Singer Jamelia is helping a government drive to increase music-making in England's primary schools.

She is launching a "sing up" campaign to weave singing into the school curriculum.

England's grammar schools are "ghettos for the advantaged", doing little to alleviate poverty, an academic says.

Research by Professor David Jesson from York University showed just 2% of pupils in grammars received free school meals, compared with 13% nationally.

Children are too young to learn to read when they first start school in the UK, an academic claims.

Pushing reception pupils too hard could put them off for life, especially boys, says Professor Lilian Katz.

Teacher Gillian Gibbons has been released from prison in Sudan after she was jailed for allowing children in her class to name a teddy bear Muhammad.

Mrs Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, was jailed for 15 days by a court in Sudan.

A man under surveillance for suspected terrorist activities has been told he cannot take an AS-level science course because he might use it for terrorism.

The Iraqi national, who can only be named as "AE", was told his studies broke an anti-terrorism control order, said the man's lawyer.

Warsaw to London: migrant families are straining schools, say heads

A head teachers' leader says some small schools in England are struggling with the sudden arrival of young immigrants.

A Cornish school has been accused of preferential treatment after a teacher's daughter was admitted despite the school being over-subscribed.

The Year 7 pupil was allowed to bypass the formal admissions procedure and never officially applied to attend.

The attainment of black children in England's schools has continued to improve, latest figures show.

A breakdown of this year's exam results shows a further narrowing of the gap, though black and mixed race children are still below white children.

The reading performance of children in England has fallen from third to 19th in the world in a major assessment.

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Pirls), undertaken every five years, involved children aged about 10 in 40 countries.

Plans which set out the government's strategy for raising the school leaving age to 18 have been unveiled.

The Education and Skills Bill aims to boost the skills and education of young people and adults in England.

Some schools avoid teaching the Holocaust and other controversial history subjects as they do not want to cause offence, research has claimed.

Teachers fear meeting anti-Semitic sentiment, particularly from Muslim pupils, the government-funded study by the Historical Association said.

The UK is among the better performers in an international league table on school science, although there is a wide achievement gap.

A study of science ability among 15-year-olds in 57 countries ranked the UK between 12th and 18th place.

Children think their education is more important than getting on with their family, according to research.

A survey carried out by CBBC's Newsround programme found that children rate doing well at school higher than getting on with their relatives.

Children with dyslexia are to receive extra help in some schools in England under a £3m pilot scheme.

The government says half of pupils in 10 areas will be given catch-up reading lessons or one-to-one help from dyslexia specialists.

Thousands of schools, colleges and universities are missing out on vital Government funding to go green, simply because they are unaware of the grants available and how to go about securing them. 

Progress in maths stalls in the first years of secondary school, an academic's study suggests.

Research by Professor Julian Williams from Manchester University concludes that pupils plateau in maths between the ages of 11 and 14.

Head teachers at schools in deprived areas of England are less likely to be highly rated by Ofsted than those in affluent areas, a union claims.

A "root-and-branch" review is planned into what is taught in English primary schools to allow more time for reading, writing and maths, Ed Balls has said.

The children's minister said some set subjects and "clutter" would be cut to allow more flexibility and all primary pupils to be taught a foreign language.

Terrapin's impressive environmental record has won the offsite construction company a Business Excellence Award from the Milton Keynes and North Bucks Chamber of Commerce. The Environment Award recognises achievements in recycling, waste reduction and related green initiatives.

Stick a webcam in the homes of most 16 year olds as they prepare for their GCSEs and you will find them doing exactly what their parents did 30 years ago when they were at school - reading through their books with the radio or TV on.

Southampton University is celebrating its increasing conviction to Fairtrade products. The university began its Fairtrade journey over four years ago, and was granted Fairtrade status in October 2006, following the successful completion of the HELO (Healthy, Ethical, Local, Organic) questionnaire.  Southampton University now offers a full range of Fairtrade goods.

IRIS-25 (The International Review of Images with Soundtrack for Under 25 year olds) is designed to promote and encourage the interest and growth of Digital Audio Visual photography among young people as a creative discipline using still photographic images. The deadline for entries is 21st April and free software to assist in creating the increasingly popular sequences has been kindly provided by Igor Kokarev of the Pictures to Exe Software company [1][1]. Entry forms can be downloaded from www.iris-25.org www.iris-25.org

The NSPCC is launching Safety in learning - a new training package to help ensure anyone working in schools and further education colleges knows what to do if they suspect a child is being abused.

A major rescue operation has been launched by Rainbow International to save a school and its contents after it became the victim of arsonists.

California Raisins has been involved with schools catering and school sports for a number of years now. Our annual competition to find the healthiest school canteen is just one of the ways we try to actively encourage children to eat a healthy balanced diet.

Next year’s secondary school intake will be the first to be legally required to stay in school until the age of 18, according to new plans, which will be outlined in this year’s Queen’s speech. The plans to raise school leaving age – for the first time since 1972 – form the cornerstone of Labour education policy.

ESWOTS multi-lingual e-learning software We are pleased to announce the release of ESWOTS. The initial release (January2008) includes some Asian languages namely Hindi – English, Punjabi – English, Bangladeshi – English and Urdu – English. The units are also available in English only and initially cover foundation and KS1 Maths, Literacy and Sciences. Our aim is to release curriculum based e-learning modules in many other languages throughout 2008 and these will include many other Asian, Chinese, Arabic and a number of Modern European both Eastern and Western. 

The Building Schools Exhibition and Conference (BSEC), is the only event of its kind in the UK. It is designed to bring together the key decision makers involved in the Government’s many school building programmes - Building Schools for the Future, City Academies, the Primary Capital Programme, the Targeted Capital Fund and celtic PFI. The event focuses on the construction, maintenance and design of all schools - new, refurbished and old.

PremierPlus is the new and technologically advanced modular building system from Premier Interlink (Waco UK Ltd).

The architecture education organisation Open House encourages creative learning experiences for all through interactions with exemplary architecture. Learning by Design, an Open House programme funded by the DCSF, comprises a series of accessible publications and open days showcasing exemplar schools and early years facilities. It aims to inform and inspire decision-makers, particularly those at the pre-briefing stage. For further information, including London open days to be held in late January 2008, please email learningbydesign@openhouse.org.uk

Procter Fencing Systems, one of the UK's leading manufacturers of fencing and gates, will be on stand 743 at BSEC 08 to exhibit its range of perimeter fencing. Visitors to the stand will also be given a free copy of Fencing for Schools, a specifier's guide to perimeter security fencing for schools.

Award-winning school building specialist and Portakabin subsidiary, Yorkon, is to unveil its latest design initiative for off-site construction at BSEC 2008.

Public sector windows specialist WHS Halo System 10 will be launching its unique new online energy savings calculator as part of its complete package of low carbon solutions for schools, at this year’s BSEC exhibition.

A leaking roof can be very disruptive, and potentially extremely costly if computer and electronic equipment is housed in the room below. To make matters worse it can be difficult to schedule building works into holiday and shutdown periods without running over and incurring large costs.

The government expects all pupils to have access to a “personal learning space” by early next year. In years gone by this might have meant a desk or a corner of the dining room table, what it means in today’s digital era is a cyber space, where lessons can be downloaded, blogs uploaded and messages posted on virtual noticeboards.

Considering a VLE Solution
As the 2008 deadline nears for all schools to provide access to e-learning resources both in and out of school, the race is on to select the Virtual Learning Environment solution both for today and the future.

John Ruskin College, a sixth form college in Croydon, is rolling-out a pioneering online personal assessment tracking solution, called eTracker, that it believes will revolutionise the way in which all of its 1,200 students can monitor their individual progress against their personal targets.  The college anticipates that eTracker will become a motivating influence for the students, helping to improve performance both academically and pastorally. Equally important, it will help the college support their individual needs and aspirations. 

Teachers of pupils at Key Stage 1 to 3 can now measure a wider range of pupil knowledge and skills capabilities with the new Goal online interactive assessments for mathematics and ICT from Education Development International (EDI).

For anyone in charge of a school there is the worry that something that should have been done has not been done, and that at any moment the inspectors could descend on the school and find this glaring omission. 

Maximise the benefits of your new learning platform with cutting edge curriculum content and games from Birchfield Interactive (BETT Show stand L5).

The South Yorkshire e-Learning Programme has concluded a two year project where 240 Sheffield families who may not normally have the means to engage with technology were provided with a computer, printer and broadband Internet connection in their own homes. The project also facilitated e-learning workshops and courses, giving families the opportunity to learn together at home.

The government is increasingly focussing on the need to teach enterprising skills in the classroom such as accountancy, marketing and sales but the problem for teaching staff is how to incorporate these skill sets around the normal academic curriculum. Not only is time an issue for teachers but it is also finding innovative ways to practice using these skills in a real life situation that is proving difficult for schools and colleges.

Alfred McAlpine – IT Services has been chosen as the technology partner for Stockport College’s five-year new build project to create the ‘college of the future’. Alfred McAlpine – IT Services will provide design consultancy services and programme management for an IT system that will help the college to deliver a super infrastructure to support its 8,500 students. 

The education ‘industry’ is increasingly introducing technological advancement within the education environment at all levels. The Building Schools for the Future (BSF) program is not merely concerned with new buildings; it is also about finding ways to upgrade older type classrooms to be comparable with the modern, hi-tech teaching environments of new-build schools.

The Scout Association is opening its Scout Activity Centres to a wider audience by offering residential experiences to schools across the UK
We believe the best outcomes are achieved when a school and Activity Centre form a partnership to shape an activity programme.

As a result of severe flooding in Oxfordshire during July 2007, Carterton Community College suffered flood damage to over 2000m2 of various floor areas.  Tarkett flooring solutions were specified throughout the refurbishment program, including a specialist performance vinyl floor for the Sports Hall.

Purpose designed for the needs of the education sector, Gopak’s five customisable Noticeboard solutions are already getting gold stars from UK schools.
For starters, its Aluminium Framed boards are perfect for displaying pupils’ work in classrooms and corridors.

The EL-W506B – its latest WriteView scientific calculator aimed at secondary school students. Using Sharp WriteView display technology the calculator encourages students to fully understand problems they are solving by displaying four lines of formula in text book layout, including fractions, indices, irrational numbers, complex numbers, integration, differentiation, matrix calculations, list calculations and hyperbolic functions.

Sharp has launched the MX-1800N to join its range of digital, full colour multifunctional printers (MFPs) delivering professional finishing, high productivity and environmental performance for the education market.  

The MX-7001N and MX-6201N have all the right characteristics for superb performance and durability. A highly rigid chassis, twin black toner cartridges and a paper capacity of up to 6,600 sheets ensures that both models can produce long runs and withstand continual use in the busy education office environment.

Stainless steel worktops, cabinets and sanitaryware from GEC Anderson are playing an important role in education, providing top quality facilities to support the learning process. At a North London primary school, GEC Anderson products – installed as part of a major renovation programme – give each classroom a practical, durable and attractive solution for dealing with art and other ‘wet’ learning needs.   

Mitsubishi Electric has for many years been a leading manufacturer of presentation and display products for business, retail as well as the education sector, with a reputation for high quality, innovative solutions. Now Mitsubishi have two fully featured projectors designed specifically for the education market that both come with a three year deinstall/reinstall warranty as well as a three year lamp replacement warranty.

by Don Shiach
howtobooks
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by Ann Cattanach
Illustrations by Michael Renouf
Jessica Kingsley Publishers
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Crown House Publishing Ltd
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by Jonathan Self
Quercus Books
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