Thursday, September 29, 2011
News in Brief. October 2011
A round up of education news.
Education Secretary Michael Gove has confirmed a number of appointments to the Board of Ofsted . Linda Farrant, Andy Palmer, Paul Snell CBE, Sir Alan Steer and Professor Geoff Whitty CBE have been appointed to serve as Ofsted board members for three years. John Roberts CBE has been re-appointed for three years. For more information about the new members and their backgrounds click here.
Children's Commissioner's Takeover Day 2011 Each year, the Children’s Commissioner in England launches a “takeover day” where organisations and companies are encouraged to allow children to work alongside adults and be involved in decision making for one day. This year’s Children’s Commissioner’s Takeover Day will be on Friday 11 November. Last year thousands of people took part, including more than 30 MPs, Mayor of London Boris Johnson, the Co-operative Group, the Department for Education, the Ministry of Justice, the Big Lottery Fund, Shelter, CBBC Newsround, more than 50 museums and galleries, and hundreds of schools, local authorities, and police and fire services up and down the country. The Children’s Commissioner’s website has more information on how to register to take part, support and resources and videos from last year’s event.
A major review of qualifications for 14 to 19-year-olds in Wales has been launched by the Welsh Assembly. Announcing the review, Deputy Skills Minister, Jeff Cuthbert AM, said that it will consider GCSEs, A-levels and the Welsh Bac but will concentrate primarily on vocational qualifications. Currently the Welsh government funds over 10,000 different qualifications and the review is part of a plan to streamline qualifications in Wales. A report will be published in May 2012.
Sweden has pledged to teach Chinese in all of its primary and secondary schools within a decade. "I want to see Sweden become the first country in Europe to introduce instruction in Chinese as a foreign language at all primary and secondary schools. Not everyone in the business world speaks English. Very highly qualified activities are leaving Europe to move to China. Chinese will be much more important from an economic point of view than French or Spanish," said education minister Jan Bjoerklund.
The British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) have published their latest (14th) annual survey of ICT use in state schools in the UK. The extensive survey, 1,324 UK schools (772 Primary, 552 Secondary) reported that nearly half of schools expected "more than 50% of pupil time" will involve teaching and learning using ICT by 2012/13.
Evelyn Grace academy in Brixton has won the 16th annual Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize for architecture, beating favourite, the Olympic velodrome among other new buildings in the UK. The school was designed by Architect Zaha Hadidto a complex brief to amalgamate four existing schools into one Academy on a small site (1.4 hectares). In designing the buildings, priority was given to creating well-lit and spacious classrooms. In addition the new school has a running track running through the middle of the site, a multi-surface Astroturf pitch and a wildflower garden.
RIBA president Angela Brady, who chaired the judges, said: "The Evelyn Grace academy is an exceptional example of what can be achieved when we invest carefully in a well-designed new school building. The result – a highly imaginative, exciting academy that shows the students, staff and local residents that they are valued – is what every school should and could be."
For more information click here.