Adam Rutherford: A report on children’s poor science knowledge may, in fact, be unscientific, but our future depends on evidence-based methods
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Posts on ‘November 27th, 2008’
Despite sponsors and high pay for teachers, there is no ‘academy effect’
A five-year inquiry into the government’s academies programme has concluded that there is no “academy effect” and while results in the schools have improved overall, GCSE marks reveal a mixed picture.
The 130 academy schools are benefiting from expert sponsors, state of the art buildings, and being able to pay teachers above the odds. But [...]
Shakespeare suffers slings and arrows of Sats fortune
William Shakespeare is losing favour in schools, with half of teachers cancelling courses with the Royal Shakespeare Company since Sats for 14-year-olds in English and maths were scrapped.
The RSC said up to 50% of teachers have dropped out of the training courses it runs to aid the teaching of Shakespeare to teenagers since ministers abolished [...]
Nursery pledge for two-year-olds is broken, say Tories
Gordon Brown was accused last night of a U-turn over a pledge to provide all two-year-olds in Britain with free child care.
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Free meals plan to be supported
MSPs are expected to approve legislation allowing Scots councils to provide free meals for pupils in the first three years of school.
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Fraud and loophole for non-doms put student grants under scrutiny
The government has ordered a crackdown on fraudulent grant claims amid concerns that some students are fiddling their applications to qualify for thousands of pounds in grants.
The Student Loans Company (SLC) is reviewing the application process and has set up a pilot system to identify fraud in 11 areas of the country. There are [...]
On the fast track to success: Why students are planning to break the land speed record
Any fellow Coventrians who grew up in the city during the Eighties and Nineties will know that there wasn’t exactly a wealth of things to do at the weekend. Not to do the Midland metropolis a disservice, things have since improved immensely in this regard but, at the time, there were only so many [...]
0%: What this year’s top science pupils would have got in 1965
High-flying GCSE students set for an A or A* pass scored zero points in a mock science exam which included old O-level questions.
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Philip Greenish: ‘we are suffering from a skills shortage that will worsen until we take a grip’
If it was not apparent before, the credit crunch has highlighted the risk of over-dependence on the services sector for economic growth, national prosperity and wellbeing. As a result, young people who are highly skilled in science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) will be fundamentally important to the UK’s future.
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