National News
The US college protests and the crackdown on campuses - podcast
Friday 26th April 2024Police have arrested dozens of students across US universities this week after a crackdown on pro-Palestine protests on campuses...
Just two in five pupils in England always feel safe in school, survey finds
Friday 26th April 2024Teachers say behaviour getting worse as survey also shows parents getting less supportive of school policiesOnly two in five children in England say they always feel safe at school, according to a government survey, and teachers from across Britain have told the Guardian they have seen pupils’ behaviour deteriorate over the last two years...
Teaching assistants deployed to ‘routinely cover’ lessons in England and Wales
Friday 26th April 2024Exclusive: New research shows extent to which schools are struggling to provide qualified teachers for every classHundreds of thousands of pupils in England and Wales are being educated “on the cheap” by low-paid teaching assistants (TAs) covering lessons for teachers who are off sick or have quit, according to new research...
Teaching assistants routinely cover lessons in England and Wales, survey finds
Friday 26th April 2024Exclusive: Research shows extent to which schools are struggling to provide qualified teachers for every classHundreds of thousands of pupils in England and Wales are being educated “on the cheap” by low-paid teaching assistants (TAs) covering lessons for teachers who are off sick or have quit, according to new research...
Morehouse students criticize Biden as commencement speaker: ‘A political pawn to get Black votes’
Thursday 25th April 2024Students react to school’s invitation to president to speak while authorities crack down on campus protests across USMorehouse College, a nearly 160-year-old historically Black college in Atlanta, announced on Tuesday that Joe Biden will be the keynote speaker for its commencement ceremony in May...
Foreign states targeting sensitive research at UK universities, MI5 warns
Thursday 25th April 2024Ministers considering more funding to protect important research sites, with China seen as a particular concernMI5 has warned universities that hostile foreign states are targeting sensitive research, as ministers consider measures to bolster protections...
City's schools say pupil attendance is 'broken'
Wednesday 24th April 2024The head teachers send a letter to families over plummeting attendance figures...
Government scrapped tests on free childcare plan
Wednesday 24th April 2024The National Audit Office says a £35m pilot to test the expansion of free childcare in a few areas was cancelled...
Significant risk to launch untested childcare plans, government accepts
Wednesday 24th April 2024The National Audit Office says a £35m pilot to test the expansion of free childcare in a few areas was cancelled...
School says 11-hour-day pilot is for pupil wellbeing
Wednesday 24th April 2024The school, with 40% of pupils eligible for free meals, says it provides a "private school service"...
Pupils in England ‘facing worst exam results in decades’ after Covid closures
Wednesday 24th April 2024GCSE results in key subjects to steadily worsen until 2030, predicts research that blames failure to tackle impact of schools lockdownChildren in England could face the worst exam results in decades and a lifetime of lower earnings, according to research that blames failures to tackle the academic and social legacies of school closures during Covid...
Government cancelled plans to test free childcare rollout, says watchdog
Wednesday 24th April 2024The National Audit Office says a £35m pilot to test the expansion of free childcare in a few areas was cancelled...
Who gets 15 hours of free childcare and how do I apply?
Wednesday 24th April 2024Parents in England can now access 15 hours of free weekly childcare for their two-year-olds...
School rated inadequate takes Ofsted to court
Wednesday 24th April 2024A Dunstable school given an inadequate rating by watchdog Ofsted begins a High Court challenge...
'I get overwhelmed by the noises and crowds of school'
Wednesday 24th April 2024Newman College in Oldham is one of many schools struggling with the legacy of the pandemic...
Music hubs struggle to fund children's lessons
Wednesday 24th April 2024Children on free school meals are entitled to free music lessons through a government scheme...
Ruth Perry family furious as Ofsted single-word ratings are retained
Wednesday 24th April 2024Teaching unions share family’s disappointment after government says system has ‘significant benefits’Ofsted’s controversial single-word judgments are here to stay, the government has ruled, in a blow to campaigners who hoped they would be scrapped after the suicide of the primary school headteacher Ruth Perry...
England childcare scheme may struggle to deliver places, finds ‘damning’ report
Tuesday 23rd April 2024Watchdog says only a third of local authorities are confident they will have enough places for SeptemberThe deployment of the government’s childcare scheme to tens of thousands more families is facing “significant uncertainties” and may struggle to meet its own targets, according to a report by Whitehall’s spending watchdog...
Columbia faculty members walk out after pro-Palestinian protesters arrested
Tuesday 23rd April 2024Hundreds of members of teaching staff demonstrate in solidarity with arrested students as protest tents put back up on campusHundreds of faculty members at Columbia University in New York held a mass walkout on Monday to protest against the school president’s decision to have police arrest students at a pro-Palestinian encampment protest last week...
The expansion of free childcare has been a Tory-fied mess of a bright Labour idea | Polly Toynbee
Tuesday 23rd April 2024On a visit to a combined nursery and primary school, I saw how early years provision can really be transformedPanic and a screeching U-turn...
‘I was only able to go on stage hammered’: David Harewood on acting, racism and his new role at Rada
Tuesday 23rd April 2024He had barely started his career when abuse left him mentally ill...
As an actor, I know the value of culture. As West Yorkshire’s mayor, I’ll use it to enrich lives and provide jobs | Tracy Brabin
Monday 22nd April 2024Westminster funding cuts could cause cultural deprivation, but I have a plan to nurture talent and boost employmentTracy Brabin is mayor of West YorkshireI grew up in a council flat in Batley, West Yorkshire, on free school meals...
BBC to invest in AI to help transform its education services
Sunday 21st April 2024Hopes investment to make Bitesize more personalised and interactive will attract future licence-fee payersThe BBC plans to use a multimillion investment to transform its educational offering and attract the licence-fee payers of the future, with the help of artificial intelligence...
Going to university 'transformed my life'
Sunday 21st April 2024Dr Suzella Palmer dropped out of school aged 14, but returned to education and is now a lecturer...
The Guardian view on school exclusions: to help children, gaps in the system must be closed | Editorial
Sunday 21st April 2024Improving provision for pupils outside mainstream education ought to be a top priorityThe doubling in the rate of children suspended from school in England since before the pandemic provides alarming evidence of worsening problems with behaviour and lack of in-school support...
BBC to invest £6m in AI to help transform its education services
Sunday 21st April 2024Hopes investment to make Bitesize more personalised and interactive will attract future licence fee payersThe BBC plans to use a multimillion investment in artificial intelligence to transform its educational offering and attract the licence-fee payers of the future...
‘Soaked and muddy’: British Muslims tell their stories of prayer at school
Sunday 21st April 2024Students speak out after a pupil lost her legal challenge against a top London school after it brought in a ban to promote social cohesionIt was in year nine when Hanzla started praying in the playground during lunchtime at his secondary school in Birmingham, despite restrictions from his teachers...
‘I now know that anything is possible’: from a women’s shelter to Cambridge University
Sunday 21st April 2024No matter how low you sink, your dreams can still come true: one woman’s inspirational storyAs a woman with decades of business experience, a Cambridge graduate with a fulfilling career running my own company, alongside a joy-filled family life, few would guess from looking at me today how close I came to having a very different story...
Parents in NI march for help with childcare bills
Saturday 20th April 2024Parents in Northern Ireland do not get any free childcare, unlike those in other parts of the UK...
‘Media firestorm’: Israel protest at professor’s home sparks heated free-speech debate
Saturday 20th April 2024Pro-Palestinian students interrupted a dinner held by a top free speech defender at Berkeley...
Nigerian chess champion breaks record after playing nonstop for 58 hours
Saturday 20th April 2024Tunde Onakoya, who has beaten previous record of 56 hours, hopes to raise $1m for children’s education in AfricaA Nigerian chess champion has broken the record for the longest chess marathon after playing the game nonstop for 58 hours...
UK rejects EU free movement for young people offer
Friday 19th April 2024The EU Commission said UK and EU citizens under 30 should be able to work or study for up to four years...
Oxford shuts down institute run by Elon Musk-backed philosopher
Friday 19th April 2024Nick Bostrom’s Future of Humanity Institute closed this week in what Swedish-born philosopher says was ‘death by bureaucracy’Oxford University this week shut down an academic institute run by one of Elon Musk’s favorite philosophers...
'Who tells your story?' Hamilton stars ask students
Friday 19th April 2024Hamilton actors teach Belfast children confidence and to speak up for what they believe in...
Hamilton stars ask students 'Who tells your story?'
Friday 19th April 2024Hamilton actors teach Belfast children confidence and to speak up for what they believe in...
Let’s end the annual torture of GCSE resits – and give students qualifications they’ll actually use | Polly Toynbee
Friday 19th April 2024Compulsory maths and English retakes speak of a system that ignores pupils’ real talents...
DfE says 85,000 more free childcare places needed
Friday 19th April 2024The Department for Education estimates about 40,000 staff are also needed in England by September 2025...
Expansion plans require 85,000 more childcare places by September 2025
Friday 19th April 2024Pilot to explore how to repurpose unused school space to increase capacity for funded childcareAn estimated 85,000 additional childcare places would be required by September 2025 to enable the government’s planned expansion of funded childcare for working parents in England, according to the Department for Education...
EU proposes some free movement for UK young people
Thursday 18th April 2024The EU Commission says UK and EU citizens under 30 should be able to work or study for up to four years...
NHS weight management service offered to under fours
Thursday 18th April 2024Severely obese pre-schoolers in Somerset are among the first to receive NHS weight management help...
London mosque denies it advised school all prayers could be deferred
Thursday 18th April 2024Statement says it made clear to Michaela community school that ‘in winter it would not be possible to pray later’One of the UK’s most prominent mosques has denied providing advice to the Michaela community school that all afternoon prayers could be deferred, disputing claims heard in court...
English primary schools cutting teacher numbers amid budget pressure, survey finds
Thursday 18th April 2024Rising inflation and falling pupil numbers also forcing schools to cut spending on extracurricular activitiesPrimary schools across England are having to shed staff and cancel trips and activities this year as rising inflation and falling pupil numbers cause a rapid deterioration in their finances...
Are your kids being spied on? The rise of anti-cheating software in US schools
Thursday 18th April 2024Remote proctoring tools have faced pushback at colleges over privacy and discrimination concerns, but their use in K-12 schools has attracted less scrutinyIn the middle of night, students at Utah’s Kings Peak high school are wide awake – taking mandatory exams...
England set for highest suspensions in school year
Thursday 18th April 2024Unions say schools do not have enough resources to support persistently disruptive pupils...
Football coaching boosts wellbeing of troubled pupils, study finds
Thursday 18th April 2024Charity that uses football to help pupils build relationships found to improve happiness in Greater Manchester projectIntensive mentoring for troubled schoolchildren using football kickabouts can significantly enhance wellbeing, increasing happiness equivalent to an unemployed adult getting a job, a study has found...
Sure Start could have changed everything for my family. Labour must be brave – and revitalise it | Terri White
Thursday 18th April 2024A new report shows how transformational the initiative was...
Student rations ADHD medication ahead of exams
Thursday 18th April 2024Students share their concerns about the medication shortage ahead of GCSEs...
Experts divided over implications of prayer ban ruling at London school
Wednesday 17th April 2024Some say more schools may ban organised prayer after court ruling but others say judgment was based on unique circumstancesThe ruling on a prayer ban at a top London school has created a “classic English policy muddle” that has divided school leaders over its implications, with some experts predicting that more schools could ban organised prayers as a result...
Columbia president assailed at highly charged antisemitism Congress hearing
Wednesday 17th April 2024Minouche Shafik appeared beleaguered as House members grilled her over reported upsurge in antisemitism on campusThe head of a prestigious US university clashed with members of Congress today in highly charged hearings over a reported upsurge in antisemitism on campus in the wake of Israel’s war in Gaza...
Tell us your experience of prayer at school
Wednesday 17th April 2024We would like to hear from Muslims in the UK about theirs or their children’s experiences of prayer at schoolA Muslim pupil has lost their high court appeal against Michaela community school in Brent, north-west London, over its ban on prayer rituals...
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