Campaigners want ministers to overhaul rules to outlaw snacks that contain up to 12 teaspoons of sugar
Schools in England should be banned from giving pupils cakes or biscuits as part of their lunch because they contain so much sugar, food campaigners say.
They want ministers to overhaul the rules that guide schools on the nutritional content of the meals they serve to outlaw such sugary snacks.
Continue reading...Axel Scheffler says he hopes Wuschel auf der Erde will encourage more children to learn his first language
Axel Scheffler, the illustrator behind the international children’s bestseller The Gruffalo, has launched a book to help primary school pupils learn German.
Wuschel auf der Erde: A New Adventure in Learning German tells the story of a friendly alien called Wuschel arriving on Earth from a distant planet with a mission to learn German. Through Scheffler’s distinctive illustrations, children are introduced to their first German words, such as die Maus (mouse) and der Spielplatz (playground), in a fun and interactive way.
Continue reading...Inspectorate aims to replace single headline grade such as outstanding with assessment of 10 key areas
Schools could be judged on a five-step scale of colours or descriptions across 10 separate areas, such as inclusion and belonging, according to proposals by England’s schools inspectorate.
The proposals by Ofsted aim to replace inspection reports that culminate in a single headline grade such as outstanding, which Labour pledged to scrap after a coroner’s report said Ofsted’s inspection had contributed to the death of headteacher Ruth Perry last year.
Continue reading...Experiment for a term prompted by research showing that sharing every result put added pressure on students
A secondary school in the Netherlands is blocking parental access to children’s grades for a term in an attempt to reduce the pressure on pupils to perform.
Like many countries, the Netherlands has a system under which students need a certain grade average to progress to the next year, but Jordan – Montessori Lyceum Utrecht found that a widely used app that shares every mark with parents was increasing stress among children.
Continue reading...Parliamentary bill will also ban the advertising of vapes and restrict their flavours, packaging and marketing
Smoking is set to be banned outside schools and hospitals as part of a crackdown on one of the UK’s biggest killers and its most common cause of cancer.
But the government has dropped plans to outlaw smoking outside pubs and restaurants, prompting health campaigners to complain about “vested interests” covertly influencing policy.
Continue reading...Eight charged in connection with murder of Samuel Paty in Paris suburbs in 2020
It was a killing that started with a lie. In October 2020, an Islamist terrorist tracked down and decapitated professor Samuel Paty as he left school on the last day before half-term holidays.
In the days preceding his murder, Paty, 47, who taught geography and history, had been the subject of an intense campaign of online harassment sparked when a 13-year-old student claimed he had discriminated against his Muslim pupils during a class on moral and civic education.
Continue reading...Sector faces ‘catastrophic loss’ as more than 9,000 thirtysomething women leave state education in a year
Schools across England are ramping up maternity pay and offering flexible working in a bid to stem the exodus of thousands of women in their 30s from teaching.
In Wednesday’s budget, Rachel Reeves confirmed she would fund the recruiting of 6,500 new teachers by pressing ahead with imposing VAT on private school fees. Yet heads and charities are warning that with more than 9,000 women aged between 30 and 39 having left state education last year, the government will not fix the teacher shortage unless it also acts to stop experienced women leaving.
Continue reading...Independent Schools Council says its focus is on children and it is concerned about impact on specialist schools
The Independent Schools Council (ISC) has said it will launch legal action against the government’s decision to impose VAT on independent school fees.
The council, which represents more than 1,400 private schools in the UK and abroad, reached its decision after a board meeting held on Thursday.
Continue reading...Former pupils of Catholic schools say corporal punishment was ‘hourly occurence’ in 60s and 70s
The Irish government has been urged to extend the scope of a statutory inquiry into historical child abuse in schools to include corporal punishment, including a practice known as “leathering”.
Survivors of physical assault in Catholic schools have complained they were told there was no scope to include corporal punishment in an investigation into sexual abuse, announced in September.
Continue reading...Trade body for France’s travel industry reportedly writes to UK home secretary over concerns for programme’s future
A scheme designed to boost the numbers of French children able to travel to Britain for school trips is reportedly in peril as a result of an overhaul of entry requirements in the UK.
New rules for French school trips were introduced in December last year after a meeting between the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the then UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak.
Continue reading...Proportion of students eligible for free school meals at 15 who progress to higher education falls from 29.2% to 29%
The proportion of disadvantaged teenagers in England going on to study at university has fallen for the first time on record, leading to accusations that the country is moving backwards in terms of social mobility.
Figures released by the Department for Education show that 29% of students eligible for free school meals at 15 had progressed to university by the age of 19 in 2022-23, compared with 29.2% the previous year – the first time the rate has fallen since it was first measured in 2005-06.
Continue reading...National Audit Office report finds no signs of improvement in lives of pupils despite record spending
The bill for special needs education in England has hit £10bn a year, with the number of children and young people entitled to government support in the form of education, health and care plans set to double to 1 million within a decade, a landmark report has found.
The investigation by the National Audit Office (NAO) found that despite record levels of spending there had been no signs of improvement in the lives of children with special educational needs (SEN).
Continue reading...Rules targeting fruit drinks, chips and artificial pork rinds come as UN calls child obesity in country an emergency
Schools in Mexico have six months to implement a government-sponsored ban on junk food or face heavy fines, officials said on Monday, as authorities confront what they call the worst childhood obesity problem in the world.
The new rules target products that have become staples for two or three generations of Mexican school kids: sugary fruit drinks, chips, artificial pork rinds and soy-encased, salty peanuts with chili.
Continue reading...Contender says ‘it is about being brave and not being scared that the Guardian is going to mock us’
Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, has told MPs that magistrates are getting powers to sentence offenders for longer – to reduce the number of prisoners being held on remand and to cut the backlog in crown courts
In a statement to MPs, she said that, although this would increase the prison population slightly, by reducing the number of offenders being held on remand it would free up spaces in reception prisons where overcrowding is particularly serious.
Unless we address our remand population, we could still see a collapse of the system, not because of a lack of cells, but because we do not have those cells in the places that we need them. It is therefore crucial that we bear down on the remand population.
This government inherited a record crown court backlog. Waits for trials have grown so long that some cases are not heard for years.
The impact on victims of crime is profound. For some justice delayed is, as the old saying goes, justice denied as victims choose to withdraw from the justice process altogether rather than face the pain of a protracted legal battle.
I have made it my personal mission to constrain the Kremlin, closing the net around Putin and his mafia state using every tool at my disposal.
Continue reading...Wolsingham school’s carbon-cutting event had been planned by pupils but parents raised concerns
A school has made a U-turn on a student-led plan to turn the heating off for a “blue nose” climate action day after parents raised concerns.
The heating was due to be turned off at Wolsingham school, County Durham, on Friday but the plan has now been postponed until the summer term of next year when it is likely to be warmer.
Continue reading...Summer riots were a consequence of relegating the subject to just one month, says Black Curriculum founder
Black history must be made mandatory in England to counter hatred and help prevent racist riots, a leading campaigner says.
Lavinya Stennett, who founded the Black Curriculum, warned of the real risks of black history and a diverse curriculum being relegated to just one month, or only being implemented in schools with diverse students and in metropolitan areas.
Continue reading...Group says government policy would force many to close and leave deeply religious families with no alternatives
Independent faith schools have held talks with ministers over a proposal to exempt small private establishments from VAT if their fees are far below those charged by elite schools such as Eton.
The group, representing more than 270 Jewish, Muslim and Christian independent faith schools that often rely on donations and volunteers to survive, say the government’s policy of adding 20% VAT to fees from this January would force many to close and leave deeply religious families with no alternatives.
Continue reading...English primary schools having to help infants catch up on speech and language to cope with lessons
Primary schools are having to teach infants how to communicate, as they struggle to make friends or cope with lessons because of speech and language difficulties, according to a report by Ofsted.
The research by Ofsted inspectors, based on visits to schools in England rated as good or outstanding, found that the Covid pandemic “is still having an impact on children’s behaviour and social skills”.
Continue reading...The Treasury refuses to confirm 1 January start date as unions, tax experts and school leaders say it is unworkable
Government plans to impose VAT on private schools from 1 January next year may have to be delayed because of warnings from unions, tax experts and school leaders that meeting the deadline will cause administrative chaos and teacher job losses, and put pressure on the state sector.
The Treasury on Saturday night refused to confirm that the plan to impose 20% VAT on private school fees would go ahead from 1 January, as confirmed by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, in July, instead saying it would be introduced “as soon as possible”.
Continue reading...NEU snap poll shows 95% of members voting for 5.5% pay rise, ending months of industrial action
Teachers in England have voted overwhelmingly to accept a 5.5% pay rise but warned ministers that without further “corrections” pay would remain uncompetitive and teacher shortages would persist.
Of those members who responded to the National Education Union’s snap poll, 95% voted to accept the 2024-25 offer, which would give schools an additional £1.2bn to cover the pay rise.
Continue reading...