Category Archives: Schools

Secret report reveals government fear of schools chaos after no-deal Brexit

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Risk of axed exams and food shortages, while informing the public ‘may cause panic’

Schools may have to close, exams could be disrupted and fresh food for pupils’ meals could run short because of panic buying with prices soaring by up to 20%, according to a secret Department for Education analysis of the risks of a no-deal Brexit obtained by the Observer.

The five-page document – marked “Official Sensitive” and with the instruction “Do Not Circulate” – also raises the possibility of teacher absences caused by travel disruption, citing schools in Kent as particularly at risk.

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Russia denies visas to teachers at Anglo-American school

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Staff say decision is ‘blowback’ as a result of worsening relations with US

Russia has denied visas to teachers of the Anglo-American school in Moscow, in a move described by one teacher as “blowback” over worsening US-Russian relations.

The US ambassador, Jon Huntsman, called the decision to deny visas to 30 teachers at the Anglo-American school “unfortunate” and said it would “affect over 1,100 students and their families, who represent over 60 countries, including Russia”. The day school is popular among the children of western diplomats and businessmen.

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Teachers strike over pupils ‘carrying knives and brawling’

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Staff given panic buttons at outstanding-rated Starbank school in Birmingham

Teachers have gone on strike at a school in Birmingham rated outstanding by Ofsted where they say “feral” students are carrying knives, threatening staff and brawling in classrooms.

Staff at Starbank school, whose pupils’ ages range from three to 16, have been given panic buttons and are “scared to come out of their classrooms” between lessons, according to a teaching union.

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Teachers want climate crisis training, poll shows

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Survey says teachers feel ill-equipped to educate pupils, as school strikes continue

A growing number of teachers want their pupils to learn more about the climate crisis and are calling for environmental training so they can prepare children for a rapidly changing world, according to a poll.

The findings from YouGov research commissioned by Oxfam come before the latest round of school climate strikes on Friday, in which it is expected that hundreds of thousands of young people will walk out of classrooms around the world.

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Greta Thunberg backs climate general strike to force leaders to act

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Swedish activist says world faces ‘existential crisis’ and must achieve goals of Paris deal

Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish environmental activist, has given her support for a general strike for the climate, saying the student movement she inspired needs more support from older generations to ensure politicians keep their promises under the Paris agreement.

Speaking at a public event in London as Extinction Rebellion protests continued in the capital, the initiator of the school strike for climate movement was typically frank about the scale of the problem the world faces and the impact her campaign has made. “People are slowly becoming more aware, but emissions continue to rise. We can’t focus on small things. Basically, nothing has changed,” she said.

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Year 6 pupils spend Easter at school cramming for Sats

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Teaching officials angry that children are having to attend revision classes over holidays

Children at hundreds of primary schools in England are being asked to attend Sats revision classes over the Easter holidays, a teaching union official has revealed, warning that it was part of a disturbing trend.

Darren Northcott, the NASUWT national officer for education, said revision classes for primary school pupils were unheard of five years ago but that he now knew of hundreds of cases of pupils in their final year of primary – Year 6 – being asked in for “cramming” by their schools ahead of the tests next month.

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Youth climate change protests across Britain – live

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Tens of thousands of young people in Britain and abroad are demonstrating for climate action in the latest wave of strikes

We will be closing the live blog shortly, so thanks to all those who contributed.

Organiser Cyrus Jarvis, 16, a year 11 student from London Academy school in Barnet, North London, reflected on the march, saying:

The police tried to frighten us with arrests but we just moved on. We are really sorry for anyone who did have issues because of us, but unfortunately this is what we have to do to get our point across to the government. If we don’t cause disruption they don’t listen to us and they haven’t listened to us in the past.”

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‘Let gay Muslims be gay’: Owen Jones goes to the centre of the LGBT lesson row – video

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Earlier this year protests began over LGBT-inclusive lessons in Parkfield primary school Birmingham. The lessons were suspended and the protests have since spread to other schools. Owen Jones travels to the city to speak to the protesters, teachers and activists at the heart of the row to ask what happens next.

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Youth climate strikes to take place in more than 100 countries

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Movement inspired by Greta Thunberg has snowballed, as Belgian workers join strike

Hundreds of thousands of children are expected to walk out of their classrooms on Friday for a global climate strike amid growing anger at the failure of politicians to tackle the escalating ecological crisis.

Children at tens of thousands of schools in more than 100 countries are due to take part in the walkouts which began last year when one teenager – Greta Thunberg – held a solo protest outside the Swedish parliament.

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Chinese school under fire for buying tracking bracelets for students

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Smart devices will be used to record students’ health data and when they raise their hand

A high school in southern China has come under fire for buying “smart bracelets” to track its students.

Guangdong Guangya High school has purchased 3,500 bracelets that would record students heart rate and physical activity, as well as the number of times a pupil raised his or her hand in class, according to local media reports. The bands have a location function and can be used to pay for items as well as track attendance.

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School lessons to cover sexting, FGM and mental health

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Department for Education unveils fresh guidelines for sex and health lessons in England

The Department for Education (DfE) has unveiled fresh guidelines for sex and health education across England, with relationships, cyber safety and mental health all set to be included as part of the new curriculum.

Three new subjects have been created – relationships education from primary school, relationships and sex education at secondary school, and health education for all ages in which students will learn about the importance of getting enough sleep, the dangers of sexting and how to spot anxiety in their friends.

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Children to be taught dangers of female genital mutilation

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Sex education shake-up in secondary schools means learning about grooming, forced marriage and domestic abuse

The dangers of female genital mutilation will be taught to all secondary school pupils in England from 2020 as part of a bold shake-up of relationships and sex education.

New proposals will be presented to parliament on Monday which would see the curriculum reformed to include relationship education for primary age pupils and health education for pupils of all ages in state-funded schools. Secondary school pupils will also be taught about grooming, forced marriage and domestic abuse.

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‘The beginning of great change’: Greta Thunberg hails school climate strikes

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The 16-year-old’s lone protest last summer has morphed into a powerful global movement challenging politicians to act

Greta Thunberg is hopeful the student climate strike on Friday can bring about positive change, as young people in more and more countries join the protest movement she started last summer as a lone campaigner outside the Swedish parliament.

Related: Teenage activist takes School Strikes 4 Climate Action to Davos

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Orkney rated Britain’s best place to live in terms of quality of life

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Scotland and north of England dominate top five as measured by housing, crime and schools

Orkney is the best place to live in the UK, with cheap houses, low crime, good schools and a population who are among the happiest and healthiest in the country, according to the annual Halifax quality of life survey.

The survey found that all the top five best places to live in the UK were in Scotland or the north of England. Richmondshire in the north of the Yorkshire Dales came second, while the appropriately named Eden district in Cumbria was third.

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