THIS WEEK 12-18 MAY 2012
SATURDAY
#163;200,000? IS THAT ALL?
National newspapers got hot under the collar about a Public Accounts Committee report that suggested academy heads are overpaid. We couldn’t disagree more, of course. Payrises all round.
SUNDAY
DOWN IN THE DUMPS
Teacher morale is at an all-time low, an NASUWT survey found. The teaching union said government policies had left staff totally depressed. Come on chaps, it’s not that bad. You could be an estate agent.
MONDAY
AND LO, A BIBLE APPEARED
Amen! Michael Gove’s King James Bibles began to land in every school in the country. Originally proposed to mark the Bible’s 400th anniversary, plans for a foreword written by Mr Gove himself were shelved.
TUESDAY
A4E STRIPPED OF CONTRACT
Controversial private sector training provider A4e was stripped of its “welfare to work” contract, but will keep 16 government contracts. Ministers were rolled out all over the place to defend the decision.
WEDNESDAY
BUT I’M SNUGGLIER IN MY PJS
Naughty Oxford students were told off for sporting pyjamas at breakfast time in the dining hall of Brasenose College. What next? The mind, frankly, boggles. Onesies for formal dinners?
THURSDAY
INDEPENDENTS GATHER
Heads flocked to Harrogate for the annual gathering of the Independent Schools Association, the organisation that represents smaller private schools. A-level reform was, unsurprisingly, at the top of the agenda.
FRIDAY
EXAMS, BUT NOT AS WE KNOW THEM
Exams watchdog Ofqual publishes what sounds like a very dry document: its 2012-15 corporate plan. Only, it’s not dry at all. Ofqual will, it says, carry out a review of the GCSE “brand” and examine marking quality.
NEXT WEEK 19-25 MAY 2012
SATURDAY
NOT THAT KIND OF TRUMP
The third national Top Trumps Tournament takes place at London’s Science Museum. Last year saw 72 UK schoolchildren compete for the title of “Top Trumper” while dressed as their favourite Top Trumps characters.
SUNDAY
HALLELUJAH FOR THE HACKS
Here’s one for the growing number of school chaplains. The Church of England is planning a national day of prayer for the media. Spare a moment’s thought for us poor journalists. Go on. Please. OK, don’t then.
MONDAY
MARCHING ORDERS
The first day of Walk to School Week, part of National Walking Month. Organised by charity Living Streets, it aims to encourage more kids to get out of cars and buses, and on to their feet. Fat chance. Boom boom.
TUESDAY
THE UPHILL STRUGGLE
The Sutton Trust hosts a summit in London, bringing together top bananas to discuss the differences in social mobility between anglophone countries. An unnamed senior minister is due to join the bunfight.
WEDNESDAY
POLITICAL WRITING MEANS PRIZES
The winner of the Orwell Prize for political writing is announced. Three winners - for a book, journalism or blog - will each pick up #163;3,000 and a plaque bearing Orwell’s ambition “to make political writing into an art”.
THURSDAY
ON BOARD FOR ENTERPRISE
With high youth unemployment, perhaps entrepreneurship is on the way out. Cue charity Young Enterprise’s competition, to be judged today, to encourage SEN children to set up their own companies.
FRIDAY
BOWL OUT AS FAST AS YOU CAN
Enough of this school stuff: send the kids home on the dot of finishing time. Sit back, relax, the England vs Windies 2nd Test begins. It’s about time we reminded ourselves it’s nearly summer, not monsoon season.
