Commenting on today’s GCSE results, Miles Templeman, Director-General of the Institute of Directors, said: “A lack of skills is holding back business growth and impeding organisations’ ability to capitalise on economic recovery. Whilst it would be absurd to lay the blame for every skills gap or shortage at the door of schools and colleges, continuing weaknesses in our education system are perpetuating long-standing skills deficiencies, particularly in literacy and numeracy.

Two brand new conferences have been announced to take place alongside BETT 2011, the world’s largest educational technology show, at London, Olympia. The first, ‘World Education Leaders @ BETT’, will gather policy makers and influencers from across the globe, on Tuesday 11 and Wednesday 12 January. The emphasis throughout will be on how education systems can best prepare learners for future challenges. Attention will be paid to how far technology solutions are being effectively used to this end.

An innovative online teaching resource for SEN (Special Educational Needs) schools has launched at the Museum of London. The learning section of the Museum’s website now offers accessible objects, an interactive story and downloadable pictures to support lessons, all from the Museum’s collections. The new online tools help further engage the Museum of London in its path to become a world-class destination with dynamic learning at its core.  

Twelve students from The Bulwell Academy have been sharing their thoughts on the most important issues facing them in education and skills as part of a national Youth Commission project.

McCain Foods has been named LACA Outstanding Supplier of the Year for 2010. The award is voted for by school catering staff and local authority catering managers – McCain customers – as well as a judging panel from LACA.

The 2010 STEMNET Awards took place on Monday 21^st June 2010.  The Awards highlight the extraordinary achievements of individuals and organisations in energising STEM learning to captivate the next generation of scientists.  The Awards, run by STEMNET (the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Network), were presented to winning individuals and organisations by writer, broadcaster and scientist, Vivienne Parry, at a ceremony at the House of Lords,  hosted by Lord Oxburgh. 

School Food Trust Chief Executive Judy Hargadon has given her response to a new poll on school buildings and their impact on pupil behaviour.

Relatives of world renowned author, poet, playwright, essayist and literary critique D H Lawrence, who originated from Eastwood and was a pupil at Nottingham High School from 1898 to 1901, have recently visited the School.

A Kingston University graduate has set up a charity that is raising money to build a centre in a remote part of Uganda that will train local teachers and house UK volunteers.

BIC®Kids today launched a nationwide competition to celebrate the artistic talent of Britain’s school children. The competition, which will run until 20 August 2010, will search out some of the most promising talent of primary school children by asking them to draw their vision of ‘Life in the Future.’

The Bucks Economic & Learning Partnership (BELP) is pioneering the UK’s first Young Leaders’ Council; a scheme which helps to support and nurture the brightest young business minds in Buckinghamshire.

Voice: the union for education professionals – which represents teachers, lecturers, heads, education support staff and childcarers across the UK – has condemned the Coalition Government’s first budget as “destructive”. 

Education company RM is launching a new competition called designOne to get schools across the country to design their own computer frontage, for the chance to win and help build their very own customised RM One PC. Winners will also receive a unique learning experience for their school at RM’s educational technology REAL (Rethinking Education And Learning) Centre.

A poll of primary school teachers released last month, shows more than one in two teachers believe children are starting school having never been read a story at home. The research, carried out by Oxford University Press, also reveals a staggering 72% of teachers think primary school children today are less able to tell stories than they were 10 years ago. These are concerning findings given that reading and storytelling play a huge part in developing and improving children’s writing skills. 

Polam Hall School in Darlington is gearing up to welcome a special mystery guest from a popular children’s drama during the summer break.

John Stone, Chief Executive of LSN, the experts in learning and skills provision, commented: “I welcome David Willetts’ suggestion that Further Education (FE) colleges should offer degree courses, awarded externally by universities. Indeed many FE colleges across the country are already successfully offering externally-awarded degrees.

Harrison Catering Services has introduced an innovative new programme offering parents the opportunity to buy freshly baked bread to help school fundraisers. The initiative is going ahead after a successful trial at Kingswood School in Lambeth.

Professor of International Relations Stephen Chan has been awarded an OBE for 'services to Africa and to higher education' in the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours list, published on Saturday 12 June.

To highlight the achievements of inspirational individuals and organisations that provide extraordinary support in energising STEM learning to captivate and capture the next generation of engineers, scientists, technologists and mathematicians, a national awards ceremony is being held on:

The UK has one of the most advanced education technology markets in Europe, with nearly all schools already having an interactive whiteboard. This represented around 55,000 boards in 2009, according to research from Panasonic. In many other countries such as France, where only 20 per cent of schools are equipped with an interactive whiteboard, the education technology market is still in its infancy.

For your chance to win an exclusive classroom pack from Casio, simply answer the questions in the following poll. 

Click here for poll

The new Green Slim projectors from Casio have just hit some of the nation’s classrooms and are proving to be a popular solution to many teachers’ needs when it comes to display solutions.

The projectors use of the laser and LED hybrid light source makes Casio’s Green Slim Projectors the world’s first that are powerful enough, at 2000-2500 ANSI lumens, for projection in a brightly lit room. The use of the hybrid light source also means that there is no need for a high-pressure lamp.

This year Armed Forces Day is on 26th June. The day is an annual opportunity for the nation to show support for the men and women who make up the Armed Forces community: from current Service personnel to Service families, veterans and cadets.

Katie Price, as Patron of Vision Charity, expressed a wish to meet the children who, having seen her run the Marathon for Vision decided to raise money for the Charity. Through a sponsored fancy dress walk these children from The Orleans Park Secondary School in Richmond raised £2500 which they donated to Vision Charity an organisation that raises funds for blind, visually impaired and dyslexic children. She accepted the cheque from the students on behalf of Vision at a special ceremony.

Economic renewal, skills development and job creation must remain top priorities for the Welsh Assembly Government in a period during which public sector budgets come under increasing pressure, according to a key report out today (May 19^th).

New research by the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) indicates there is significant variance between the way private nurseries and nursery units within state schools are providing early years education, and how they are using technology and other activities to teach young children.

A Leeds primary school pupil is to have his work seen by thousands of people from all over the world after winning a competition to design a postcard to be given out to visitors at the prestigious RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

The UK’s economic recession has forged a new generation of home-grown entrepreneurs, with more than a third of respondents in the Education sector describing themselves as ‘self-employed’, and among the rest, half expressing a desire to work more independently, according to the latest survey from global workforce solutions leader Kelly Services.

Over 200 scientists from across the globe will gather in Aberdeen tomorrow (Wednesday June 23) for a major international conference on gut microbiology.

Kneesall C of E Primary School in Newark, Nottinghamshire is set to protect its pupils from the dangers of UV radiation thanks to a Keep It Kool school development grant introduced to help champion the fight against childhood exposure to UV.

The grant, worth £4,000 is top prize in a competition Keep It Kool runs in its monthly e-newsletter and is to spend on improving the school’s external facilities.  Kneesall Primary School was randomly selected from over 700 entries.

To coincide with England’s bid for World Cup glory, a Lancashire junior school teacher has penned a personal musical tribute to England’s football heroes, which he hopes will score big for Britain’s injured armed forces’ heroes returning from Afghanistan.

With over 600 properties in its portfolio, Lighthouse Property Services is to be the first lettings firm in the UK to offer its student tenants an innovative wireless broadband service that can be used both at home, and throughout the university city of Lincoln - for free.

Chosen technology partner AB internet had earlier formed a ground-breaking partnership with the Lincoln Municipal community and the University as a pilot for similar rollouts across the UK, providing users with wireless broadband connectivity on their ‘phones and laptops, without the low speed, high cost and coverage restrictions normally associated with other technologies, such as 3G mobile internet.

Research around the critical issue of learner identity in education will be debated at an innovative conference as part of Edge Hill University’s 125^th anniversary.

More than three quarters of teachers (77%) think engaging schoolchildren in election manifesto topics will nurture a future generation of politically active citizens, according to new research commissioned by British Gas’ Generation Green schools programme. The study marks the launch of a new set of interactive teaching resources designed to help teachers run mock elections in their classrooms.

Worth the Risk? - For some, the perceived risk of going on a plane is enough to put them off flying. Even getting in the car in the morning puts us at risk, but how can we carry on living our lives without being crippled by the worry of endless threats? David Spiegelhalter helps us interpret the news headlines and get the measure of risk.

Orbit HomeBuy Agents have welcomed the launch of a new mortgage that will help teachers who have been struggling to get onto the property ladder. 

Soccer legend Gary Neville is backing a campaign which aims to bring a smile to hundreds of bullied young people.

Bully Free Zone will launch its new Save a Smile campaign on Monday, May 10 with Gary as special guest.

The England and Manchester United player recently became a patron of the charity and has pledged his support to give young people a reason to smile again.

Since the last issue of Education Today went to press, the government has dropped reforms to make PSHEE (Personal, Social, Health & Economic Education) statutory in schools after failing to win Conservative support. Compulsory financial education for young people in the UK now appears unlikely in the near future.

Hosted by award-winning education technology specialists Frog (www.frogtrade.com), secondary school leaders across the country are invited to attend The National Learning Platforms Conference 2010 – Frog’s most inspirational educational event of the year. This free one-day event will feature workshops and keynotes including ‘From intranet and failed VLEs to outstanding success’ by Cramlington Learning Village to ‘Parents and schools: learning platforms supporting a new partnership’ by Simon Shaw from Becta. Every workshop is intended to give forward-thinking school leaders the inspiration to maximise the impact of their Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and achieve excellence through creativity.

BiC is giving away an amazing limited edition reproduced print of The Girl with A Pearl Earring created using a BiC® Cristal® pen - plus a load of BiC goodies - as part of a national challenge for consumers to finish their BIC^® Cristal^® pen.  Any empty pens will receive £10 back*.

The challenge comes on the back of independent research by the University of Reading that reveals a BIC^® Cristal^® pen can write the equivalent of a whopping 1,615 addresses, 1,475 Christmas cards, and 986 Sudoku puzzles –before it runs out of ink.