The Guardian: Tory MPs back ditching GCSE exams in English school system overhaul

Covid-19 crisis has allowed for a radical rethink of education system, says One Nation group.

The disruption caused by the coronavirus allows for a “radical” rethink of England’s school system, according to a group of Conservative MPs who advocate scrapping GCSEs, delaying the start of formal education and introducing longer school days.

A paper from the One Nation caucus of centrist Conservative MPs is the latest assault on GCSEs, arguing that England is unusual in making teenagers sit two sets of high-stakes exams within the space of three years, and that this is partly responsible for high levels of stress and unhappiness among pupils.

The Guardian: London maths teacher shortlisted for $1m teaching prize

Dr Jamie Frost’s tuition website went viral during lockdown, helping millions of pupils around the world with their studies.

A London mathematics teacher has been shortlisted for a $1m (£780,000) international teaching prize after his tuition website went global during lockdown, helping millions of pupils in the UK and around the world to continue their maths studies at home.

The Times: School funding ‘unfair to poor white pupils’

Poor white children do significantly worse at school in part because education funding is targeted at larger cities with more ethnically diverse populations, academics have argued.

They accused the Department for Education of making it difficult for experts to analyse underachievement by white pupils because this “did not align” with the government’s focus.

The Guardian: Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé: the 21-year-old British student with a million-dollar book deal

Very inspiring. I have been toying with writing a novel… we’ll see if I can find some free time.

Author says she was ‘just a broke student writing to make myself some fictional friends’ in her debut Ace of Spades, about two black students navigating racism at an elite school.

The Times: Fears grow as teachers die weeks into new school year

United States
Teachers in at least three states have died after contracting coronavirus since the start of the new school year, with teachers’ unions concerned that the return to in-person classes will have a deadly effect across the country if proper precautions are not taken.

AshLee DeMarinis, 34, who taught social skills at a school in Missouri, died on Sunday after three weeks in hospital. A third-grade teacher died on Monday in South Carolina, and two other teachers died in Mississippi. It is not clear how many teachers have become ill with Covid-19 since the school year began but Mississippi has reported 604 cases among school teachers and staff.

Independent: Ofqual suggests online exams could be option next summer in wake of this year’s grading chaos

‘Some form of examination’ needed for students to feel system is fair, Roger Taylor says.

Roger Taylor has said it was a "fundamental mistake" to believe the public would get behind this year's grading system.

Guardian: ‘I do not see a single student wash their hands': teacher’s diary of the first week back at school

My 12 year old is back on the tube school. We have to trust that she will be sensible and do the right thing. Her school have very detailed instructions and have created year bubbles. They spend the last 5mins of each lesson cleaning their desks etc.

Edutopia: Dragons and Fairy Tales in Science Class

“Did you know that a long, long time ago, long before there was even pizza in Chicago, we were known for something else—dragons?”

The students laugh, knowing it’s not true, but they lean forward to hear more.

“See, here in Chicago we had the most beautiful dragons that anyone had ever seen. Dragons that had colors that people couldn’t even imagine. If you were stealthy enough and watched over by the lake, you could have seen dragons of the deepest blues, whose scales changed colors with the seasons. Over in Grant Park, you might spot dragons with scales in jewel-toned greens hiding in the trees, and white winter dragons that shimmered in the coldest weather. But then everything changed.”

“Risk-taking only happens when you give students the chance to push ahead”

What happens when you bring together high-school students, teachers, and technology entrepreneurs to experiment with new ideas for learning? Christoph Wittmer talks about shaping the future of education with innovation.

The Times: School woos 26 ex pupils to teach

Many youngsters cannot wait to leave their schooldays behind — but one head teacher is so inspiring she has convinced 26 of her former pupils to return as teachers or other staff at their old school.

Rhian Morgan Ellis has formed her very own old boys’ and girls’ club at a secondary school in the Welsh valleys. It includes a former head boy and head girl in her senior management team, as well as a former pupil who started as a dinner lady and is now a support teacher for vulnerable pupils after Morgan Ellis spotted her gift for working with children. All 26 are on the 77-strong staff simultaneously.

Education, Higher Education, Media ArticleSarah NorrisNovember 5, 2019Lando EducationThe Times, school, teachers, secondary school, Welsh, WalesComment

The Guardian: We should be alarmed by schools' creepy plan to monitor students

This year, students in Florida headed back to school for reading, writing and a new Big Brother. The Florida Schools Safety Portal, a statewide database, will collect, sort and analyze sensitive data about students to share with law enforcement. Created in response to the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, the portal is described as an early warning system to identify and assess potential threats. But responding to legitimate concerns about school shootings with a system that invades student privacy and labels children as threats will not make schools safer.

Family, Education, Media Article, TechnologySarah NorrisOctober 20, 2019Lando Educationthe Guardian, monitoring students, Florida, school, Big BrotherComment

The Guardian: Why mathematicians just can’t quit their blackboards

Another year, another wave of students trampling across autumn leaves, making their way to their first lectures heady with a cocktail of excitement, apprehension and a nasty hangover. But while every year brings new faces, one feature of the academic landscape remains ever-present: the huge, imposing blackboards.

Now photographer Jessica Wynne, a professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, has thrown a spotlight on this workhorse of academic endeavour, travelling across the US and beyond to capture the blackboards of mathematicians.

The Times: ‘Super-size’ class packs in 67 children

It looks more like a lecture theatre than a primary school classroom. Welcome to Broadclyst Community Primary School in Devon, where year 6 pupils are taught in a class of 67 — sometimes with just one teacher.

A Sunday Times investigation has found that cash-strapped primary schools are packing pupils into giant classes to boost their budgets. A school receives between £3,500 and £5,000 a year for each child. More than 559,000 primary pupils were taught in “super-size classes” averaging more than 30 children last year, compared with 501,000 five years earlier, according to our analysis of official data.

The Times : Robot helps pupils to improve their writing

The handwriting of young children improves significantly when they are required to teach robots that seem to be struggling with the same difficulties, scientists say.

Researchers programmed a small humanoid robot to help under-nines to overcome the most common errors, including where parts of the letter appear out of scale and where the letter appears to be rotated at the wrong angle.

Family, Education, Media ArticleSarah NorrisOctober 9, 2019Lando Educationrobot, The Times, handwriting, writing, education, learning, schoolComment

The Times: Call for summer-born children to have marks adjusted

As a late spring child myself, I completely agree with this. For certain 11+ school exams, month of birth is taken into consideration. I see many summer born children who, in an ideal world, should be allowed to go back a year if requested by their parents.

Education, Languages, Media Article, Higher EducationSarah NorrisOctober 3, 2019Lando Educationsummer-born, children, school, education, exams, The TimesComment

The Times - Sheffield Girls’ pupils to learn comedy — so they’ll be taken seriously

Most schools have a class clown, but one headteacher is encouraging more pupils to play the fool.

Stand-up comedy lessons have been introduced at Sheffield Girls’ School to teach sixth-formers how to deal with hecklers and silence and could help girls to cope with job interviews, negotiate at work and give them the confidence to ask for a pay rise.

The comedy club is an alternative to debating societies, developing similar skills among those put off by formal rhetoric and argument.

Education, Media ArticleSarah NorrisOctober 1, 2019Lando Educationcomedy, girls, school, education, class clownComment

The Times - Buying homes near good schools ‘worse than going private’

From Saturday.

Buying a house in the catchment area of an outstanding state school is worse for social mobility than paying for your child to go to private school, a prep school leader claims.

Critics of the private school sector are often hypocrites who buy expensive houses close to high-performing state schools, according to Christopher King, chief executive of the Independent Association of Prep Schools.

The Labour Party conference opens today and a motion to abolish private schools is due to be heard tomorrow. Labour has already pledged to charge VAT on school fees.

Private school heads have reacted with anger and frustration, saying that many fee-charging schools are small and at the heart of local communities.

Speaking ahead of the conference on Thursday, Mr King said: “Vocal critics of the independent school sector are often the very same people who have enough money to buy expensive houses close to some of the most high-performing state schools in the country.

Education, Family, Media ArticleSarah NorrisSeptember 23, 2019Lando Educationschool, education, housing, catchment area, state schoolsComment

Senior School Clubs Weren't This Exciting in the '80s

Yes, I do have my hand up in the air! I went to senior school in the ‘80’s, 1981-1988 to be precise. I went to two senior/secondary schools. My first, an independent school was in West Yorkshire and my last was in North Yorkshire, a faith state school. I can’t say I remember having any clubs at either school! In addition my mother was very much against outside school activities, as she viewed them as a complete waste of money (sigh)!

Education, Higher EducationSarah NorrisSeptember 12, 2019clubs, school, educationComment

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