Tuesday, May 26, 2009
News in Brief, May 2009
A summary of education news from the last month.
The UK government has announced a £146 million funding package to support its target of all young people taking part in voluntary work in their community. The long-term target is for every young person to have contributed at least 50 hours of time to voluntary community activities by the age of19. A series of pilot schemes will be run across the country to see how best to create the widest range of opportunities for young people. New funding will also be available to schools to provide community opportunities to students aged 14-16. V, the national youth volunteering organisation is playing a key role in the plans. Visit the website.
Sir Mike Tomlinson has announced his decision to retire from the post of Chief Advisor for London Schools at the end of May for personal reasons. There has been no announcement of his successor.
The Welsh Baccalaureate will be expanded by 1/3, making it available to 30,000 students in 168 centres across Wales. The qualification offers a combined range of learning and work experience opportunities focusing on transferable skills.
Key Stage Two Science SATS tests have been abolished by the UK government with this years 11 year olds sitting the last tests earlier this month. The national tests in English and Maths for all 11 year olds will remain but will be moved from May to June, from next year. National testing in Maths, English and Science at end of Key Stage 3 were abolished earlier this year.
All new BSF school designs must now meet new strict architectural criteria. The criteria for the new Minimum Design Standard were developed jointly by the DSCF, Partnerships for Schools and The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) . All Building Schools for the Future designs must now be submitted to the CABE Advisory Panel for assessment on meeting the criteria at three separate stages of the process. If they are deemed unsatisfactory by the panel the design cannot proceed. For the first time CABE Advisory Panels will be required to include an educationalist to advise on how the proposed designs meet local authority visions for transforming education. Views of teachers and pupils will also be reported to the panel. To read the new Minimum Design Standards and for further information on successful school design, visit the CABE website.
Government Funding has been announced for 10 new Youth Achievement Foundations to open across the UK. The decision follows the success of a pilot scheme in Lincolnshire where the number of permanent exclusions dropped to zero after the Foundation was launched. The Youth Achievement Foundations provide an alternative curriculum based on personal and social development designed for learners who have been or are at risk of being excluded from mainstream school. They are run on a not-for-profit basis, sometimes within a school, more often in a separate centre. See the website for more details