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 [...]
Advanced maths Alevel needed to stretch prodigies
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An advanced form of the maths A-level should be introduced to attract the prodigies who are not stretched by the current qualifications, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority said yesterday.Some 60% of teachers they questioned for their latest report on A-level maths said the qualifications had got easier since reforms in 2004. Teachers said pupils were [...]
Immersion is a difficult lesson
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It was an ambitious plan pushed through by Malaysia’s leader, Mahathir Mohamad, despite fierce opposition. Five years on the decision that all Malaysian children should be taught maths and science in English still causes heated debate.With an election looming, nationalist politicians are again seizing on the charged issue of language in an ethnically diverse country [...]
Popularity of boring geography on wane
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Geography teaching is in decline, with schoolchildren claiming it is “boring and irrelevant” and teachers avoiding field trips due to health and safety concerns, school inspectors report today.Pupils are failing to gain an understanding of climate change, environmentalism and global citizenship through lessons which are too often led by non-specialists, according to the study from [...]
Can we have economic growth alongside social cohesion
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Educational research institutions are not noted for picking grabby titles and the newest one - Learning and Life Chances in the Knowledge Economies and Societies - is hardly going to break that mould.But Llakes will be investigating one of the more compelling conundrums of human life: is it possible to enjoy the best of both [...]
Cribsheet
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The bar is half-empty”Don’t head off into town and spend a fortune on weekend-priced drinks, when you can come to your very own union instead. New this term: fantastic, better-than-ever drinks promotions - trebles+mixer (incl Red Bull) for %26pound;2.50 - new DJ line-up, stilt-walking, stage dancers and fire performers.”This rather desperate promotion for the Newcastle [...]
Perfect timing
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Paralympian Beverley Gull, MBE was working as a disability adviser at the University of East London (UEL) when she decided she wanted to follow her dreams and become a professional sports photographer. Gull, due to graduate with a BA in photography next month, started her course in February rather than in the autumn, and says [...]
Desperately seeking students
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Almost every day, scores of desperate teenagers tune in to Nippon Housou Kyokai - Japan’s equivalent of the BBC. Not for some light relief from schoolwork, but for a show that helps them to cram for tough university entrance exams.For how much longer though? Japan has one of the oldest and most well-respected higher education [...]
Heads face tougher rules on exclusion
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Headteachers will find it much more difficult to exclude children they suspect of serious offences such as drug dealing, carrying a knife or violent bullying if a major legal challenge is successful in the High Court.Lawyers say that children accused of the most serious wrongdoing are not being given a ‘fair trial’ and that government [...]
Faiths come together in school experiment
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It will be a faith-based school like no other; one that unites rather than segregates. Tomorrow night a group of Irish parents, religious leaders and academics will start enrolment to a unique educational experiment teaching Christians, Jews and Muslims together.They claim their school will be the first of its kind in Europe: one based on [...]
