New year new union
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The National Union of Students has staged a quiet revolution over the course of last year, gently steering the traditionally feisty, hard leftwing organisation into more corporate Blairite waters.Its president, Gemma Tumelty, has been instrumental in making the changes. She wants the organisation and students to be seen as more than just firefighters, reacting to [...]
12000 students miss chance of bursaries worth up to #163;12m
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Up to 12,000 of the poorest students missed out on bursaries worth on average %26pound;1,000 each last year after data protection laws stopped their universities contacting them, a watchdog has revealed.Institutions are being asked to track down the unpaid students and hand out the bursaries retrospectively, according to the Office for Fair Access (Offa), which [...]
Retrain as physics specialists and get #163;5000 teachers told
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Teachers who retrain to become maths, physics and chemistry specialists will get a “golden handshake” of %26#163;5,000 under new government plans announced today.The new %26#163;140m scheme is aimed at increasing the number of science and maths teachers, improving results at GCSE and getting more young people studying science, technology, engineering and maths - Stem - [...]
Only class war on public schools can rid us of this unhinged ruling class
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If only the government would justify the paranoia of the ruling classes. They believe, as they have always believed, that they are under unprecedented attack. All last week the rightwing papers rustled with the lamentations of the privileged, wailing about a new class war. If only.The whinge-fest was prompted by the publication of the Charity [...]
Crib sheet
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Small babes, large lessonsSeventeen-year-old Nathan Carson used to think having a baby with his girlfriend wouldn’t be too bad. “I probably thought, if it happens, it happens - we’ll manage somehow,” he says. Being involved in the reality TV show the Baby Borrowers, in which the BBC gave teenage couples live babies to care for [...]
We need to talk about violence
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The teenage boys of St Bonaventure’s school in Newham, east London, look like they don’t know what’s hit them. Sergio Argueta, a reformed New York gang leader, is shouting preacher-style. “The friends who tell you they’re watching your back? Watch them duck when the shots are fired.”The best friend you see in a box and [...]
Cataloguing the past
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This Sunday is Holocaust Memorial Day, an international day of remembrance dedicated to those who lost their lives in the Holocaust. Events and activities held this weekend will aim to draw the attention of the world to ongoing humanitarian tragedies (including the recent atrocities in Kenya and the continued suffering of the people of Darfur).This [...]
Crackdown on schoolgirl bullying epidemic
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Teachers are being told to challenge ‘vicious’ and ‘manipulative’ girl-on-girl bullying in schools by a leading educationist who says it is far more damaging than the ways that boys intimidate each other.Val Besag, a consultant educational psychologist, delivered her damning verdict as the head of Cheltenham Ladies’ College, Vicky Tuck, told The Observer that at [...]
Millions wasted on school contract bids
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Hundreds of millions of pounds are being lost by a government scheme that aims to rebuild or remodel every secondary school in the country, it has emerged. Enough money to fund a new school in every local authority is being wasted because of the costly and burdensome bidding process used by the government, according to [...]
Minister warns schools accused of breaking law on admissions
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Ministers have warned schools they will crack down on any breaches of a new admissions code after it emerged that nearly 80 schools have been reported to the admissions watchdog and accused of covertly selecting more able students.The schools minister, Jim Knight, has told local authorities to follow the code after reports that some schools [...]
