Friday, April 25, 2008
News in brief ( April 08 )
Summary of the latest news in innovation and education.
£21 investment in mentoring scheme.
The Aimhigher associates scheme has been launched by the DCSF jointly with the DIUS aiming to encourage more young people from all backgrounds to go to university. The mentoring scheme will link existing higher education students with a school student aged fourteen from a similar background to their own. Starting at fourteen means the mentor and mentee can build a relationship before the crucial decisions about university applications are made, likely to persuade more young people earlier on in their school career to aim for university as a target.
£21 million in funding has been announced for the scheme to recruit 5,000 university students to be trained to become mentors to a target of 21,000 school students. The scheme is committed to providing every secondary school with a link to a Higher Education institution.
Review of Exam Costs
A report for the QCA has concluded that a full review is needed to consider the costs of exams in the UK to schools and therefore to public funds.The report estimated exams cost schools £700 million each year. Further Education Colleges have spoken earlier this month about the cost of the exam system, considering the large number of entries they make. In the context of alternative assessment pedagogies and indeed up and running systems of which PbyP is one example, the cost of paper tests being sent off to a central organisation to be marked needs to be reconsidered.
Less than half of UK Dads read bedtime stories to their children.
A poll of over 2000 fathers commissioned as part of the National Year of Reading has revealed that Dads are much less likely to read to their children on a regular basis than Mums. 76% of mothers regularly read to their children whilst only 43% of Dads. This coincides with the findings of a survey of children conducted by the National Literacy Trust earlier this year in which only half the children interviewed felt their Dads encouraged them to read, whilst 2/3 said their mothers did.
Pupil's engagement in BSF
Research into the impact of pupil engagement in BSF programme has been commissioned. The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment has commissioned research into pupil engagement in building schools for the future. NFER are conducting the research which will look at the value and impact of pupils being involved in the Building Schools for the Future scheme.
Greater Focus on personalised learning in the re-vamped NQPH.
The National Professional Qualification for Headship has undergone its first update since being launched in 2001. The new scheme will place a greater emphasis on government initiatives such as the new Children's Plan and personalised learning. Most of the new course will be done online with a compulsory placement in a school unlike their own for all candidates before qualifying.
Modular GCSE s will be introduced in September 2009
Modular GCSEs are to be introduced in 43 subjects from September 2009, with pupils being able to re-take each module once. The emphasis will is on flexible assessment with a reduced emphasis on the final exam season at the end of courses, although there is a requirement for each GCSEs to have at least 40% final assessment. This plan follows the new science and maths GCSEs currently in their first year, which follow a modular course.
How should primary teachers be trained for 21st century learning?
The latest three reports from the Primary Review have focused on the training of primary school teachers in England. Ofsted concluded in this year's annual report that the UK has "best - trained generation of teachers ever", but the Primary Review found evidence for a different pattern in the teaching profession. The report found that whilst initial teacher training for primary school teachers was thorough the number of teachers in UK classrooms who did not experience it was rising with the number of unqualified teachers in England is the highest ever.