What’s been in the news just lately?
- A planned protest today will see schoolchildren across the UK walk out of their lessons to demand action over climate change.
- What’s IKEA got against the Kiwis? The furniture chain has apologised after leaving New Zealand off a map. This isn’t the first time NZ has been left off maps either – plenty more besides IKEA do it.
- Robert Halfon, chairman of the Education Select Committee, says GCSEs should be scrapped and A-levels should be replaced by a mix of academic and vocational subjects.
- Venki Ramakrishnan the president of the Royal Society has said A-levels do not give young people the best start for securing good jobs and should be reviewed.
- The Guardian reports, “More than 50 faith leaders, education experts and rights advocates have said young LGBT people would be at increased risk of bullying in schools if the government waters down draft guidance in response to pressure.”
- Try these Escher-style tiling puzzles from Alain Nicolas.
- The Guardian reports that Ofsted should radically change its approach to how it assesses schools to stop vulnerable children from being lured into dealing drugs as part of the so-called county lines crisis.
- Car-free zones are to be introduced around some primary schools in Glasgow as part of a move to keep pupils safe.
- Pupils in 100 schools will take part in a trial of Glasses for Classes, a programme developed by a team at the University of Leeds and the Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Professor Mark Mon-Williams, lead academic from the University of Leeds, said:
Poor eyesight in young children can be enormously difficult for parents or teachers to detect, and even where it’s obvious, there is currently no mechanism to ensure vision screening results are ever acted upon. We believe this project shows great promise and could help the large number of children with visual problems across the country to have a more positive educational experience, and ensure they have the good start in life that every child deserves.