Copy the schools in England, Cameron tells Scots

The Scotsman

David Cameron has launched a fierce attack on Scotland’s “old-school, centralising, power-hoarding establishment” and backed calls for English reforms in education and the public sector to be enacted north of the border as well. In a speech in Dumfries, the prime minister hit out at the power of local authority control in Scotland.

Most free schools take fewer deprived pupils

The Guardian

At least three-quarters of free schools in England have admitted a lower proportion of deprived pupils than is average for their wider neighbourhood, government data show. At St Luke’s, a primary school in the London borough of Camden, the proportion of pupils registered as eligible for a free lunch is zero. Across the borough, the average is 38.8 per cent.

Violin teacher vacancy is a threat to Shetland’s heritage, warns Aly Bain

Scotland on Sunday

Musician Aly Bain has attacked the council on his home islands because of a decision not to replace the only violin teacher in Shetland’s schools. Alan Gifford retired last Christmas after 15 years teaching violin in Lerwick, Sandwick and Cunningsburgh. Bain says the decision jeopardises future generations of talent.

Exams rage dad punches school cop

Daily Record

A foul-mouthed father flew into a rage at a school meeting on Curriculum for Excellence - and punched an off-duty police inspector in the face. Stephen McCarron lashed out after mistakenly thinking he was attending a night for parents to meet their children’s teachers at St Vincent’s Primary, in East Kilbride.

Mum attacks her daughter’s bully

The Sun

A mum who grabbed a school bully by the throat and told her daughter to “punch her” walked free from court yesterday. Paula Buchan, 39, flipped when she saw her daughter Courtney fighting with a 15-year-old who had been terrorising her. She leapt from her parked car and joined the melee at the gates of Dundee’s Morgan Academy.