News at a glance

16th May 2014, 1:00am

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News at a glance

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/news-glance-159

Study to analyse impact of most important meal

The impact of free school breakfasts on academic performance is to be analysed in a year-long study by the Education Endowment Foundation. The research, which will involve 36,000 children in 200 schools in England, will compare schemes where all pupils get a free breakfast and those where breakfasts are given only to children eligible for free school meals. It will examine breakfast clubs run by the charity Magic Breakfast. In a separate scheme, the charity is looking to recruit 184 schools, which will be supported to set up breakfast clubs and will receive a year’s worth of free food from September 2014. In order to qualify, at least 35 per cent of pupils must be eligible for free school meals. For more information, go to www.magicbreakfast.com or email info@magicbreakfast.com

The teachers whose World Cup song aims to `Bring It Home’

An unofficial World Cup song written and performed by two teachers has been viewed more than 40,000 times on YouTube. Robin Parmiter and Ian Wilson, who teach at Huntington School in York, teamed up to record the song, called Bring It Home, and shot a zero-budget video in the school grounds. Philosophy teacher Mr Parmiter told TES: “The dream is for [the song] to be sung by the fans from the stands. Everyone seems to be very pessimistic about England’s chances, so we wanted to push the passion and belief a bit more.”

Stress of bullying boosts risk of heart attack

The stress of being bullied at school places students at greater risk of suffering long-term illness such as heart attacks and strokes, research reveals. But students who were bullies at school are at a lower risk, the study suggests. Academics at Duke University in the US found that the blood of men and women who were bullied as children contained higher levels of a protein associated with heart attacks and strokes. The study collected data from 1,500 people from childhood to adulthood.

Fall in state school pupils admitted to Cambridge

The number of British state school students gaining places at the University of Cambridge dropped last year, figures reveal. Although 61.4 per cent of those who applied were offered places in 2013-14, this was down from 63.3 per cent the year before. By contrast, the percentage of students from schools in the independent sector who were offered places rose slightly, from 36.7 per cent to 38.6 per cent.

First Nation education reform collapses in Canada

A Canadian bill that aimed to give aboriginal people greater control over education has unravelled just months after the government agreed to more than C$1.9 billion (pound;1 billion) in funding. The proposed First Nations Control of First Nations Education Act was the product of years of negotiation between the Assembly of First Nations, Canada’s representative body of aboriginal people, and the Canadian government. The bill was meant to support First Nation languages and culture in the classroom, but lawmakers have been forced to put it on hold after disagreements with aboriginal chiefs, who were unhappy with the way it was drafted.

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