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Low ranking knocks children’s confidence
Children’s rankings relative to their classmates at primary school can affect their performance later on in life, a study from the London School of Economics has claimed. Students who were ranked below their peers sometimes lost confidence, leading to lower academic achievement in secondary school, the study found, while the opposite was true of students ranked top. The report challenges the assumption that the performance of lower-achieving children improves when they are surrounded by more intelligent classmates.
Hundreds of US students hack school-issued iPads
Students in a US school district were able to bypass the security on their school-issued iPads within hours of receiving the devices, it was discovered. About 400 teenagers from the Center Grove Community School Corporation in Indiana worked out how to reprogram their computer tablets so they could download games and access social media sites. Speaking to the Associated Press, Keith Krueger, the chief executive of the Consortium for School Networking, said: “It’s frustrating, and it’s a huge challenge for any district.”
`Neo-Victorian’ curriculum too narrow, expert says
The UK government’s new primary national curriculum encourages a “neo- Victorian” focus on reading, writing and maths at the expense of other subjects, a leading education expert has claimed. Science, the arts and humanities, as well as physical, emotional and moral development, were “no less important” to children’s futures than the three Rs, according to Professor Robin Alexander, chair of the newly established Cambridge Primary Review Trust. He suggested that a curriculum focusing heavily on literacy and numeracy undervalued the cultural and economic worth of other subjects.
Strikes could affect three-quarters of schools
Three-quarters of schools in several regions of England could close because of a teachers’ strike next week. A survey by support services company the Key of 1,100 school leaders across the regions affected found that 21 per cent thought it was “very likely” their school would have to close and 57 per cent said it was a possibility. Members of the two largest unions, the NUT and the NASUWT, will strike on Tuesday in the Eastern, East Midlands, West Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside regions. A strike in other parts of the country, including London, is scheduled for 17 October.
