About 80% of England's secondary schools now specialise
Giving schools specialist status does little if anything to improve their performance, research suggests. Sports colleges actually got worse compared with other schools, according to the study by Cambridge and Staffordshire university academics.

The first brand new school has opened under the £45bn Building Schools for the Future scheme, but how is the plan to rebuild or refurbish all England's secondary schools progressing?
There is a real "wow" factor when you walk through doors of the £24m Bristol Brunel Academy, the school's new principal Armando di Finizio says.

TV psychologist Tanya Byron is to head a government inquiry into protecting children from violent computer games and internet pornography. The presenter of the BBC's The House of Tiny Tearaways and Little Angels will talk to parents and the entertainment industry about how to achieve this. The review will also look at the effectiveness of existing laws.

A teacher has been awarded £402,000 in damages for a careerending injury caused by a pupil in a secure unit.
The teacher worked in Staffordshire but wishes to remain anonymous. She sustained a back injury in the attack. The National Union of Teachers negotiated the payout with the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

Mergers between struggling and successful schools will be the next phase of efforts to raise standards, says Schools Secretary Ed Balls.
There will be a £300,000 incentive for high-achieving schools to merge with their unsuccessful neighbours.

Bright classroom lighting can give children headaches and make it harder to concentrate, researchers have said.
Fluorescent lights that flicker imperceptibly are used in up to 80% of classrooms due to misguided policy moves, the study of 90 classrooms said.

Garlic", "mayfly" and "home" are among the entries submitted in a bid to find the UK's favourite word.
The Words for the World campaign is a fun attempt to highlight the serious issue of children whose education is compromised by war.
It has been organised by the charity Education Action, which aims to rebuild people's lives through learning.

Disadvantaged youngsters in England are to be given up to £40 a month to spend on leisure activities of their choice, under a pilot government scheme.
Teenagers on free school meals or in care would get prepaid debit cards which allow them to pay for activities deemed positive by their local council.

A computer dance programme has succeeded in getting even young people who hate sport to take exercise.
Dance Revolution involves laying out removable mats in a studio, and getting participants to follow instructions from a computer on a large screen.

A head teacher who helped turn around a struggling school - while managing his own college - has been made a knight.
The Queen's birthday honours list rewards Mark Grundy, 46, for his work at George Salter High School in West Bromwich, as well as his work in ICT.

Children's health is suffering because they are losing the chance to play outside, a group of experts has warned.
Over-anxious parents, computer games and school tests are to blame, a letter signed by almost 300 academics, authors and charity leaders says.

Children from working class backgrounds are being placed in lower sets than their ability merits, a study suggests.
Middle class pupils were more likely to be in higher sets, irrespective of their ability, research looking at 168 schools in England also discovered.

Nearly half of young people think school careers advice is confusing and unhelpful, a poll suggests.
One in 10 claim to have had no careers advice during their education.
Around two thirds have not decided on a career by the time they leave school, says the YouGov poll for recruitment consultancy Harvey Nash.

Abus company is investigating claims two nine-year-old pupils were forced to walk home after being ordered off a school bus for eating crisps. The youngsters from St Joseph's Primary School in Swansea were left alone by the side of the road a mile from home.

Commenting on the publication of the School Teachers’ Review Body Teachers’ Workloads Diary Survey, Dr Mary Bousted, General Secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), said:

The UK is being overtaken by international competitors in the drive for more graduates, an annual report on education systems shows.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development says the UK has slipped from the third highest proportion of graduates to 10th.
The survey also found that teenagers in the UK had particularly low expectations of going to university.

It has been billed as Taiwan's first English language "village" - and it has just opened for business.
Every day, 120 students travel by school bus to the Happy English Village in Taoyuan county - about an hour from the capital, Taipei, for English immersion classes.

More than half of the leading figures in UK politics, law, medicine, business and journalism went to independent schools, research suggests.

The export value of UK education and training is £28bn, more than that of financial services, a report says.
The Sheffield University research includes the fees and living expenses of international students.

The school that a pupil attended remains a bigger factor in whether they get into a top university than having good A-level grades, research suggests.
The Sutton Trust charity, which analysed admissions from 2002-06, says state school youngsters are losing out.

Social bias in some of Britain's leading universities has led to a "huge waste of talent and ability", said the universities secretary John Denham.
Although steps to widen participation had been taken, more needed to be done to boost the numbers of disadvantaged youngsters studying degrees, he said.

Schools are being given guidance urging them to take firm action against pupils who use mobile phones and the internet to bully other children and teachers.
More than a third of 12 to 15- year-olds have faced some kind of cyberbullying, according to a government study.

When lessons are interesting pupils are less likely to play truant from school, suggests research into attendance.
A report from watchdog Ofsted says the higher the quality of teaching, the better the rate of attendance.

An A-level student who was given a U-grade in English has got an apology from the exam board after it realised the mark was wrong.
Sarah Huddlestone, 18, from Derby, was predicted to get an A-grade, but was horrified to learn she was given a "U" or unclassified result in one paper.

One of the country's most prestigious independent schools is to support an inner-city state academy.
Exclusive Marlborough College in Wiltshire, whose former pupils include poet John Betjeman and spy Anthony Blunt, will work with Swindon Academy.

An education centre is being opened within a recycling facility - in an attempt to teach children about how waste is re-used.
This project, claimed as the first of its kind in Britain, is inviting primary classes to visit a classroom in a plant that recycles office rubbish.

Increased online marking of exam papers could be linked to rising numbers of inaccurate grades, the National Association of Head Teachers says.
The association is collecting evidence of inaccurate results and demands for papers to be marked again.

It’s a summer tradition – as inevitable as rain stopping play during Wimbledon – the A level results come out and the press declare: “Exams are getting easier”.
Part of the problem is one of shared personal experience. I still believe that my A Levels were the most difficult examinations I ever sat – far worse than University finals. And given that I am a reasonably intelligent person, and shared a classroom with other intelligent people – how come we didn’t get the same kind of results we read about in the papers?

The government’s three billion-pound Sure Start scheme has come under attack yet again with the publication of a report last month claiming that it has had no effect on the skills of preschool children entering primary school.

Playdale Playgrounds have recently worked alongside The White Lion Recreation Association based in Wiltshire, helping them on their project funded by the People’s Millions. The People’s Millions is a scheme run by the Big Lottery Fund partnered by ITV, whereby 131 community projects across the UK reached the final public vote stage.

When the CBI and the Schools Minister launched a report earlier this year which said that work experience was of great benefit to school students they were undoubtedly aiming their comments at teachers and business leaders.

The NSPCC is calling on head teachers to sign their school up to its new Defeat Bullying campaign, ahead of Anti Bullying Week 2007 (19 to 23 November).

The school summer holiday now feels like a distant memory, but Bowlplex is keeping the fun going by bringing the classroom to the bowling lanes!

Schools throughout the UK are taking advantage of the Bowlplex education pack, which encourages children to learn a number of Key Stage subjects outside the classroom environment.

Schools around the country are invited to take part in the 2007 Nestlé Children’s Book Prize, one of the UK’s longestrunning children’s book awards.

Lamp glare from projection systems has been a longstanding health and safety issue in the education sector. 3M, the diversified technology company, offers a range of shortthrow projector products designed to help address this issue along with other concerns such as projector heat, shadow interference and untidy cables.

It is a sad reality that over a third of our teenagers are currently falling victim to Internet bullying, and the Government has now announced a major new crackdown to stamp out the abuse, which costs many teenagers their happiness, their exam results and in some cases their lives.

The Thaitucker Trial online game recreates real-life projects supported by the Pattaya Orphanage Trust. It has been produced by professional computer game programmers in a quality format similar to the SimCity computer games.

Protecting school children from Internet threats Protecting students from being exploited, or accessing inappropriate content, are key concerns for all IT managers within the education sector. IT staff also have to contend with an increasing barrage of Internet-based threats that seek to exploit the school’s network.

To some, maths anxiety is just another excuse – one of those notions that come in from America and which suggest that a child’s failure at school is never the child’s fault.

Tens of thousands of students, staff and researchers at universities and further education colleges across Britain have online access to the country's most advanced digital mapping from this month. Ordnance Survey's seamless representation of the detailed geography of Britain, OS MasterMap, is available to support learning and teaching at all institutions subscribing to the Digimap Ordnance Survey Collection service.

Opened in late Autumn 2006, The Devonshire Primary School in Blackpool embraces an innovative design concept which is an adaptation of BDP’s generic multi-level vertical exemplar school, and which incorporates FOAMGLAS® cellular glass insulation for its roof areas.

Looking for washrooms that are safe, secure yet also stimulating? Then discover the choice for secondary schools and universities that only Armitage Venesta can offer.

With reservations in the UK at an all time low, it is essential that everyone is taking steps towards conserving as much water as possible. Tony Rheinberg, Armitage Shanks marketing manager, tells us why schools need to be taking an active part in the conservation of water and why the best place to start is the washrooms.

Foremans Relocatable Building Systems, the UK’s largest supplier of pre-owned modular buildings, has launched a standardised design for a lecture theatre. The move follows the success of a project for the School of Education at the University of East London (UEL) and will help other colleges and universities meet the continued growth in student numbers.

When Temperature Control Systems was invited to tender for a building management system (BMS) in an Irish school, it found itself involved in a whole new way of educational construction. The Archbishop Ryan School in Dublin is the prototype of a generic school design that provides an eight, 12 or 16-classroom building, in accordance with the technical guidance documents laid down by the Irish Department of Education and Science.

With arson attacks on schools an ever-present danger, and the cost now estimated at £74 million per year, Chubb Fire is helping schools address this by showcasing a new fire detection solution as part of a major ‘Schools of the Future’ project, in conjunction with the Building Research Establishment (BRE).

Faber Blinds have been chosen to fit specialist blinds in 5 new primary schools for Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council.
Working with main contractors Mowlem and Carillion, Faber have installed roller and blackout blinds to classrooms and halls, offering students and staff high levels of environmental control and comfort. The Barnsley Schools project was carried out in 3 tranches, with Faber being chosen for tranches 2 and 3 with the deciding factor being the durability and warranty offered on the products.

The Construction and Built Environment Diploma will begin in 12 months time, and is a high priority for Government. The Diploma is being developed by the Construction and Built Environment Sector Skills Councils, plus ECITB. 44 consortia of schools, colleges, training providers and employers have been approved to deliver the diploma when it begins next September, and nearly 4000 pupils will be involved in the first year, with thousands more expected to follow.

The one thing that becomes obvious when you begin to engage in discussions about “green” issues is that it is a very emotive subject, and rightly so, and secondly, everyone has their own ideas about what it is meant by sustainability. The Oxford Dictionary definition defines sustainability as the “conserving an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources”. However, the wider implications now extend into the sphere of not only ecological responsibility but social and economic responsibility, and we can all play our part.

The past year has been difficult for many school meal providers, struggling to comply with revised nutritional regulations. McCain has been working for many years continually researching and developing effective solutions for schools.

In today’s pressurised environment of cost-cutting and the requirement to deliver outstanding results at minimum expense, educational establishments need to evaluate the day to day running of their organisation. As part of this ongoing search for more cost-effective solutions, many activities are now taken in-house, such as the printing of internal documentation and marketing collateral. Such documents are not only an essential element in the daily work of any educational enterprise, but also form a driving force in helping it to sell its services.

Rediweld’s latest speed ramp, MiniSitecop, launched at this years’ Traffex show, is designed to reduce vehicle speeds to only 5-10 mph but with a profile that minimises driver discomfort.

lectrone Europe, custom-designed IT peripherals vendor, is launching a new ruggedised keypad - specially designed for school canteens – targeting the system integrator community within the educational sector.

A firm favourite with teachers and children alike, STAEDTLER’s Handwriting Pen --is designed to give children more control and therefore encourage better handwriting skills. The tip is specially designed to provide resistance against the paper which slows children down and encourages tidy writing. It is also made from hardwearing plastic to withstand even the sort of heavy duty pressure children can inflict.

New from ECHO BearCat is the 20cm (8”) Turntable Chipper. This powerful new model is equipped with 4 reversible heat treated steel chipper blades and a 76cm (30”) diameter disc, driven by a 24hp Honda, which turns the disc at a remarkable 1500rpm via triple banded belt drive.

With an introduction by David Beckham, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador

Dorling Kindersley hardback £14.99

This book contains a vibrant and inspirational collection of stories and personal accounts from children around the globe. Visit over thirty schools across six continents including Australia, Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas and meet some of the children who go there.

Nobby’s owners think he is fast asleep, but each night the naughty puppy goes through his magical dogflap and arrives in magical places where he meets new friends, tries interesting foods and visits amazing landmarks. After a tiring night out, he returns home, often taking with him a souvenir from his trip, which causes no end of confusion for his owners but the readers are in on the secret and know where he has been.

Doubleday paperback £12.99

From Stephen Hawking, author of the phenomenal bestseller, A Brief History of Time, comes a collaboration with his daughter, Lucy and their first ever children’s book.

by Jim Thompson, Barnaby Berbank-Green and Nic Cusworth

Thames & Hudson paperback £13.95

This book takes the reader on their first step into exhilarating world of game design. Richly illustrated with screengrabs and artwork, this structured coursebook provides step-by-step tutorials on all aspects of designing and developing dynamic computer games.