Train in a tough school and get extra #163;5,000
Student teachers who train in the most challenging schools will get up to #163;5,000 extra in bursary payments, Michael Gove announced this week. Speaking at the National College for School Leadership annual conference, Mr Gove said that those on the new School Direct employment-based course will get 25 per cent extra funding if they spend the majority of their training in tougher schools. Their schools will get up to 10 per cent extra funding, up to #163;2,000, to offer higher salaries or better training. Mr Gove also announced that graduates with a B or above in A-level maths who train to become specialist primary maths teachers will get an extra #163;2,000 bursary.
Security breach sees A-level maths paper scrapped
A maths A-level exam has been scrapped just before it was due to be taken next week, amid fears of a security breach. Edexcel, the awarding body responsible for administering the exam, was forced to pull the test before it was sat by candidates next Thursday because it was believed the same paper had been accidentally sent to schools in Egypt. “We have not been able to satisfy ourselves that the paper remains secure,” an Edexcel spokesperson said. “For that reason, as a precautionary measure, we have decided to use a replacement paper.”
MP calls for action on homophobic bullying
More should be done in schools to tackle “appalling” homophobic bullying, MPs have argued this week. Teachers should have improved training so they can prevent and stop the abuse, according to Iain Stewart, Conservative MP for Milton Keynes South, who led a debate on the issue in the House of Commons. Mr Stewart, who suffered homophobic bullying at school, said: “Where there is a culture of bullying in schools and particularly homophobic bullying, it drags down the performance of the class and the school as a whole, so it is not just those who are bullied who suffer; it is their classmates as well.”
The internet is ‘infantilising’, school leader warns
Instant access to information through the internet is “infantilising” children’s learning, a school leader has warned. Helen Fraser, chief executive of the Girls’ Day School Trust, said that pupils’ ability to follow long and complex arguments was being damaged by easy access to “nuggets of information” through websites. She suggested that pupils should turn off computers and read books, or e-books, from cover to cover in order to practise learning in depth.
Vote now for autism art prize
Teachers across Britain have been invited to act as judges for an art award for young people with autism. TES readers can vote online now to pick one of the winners at this year’s Create! Art for Autism awards. The awards were set up by Beechwood College in Wales to challenge the stereotype that students with autistic spectrum conditions lack creativity. They have received 550 entries from schools and colleges, ranging from paintings and sculptures to poetry and short animated films. Among the 25 shortlisted works is a piece by 16-year-old David Greenberg of Inscape House School in Salford, who surprised his family by decorating a bathmat with a group of Scottish bagpipers, and a painting of the actor Benedict Cumberbatch by Swansea Metropolitan University student Carrie Francis. The “people’s choice” category will remain open for online voting until midnight on 1 July. Visit http:bit.lyKBsWp3 to vote.
