National News
Ex-pupil wins damages over face-down restraint at Oxfordshire special school
Friday 20th December 2024Boy was restrained face down by staff and others placed a towel around the door of his room to stop him leavingA former student who was repeatedly restrained face down and once imprisoned for nearly five hours at a special school has been awarded £18,900 in damages...
The last primary school in Soho
Friday 20th December 2024Soho's last primary school is battling to stay open as families move away from the area due to costs...
'Taking in my grandchildren has left me penniless'
Friday 20th December 2024A woman fights for recognition as a kinship foster carer so she can financially support her grandchildren...
University bans on big oil firms at recruitment fairs rise by 30%
Friday 20th December 2024Survey finds post-1992 universities leading the way on sustainability and ethicsMore universities are banning fossil fuel companies from recruitment fairs in a sign of the sector’s shrinking social licence among young people...
Allow teachers to fine parents over pupils’ bad behaviour, says Tony Blair’s thinktank
Friday 20th December 2024Report argues for more powers, but teachers say this could strain already fraught relationships with parentsMinisters should give teachers the power to fine parents if they do not engage with the school to tackle an “epidemic” of bad behaviour, according to the thinktank led by Tony Blair...
Schools pledge to become smartphone-free
Thursday 19th December 2024Four schools have each signed a letter asking parents to delay buying their children smartphones...
All my Christmas huffing and puffing has prompted a new catchphrase: ‘Stop struggling, Mum’ | Emma Brockes
Thursday 19th December 2024This is the most flat-out week of the year, in which the sheer volume of low-key demands leaves families dragging themselves towards the finish lineEvery few years, the grind of modern life inspires calls for a radical rethink...
'Flexi-schooling' isn't the answer for time-pressed parents - but something has to give | Emma Brockes
Thursday 19th December 2024Kids aren’t mini executives who need to be chauffeured between school and extracurricular activitiesEvery few years, the grind of modern life inspires calls for a radical rethink...
Teachers locked out of school to return to classes
Wednesday 18th December 2024High school teachers agree to "de-escalate" their industrial action over working conditions...
Claudette Williams obituary
Wednesday 18th December 2024My friend Claudette Williams, who has died aged 69 after a heart attack, was an educationist specialising in early years, as well as an author, activist, feminist and campaigner for social justice...
Parents and union to protest at school gates
Wednesday 18th December 2024The trust that runs a state high school is proposing to cut 25 staff due to "financial challenges"...
Parents and pupils protests over staff-cuts plan
Wednesday 18th December 2024The trust running two high schools is proposing to cut up to 30 staff due to "financial challenges"...
Judge in Sara Sharif case warns of ‘dangers’ of automatic right to home school children
Tuesday 17th December 2024Judge says killers home schooled Sara as a ‘ruse’ to hide evidence of 10-year-old’s repeated beatings A senior judge who jailed the killers of Sara Sharif has said the 10-year-old’s murder “starkly illustrates the dangers” of parents automatically being able to home school their children...
Landmark bill seeks to keep children safe, says Phillipson
Tuesday 17th December 2024The bill will be introduced on the day Sara Sharif's father and step-mother are sentenced for her murder...
Amazon-hosted AI tool for UK military recruitment ‘carries risk of data breach’
Tuesday 17th December 2024Ministry of Defence says risk is low and ‘robust safeguards’ have been put in place by suppliersAn artificial intelligence tool hosted by Amazon and designed to boost UK Ministry of Defence recruitment puts defence personnel at risk of being identified publicly, according to a government assessment...
Home schooling laws to be tightened up after murder of Sara Sharif
Tuesday 17th December 2024Ten-year-old was murdered by her father and stepmother after being taken out of school to be educated at homeMeasures to tighten up home schooling in England in the wake of 10-year-old Sara Sharif’s murder at the hands of her father and stepmother are to be unveiled in a bill before parliament on Tuesday...
Plan to register children not in school takes shape
Tuesday 17th December 2024The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill is expected to come into force in 2025...
Mother 'scared' while testing school walking route
Monday 16th December 2024Surrey County Council says it spends around £65m a year on school transport...
'The school system is broken': Why more parents are home-educating their children
Monday 16th December 2024The BBC speaks with parents who insist the school system is "broken" as latest government estimates point to a rise in home education...
The Guardian view on reforming special needs education: a demanding test for ministers | Editorial
Sunday 15th December 2024The system has been stretched to breaking point. The government needs to come up with a planThe urgent need for reform of the special educational needs and disabilities (Send) system in England is arguably the greatest challenge facing the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson...
What kind of society would willingly traumatise its children in the name of education? | John Harris
Sunday 15th December 2024As claims about practices in two flagship London schools are investigated, it’s time to stop and think about what schools are really forAsk the average Westminster politician about schools policy and the response will focus on issues that never seem to go away: funding, teacher shortages, and the drive to somehow uncouple unequal educational outcomes from children’s social and economic backgrounds...
Top English academy trust faces safeguarding review over ‘emotional abuse’ of pupils
Sunday 15th December 2024Observer investigation into London school has sparked an inquiry into allegations that teachers harmed mental wellbeing of childrenA school in one of England’s leading academy trusts is to face an independent safeguarding review after an Observer investigation exposed allegations of emotional abuse of children over two decades...
Ho-ho-no! Children in tears after vicar tells them Santa is not real
Saturday 14th December 2024Rev Dr Paul Chamberlain apologises for talk at Hampshire school after angry parents say he ‘ruined Christmas’Telling young children whether Santa is or is not real is a parental ritual usually handled with painstaking care...
Primary school children left in tears after vicar tells them ‘Santa isn’t real’
Saturday 14th December 2024Rev Dr Paul Chamberlain apologises for talk at Hampshire school after angry parents said he ‘ruined Christmas’Breaking the illusion that Santa is not real is a parental ritual usually handled with painstaking care...
‘A whole new world opened up’: the radical project taking Israel-Palestine into schools
Saturday 14th December 2024Issues often deemed too controversial for the classroom are bread and butter for Parallel Histories, which teaches children to see hot-button topics from both sidesDonate to our charity appeal hereIt has dominated the news agenda for the past 14 months, but inside most British classrooms, it’s as if 7 October never happened...
Schools accused of 'toxic and humiliating culture'
Friday 13th December 2024The Mossbourne Federation says the "toxic culture" claims against it are part of a "vexatious campaign"...
Huge support for affordable school uniforms law
Friday 13th December 2024About 7,500 people respond to a consultation about a new law to make all school uniforms affordable...
Branded uniforms are a 'financial drain' on parents
Friday 13th December 2024About 7,500 people respond to a consultation about a new law to make all school uniforms affordable...
Schools accused of 'toxic culture' toward pupils
Friday 13th December 2024The Mossbourne Federation says the claims against it are part of a "vexatious campaign"...
Teachers locked out of school in row with trust
Thursday 12th December 2024The staff are involved in a dispute with the academy trust over workload and working practices...
Puberty blockers for under-18s banned indefinitely
Wednesday 11th December 2024Health secretary says use of drugs a scandal as review finds using them would be unacceptable risk...
CMA launches inquiry into potential bid rigging for school roofing contracts
Wednesday 11th December 2024Competition watchdog says it suspects companies, including building contractors and technical advisers, illegally colludedBusiness live – latest updatesThe UK competition watchdog has launched an investigation into several British roofing and construction services companies over allegations they “illegally colluded to rig bids” to win contracts for repairing schools...
Nurseries warn of rising fees ahead of childcare expansion
Tuesday 10th December 2024Bosses in the early years sector say the government's uplift in funding will not cover rising costs...
The free childcare now available to working parents
Tuesday 10th December 2024Parents in England can now access 15 hours of free weekly childcare for children from nine months...
Plan to fine Devon schools £21k for each exclusion
Tuesday 10th December 2024A report to Devon County Council said the move could raise more than £5m a year...
US teacher loses job after bathroom ban led to children urinating on themselves
Tuesday 10th December 2024Several first-grade students wet themselves at Bartlett elementary in Texas due to educator’s punishmentA Texas school teacher is reportedly “no longer employed” at the local district where she had been working after she prohibited her first-grade class from using the bathroom as punishment – causing several students to urinate on themselves...
Free school meal funding 'not enough' - caterer
Tuesday 10th December 2024A rise of 5p paid to schools for free meals will take food of children's plates, Adam Curtis says...
'I tried everything to get my daughter to go to school'
Tuesday 10th December 2024Twelve-year-old Hannah missed most of her primary education but has been receiving support to get her back to school...
'I tried everything to get my daughter to go to school'
Monday 9th December 2024Twelve-year-old Hannah missed most of her primary education but has been receiving support to get her back to school...
Marathon times: is it ever a good idea to include yours on your CV?
Monday 9th December 2024Recruiters say young people are trying to impress by detailing their pastimes on job applications, including everything from fitness goals to ‘having a brat summer’Name: Marathon times...
'One hell of a journey to turn school around'
Monday 9th December 2024Idsall School has been making changes since being rated inadequate by Ofsted in September 2022...
Puberty blockers: Can a drug trial solve one of medicine's most controversial debates?
Monday 9th December 2024The government has pledged to determine the evidence - and establish whether the benefits outweigh any potential harms of prescribing puberty blockers to children questioning their genderRead full story...
Primary school closed due to storm damage
Sunday 8th December 2024The States says La Houguette Primary School has "significant" damage from Storm Darragh...
College enrollment is falling at a ‘concerning’ rate, new data reveals
Sunday 8th December 2024Fewer 18-year-olds are enrolling, especially at four-year schools...
Labour’s must help disadvantaged children become ‘school ready’ before it’s too late | Editorial
Saturday 7th December 2024With child poverty forecast to rise by 400,000, Keir Starmer’s pledge to improve the life chances of early learners is a matter of the utmost urgencyA third of children starting school in England aged five are not “school ready”...
Top London academies face mass claims of emotional harm as Whitehall acts on crisis
Saturday 7th December 2024Government says allegations ‘deeply distressing’ as dossier of allegations grows in wake of Observer investigation into Mossbourne schoolsThe government has expressed alarm at “deeply distressing” allegations of emotional harm at one of the country’s leading academy trusts after an Observer investigation...
High number of pupils regularly missing school
Friday 6th December 2024Large numbers of children are missing more than 10% of school hours, a report finds...
Ofsted 'alarmed' by absences and 'flexi-schooling'
Friday 6th December 2024Ofsted's chief inspector says he is worried about the number of pupils who are partly home-educated...
Don’t expect better public services ‘by Christmas’, Starmer says
Friday 6th December 2024Prime minister says problems in health, housing and education will take years to rebuild• UK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer has told voters not to expect rapid public service improvements as he seeks to relaunch his faltering government withlong-term targets on housebuilding, living standards, energy, policing, education and the NHS...
Childcare bosses fear for future amid rising costs
Friday 6th December 2024Costs at one nursery are up 40% in recent years, and it faces an annual shortfall of over £30,000...
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