the winning recipe in his Cooking Academy competition (in association with Aldi and the Department for Children, Schools and Families) with lucky pupil Ellie-Mae Warden and her Year 4 class - please find attached some images from the day, plus our press release. The competition was designed to encourage kids and young people aged 7-14 to get cooking and teach them a range of essential kitchen skills.

Commenting on the news today (Wednesday) that university tuition fees will rise by 2.04% next year, but student grants and loans will remain frozen at last year's rates, the University and College Union (UCU) said the announcement did little to persuade people that the government was serious about education not becoming a victim of the recession.

Paralympian Ian Jones will be talking to pupils of all ages about his road to the 2012 Olympics and why he is proud to be an ambassador for Wythenshawe, as part of the Real Lives campaign - which tells people positive things about Wythenshawe.  Ian will be talking to pupils from Newall Green High School and St Anthony's Roman Catholic Primary School in separate workshops in June.

The Secretary of State for Education, Ed Balls MP, today chose Fulham Cross Girls' School to launch nationwide plans for chains of schools under single ‘super-heads'.

Last year local parents had their say on plans to bring Fulham Cross Girls' School together with its close neighbour Henry Compton School.

Welcoming the Government's Education White Paper, ‘Your child, your school, our future', the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) is pleased that the importance of good school leadership is being recognised as a vital part of the 21^st century schools system.

Two schools in the Norfolk village of Reepham are taking part in the world's first world's first trial of a renewable heating oil that can be used in existing boilers.

The higher education unions - the University and College Union (UCU), EIS, GMB, UNISON and Unite - have rejected a ‘derisory' pay offer from the national employers of just 0.3%. Following an earlier employers' ultimatum of ‘jobs or a pay increase', the unions pushed for a national agreement on job security.

A large number of schools will fail to meet the 2010 Government target for learning platforms and the 2010/2012 target for online reporting, recent research conducted by the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) has discovered. This is despite an increase in adoption of a learning platform in both primary and secondary schools in 2009. The implementation of a learning platform is hoped to improve communication and access to information for pupils, parents and students alike.

Young people across the UK, aged 11-21, are being given the opportunity to have their say in the fight against knife crime through an open access film competition with a difference: The Life Channel Young Filmmakers' Competition 2009.

Five children with a range of health conditions delivered boxes of letters to 10 Downing Street this morning asking Gordon Brown to improve support for them at school.

School grounds across the UK will be transformed into mini-wheat fields this summer, when thousands of children grow their own grains as part of CBBC's Blue Peter's Mission Nutrition appeal.

The Department of Education has published an updated handbook which sets out the specification and design standards for new primary schools. Speaking about the new handbook Education Minister Caitríona Ruane said: "As Minister my priority is to ensure all our children have access to the best education available. It is therefore vital that we provide the highest quality school buildings to meet the current and future needs of teachers and pupils."

Every young person who wants to study or to take up training will have their place guaranteed by the Government, thanks to a £655 million funding announcement in last month's Budget. This additional money will help tackle youth unemployment and ensure continued investment in skills through the downturn.

London's boroughs need £740 million to guarantee every five year-old a school place over the next five years, London Councils has warned. Three quarters of London's boroughs are either having to provide unsatisfactory temporary classrooms or increasing class sizes to cope with demand, or acknowledge that a lack of capacity and insufficient funding for expansion means they will be facing problems within 2-3 years.

The University and College Union (UCU) today (Thursday) accused university vice-chancellors of hypocrisy over staff pay and student fees as it was revealed that, following huge pay rises, they now earn, on average, almost as much as the prime minister. The union said calls from vice-chancellors for higher student fees and restraints in staff pay looked distasteful next to their own exorbitant increases.

Diplomas are reaching the crucial ‘tipping point' as new figures show that over 97 percent of local authorities will be offering the new qualifications by September 2010, Schools Minister Jim Knight said.

Pressure on top international business schools to identify quality candidates among rapidly growing numbers of MBA applicants has created extra demand for MBA recruitment events with a focus on pre-selection. Leading business schools including HEC, Duke, IE, Ashridge, Manchester and Warwick will attend an invite-only QS TopMBA Connect event in London next month. Organized by QS, this extra London date for the prestigious QS TopMBA Connect Tour is responding to the need to identify leading MBA candidates for the last few spaces of the 2009 intake.

New research shows that headteachers can save time and money to reinvest in children's education if they delegate responsibility for the school's administration and finance to a qualified, high-level School Business Manager.

Healthy & Safety Executive (HSE) has called on Directors to demonstrate personal commitment and spend more time outside the boardroom to show they really care about health and safety.

Today (Monday 23 March) two hundred Year 9 pupils at Prospect School in Reading are saying no to knife crime with a series of creative workshops, as part of an "It Doesn't Have to Happen" (IDHTH) anti-knife crime action fortnight at the school.

The new Skills for Life core curriculum is set to make a real difference to the lives of trainers and teachers who support adult learners. Developed by the Learning and Skills Improvement Service and available exclusively via the Excellence Gateway - LSIS's online portal for the FE sector - the revised adult core curriculum is now online and will provide vital guidance to practitioners at a click of the mouse, giving instant access to vital adult literacy, language and numeracy resources.

Changes, Bexleyheath's leading women's-only gym, is making the Government's recently launched public health campaign Change 4 Life, a reality for a group of Year 11 girls from St Catherine's Catholic School For Girls, Bexleyheath with the launch today of a ‘Health Awareness' programme. The initiative has the support of local MP David Evennett, who took time out of his busy schedule to visit the club and support the launch.

ntl:Telewest Business is providing a £4.5 million data network across the West Midlands to deliver JANET to 3.4 million staff, students and researchers.

Free physical activity classroom resources are being made available to 250,000 Key Stage 2 pupils as part of latest efforts to combat rising levels of child obesity. Designed to inspire pupils to be more active, the Move It! Challenge educational packs are available to teachers on a first come, first served basis.

Lifelong Learning UK welcomes the government's announcement of a £20m plan to support informal adult learning. This is particularly meaningful at a time of economic challenges and when supporting all forms of training and education is more important than ever.

The majority of parents admit they don't know as much about their child's day at school as they would like, according to a new Oh, Nothing Much report commissioned by Becta, the government agency for technology in learning, to support its Next Generation Learning campaign.

Jangro, the UK's largest network of 37 independently owned janitorial companies in the UK and the Isle of Man; has launched Sovereign Floor Care - a comprehensive range of nine new products.

Its simple with www.eteach.com. Founded in 2000, Eteach is the UK's leading online education jobsite, offering the complete online solution for job-seekers and recruiters.