National news
Teens on 9-1 GCSEs: 'Everyone's worried about grade boundaries'
Saturday 23rd June 2018How have teenagers coped with taking the new 9-1 GCSE exams this summer? Read full story...
Brick by brick, Glasgow must recreate its lost masterpiece | Ian Jack
Saturday 23rd June 2018To rebuild Mackintosh?s great work would be a long and costly project...
Ofsted chief: families of white working-class children 'lack drive' of migrants
Friday 22nd June 2018Ofsted chief says data shows families bear brunt of economic hardship and lose aspirationWhite working-class children have fallen behind because their families can ?lack the aspiration and drive seen in many migrant communities,? according to Amanda Spielman, the chief inspector of schools in England...
'Panic attacks and crying': how the new GCSEs affected pupils
Friday 22nd June 2018Many of those doing revamped exams report mental health problems and extreme stressPupils have delivered a damning verdict on the revamped GCSEs, saying they have caused crying, mental exhaustion, panic attacks, nosebleeds, sleepless nights, hair loss and outbreaks of acne...
Glasgow School of Art fire damage survey delayed over falling debris fear
Friday 22nd June 2018Assessments on hold until next week due to risk fire-damaged stonework could fall into streetConcerns about the safety of the surviving shell of Glasgow School of Art?s Mackintosh building, which was gutted by fire last Friday, have delayed a full survey of the damage until next week...
Support proves key for teachers and children alike in Kenya?s largest slum
Friday 22nd June 2018Efforts to improve the training and resources available to childminders in Nairobi?s Kibera settlement are bearing fruit ? to the benefit of all concernedThree-year-old Joy and her sister Lavine, four, are surrounded by kitchen pots, soft toys and an old wellington boot...
Matters of fact: separating brilliant breakthroughs from science fictions
Friday 22nd June 2018The Guardian?s science editor on elixirs of life, questions of ethics, and meeting some extraordinary mindsThere are people who will tell you that the elixir of life is to be found in the blood of youngsters...
?We don?t really need phones?: the French school that banned mobiles
Friday 22nd June 2018How pupils at La Gautrais rediscovered games, dance and the art of conversationIt?s breaktime at a middle school in rural Brittany, and huddles of teenagers are chatting in the playground...
The Guardian view on mobile phones: schools are better without them | Editorial
Friday 22nd June 2018The call to ban phones from the playground is rightly popular...
David Dimbleby?s departure poses an interesting question | Letters
Friday 22nd June 2018Miles Secker says top jobs should no longer be reserved for Oxbridge graduates; Neil Wigglesworth thinks Question Time should be hosted by both a male and female journalist; Richard Goude thinks more women should be given a chanceMore effort needs to be made to dispel the old suspicion that well-paid, taxpayer-funded, employment at the top of the BBC ? like the higher ranks of the civil service, armed forces the law or CoE ? are appointments unfairly reserved by gatekeepers to meet the supply of privately educated students who are good at English and history and not inclined to become builders, electricians, police officers or nurses (New Question Time host should be a woman, 22 June)...
Ofsted chief?s ?call to action? shows her lack of understanding | Letters
Friday 22nd June 2018Headteacher Rachel Hornsey says poor ratings are another cause of the deep divisions in our society...
Ofsted chief inspector backs ban on phones in schools
Thursday 21st June 2018Amanda Spielman also says she supports punishments such as lines, litter-picking and detention...
Musical youth: the UK school turning teenagers' lives around
Thursday 21st June 2018SupaJam is proving a hit with music courses for young people who have fallen out of educationIt is midday, and a teenage boy has been removed from class for causing trouble...
Thousands of pupils missing from English school rolls ? study
Thursday 21st June 2018Informal exclusions cited as possible reason as up to 7,700 pupils are lost from statisticsThousands of children and young adults in England are missing from official education statistics after being taken out of state schools and failing to sit their GCSEs, according to researchers who say they have uncovered a black hole in the government?s figures...
Sonic youth: the UK school turning teenagers' lives around
Thursday 21st June 2018SupaJam is proving a hit with music courses for young people who have fallen out of educationIt is midday, and a teenage boy has been removed from class for causing trouble...
Press release: Free childcare to be extended to foster carers for the first time
Thursday 21st June 2018Read full story. Taken from the Announcements on GOV...
Brexit youth: 'I am angry and the future scares me'
Thursday 21st June 2018Young people who missed out on voting on Brexit share their views...
Keith Snowden obituary
Thursday 21st June 2018My friend and former colleague Keith Snowden, who has died aged 89, was a highly regarded and inspirational chief education officer for the Rotherham education authority...
Ofsted chief says poor white communities lack 'aspiration and drive'
Thursday 21st June 2018Schools in white working-class areas can face multiple problems, says Ofsted's chief inspector...
Families of white working-class children 'lack drive' of migrants
Thursday 21st June 2018Ofsted chief says data shows families bear brunt of economic hardship and lose aspirationWhite working-class children have fallen behind because their families can ?lack the aspiration and drive seen in many migrant communities,? according to Amanda Spielman, the chief inspector of schools in England...
Three children suffer burns after camping kettle explodes
Thursday 21st June 2018The girl and two boys were taking part in a cooking lesson when a camping kettle exploded...
What happens when ordinary people learn economics? | Aditya Chakrabortty
Wednesday 20th June 2018In Manchester, groundbreaking economics courses are giving locals the means to challenge some of society?s received wisdom ? for free...
Parents urged to set boundaries around children's use of the internet
Wednesday 20th June 2018Culture secretary condemns unsupervised access to smartphones and urges more heads to ban them in schoolsThe culture secretary has said it is up to parents to set boundaries around their children?s use of the internet and has condemned unlimited and unsupervised access to smartphones...
£20,000 losses and late-night casino binges: the student gambling epidemic
Wednesday 20th June 2018Three former addicts tell their stories of gambling at university ? and explain what can be done to prevent more young people falling into the trapThe cocktail of new-found freedom at university, easy availability of borrowed money and the ever-present opportunity to gamble has driven some students to academic failure, bankruptcy and mental health problems...
Algeria turns off internet for high school exams
Wednesday 20th June 2018Both mobile and fixed internet lines were shut off for two hours nationwide during key school tests...
Ofsted chief inspector backs ban on phones in schools
Wednesday 20th June 2018Amanda Spielman also says she supports punishments such as lines, litter-picking and detention...
Primary school children affected by hygiene poverty, charity finds
Tuesday 19th June 2018One in four families surveyed have gone without toiletries because of financial difficultiesPrimary school children are arriving for their lessons unwashed and in dirty clothes because their parents cannot afford to buy washing powder, soap or shampoo, according to a survey by a UK charity...
The academy dream is in freefall. Schools should not have to pick up the pieces
Tuesday 19th June 2018As more trusts are collapsing, a strict cap on executive pay and a lock on school assets is requiredEight years have passed since the coalition government empowered schools to free themselves of sinister-sounding local council ?control? and become academies...
Job ads can give men a head start in school leadership selection
Tuesday 19th June 2018Schools recruit using words such as ?driven?, authoritative? and ?ambitious?, which can deter female candidatesAt the Harrold primary academy in Bedford, governors are looking to recruit a ?driven, ambitious and self-motivated natural leader? as executive principal...
?See the positives, revisit old interests?: how to cope with an empty nest
Tuesday 19th June 2018The children have gone to university. For some parents, the void that remains is harrowing; others see it as an opportunity Louise Rodgers?s two children, 25 and 24, flew the nest several years ago ? but they?ve come back at various times too...
University study abroad: good for the character and the bank balance
Tuesday 19th June 2018With lower ? or non-existent ? fees, and courses taught in English, non?UK unis are a smart option for the more adventurousIt can be tough when your son or daughter moves away to university...
Bulldoze or rebuild? Architects at odds over future of Glasgow School of Art
Tuesday 19th June 2018Ideas about what to do with the charred remains of Charles Rennie Mackintosh?s range from restoration to a building ?fit for the 21st century?The smoke has barely cleared over the blackened carcass of the Glasgow School of Art, which was gutted by a fire on Friday night, but the architecture world is already alight with debate about what should come next...
University open days: everything you always wanted to know about X
Tuesday 19th June 2018Arrive armed with a barrage of questions for tutors and students ? and do some solo exploring too ? to make the most of an open dayAttending open days is time consuming and expensive ? so parents and children alike will want to come away with a clear idea of whether the universities they visit are going to be a good match...
Stoke-on-Trent school may install washing machine over pupils' hygiene
Tuesday 19th June 2018A study finds parents with children at primary school cannot afford cleaning products...
Share your 2018 GCSE and A-level experiences
Tuesday 19th June 2018We?d like to hear from students, parents and teachers to find out how A-levels and GCSEs have worked this yearNew style exams for GCSE and A-level students could cause distortion and volitility in results, according to regulator Ofqual...
What's it like to live in university halls?
Tuesday 19th June 2018Psychology student Becky Kenderdine spent her first year living in student halls at the University of BirminghamWhen I first moved into student halls I was nervous and excited...
Help your child apply to university: ?Ask what inspires them?
Tuesday 19th June 2018Pin down their passions with an in-depth chat to get a shortlist; then it?s time to ace that applicationWhen Sammie Scott, 18, began the application process, she found that practical support from her parents was key...
Young people 'see cannabis as safer than alcohol'
Tuesday 19th June 2018As Lord Hague calls for a change in the law on cannabis, young people claim it is often seen as a "softer" stimulant...
T-levels reinforce class hierarchy | Letters
Tuesday 19th June 2018Vocational education in the UK has always been seen as essentially for ?other people?s children?, writes Michael Pyke, and Bernard Godding of the Educational Centres Association reflects on its role in addressing disadvantageChiding Fiona Millar for her pessimism about the new T-levels, Anne Milton MP, minister of state for skills and apprenticeships, assures us that ?these exciting new qualifications ...
Exam board 'sorry' for audio mix-up in French and Spanish A-levels
Tuesday 19th June 2018Students still have to apply for ?special consideration? to have mark adjusted, says EduqasAn examination board has apologised to A-level students and their teachers after a mix-up in recordings made it difficult for candidates to answer questions in Spanish and French exams taken this month...
The Guardian view on the Mackintosh fire: how to rebuild is Scotland?s choice | Editorial
Tuesday 19th June 2018The Glasgow School of Art was a masterpiece, but promises to build a reproduction are prematureThe gutting by fire of Glasgow School of Art?s Mackintosh building is a huge loss to Scotland and the world...
The school children who live in England but are taught in Scotland
Tuesday 19th June 2018More than 100 secondary pupils who live in England travel to schools in the Scottish Borders...
Matt Hancock: schools across the UK should ban mobile phones
Tuesday 19th June 2018The culture secretary who heads up the digital brief says tech makes parenting harderThe culture secretary has called on more schools to ban mobile phones...
The softer stimulant?
Tuesday 19th June 2018As Lord Hague calls for a change in the law on cannabis, young people claim it is often seen as a "softer" stimulant...
Can you solve it? Mirror, mirror on the wall
Monday 18th June 2018A puzzle to reflect onHi guzzlersHere?s a puzzle about something we do every day: gaze at ourselves in the mirror...
Carnegie medal winner slams children?s book publishers for ?accessible? prose
Monday 18th June 2018Geraldine McCaughrean, accepting award for Where the World Ends, warned that restricting the language children read risks creating a future underclass who are ?easy to manipulate?Carnegie medal winner Geraldine McCaughrean has castigated the books industry for dumbing down language in children?s literature, warning that a new focus on ?accessible? prose for younger readers will lead to ?an underclass of citizens with a small but functional vocabulary: easy to manipulate and lacking in the means to reason their way out of subjugation?...
Hands off the jam roly-poly: why banning puddings in school is a bad idea
Monday 18th June 2018Write out 100 times: the rise of obesity is about food poverty ? a sponge pudding with custard is not the issue I love the restaurant Caravan, notably its jalapeño corn bread, yet the owner, Laura Harper-Hinton, has said something with which I violently disagree: ?I think schools should ban puddings...
Testing children gives a poor measure of ability | Letters
Monday 18th June 2018Readers respond to Simon Jenkins?s piece on how ?the cult of tests is ruining our schools??Simon Jenkins (The cult of tests is ruining our schools, 15 June) doesn?t mention the most recent proposals from the Department for Education, to introduce ?baseline tests? when children enter primary school reception classes...
Poor countries subsidise the NHS by training doctors ? compensate them | Letters
Monday 18th June 2018The UK is home to over 4,700 doctors who trained in Nigeria, providing a substantial subsidy from the African country to the UK, says this multi-signatory letter from experts, and Parry Mitchell suggests ways to tempt back medics who have moved abroadThe scrapping of the immigration cap is a rare victory for freedom of movement (Immigration cap on doctors to be lifted, 15 June), but the global health inequalities underlying the issue need to be part of the debate...
'It's dreadful to think what Glasgow might be without it': tributes to the School of Art
Sunday 17th June 2018A fine art photography graduate, a Turner prize-winner and a former lecturer offer their thoughts on the Mackintosh building, devastated by fire againAn Observer photographer, graduated from Glasgow School of Art with a fine art photography degree in 2007...
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