Next stop for jet-set Dulwich College: Singapore
Dulwich College opened its sixth outpost this week, welcoming more than 880 pupils to its new school in Singapore. The school - which will teach students of 40 different nationalities, including local children - is currently open to pupils from Reception to Year 8 while the campus is being completed. It is expected to cater for about 2,500 students when finished. The school will teach the IGCSE and the International Baccalaureate in Mandarin and English. Dulwich College in London (pictured), which charges fees of pound;36,000 a year, also has campuses in Beijing, Shanghai, Zhuhai and Suzhou in China, as well as Seoul in South Korea.
Other Chinese cities to join Shanghai for Pisa tests
Thousands more schoolchildren in China will participate in the next round of the world’s most influential education tests, it was announced this week. Beijing, Jiangsu and Guangdong are to join Shanghai in representing China in the 2015 edition of Pisa (the Programme for International Student Assessment). In Pisa 2012, published last year, Shanghai was ranked in first place. Three other cities and a country with majority Chinese populations - Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau - took four of the next five positions.
iPad plans powered down after major obstacles
A $1 billion (pound;600 million) programme to give an iPad to every student in Los Angeles has been put on hold owing to major implementation problems. The scheme, which was the biggest of its kind in the US and seen as a major coup for iPad manufacturer Apple, has been officially suspended. The contract between the computer giant and the US’s second largest school district was beset by difficulties at the outset, when 300 students were able to work around the security settings on the devices. The contract, which included pre-loaded curriculum content provided by education software company Pearson, was initially worth $30 million (pound;18 million) and was expected to rise to $500 million (pound;300 million) with the complete roll-out of the tablets. A further $500 million was to be used to expand internet access and infrastructure in schools.
Three education ministers in three years for France
A 36-year-old Morrocan-born woman has become the third French education minister in three years, after a Cabinet reshuffle. Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, formerly minister for women’s rights, will replace Benot Hamon, who had only been in his post since April. She is the first woman to hold the position. The appointment of Ms Vallaud-Belkacem - who supported a controversial scheme to tackle gender stereotyping in classrooms - is expected to be welcomed by teachers and unions as the French education system undergoes wide-ranging reforms, newspaper Le Figaro reported.
Ask education secretary Nicky Morgan a question
What would you like to discuss with the new education secretary? Phonics? The curriculum? Exam reform? Academies? Performance pay? Nicky Morgan will be chatting to teachers live on the TES website on Wednesday 3 September at 5.30pm. To submit a question for Michael Gove’s successor, visit www.tesconnect.comnickymorgan or tweet @tes
