My girlfriend is a teacher at a private school and one of the many problems she seems to encounter in doing her day to day role is to cope with the different technologies that are being brought in on a regular basis. She's IT literate and can get her head round most of our AV items in the house, but when it comes to technical things in the classroom, she can't seem to get the appropriate training. This is because the school struggle themselves to get the right training from the technology provider.

Truancy rates in England's schools are at their highest since 1997, the latest figures show.

14 in England did not attain the level they were expected to in last year's national curriculum tests, final results show.

Most adults in the UK believe that children's well-being is being damaged because childhood has become too commercial, a lifestyle poll has found.

When the headteacher of a school takes a day out to go to an "education show" tongues will wag in the staff room. "How come," the teachers will say, "he gets to go to London for the day while I am still here in the class?"

Lightweight fiction and magazines could be damaging children's ability to write good English, a government report says.

A narrowing of the curriculum has led to a decrease in the quality of English primary schooling, says a report.

Hope Education has joined forces with award-winning and ‘Eco School Green Flag' accredited Woodheys Primary, to help it further improve the teaching of the environmental curriculum to its pupils, by donating a large range of teaching resources from its 2008 catalogue.

Girls are more confident than boys about using a computer, a survey of more than 1,000 children suggests.

School leaders are calling on politicians to end what they call "the misleading rhetoric" of school choice - which, they say, cannot be delivered.

Children's author Dame Jacqueline Wilson has expressed concern that youngsters are growing up too quickly.

With a growing National and European distributor base, continual media coverage on National Television on popular DIY programmes such as 60 Minute Makeover, Packexe is the leading name in temporary floor and surface protection.

Notts Sport, the leading synthetic surfacing supplier, has entered the Japanese play market for the first time.

Customer service is at the core of the company and many of our staff members have been at Sound Performance over 10 years. This means that not only do our staff have a high level of training but they are also experts in their field. We are passionate about the work we do and care about getting it right for each and every customer.

With healthy eating the current ‘hot topic' of the moment there are increasing pressure on parents and schools to enforce a healthier culture amongst the younger generations. Even where healthy meals are brought in pupils vote with their feet and lunch ends up a bag of crisps and can of coke from the corner shop.

As part of its Step into the NHS campaign, NHS Careers is supporting teachers in raising awareness of the 350+ careers in the NHS by launching new lesson plans and work experience packs.

Imagine an organisation that goes the extra mile to understand your personal and professional requirements. Endsleigh insurance has been working within the education industry since their conception in 1965. You may recognise them as one of the leading insurers for students with unrivalled access due to their affiliation with the National Union of Students (NUS).

During one of Meiko's busiest Hotelympia's, the warewashing and food waste system specialist, won a leading industry award, whilst at the same time, presenting an award of its own to one of their leading distributors.

Parents are overwhelmed by the range of qualifications available to their children and do not know how best to advise them, a survey by ICM on behalf of the South Yorkshire Education Project has revealed.

Teachers at St John the Baptist Primary School in Hampshire have devised an internet-based system to produce continual assessments of pupils online, ultimately leading to the end of year report.

In its commitment to providing a first class service, Sunderland School Meals Service has worked with leading training provider The School for Hospitality Leadership to develop a comprehensive management development training programme for school cooks in the city.

Armitage Shanks, the established face and one of the most instantly recognisable names in bathroom solutions, is again throwing its weight behind the ‘Bog Standard' campaign-drive to improve the standard of all school toilets across the country.

Building on its reputation as a vinyl flooring specialist, Gerflor, has added to its stunning range of floorcoverings by introducing the Nera collection - with two portfolios including a brand new textile backing. 

If you wish to avoid disappointment and problems further down the line, it is vital that planning for summer building and maintenance work is made at an early stage, advises James Lightly of interior surfaces specialists Altro. 

Homework should be scrapped because it makes kids unhappy. Every child in the country must have perked up at that headline! What next, no stressful exams, no early morning starts and longer summer holidays?

The 28th February saw the NEC open it's doors to yet another storm of product hungry teachers who were all looking for the next "must-have" product for the next school year. The show offered decision makers a diverse range of product from pink blu-tak through to a bargain £99 lap top, proving that the Education Show is still the one stop shop for school equipment! Visitor numbers soared over 14,500 throughout the three day event which highlighted the shows importance in the education sectors buying calendar.

With so much happening in the education world it's almost impossible to keep up to date with the latest developments. Many in education these days are just too busy to read a newspaper daily but yet can't afford to wait until Friday to find out what's been happening around them.

It has been four years since Tony Blair unveiled the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) project and announced £45bn to rebuild or refurbish every secondary school and half of all primary schools by 2020. Since then, BSF has been dogged by bad press, criticised for being badly run and has fallen behind on its targets. Education Today's Stephanie Norbury looks at what went wrong.

Junckers solid hardwood floors are playing a major role in Building Schools for The Future, a government programme that aims to rebuild or refurbish every secondary school in the country by 2015. 

Following the government's statement that new school buildings will only receive government funding if they are designed to produce no carbon footprint, Conport Structures are offering their new Solar Northlight^TM classroom, which more than meets these requirements.

Kopex International's Pipeslice and Pipe-prep professional pipe tools are ideal for all those taking plumbing and heating courses at school or college.

CFS Carpets has supplied textile and fibre bonded carpets and carpet tiles into hundreds of educational establishments for over 25 years. Ranges such as Chinook and New Typhoon broad and narrow rib fibre bonded products have become firm favourites with contractors and specifiers throughout the UK. CFS Carpets also has several ranges of extremely hard wearing textile carpets and carpet tiles that are suitable for use in communal areas, staff rooms and halls of residence. CFS Carpets products are regularly specified in large universities and City Academies.

In another bold move aimed at further expanding the volume market for sheet vinyl safety floors, commercial flooring specialist Polyflor Ltd has launched two excitingly different new decorative ranges - Polysafe Wood FX and Polysafe Mosaic.

Lighting at the new premises of Donaldsons College in Linlithgow includes Mineo direct/indirect luminaires and Concido recessed downlighters from Riegens Lighting to help create an educational environment that is sympathetic to all of the college's users.

Liquid Plastics, pioneer of liquid roof waterproofing technology, has supplied a range of roofing solutions for Winston Way School in Ilford, including four green roofs and an innovative Cold Fusion Bonded Built-up roofing system.

When it comes to the decoration of educational buildings, appropriate specification of paint products can be the difference between a pass and a fail.  From the design potential and durability of the paint finish, to understanding the latest regulations and minimising disruption, there is much to consider. Fortunately however, when it comes to providing the education sector with an exceptional product range and technical specification guidance, leading paint manufacturer Johnstone's goes straight to the top of the class.

Perse School for Girls in Cambridge recently completed a major building project, adding a new wing to the Senior School that settles effortlessly within the setting of this 125 year old school.  The new construction is home to a new kitchen, dining & hospitality area and washroom facilities.

A Rainwater Harvesting Package for schools, featuring the new RainBrain teaching aid, is now available from WPL, the wastewater solutions specialist.

Off-site construction specialist and Portakabin subsidiary, Yorkon, has been awarded the £1.3m contract to build new science facilities at Christ College in the Brecon Beacons National Park in South Wales - one of Britain's oldest schools.

Achieving ISO 14001 accreditation has put off-site building manufacturer Terrapin Ltd at the forefront of environmental performance in the off-site construction sector.

It was not too long ago that if you enquired about the ‘green credentials' of a product you would have been met with a blank stare. Environmental considerations then got added to the bottom of the list and were thought about once all the other boxes had been ticked. And now it seems that things have been turned completely on their head and a poor environmental performance can exclude a product from consideration.

Gopak now keeps its most versatile range of chairs in stock permanently, ready to dispatch to customers within 48 hours.

The unique, new Rollastore concept from storage specialists Railex Systems is truly being rolled out in great success - a typical recent example being the installation at the Education Department of Southwark Council in London.

Knauf AMF ceilings have been specified for three new schools in the London Borough of Lewisham as part of a £60m PFI investment programme.  One of these is Forest Hill Secondary, a specialist Performing Arts School for boys.

The latest catalogue from Screwfix (issue 91) focuses on offering "Simply the Best" and comprises a collection of products that provide the best deals, are the best for task, are best for general trade as well as specific trades, and which represent the new best brands.  Featuring more than 18,000 high quality, low cost building, maintenance and refurbishment items for use by the trade and serious home improvers, this 1188-page issue also includes over 900 new products. 

A revolutionary new "magnetic" wall covering is set to transform classroom displays across the UK. Magnet is the latest innovation from Vitrulan, a German company which manufactures fabric wall coverings that are made entirely from glass.

It has been developed from a furniture system, rather than been ‘assembled' as an educational furniture assortment. Thus the products in the Kinnarps educational range are made up of modular, compatible components that can be interchanged, replaced or modified to fulfil alternative functions and layouts

To celebrate the National Year of Reading, Philip & Tacey has developed a new range of literacy resources for Primary schools. The resources are already causing a stir in the educational community with three of the products being short listed for a prestigious ERA Award.

The new STABILO‘s move easyergo pencil has been designed specifically to help children with their handwriting from the moment they start to learn.

Leading stationery manufacturer, BIC®, has launched a promotional version of its BIC Kids Class Packs, offering a free teacher's kit. 

Going green

Pilot's BegreeN range is helping educational establishments meet their social and environmental management goals.

According to government press releases, in the past ten years over £2 billion has been spent on school sports, and a further £30 million expenditure was announced this January. Over 80% of children do over 2 hours of sport a week, and the aim is to take the weekly hours up above that level.

Portable hot water hand wash units from Teal provide an instant ablution solution for on the spot washing facilities after activities and lessons where youngsters get dirty.

With words and symbols from global cultures etched into its outside walls to striking effect, the Hadley Learning Community development, in Telford, is an inspirational asset to an entire community.

Talk of a skills shortage in the science and engineering sectors has sparked a huge drive to get young people enthused about taking up science, engineering and technology (SET) subjects at school.

This book offers insights into:

• What personalizing learning means and how it can be supported in schools
• The inextricable links between learning and leadership
• How headteachers can build leadership capacity by distributing leadership and so enable others to take on responsibilities related to personalizing learning
• What ‘learning centred' leadership means and how it works
• How middle leaders and classroom teachers can lead learning in the classroom at a whole school level and beyond
• The parallels between personalizing learning and distributing leadership as capacity building processes

Issues is an invaluable series of books which contain previously published information sourced from newspapers, magazines, journals, government reports, surveys, websites and lobby-group literature