Newsround

What’s been in the news lately?

• What exactly is a free school? Take a look at the excellent article from The Daily Telegraph that explains more.
• According to a new report published by the education select committee, zero tolerance behaviour policies have become a popular among headteachers and some pupils are being “punished needlessly” for minor offences under strict behaviour codes and this is fuelling the escalating number of expulsions across England. Ever wondered what it’s like in a Pupil Referral Unit – take a look at the following BBC video.
• Air pollution means that fewer children are walking to school but travelling by car only adds to the pollution further – 1 in 4 cars on the road in the mornings are on the school run. The National Travel Survey shows that the percentage of primary school children who walk or cycle in England fell from 53% to 51% in 2017. The walking charity Living Streets currently works successfully with over 2,000 schools across the UK running WOW – the year-round walk to school challenge. Read their School Report to find out why we should encourage families to park and stride.

• The first round of £7.7million Curriculum Fund will make it easier for teachers to find and share high-quality lesson plans and resources. Read more about the curriculum programme pilots.
• Children and Families Minister Nadhim Zahawi announces funding for thousands of families to benefit from free healthy meals and activities in the summer holidays.
• Direct Instruction (DI) programmes are more successful than any others in raising students’ achievement. Research covering hundreds of studies says that highly-structured teaching has a consistently positive effect on learning. Find out more about DI here.
• Damian Hinds says that it is a scandal that children arrive at school unable to speak or read. He says this matters

Because when you’re behind from the start you rarely catch up, because, of course, your peers don’t wait, the gap just widens and this has a huge impact on social mobility.

• According to a study conducted by ACS International Schools, 49% of admissions officers said they do not believe that students arrive at university “sufficiently prepared” for higher education because of their Google-it mentality.
• The Daily Telegraph report that there has been a significant decline in students opting for so-called “mickey mouse” GCSEs.