Shamsia Alizada, 18, first out of more than 170,000 students
Government in talks with Taliban, which barred girls in schools
In this letter, leading educators demand urgent action as they launch a group aiming to overhaul the testing regime in schools.
We were told this summer that it was a “mutant algorithm” that had caused the anguish of the exam fiasco. Covid may have exposed the failings, but in truth, something more profound is going on, and it has been brewing for years: we have a mutant exam system.
Created with good intentions — “to raise standards” — it has mutated into something that neither measures the right things nor is very reliable, and leaves in its wake a trail of stress and unfairness.
Many of those who are involved in the exams merry-go-round are reaching the same conclusion — it’s not fit for purpose and needs to change.
This week a new group— Rethinking Assessment — is being launched to do something about it.
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My 12 year old recently discovered that you could rent women’s clothes in Selfridges. Not quite sure either of us actually liked any of the clothes on display though.
2020 is the year fashion rental went mainstream. But should childrenswear be next on your list to loan? And is it safe? Chloe Street speaks to My Wardobe Kids' Sadie Mantovani to get the baby gro-down
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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.
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Parents are demanding an “unequivocal statement” from John Swinney about the fate of next year’s school exams amid claims that they may be cancelled again due to Covid-19.
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She might be singing nursery rhymes or helping a child to learn the alphabet. While it sounds like an average day for a nanny, there is a difference. Danielle Manton-Kelly is not in the room with the children: she is a Zoomsitter, an online nanny, and she is one of a growing breed.
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My daughter is back at school and touch wood, there haven’t been any cases of Covid at her school yet. They have cameras in each of the classrooms, so girls in quarantine at home, can join in lessons. However several independent and state schools in London have put entire year groups or individual classes into quarantine, several days after starting back. We have friends with daughters currently confined to home school as a result.
Whatever happens at Westminster, the prime minister knows closing schools again would be political suicide.
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Sarah Fletcher, the high mistress of St Paul's Girls' School in London and a member of the HMC, offers thoughts on better ways young people can be assessed than out-dated GCSEs.
Everything has changed over the past few months.
We have put students from across the world in the same classrooms, safeguarded new ways of working and shared resources and online platforms.
Most extraordinary of all, teachers have helped in the awarding of grades and we have cancelled all assessments from key stage 1 to key stage 5.
Imagining the unimaginable is something we should do more often! And what better place to start than with the curriculum?
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A coalition of private and state schools is expected to launch a campaign to end GCSEs, as growing numbers of schools look at alternatives to the exams following the summer algorithm debacle.
Eton, Bedales, St Paul’s girls’ school, Latymer upper school and several substantial academy chains have been joined by Margaret Thatcher’s education secretary, Kenneth Baker, who created GCSEs, to discuss proposals for replacing the exam system.
The group, Rethinking Assessments, is likely to launch a formal campaign in the next few weeks, forcing ministers into a battle for control of school qualifications.
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The Maths Masterclass Tutorials are an intense programme of FREE online Maths tuition designed to stretch and challenge the very best young mathematicians
Following the huge success of our pilot in May, we are now scaling up to a year-long FREE programme. The Maths Masterclass Tutorials programme is delivered by TalentEd in partnership with best-selling author Dr. Simon Singh.
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Is performing for young audiences easier? Far from it say the comedians who do clubs at night and CBBC shows by day.
Young audiences respond instantly: they won’t sit and think about a joke or allow it to grow
Nick Mohammed
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The ban aims to protect young people’s mental health and body image.
Cosmetic surgery clinics will be banned from promoting breast enlargement, nose jobs and liposuction to children, under plans announced by the advertising watchdog today.
The rules will stop adverts for cosmetic surgery during or around TV programmes and online content, either aimed at under-18s or likely to appeal to young audiences. It will mean that viewers of Love Island, the ITV reality show, will no longer see adverts for breast enlargement procedures.
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As the youngest person to climb Kilimanjaro, seven-year-old Ashleen Mandrick may have earned a break but during the summer holidays she just carried on climbing, this time up the Alps.
Last month the British schoolgirl ascended 4,400 metres to the Colle del Parrot on Monte Rosa, located on Italy’s border with Switzerland, becoming what is thought to be the youngest person to climb the Alps’ second-highest mountain. She was joined on the adventure by her brother Nicolas, 12, and her mother Victoria, 46, a doctor.
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From The Times: September 10, 1920
The Southampton boat-train left Waterloo Station last night with 200 bright-eyed, healthy French youngsters, of nine to 12 years old. These little passengers were journeying with rather mixed feelings, for they were on their way back to their homes in the war-devastated areas, after a wonderful recuperative holiday of six weeks in the North of England.
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‘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.
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World political leaders must step up on the environment, activist tells Venice film festival showing of documentary about her.
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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.
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As I live with a screenwriter husband, we watch films as a family a lot, and I do mean A LOT!
We’ve watched our fair share of space movies and although our daughter is intrigued by all things space, the thought of travelling there is a big no no. It frightens her. However she is interested in working for NASA, when she’s an adult.
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Interestingly, a few days before I started to suffer from Covid symptoms (19th March), my 12 year old daughter complained that she felt nauseous. We assumed she might be suffering from a little anxiety, caused by the virus’s spread and her potentially being over tired. I took her into school late on the Tuesday (11am), school closed 4pm on the Wednesday, to start remote lessons on the following Monday and I started to get sick on the Thursday.
Did she catch Covid and pass on to me? We still don’t quite know. I donated blood plasma and now know that I have antibodies, although sadly not high enough to donate again. My husband and daughter have not yet been tested.
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