UK scores expected to fall in Pisa education study

UK’s maths scores predicted to drop after a jump last time, with a less severe decline in English

UK scores in tests that compare educational attainment among 15-year-olds around the world are likely to fall when they are published this week, after the disruption that Covid caused to learning.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will publish the results of its latest programme for international student assessment (Pisa) on Tuesday, a year later than expected due to the pandemic.

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Iowa rights groups sue over law banning LGBTQ+ books and discussion in school

Suit by several families and organizations seek to have law declared as violation of students’ and teachers’ free speech

Several families are suing to stop Iowa’s new law that bans books from school libraries, forbids teachers from raising LGBTQ+ issues and forces educators in some cases to out the gender identity of students to their parents.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa and Lambda announced the federal lawsuit on Tuesday, saying the law passed earlier this year by the Republican-led legislature and enacted this fall “seeks to silence LGBTQ+ students, erase any recognition of LGBTQ+ people from public schools, and bans books with sexual or LGBTQ+ content”.

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UK school pupils ‘using AI to create indecent imagery of other children’

Protection groups call for urgent action to help pupils understand risks of making images that legally constitute child sexual abuse

Children in British schools are using artificial intelligence (AI) to make indecent images of other children, a group of experts on child abuse and technology has warned.

They said that a number of schools were reporting for the first time that pupils were using AI-generating technology to create images of children that legally constituted child sexual abuse material.

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Hong Kong to restructure primary education to make it more ‘patriotic’

New curriculum from 2025 part of push to create sense of national identity among schoolchildren

Hong Kong is to introduce “patriotic” education in all primary schools by 2025, in the government’s latest push to “systematically cultivate” a sense of national identity among schoolchildren

Under the new framework, primary school pupils are expected to learn about national security and will also be taught about the opium war and Japan’s invasion of China, two key events in Beijing’s narrative of a “century of humiliation”, which it pushes as a reason for nationalism.

Students will also learn about significant Chinese historical figures and national achievements under the leadership of the Chinese Community party.

“The enrichment aims to keep pace with the times and systematically cultivate students’ sense of belonging to our country, national sentiments and sense of national identity from an early age for the implementation of patriotic education,” an official document reads.

The education bureau said the changes were made in line with national-level legislation that called for strengthening patriotic education in China. Mainland China maintains separate governing and economic system in Hong Kong but has gradually increased its control.

On Thursday, the education bureau announced the existing general studies curriculum in primary schools would be replaced with a new humanities curriculum by 2025. While the curriculum would contain general studies elements, such as health, citizenship and community, it would emphasise patriotic education, with new modules on national identity, national history and national security.

Paul Lee Kin-wan, an education official overseeing curriculum development, said that patriotic values existed in the previous curriculum, and students should know about China’s achievements. “It wouldn’t be right if students know nothing about their country after six years of education,” Lee said.

Students are expected to spend 93 hours – about 7% of their time in primary school – on the new curriculum.

Most of the suggested learning material came from government departments, including a short video about the legislative process of Hong Kong’s national security law, with no mention of the mass protest movement that preceded its enactment.

One veteran educator, who wished not to be named, said the curriculum seemed to emphasise national education over other components. “At that age, it is important to nurture good lifestyle and habits and students’ curiosity about their surroundings,” the educator said, adding that modules on students’ relationships with their family, friends and neighbours took up far less space.

While the curriculum highlights China’s achievements, the educator said the government should make it clearer whether more sensitive topics, such as China’s societal issues, could be discussed in class. “China has historical problems and existing ones. We need to face up to them for the country to progress.”

For more than a decade, the Hong Kong government had been trying to incorporate national and patriotic education into school curriculums. In 2012, a plan to introduce moral and national education in primary and secondary schools provoked mass class boycotts and protests, leading to it being temporary shelved.

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School leaders in England feel lockdown ‘broke spell’ of bond with parents

Education experts agree with Ofsted chief that many parents now disregard rules previously taken for granted

Lockdown “broke the spell” that bound parents and schools together, according to school leaders and experts who have endorsed the Ofsted chief’s view that many parents now disregard rules on behaviour and attendance they once took for granted.

Delivering her last annual report as chief inspector of schools in England, Amanda Spielman said: “The social contract between parents and schools has been fractured by lockdowns and closures.” And she warned: “That social contract took years to build and consolidate and it will take time to restore.”

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Soaring special needs school transport costs ‘unsustainable’, say councils

Local authorities fear service cuts or even bankruptcy as costs jump from £400m to £700m in five years

Soaring costs of school transport for children with special educational needs is causing councils in England to warn of service cuts and potential insolvency, according to local authority leaders.

The County Council Network (CCN), which represents mainly rural local authorities in England, says its 37 members are spending more than £700m a year on school transport for 85,000 children with special education needs and disabilities (Send), compared with less than £400m five years ago.

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‘Nobody cared’: Victim’s ‘betrayal’ over revelations at Victoria’s school child sexual abuse inquiry

Victim-survivor shocked by education department’s admission it moved accused paedophile teachers to other state schools

When the dark history of Victoria’s education department was laid bare this week in public hearings, Glen Fearnett sat metres away from bureaucrats as they divulged the state’s failings to protect children.

Fearnett is a victim-survivor of abuse and has been central in pushing for a formal apology for the abuse he and other victim-survivors suffered at Beaumaris primary school, in Melbourne’s south-east.

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NSW Catholic school sparks four-day week debate with ‘learn from home’ Mondays for senior students

Opportunity to learn from home will ‘set students up for success’, principal of Chevalier College says

Parents at a regional Catholic college in New South Wales are welcoming a proposed change to the school week that would mean seniors spend Mondays at home.

Chevalier College, based in the southern highlands, has announced a proposal that would see students in years 10 to 12 learn and work from home on Mondays, a move the principal says would “set students up for success”.

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‘Desensitised’: calls for better education after research suggests Victorian boys less likely to stop harassment

Study of students finds marked drop from Year 7 to Year 9 in proportion of those willing to intervene

Chanel Contos, a sexual consent education advocate, says teenagers may be getting so desensitised to porn that it’s affecting their reaction to sexual harassment, with research suggesting male students become less likely to intervene when a female classmate is targeted as they reach Year 9.

The study of Victorian school students by Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (Anrows), released on Wednesday, found that 20.2% of Year 7 boys intended to intervene when sexual harassment was taking place. However, just 12.8% of those in Year 9 shared that attitude.

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Sweden’s schools minister declares free school ‘system failure’

Exclusive: Lotta Edholm aims to limit the profit-making ability of friskolor in her plans for education reform

Sweden has declared a “system failure” in the country’s free schools, pledging the biggest shake-up in 30 years and calling into question a model in which profit-making companies run state education.

Sweden’s friskolor – privately run schools funded by public money – have attracted international acclaim, including from Britain, with the former education secretary Michael Gove using them as a model for hundreds of new British free schools opened under David Cameron’s government.

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Justin Trudeau condemns shots fired at two Jewish schools in Montreal

Canadian prime minister says ‘attacking each other is not who we are’ after clashes between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian groups

Justin Trudeau has condemned recent violence in Canada after shots were fired at two Jewish schools in Montreal and clashes broke out between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian students at a university in the city.

Police on Thursday said they were investigating overnight shootings at two Jewish schools in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood after staff reported finding bullet holes in the front doors of the schools.

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US schools grapple with shortage of a lunchtime staple: milk cartons

Agricultural department says multiple states will be affected, forcing a brainstorm of backup plans

The tiny, half-pint cartons of milk served with millions of school lunches nationwide may soon be scarce in some cafeterias, with districts across the country scrambling to find alternatives.

The problem is not a shortage of milk itself, but the cardboard cartons used to package and serve it, according to dairy industry suppliers and state officials.

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Trying to choose a school in England? Don’t rely on Ofsted reports

School leaders say parents should do their own homework to build an accurate picture of which is best for their child

If Ofsted inspection reports do not paint an “accurate picture” of schools in England, how are parents able to choose one that suits their child? Headteachers and existing research suggests Ofsted judgments may not play as large a role as its defenders think.

Chris Ashley-Jones, the executive head of Hitherfield primary school in Streatham, south London, said he had shown 100 parents around the school during recent open days. “Not a single one of them mentioned Ofsted,” he said.

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Virginia teacher shot by six-year-old can go ahead with $40m lawsuit, judge rules

Abby Zwerner was hospitalized for two weeks after the January shooting and is suing school administrators for negligence

A teacher who was shot by her six-year-old student in Virginia can press forward with her $40m lawsuit against a school system over claims of negligence by school administrators, a judge ruled Friday.

The surprise decision by the Newport News circuit court judge Matthew Hoffman means that Abby Zwerner could get much more than just workers’ compensation for the serious injuries caused by January’s classroom shooting.

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Girls in Africa quitting school over cost of living crisis, says charity

Camfed calls for six-year plan to get 6 million girls into school, warning that drop-out rate is limiting children’s chances

Governments and donors need to redouble efforts to encourage girls back to school across Africa after the cost of living crisis pushed many to spurn education for low-paid work or early marriage, a charity has warned.

Camfed, which operates in five African countries, said its partnership model proved this could be achieved and called for a six-year plan to get 6 million girls into school.

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Former inspector says Ofsted statement that most England state schools are good is ‘nonsense’

Sir Michael Wilshaw says Ofsted’s headline judgments ‘provide parents with false comfort’

The former chief inspector of schools Sir Michael Wilshaw has poured scorn on Ofsted’s judgment that almost nine out of 10 state schools in England are “good”, describing it as “complete nonsense”.

According to the latest official statistics, 88% of schools were judged to be either “good” or “outstanding” by the schools inspectorate as of the end of last December, but Wilshaw told MPs that having visited some of those awarded a “good” rating by Ofsted, he did not agree.

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Gillian Keegan tells schools to let parents see sex education materials

Education secretary’s letter emphasises copyright cannot be used as ‘excuse’ to withhold RSHE teaching resources

Gillian Keegan has written to schools in England ordering them to make the materials used in children’s sex education available to be seen by parents, warning headteachers there can be “no ifs, no buts, no more excuses”.

It is the second letter the education secretary has sent to schools on the issue, which has been seized upon by some backbench Conservative MPs amid claims that children are being exposed to inappropriate material during relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) at school.

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Italian and Polish GCSEs to go digital in 2026, says England’s largest exam board

AQA awaits regulator approval for on-screen assessment of reading and listening components

GCSEs in Italian and Polish are to be assessed digitally in England from 2026, with plans to move at least one large-entry subject such as English to partial digital assessment by the end of the decade, a major exam board has announced.

England’s largest exam provider, AQA, said that subject to regulatory approval, the reading and listening components of the two language GCSEs would be examined through digital assessment for the first time.

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From field to classrooms in six weeks: Raac-hit Essex school’s new home

Head of Honywood school says building of temporary structure is a near miracle after crisis it faced

“Three and a half weeks ago, there was nothing here,” said James Saunders, the headteacher of Honywood school, looking with pride – and disbelief – at the scene unfolding in front of him. “It was a field!”

Before us is a brand new school, built in the space of six weeks – a temporary home for the 800 pupils at Honywood in Coggeshall, Essex, one of the schools most severely affected by the recent concrete crisis that threw the start of the new term across England into chaos.

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Worries over confidence and periods hitting UK girls’ enjoyment of PE

Survey finds less than two-thirds say they enjoy PE in schools, down from 74% in 2016

Girls’ enjoyment of physical education in school has declined over the past six years, with a lack of confidence, concern about periods and anxiety about their appearance holding them back, according to research.

Less than two-thirds of girls and young women (64%) who took part in a survey this year by the UK charity the Youth Sport Trust (YST), said they enjoyed PE, down from 74% when the poll began in 2016.

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