The Koya Secondary School for Girls in Northern Iraq is one of the latest additions to Rafi.ki, the international online community for schools. The network now stretches across 100 countries with the newest additions coming from Iraq, Cote d'Ivoire and El Salvador. 

The new features within this year's D+T with ICT Education Show and changing visitor trends resulted in a hugely successful 2008 show.

The head of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has resigned his post. Dr Ken Boston said he was "taking responsibility" after the Sats shambles which left thousands of children breaking up for the school holidays without knowing their results.

A report has found, following research, that over 100,000 pupils with good GCSEs drop out of education at 16 each year. Many well-qualified teenagers not progressing to further or higher education and 70% of those achieving the Government's benchmark of five GCSEs at grade A* to C, don't go on to take A levels or equivalent by the age of 19. The proportion progressing to further education rose with each additional GCSE.

His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales urged the legal profession to sign up to a set of bespoke principles to combat global warming in a keynote speech given at the official launch of the Legal Sector Alliance [LSA] in London.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the School Food Trust (SFT) have teamed up to launch The Really Good School Dinner initiative, which will enable children of all ages across England to provide a nutritious meal for some of the world's poorest children simply by donating 10p when they have a school meal.

Imaginative and ingenious teachers using technology creatively to inspire pupils will be recognised by a new Teaching Award sponsored by Becta, called the Becta Award for Next Generation Learning.

The University and College Union (UCU) has said that academic and academic-related staff were to be congratulated for their hard work following the publication of the RAE results.

BESA (British Educational Suppliers Association) has announced the release of its annual comprehensive ‘ICT in UK State Schools' research, which explores a range of ICT issues and trends.

Responding to the Ofsted 2008 Annual Performance Assessments Ed Balls, Secretary of State, for Children, Schools and Families, said, "We always act immediately on Ofsted's judgements. So in all nine of the authorities in Ofsted ratings where there are inadequate judgements overall, or in safeguarding, we have either already intervened or are now sending in our intervention experts.

Commenting on the latest Ofsted report of Annual Performance Assessments in children's services, Christine Blower, Acting General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said:

A report by the Audit Commission shows that one in ten councils in England is experiencing extra demand for state school places as the credit crunch bites. Cash-strapped parents are pulling there children out of private education to save money.

Emap Connect and BESA are pleased to announce that London Olympia will continue to be the home of BETT, the world's largest educational technology event, for the immediate future.

Becta has published an Information Management Strategy framework guide to help schools make more effective and secure use of their data and improve the quality of data that they hold.

The findings leave no doubt that the QCA and the contractors ETS are culpable. The enormous scale of the problems that occurred indicates a staggering degree of operational incompetence and mismanagement.

Nina Woodcock, Head of Capital Building Programmes, BECTA told Education Today:

"Building Schools for the Future, and the other major capital programmes such as Academies and the Primary Capital Programme, are not just about replacing and refurbishing buildings. 

A draft code of conduct has been published by the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE). It says that teachers will have to act as role models in and out of school. The code extends to the socialising habits of teachers and urges teachers to consider their place in society.

When a primary school in Richmond, Surrey approached a leading school sports provider, Motive8, to deliver a one hour work-shop on visual impairment, they soon became aware of the fun involved!

A report has found that English children are the best in Europe at science and maths but don't enjoy their lessons.

Headteachers are calling for an overhaul of the school funding system after figures have shown that half of pupils living below the poverty line are not qualifying for free school meals. About a million pupils from poor homes do not qualify for a free meal, which also means their schools miss out on funding.

A report from the School Teachers' Review Body shows that teachers are now working longer hours than they were in 2007. Indeed, secondary heads in England and Wales work on average 60 hours per week with deputy heads doing 58 hours.

When Kent County Council commissioned a new building on the site of Grade II-listed Davington Primary School, it was essential that the new structure complement the 1882-constructed school's aesthetics in accordance with English Heritage. To ensure compliance, the council assigned a conservation officer to the project, who was keen for the new roof to feature traditional metal cladding.

Wakefield Metropolitan District Council and NPS North East Ltd have developed several centres for pre-school children, which include health and training facilities, in response to Government policy. NPS selected Premier Interlink to work on the £1.25m contract in partnership with a main contractor to develop and build 4 of these centres at Stanley, Gawthorpe, Sharlston and South Kirkby in Wakefield, Yorkshire. 

Betco UK has launched the first peroxide based all-in-one cleaner and disinfectant to clean and protect against AIDS virus HIV-1 and Influenza A.

Sharp has introduced two debut models from the new Frontier range of multifunction printers. The MX-C311 and MX-C381 are the first in a new line of A4 full colour MFP products that are designed to meet the needs of small and medium businesses, bringing the superior performance of Sharp technology closer to everybody.

Last month saw Sir Jim Rose's interim report on the curriculum in primary schools. As expected, it stirred up a hornet's nest in the press with commentators choosing either the "traditional" camp or advocating the idea of a more free approach to teaching children of this age group.

Barnsley College, one of the UK's leading providers of quality further education, is adopting Unified Communications technology provided by NEC Philips Unified Solutions. The solution, which incorporates Microsoft's Office Communications Server (OCS), Unified Messaging (UM) and Live Meeting, as well as NEC Philips' IP telephony, will help the College to streamline business processes by improving the reachability and presence information of staff. This information is invaluable as the College looks to re-furbish its two main campuses necessitating the re-location of staff at short notice without impacting on communication throughout the organisation.

UK computer manufacturer Zoostorm has recently launched the Fizzbook - the first fully featured laptop designed around the exclusive needs of children aged 6-14. Unlike previous laptops for children, the Fizzbook includes a full Windows® operating system and an Intel Atom processor powerful enough to run day-to-day software applications, games and standard computer peripherals.

In every class there are always some students who simply don't get the point of the lesson, others try, but simply find the subject very difficult.

Soundbitelearning, an innovative multimedia learning company, and BiBC, the UK's leading provider of digital distribution services, announce the launch of www.GCSEPod.co.uk, a new educational web portal. The site enables UK students to learn and revise for their GCSEs by downloading educational audio content to portable devices including iPods and mobile phones.

LoCO2MS is a 2nd generation "Green PC" with advanced power technology making it economical to run. The All-in-One PC qualifies at only 26 watts in normal use, under the Energy Star® 4.0 test, and that equates to only half the power of a standard light bulb. Each LoCO2MS computer when replacing a conventional desktop or tower can during its lifetime, reduce electricity bills by hundreds of pounds, potentially paying for itself. When replacing an entire IT suite of 30 PCs there is scope to bring down an annual electricity bill by £5,000 per annum or even more.

The Government wants schools to think more creatively about how they can raise funds by liaising more closely with the community around them. This could be by approaching local businesses for sponsorship or by inviting adult learners to use the premises after school hours. Or it could even be by immersing the head teacher in a bath or baked beans or holding a school disco. Stephanie Norbury looks at the advantages and the possible pitfalls for schools looking to raise funds in this way.

The countdown has begun to the next Building Schools Exhibition and Conference (BSEC). BSEC is the only event that focuses solely on the construction, maintenance and design of schools in the UK and takes place at Manchester Central from the 11-12th February 2009. 

Yorkon will be demonstrating its cutting edge approach to off-site construction and a series of new developments in steel-framed modular building at BSEC 09.

The specialist in constructing natural grass and artificial sports surfaces for state of the art sports grounds, and the leading provider of sports facilities for the Building Schools for the Future programme is keen to emphasise the importance of incorporating external works into the early design stages of a project.

Mödel Signage Solutions offers a complete sign service to customers throughout the UK and for all environment types, including, education establishments, government buildings, commercial offices and health centres.

Sports-mad youngsters are getting a kick out of a new school sports hall thanks to interior surface specialists Altro.

Northgate Education has joined forces with the Building Schools Exhibition and Conference (BSEC) to offer students in the North the chance to win a classroom makeover as part of the exciting new 'Design My Learning Space' competition launched in December ‘08.

If you struggle to find temporary staging that will cope with the uneven floor in your premises, Gopak now has the answer. Its unique temporary staging solution, the Ultralight Staging System, can now be supplied with additional levellers and anti-slip bungs to deal with the most uneven or slippery surface.

According the HSE, 55% of all accidents in the education sector are caused by a slip or a trip. 90% of major accidents resulted in a broken bone, causing considerable personal distress and a significant amount of time away from school. And unfortunately it's a growing problem.

This book examines the changes now needed if schools are to succeed in educating young people to live and work in a future we can scarcely begin to imagine.

The Perfect Teacher is a practical book for teachers at all levels of experience which explores the major issues facing the profession.

This series supports the continuing growth and development of independent learning and practical activities which are features of early learning.

This book is the perfect resource for both primary school teachers and parents looking for advice, inspiration and handy hints on the use of collage. The only book devoted solely to this topic, Collage in the Classroom provides essential information on the benefits of collage in education, alongside tips on approach and organisation.

We use the word all the time but what exactly is self-esteem and how do young people develop it? This book explores how a young person's self is constructed and what might really help that self to feel more valued and confident.