Newsround

What’s been newsworthy in the world of education?

• Pen Green Centre for Children and their Families in Corby was awarded ‘Overall school of the year’ was awarded at the TES Awards 2018. Eldon Primary School in Preston was named Primary School of the Year and Kensington Aldridge Academy was named Secondary School of the Year.
• A great story from the TES is about a school principal in Kenya who insists on wearing the same school uniform as his pupils. Perhaps we should do the same?
• President of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), Dr Mary Bousted, said that sexual harassment has been “normalised” in adolescent culture and girls are being forced to wear shorts under their skirts at school to stop boys from “upskirting”. NASUWT Cymru warns that pupils upskirting teachers is increasing.
• The Independent report that more than 50% of school staff feel they have to use their own money to pay for basic essentials including food, tampons and clothes for vulnerable children.
• St Paul’s Girls School (SPGS) in Hammersmith, west London, held an ‘austerity day’ lunch where their usual Confit Duck was swapped for baked beans and potatoes.
• School Standards Minister, Nick Gibb, speaking at the Wellington Festival of Education says that teachers are taking control of their profession.
• A new British Council survey has revealed access to foreign language learning is restricting for pupils in disadvantaged areas in England. The Language Trends Survey tell us that while French and German are decreasing in popularity, Spanish could become England’s main modern language in secondary schools in the next ten years.

• Figures published by the Department for Education say that the number of teachers working in state-funded schools in England has fallen to its lowest level since 2013. In 2017 there were 451,900 full time equivalent teachers working in English state schools, compared with 457,000 in 2016.

• News that won’t surprise anyone working in education says we should avoid getting children to give quick-fire answers. Research suggests that children who take longer to answer are more likely to be able to grasp and correct their own misconceptions.

• According to research, narcissists might be irritating attention seekers but they are also annoyingly likely to be successful.

• The Education Endowment Foundation have published Preparing for Literacy which offers seven practical, evidence-based recommendations to support improving communication, language and literacy in the early years:

Recommendation 1:  Prioritise the development of communication and language

Recommendation 2:  Develop children’s early reading using a balanced approach

Recommendation 3:  Develop children’s capability and motivation to write

Recommendation 4:  Embed opportunities to develop self-regulation

Recommendation 5:  Support parents to ensure they understand how to help their children learn

Recommendation 6:  Use high quality assessment to ensure all children make good progress

Recommendation 7:  Use high quality targeted support to help struggling children

Preparing for Literacy says that around 13% of children in the UK could have undiagnosed eye conditions – like short-sightedness, or astigmatism – that hold back the development of their literacy skills. Sir Kevan Collins, Chief Executive of the Education Endowment Foundation, said:

Making sure all young children with possible eyesight problems are identified, and those that are given glasses or other treatments use them is a cheap way of removing this unnecessary barrier to learning. It should be a no-brainer.