Time to press pause and find out what’s been happening in the news.
- The government is being urged to incorporate life skills into the curriculum of English secondary schools, after a pilot study found it substantially improved teenagers’ mental and physical health.
- A Guardian analysis has found a record number of children are being excluded for racist bullying. In 2017, 4,590 cases of racial abuse among school students were deemed serious enough to warrant fixed or permanent exclusion.
- According to the Initial Teacher Training Census 2018-2019, the government has missed its teacher training targets in most secondary school subjects this year. Overall, a total of 29,255 new postgraduate trainees were recruited this year in England, against a government target of 32,226.
- A poll carried out by the NAHT headteachers’ union and ComRes, reveals that 54% of MPs accept that schools are in a financial crisis, but one in three do not.
- Six UK paediatricians swallowed LEGO as part of an experiment to see how long it takes to pass through the human body.
- Making school uniform more affordable, available, gender-neutral and, in extreme weather conditions, flexible are the four key aims of a consultation being launched in Wales.
- Cheating is on the rise. A report from the Standards and Testing Agency shows that 599 schools were investigated for maladministration during Sats exams in 2017, compared with 524 in 2016.
- Thousands of children missing out on support for diagnosed special educational needs in England is, according to Ofsted, a “national scandal”.