Fewer school children expelled

29 July 2011 Last updated at 12:07 GMT By Angela Harrison Education correspondent, BBC News Children with special educational needs are more likely to be excluded There has been another fall in the number of pupils excluded from schools in England - but ministers say with the figures still in their thousands, behaviour is not good enough.

Expulsions fell by about 12% in 2009-10, compared with the previous year, while suspensions were down about 9%.

But a total of about 900 children were suspended every day for violence or verbal abuse.

Three quarters of those expelled had special educational needs.

And more than three-quarters were boys.

Boys were about four times as likely to be suspended as girls and pupils on free school meals were also more likely to be excluded.

In total, 5,740 pupils were expelled (permanently excluded) from primary, secondary and special schools in 2009-10, down from 6,550.

That total has been falling steadily since 1997 - when more than twice as many were expelled.

The number of suspensions also fell in 2009-10, when there were 331,380 "temporary exclusions".

That was a drop of nearly 32,000, a recent trend which has seen totals fall back to levels of nearly 10 years ago.

'Significant problem'

The most common reason for children to be excluded was "persistent disruptive behaviour".

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said discipline was a "significant problem" and the government was giving more powers "to put head teachers and teachers back in control of the classroom".

"With thousands of pupils being excluded for persistent disruption and violent or abusive behaviour we remain concerned that weak discipline remains a significant problem in too many of our schools and classrooms," he said.

"Tackling poor behaviour and raising academic standards are key priorities for the coalition government. We will back head teachers in excluding persistently disruptive pupils, which is why we are removing barriers which limit their authority."

Head teachers accused Mr Gibb of "finding a cloud around the silver lining".

Russell Hobby, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said there was no evidence of weak discipline in the statistics.

"Fewer and fewer schools now need to resort to the ultimate sanction of permanent exclusion, a fact that should be celebrated, " he said.

"Clearly the existing powers on behaviour have been good enough for major progress to be made.

"That said, there remain well-placed concerns about the apparent disparity in exclusion rates across school types and different demographic groups. Too many schools are still forced to exclude because they do not have the skills or resources to deal with children who suffer from mental illness, abuse or tragically turbulent lifestyles."

Special Educational Needs

Alison Ryan, from the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) said: "It is testimony to the hard work by school leaders, teachers and support staff that the number of pupil exclusions fell in 2009-10.

"However, schools could not have achieved this reduction without the help of early intervention services, extended services and access to training and expertise on behaviour and Special Educational Needs.

"ATL is deeply concerned that the cuts to local authority funding will have an impact on the number of services they can provide, and without them schools will face increasing behavioural problems and increasing numbers of exclusions."

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Chilly response for school 'snow kits' plan

21 July 2011 Last updated at 05:45 GMT By Nick Dermody BBC Wales News Cardiff schools are being asked to buy snow kits so they can be 'resilient' when temperatures plummet Cardiff council is asking schools and community groups to buy ?1,600 "snow kits" so they can help themselves in freezing weather.

Head teachers have until Friday to put in orders for the kits - two gritting bins and a spreader machine.

A teaching union said schools do not have the spare cash while city GPs said "buckets and shovels" were cheaper.

The council said the kits would improve school and community "resilience" in bad weather "until assistance arrives".

Last winter's big freeze saw the coldest December temperatures in Cardiff for more than 100 years.

In December last year, Cardiff saw its worst snow fall since 1983 and the council's response was criticised.

The snow brought disruption to transport and services across the city and saw dozens of its 130 schools close their doors.

Continue reading the main story

Mini gritters sound like a good idea but at ?1,600 each it's unlikely that our schools will find any slack in their already stretched budgets”

End Quote Anna Brychan NAHT Cymru But the first week in January, it was gritting only principal roads in the city.

The council later held an independent review in to its response.

The review recommended the council draw up a Winter Maintenance Action Plan, including the design and costing of a "snow kit" for schools.

But the snow kits idea has received short shrift from the headteachers union NAHT Cymru.

Anna Brychan, director of the National Association of Head Teachers in Wales, said her members would have the headache of finding space for the equipment for the "360 days of the year when they would be standing idle".

She said: "Mini gritters sound like a good idea but at ?1,600 each it's unlikely that our schools will find any slack in their already stretched budgets to pay for them.

The heavy snowfall disrupted traffic across Cardiff last winter

"Most of our members spend an average of ?150 on grit to see them through the winter weather and, unless there are plans I'm unaware of to markedly boost the financial circumstances of Cardiff's schools by this Friday, then I suspect this arrangement will have to do as usual."

The snow kits ideas has also been floated to a number of community groups in the city, including GP surgeries.

BMA Cymru Wales spokesman John Jenkins said: "This proposal raises several issues. Where would these machines be housed within GP surgeries?

"Who would pay for them and would the ?1,600 be value for money? Buckets and shovels come to mind and are much cheaper."

'Safety and wellbeing'

Cardiff council said Friday's deadline was in place due to the summer holiday period.

A spokesperson said: "The action plan identifies a number of measures for improving the resilience of the council and communities to future snow events as the council want to deliver a service that robustly deals with any potential extreme weather.

"This policy is in line with the Local Government Group Civil Emergencies Strategy Document which recognised 'resilience at community level is crucial to maintaining safety and wellbeing, with communities and individuals harnessing local resources and expertise to help themselves.'"

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Wales school ratings 'not tables'

14 July 2011 Last updated at 11:30 GMT School league tables were scrapped in Wales in 2001 Comprehensive schools in Wales will be placed into performance bands from this autumn.

Education Minister Leighton Andrews said the grouping of schools is not about "naming and shaming or creating a divisive league table".

It will help ensure resources are directed to schools who need them most, he said.

Unions are opposed to school league tables being reintroduced in Wales, but have welcomed the banding alternative.

Unlike league tables ranking the best school down to the worst, banding is expected to group schools into just four or five bands, measured on the level of support needed.

Mr Andrews said the bands will be a tool for driving improvement.

"The national school banding system is a tool to help us be effective in driving improvement across the board," he said.

Promise

Continue reading the main story

The proof of the pudding will be in the extra support that schools will receive to improve their performance”

End Quote Philip Dixon Association of Teachers and Lecturers Cymru "The most important aspect of banding will be the support, challenge and sharing of best practice that follow."

"It is about grouping our schools according to a range of factors to establish priorities for differentiated support and identifying those from whom the sector can learn."

Anna Brychan, director of the National Association of Headteachers Cymru, said: "We welcome the fact that the minister is making clear that the purpose of the banding system is to identify the level of support and challenge required by individual schools to help them achieve what we all want.

"There is now a climate of expectation out there in our schools that this process will provide level of expert, accessible and specialist support for schools that many find hard to find now, and that this will be available consistently and to an equally high standard across the country.

"We very much hope that this promise can be realised."

Dr Philip Dixon, director of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers Cymru, said they were prepared to give a cautious welcome to the banding proposals and to accept the minister's assurances.

"However, the proof of the pudding will be in the extra support that schools will receive to improve their performance," he said.

"The success or otherwise of the school banding proposals will be judged on that."

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No-warning school behaviour check

14 July 2011 Last updated at 16:23 GMT By Sean Coughlan BBC News education correspondent Inspectors are going to try out spot checks on schools from the autumn School inspectors in England are to carry out unannounced visits where there are concerns about behaviour.

Education watchdog Ofsted is to begin a pilot test of such "no notice" inspections in the autumn.

The government's adviser on behaviour, Charlie Taylor, says there have been claims of schools "covering up" behaviour problems during inspections.

Head teachers said the idea that schools might try to hide badly-behaved pupils was "ridiculous".

The inspections without warning would be for schools rated as "satisfactory" where behaviour had been identified as a weakness.

Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, attacked the plans as being based on the assumption that "schools have something to hide".

"This pilot smacks of a culture which seeks to catch schools out, rather than make an informed judgement based on professional assessment.

"The suggestion that schools are somehow able to 'hide' badly behaved children from inspections with the current notice period of one or two days is ridiculous. Any inspection team worth its salt would uncover such an approach in minutes."

'Clearer picture'

But Mr Taylor, the government's expert adviser on behaviour, said: "We hear stories of schools covering up behaviour issues when Ofsted visits. I welcome this trial as it will help to see the extent of this practice."

Ofsted says that it will begin testing the value of spot checks where there are concerns that behaviour is a weakness.

"The trial will help determine whether unannounced visits are workable and give a clearer picture of behaviour in schools," says an Ofsted statement.

Ofsted's chief inspector, Miriam Rosen, said: "Where behaviour is poor, young people are being denied the quality of education they deserve.

"As we develop our new inspection plans we are determined to get the focus on this right.

"By testing out unannounced monitoring visits, we will see if there is even more we can do to help schools address behaviour problems."

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School lunches take-up increases

7 July 2011 Last updated at 11:07 GMT Junk food is banned from school canteens The number of pupils in England eating school lunches has risen for the third year running, data suggests.

The School Food Trust said the continued rise, shown in its annual survey, more than compensated for a fall in take-up following TV chef Jamie Oliver's campaign on food quality.

Take-up in primaries was 44.1%, up 2.7 percentage points on 2009-10, and 37.6% in secondaries, up from 35.8%, it said.

Children's Minister Sarah Teacher said the figures were "hugely encouraging".

After Oliver's campaign won huge public support, the government banned junk food from school canteens and vending machines, and in 2006 rules to make food healthier were introduced in English schools.

But school meals take-up initially dropped, before starting to climb again.

Price rise

Strict nutritional guidelines were made compulsory in primary schools in 2008 and secondaries in 2009.

The School Food Trust said the average price of a school lunch had risen during the past year by 5p, to ?1.93, but this was below food-price inflation.

The organisation's chairman, Rob Rees, welcomed the increase in take-up, but said cost remained a concern at a time when funding was tight.

"If we're going to keep school meal numbers rising, we have to keep healthy school meals affordable.

"That means helping schools to grow their market, to get the best deals for their food supplies and services, to protect their kitchens and dining rooms and to operate their catering services efficiently

The figures showed more than 16% of primary schools did not have the facilities to cook hot meals, with food either transported from other locations or menus limited to cold food such as sandwiches.

'Public austerity'

From April 2011, the School Lunch Grant - dedicated funding for local authorities to use for school lunches - has no longer been ringfenced, although the money is still included in the grants for running schools.

Of the 129 local authorities that provided information, nearly two-thirds said the equivalent funds would still be dedicated to school food, but one in five said there was no commitment to ringfence the money in future and one in 10 had not yet decided.

Local Authority Caterers Association head Sandra Russell said she was "pleased" with the increase "particularly at a time when parents are having to watch every penny".

"It is absolutely critical that at this time of public sector austerity measures, we do all we can to ensure the now un-ring-fenced School Lunch Grant continues to be channelled towards catering and that school meals remain high quality, nutritious and above all, as affordable as possible for parents," she said.

Children's Minister Sarah Teather said: "Healthy eating has a direct impact on behaviour, concentration and ability to learn in schools, so these are hugely encouraging figures - the fastest year-on-year rise in take-up since junk food was banned and tough nutritional standards were introduced."

The School Food Trust is losing its status as a public body, as part of ministers' drive to cut quangos.

But Ms Teather said the government would support it in setting up as an independent, not-for-profit social enterprise "to carry on its outstanding work driving up the quality of school meals".

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Unions criticise school trip plan

2 July 2011 Last updated at 19:24 GMT Ministers say there is too much bureaucracy involved in organising school trips Teaching unions have criticised plans to make school trips easier to organise amid government fears about the over-zealous application of safety laws.

The Department for Education is publishing new guidance to help schools ditch "unnecessary paperwork", and has cut 150 pages of guidelines to eight.

But the National Union of Teachers (NUT) said it feared reducing best practice could lead to more accidents.

Education Secretary Michael Gove said it was a "more common sense" approach.

Amanda Brown, of the NUT, said: "What we wouldn't want to do is to see a reduction of guidance which could lead to a lot more accidents.

'Myths'

"What we want is advice which is very clear and straightforward but long enough to cover enough of the detail so that people do feel secure."

The NASUWT teachers' union said cutting back guidance could reduce parents' confidence and make teachers more nervous about school trips because it provided a safeguard.

Continue reading the main story

The dilution of guidance for schools is likely to reduce rather than increase the number of educational visits”

End Quote Chris Keates NASUWT teachers' union "The decision to scrap over 140 pages of guidance is potentially reckless and could increase litigation against schools and teachers," said general secretary Chris Keates.

"There is no evidence demonstrating the need for the previous guidance to be abandoned, and no educational reason for doing so.

"Schools and teachers organise educational visits when it is clear that there is an opportunity to enhance and enrich pupils' learning and when they assure themselves that children will be safe.

'Crazy situation'

"The dilution of guidance for schools is likely to reduce rather than increase the number of educational visits."

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said it hoped the new guidelines would dispel legal "myths".

Chairman Judith Hackitt told the BBC it was "time to out those who hide behind red tape and procedures and often blame us and health and safety as the reason why they can't do these things".

She said guidelines had ended up being overly bureaucratic because of a fear of civil litigation, cost-cutting and because it was an easy way to avoid work that was regarded as more difficult.

Teachers were intelligent people and should be trusted to use their common sense, she added.

Ministers said school trips could broaden children's horizons but fear of prosecution was too often used as an excuse not to organise them.

In the past five years only two cases had been brought against schools for breaches of health and safety law on a visit, they said.

Employment minister Chris Grayling said: "We've got a crazy situation at the moment where, very often, headteachers and teachers think that actually the rules are such that it's not a good idea to plan school trips.

"There's too much bureaucracy, too many health and safety rules and a risk of prosecution if something goes wrong," he told the BBC.

"There is no reason - and never was - why children should be prevented from going on school trips by over-enthusiastic misinterpretation of rules," he said.

A Labour Party spokesman said health and safety rules needed to be applied sensibly.

The new guidelines clarify that written parental consent is not needed for each activity and encourage schools to use a new one-off consent form signed once when a child starts at a school.

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Parents save school prom hit by strike

30 June 2011 Last updated at 11:16 GMT Doncaster Council's chief executive said management would continue to meet with unions More than half of the schools in South Yorkshire have been closed or partially shut as staff strike in a national protest over pensions.

At least 366 of the county's schools have been hit and of those 193 were fully closed, council figures show.

As well as teaching unions, members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) and Unison are striking.

In total, about 20,000 public sector workers in South Yorkshire are involved in the walkout.

In Doncaster, the strike threatened to disrupt the end-of-school prom for pupils at Ridgewood School until parents stepped in to save the day.

Year 11 pupils at the Scawsby school traditionally meet for celebrations at the school during the day before going to the prom at night.

Parents stepped in to save the event after it coincided with the industrial action.

Lynn Hall, a parent and governor at Ridgewood, said a group of parents had come together to organise the prom event "for the sake of the kids".

She said: "We found out at the end of last week that the school leavers' event was cancelled.

"We got our heads together and we said we've got sons affected and friends affected and we could see how gutted they were.

"This is not just for our sons and mates, it's for the entire 240 kids at the school.

"We knew there had to be an alternative."

Picket lines

Unison members working at Doncaster Council are also striking over job cuts and changes to terms and conditions.

Adult social education centres in Thorne, Conisbrough, Mexborough and Hayfield were due to be closed but the council said it did not expect disruption to any other services.

Rob Vincent, the council's chief executive, said: "I am disappointed with the outcome but we will continue to meet with unions and discuss the areas of proposed changes over which they have expressed concern."

Demos and picket lines are planned across the county including a rally at Barker's Pool in Sheffield and picket lines at job centres in Maltby and Rotherham.

Barnsley, Rotherham and Sheffield councils are updating lists of school closures on their websites.

Latest figure show 55 schools are closed in Barnsley with 14 partially closed.

In Doncaster 57 schools are closed with 18 partially shut.

In Rotherham 55 schools are closed with a further 41 partially closed.

And in Sheffield 26 schools are closed with another 98 partially shut.

Doncaster's Robin Hood Airport said it was not anticipating any problems.

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Gove backs school maths to age 18

29 June 2011 Last updated at 12:41 GMT Maths is required for many subjects at degree level Education Secretary Michael Gove says he would like to see the "vast majority" of pupils in England studying maths to the age of 18 within a decade.

He said there were "strong arguments" for "making certain subjects compulsory for longer".

Mr Gove said he did not want to prejudge a national curriculum review, but also suggested that pupils study calculus and algebra at younger ages.

He said the UK was lagging behind its global competitors in the subject.

Speaking at the Royal Society, the education secretary said he was concerned about a post-16 "maths gap", where even pupils who did well at GCSE have forgotten what they knew by the time they start university or work.

The "maths gap" that most pupils now experience after the age of 16 means that even those who did well at GCSE have forgotten much of the maths they learnt by the time they start their degree or a job.

He said not enough students had sufficient maths to be able to study subjects such as physics, engineering and social sciences at university.

"I think we should set a new goal for the education system so that within a decade the vast majority of pupils are studying maths right through to the age of 18," he said.

"Of course, I am not prejudging the [curriculum] review. But there are strong arguments for introducing concepts earlier, for covering some topics more thoroughly, and for making certain subjects compulsory for longer."

'Genuinely bizarre'

Mr Gove said it was possible that England could follow East Asian countries in bringing in "much greater focus on fundamental number concepts, fractions and the building blocks of algebra in primary school".

He said he thought it "genuinely bizarre" that so many children left school "essentially unaware of the development of calculus".

Mr Gove said the review of the national curriculum that the government had commissioned would "set out the essential knowledge that children need to advance in core subjects", but not be "an attempt to prescribe every moment of the school day".

He said it would not spell out how issues and controversies, such as embryo experimentation and energy conservation, should be tackled.

Filling the national curriculum with topical subjects "only encourages a constant tinkering and rewriting which we should stop," Mr Gove said.

According to the Guardian newspaper, the head of the curriculum review panel, Tim Oates, said earlier this month that climate change should not be included in the national curriculum.

Maths is currently compulsory between the ages of 5 and 16.

Mr Gove has already said that teenagers who fail to achieve C grades in English and maths GCSEs by the age of 16 should continue to study the subjects.

Dame Athene Donald, Chair of the Royal Society Education Committee, welcomed Mr Gove's comments.

"The Royal Society's most recent State of the Nation report identified a significant shortage in the numbers of students studying mathematics past GCSE, given the needs of higher education and the economy, and advocates that all students should study some form of mathematics to 18," she said.

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School makes 'umbrella dance' record attempt

22 June 2011 Last updated at 16:17 GMT The children and staff danced to Rihanna's Umbrella song A Black Country school is hoping a dance event with a difference will put them in the world record books.

Leighswood Primary School in Aldridge attempted to break the record for the largest "umbrella dance" on Wednesday.

Just over 570 pupils and staff took part in the choreographed routine, complete with multi-coloured umbrellas.

The current record is held by 492 people in a town in Texas, US. The school hopes to find out in a couple of weeks if it has been successful.

Organised by local performance artist, Tom Murphy, the children had to dance together for five minutes while holding an umbrella. Their choice of song was Umbrella by Rihanna.

Videos of the attempt, along with documents and witness statements, will now be sent to Guinness World Records, which will assess if a record has been broken.

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Primary school place appeals rise

22 June 2011 Last updated at 15:07 GMT Many children face tough competition for places in popular schools The number of parents appealing against primary-school admissions decisions in England has risen 10%, amid rising class sizes and pressure on places.

Some 42,000 families challenged primary schools for failing to give them places in 2009-10, compared with 38,000 the previous year, official figures show.

Infant class sizes also rose, as did the proportions of pupils receiving free meals and from ethnic minorities.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said parents were unhappy with the lack of choice.

Appeals against place allocations in state primary schools have risen year on year for the past five years.

More than 5% of all school-place decisions were contested in 2009-10 - compared with just 2.7% in 2005-6.

There was also a rise in the proportion of successful appeals - up to 16.1% from 15.8% a year ago.

However, the number of appeals over secondary school places dropped, from 50,000 to 43,000.

Data also published on Wednesday showed the biggest rise in five years in the proportion of infant classes with more than 30 pupils - up to 2.5% from 1.8% in 2010.

'Pressure on places'

There is a legal limit of 30 pupils, except in certain exceptional circumstances.

In January 2011, when the schools' census was taken, nearly 10,000 pupils were being taught in classes unlawfully above the limit.

The census also showed the proportion of children in state schools eligible for - and claiming - free school meals was at its highest in five years, at 18% - up from 16% in 2007.

The proportion of children from ethnic minorities has also grown, from 25.5% to 26.5% in primary schools, and from 21.4 to 22.2% in secondary schools.

The data also showed that nearly a million school pupils in England do not have English as their first language.

The proportion of such children has risen from 16% to 16.8% in the last year in state primary schools, and 11.6% to 12.3% in secondaries.

The total number of primary school children has risen slightly, while the secondary school cohort has declined.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said: "It is clear that rising birth rates are increasing demand and pressure on primary places, with more parents unhappy with the lack of choice open to them.

"The education system has rationed places in good schools for too long," he said.

He added that the government was encouraging the setting up of scores of free schools, turning around the weakest 200 primaries and allowing popular schools to expand, while targeting capital investment where new school places were most needed.

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'School is wrong'

17 June 2011 Last updated at 17:08 GMT By Farouk Chothia BBC African Service At least six people were killed when the police HQ was bombed Nigeria's militant Islamist group Boko Haram, which said it bombed the police headquarters in the capital Abuja on Thursday, is fighting to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state.

Its followers are said to be influenced by the Koranic phrase which says: "Anyone who is not governed by what Allah has revealed is among the transgressors".

Boko Haram promotes a version of Islam which makes it "haram", or forbidden, for Muslims to take part in any political or social activity associated with western society.

This includes voting in elections, wearing shirts and trousers or receiving a secular education.

Boko Haram regards the Nigerian state as being run by non-believers, even when the country had a Muslim president.

Boko Haram leader Mohammed Yusuf was killed after his arrest

The group's official name is Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, which in Arabic means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad."

But residents in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri, where the group had its headquarters, dubbed it Boko Haram.

Loosely translated from the local Hausa language, this means Western education is forbidden.

Boko originally means fake but came to signify Western education, while haram means forbidden.

Since the Sokoto caliphate, which ruled parts of what is now northern Nigeria, Niger and southern Cameroon, fell under British control in 1903, there has been resistance among the area's Muslims to Western education.

Many Muslim families still refuse to send their children to government-run "Western schools", a problem compounded by the ruling elite which does not see education as a priority.

Audacious

Against this background, the charismatic Muslim cleric, Mohammed Yusuf, formed Boko Haram in Maiduguri in 2002. He sat up a religious complex, which included a mosque and an Islamic school.

Boko Haram despises Western education and wants Islamic law imposed

Many poor Muslim families from across Nigeria, as well as neighbouring countries, enrolled their children at the school.

But Boko Haram was not only interested in education. Its political goal was to create an Islamic state, and the school became a recruiting ground for jihadis to fight the state.

In 2009, Boko Haram carried out a spate of attacks on police stations and other government buildings in Maiduguri.

Continue reading the main story 2002: Founded2009: Hundreds killed when Maiduguri police stations stormed2009: Boko Haram leader Mohammed Yusuf captured by army, handed to police, later found deadSept: 2010: Freed hundreds of prisoners from Maiduguri jailDecember 2010: Bombed Jos, killing 80 people and blamed for New Year's Eve attack on Abuja barracks2010-2011: Dozens killed in Maiduguri shootingsMay 2011: Bombed several states after president's inaugurationJune 2011: Police HQ bombedIt led to shoot-outs on Maiduguri's streets. Hundreds of Boko Haram supporters were killed and thousands of residents fled the city.

Nigeria's security forces eventually seized the group's headquarters, capturing its fighters and killing Mr Yusuf.

His body was shown on state television, and the security forces declared Boko Haram finished.

But its fighters have regrouped under a new, unidentified leader and last year it attacked a prison in Maiduguri, freeing hundreds of the group's supporters.

Its trademark has been the use of gunmen on motorbikes, killing police, politicians and anyone who criticises it, including clerics from other Muslim traditions and a Christian preacher.

In recent months, it has staged several more audacious attacks in different parts of northern Nigeria.

These reportedly include a bombing in December in the city of Jos, a New Year's eve attack on military barracks in Abuja, and several explosions around the time of President Goodluck Jonathan's inauguration last month.

Now, it has attacked the police headquarters, signalling that it is far from finished.

The threat it poses is unlikely to disappear: Poverty-stricken northern Nigeria has a history of spawning groups similar to Boko Haram.

Analysts believe the threat will disappear only if the Nigerian government manages to reduce the region's chronic poverty, and builds an education system which gains the support of local Muslims.

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'Bad pupils' school strike ends

17 June 2011 Last updated at 12:41 GMT Interim head John Lawson said people were smiling again at the school Teachers who went on strike over pupil behaviour at a school in Lancashire have agreed to end their dispute.

An interim head teacher was appointed at Darwen Vale High School after staff walked out complaining of lack of support in tackling problem pupils.

Now with the previous disciplinary policy reintroduced, unions have called off the threat of future strikes.

Unions the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and NASUWT both said they were pleased the dispute had ended.

About 70 teachers took part in the strike at the 1,100-pupil school in Holden Fold, Darwen, during a one-day walkout on 7 April.

Strict implementation

Unions claimed pupils had physically and verbally abused staff and filmed lessons on mobile phones and threatened to post them online.

The previous disciplinary policy - now back - includes tougher controls on the use of mobile phones and a committee to review procedures.

Members of teaching unions held a strike in April

Blackburn with Darwen Council said the "strict implementation" of the policy was going well.

John Girdley, of the NASUWT, said: "It's good news that the unrest of recent weeks has been resolved and we welcome the stability that the new interim head teachers have brought to the school during what has been a difficult time.

Blackburn with Darwen's NUT representative, Simon Jones, added: "We are delighted with the progress that has been made and are pleased to declare a formal end to this dispute."

Interim head John Lawson was appointed when head teacher Hilary Torpey was suspended after the strike.

He said: "The young people at Darwen Vale are very special and we are confident that there is a bright future for the school.

"We have smiles all round at the school."

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Property battle for free school

14 June 2011 Last updated at 16:24 GMT By Sean Coughlan BBC News education correspondent Parents and supporters outside the building they want to open as a free school, now up for sale Parents wanting to set up a free school in north London have been angered by the council's sale of their planned premises.

Proposals for a primary school in Belsize Park had intended to use empty council-owned hostel buildings.

But Camden council has now put the buildings on sale - before a decision is made about the free school.

The council says it will put the proceeds of the sale towards repairing schools in the borough.

The deadline for bids for the property is 8 July.

But parents supporting the calls to create a free school say this will block the chance of a school which could help address a shortage of primary places in the area.

Going private

They want to use the buildings, reported to be worth around ?6m, for a primary school, under the free-school policy, under which parents and community groups can set up their own schools.

"At present the lack of school places in the area causes so much distress to parents trying to get their children into a school," said parent Liz Taylor, who is backing the project.

Continue reading the main story

The sale of these hostels... is a vital part of helping us achieve the ?400m we need to remedy the urgent backlog of maintenance requirements ”

End Quote Camden council "Often people end up having to move, find religion or scrabble together enough to pay for a private school for a year or two until a local school place comes up."

Malcolm Grove, who has been promoting the scheme, says there have been about 900 signatures gathered in support of the free school.

There had been an expectation that a decision on the free school proposal would be made in September - but that was based on using buildings which are now up for sale.

The dispute highlights the local tensions that can arise around free schools.

The supporters of the free school say it would be provide a much-needed school for local families.

Their proposal would mean the government buying the buildings from the council for the school.

But the local authority, which would have no control over the new school, is under pressure to plan for places across the borough.

There is already a free school in the borough which is set to open in September in a converted church hall in Hampstead.

'Surplus to requirement'

It also comes at a time when there are pressures on budgets and a shortage of school places across London.

Camden council says selling the former hostel buildings "is a vital part of helping us achieve the ?400m we need to remedy the urgent backlog of maintenance requirements across all our council buildings, including existing schools and children's centres".

And on the issue of demand for school places, the council says it is meeting to consider this next month.

The council says that the most recent figures show that "all applicants from Belsize ward had been offered a place at a local school".

The estate agent selling the properties describes the buildings as "surplus to requirement by Camden council".

It says they are an "exciting opportunity to create luxury private residential developments in the exclusive area of Belsize Park".

There are also political faultlines.

Supporting the free school is Liberal Democrat councillor, Tom Simon, who wants the Labour-run council to halt the sale of the buildings until the outcome of the free school application is known.

Without these buildings, he says the plans are "back at the drawing board".

"There is a clear need for a new school," says Mr Simon.

"It's difficult to understand why they are being so dogmatic. I would like to think they're not playing politics."

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School suspends 17 in drugs probe

14 June 2011 Last updated at 16:25 GMT Head teacher Mike Chapman said the drug taking had been an "isolated incident" Two pupils have been expelled and a further 15 suspended following an investigation into drugs at a Lake District school.

The drug at the centre of the Keswick School inquiry is an illegal anti-depressant containing diazepam.

Head teacher Mike Chapman said two Year 9 pupils had been permanently excluded and a further 15 suspended.

Cumbria Police said it had arrested a 14-year-old boy from Keswick on suspicion of distributing drugs.

'Level of naivety'

Mr Chapman said he was confident the drug taking had been an "isolated incident".

He said: "The school has acted swiftly and effectively to immediately deal with this illegal and unacceptable behaviour.

"We've conducted a thorough investigation, interviewing a large number of pupils, mostly from Year 9.

"We're confident that this has been an isolated incident where peer pressure and a lack of common sense from a number of pupils has led to them being swept along into being persuaded to try this Class C drug.

"There seems to have been a high level of naivety here - many were not aware of the drug's effects before taking them."

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Gove denies U-turn on school cuts

11 June 2011 Last updated at 15:43 GMT Michael Gove said he wanted to be sure services were providing value for money

The education secretary has denied making a U-turn after agreeing to review funding cuts for councils.

Michael Gove said they were "accelerating the pace of reform" and the review was needed because of the growth in academies.

Councils provide support services such as special needs education for state schools, but not academy schools.

Ministers had said the grant to provide such services would be cut by ?148m this year and ?265m next year.

In May, 23 councils threatened legal action saying the method used to calculate the cut breached guidelines.

'U-turn'

Mr Gove told the BBC some Labour local authorities were "a bit unhappy" about the pace of reform, but "the truth is at the moment we're actually providing funding to local authorities and to schools for the same service".

The education secretary said they had to make sure the taxpayer "is not paying twice".

Labour says the decision shows changes are being pushed through too quickly.

"This is the third time in a year that Michael Gove has had to U-turn under the threat of legal action," shadow education secretary Andy Burnham said.

"And the reason that it keeps happening is that he is railroading his policies through without proper consultation, without listening to parents, to teachers, to local councillors."

'Hideously complicated'

National Association of Head Teachers General Secretary Russell Hobby says funding formulas for schools are "hideously complicated".

"I think if we were charitable we'd be calling it a refinement of the policy here. The government's been moving at pace, in some cases rushing into things and I think then you find out that implementation is not as clear as you thought," he said.

"They've found that it's not as simple as cutting out the money that would have been spent on those schools when they become an academy."

But a spokesman for the Department of Education said it welcomed the opportunity to re-enter discussions with local authorities.

He said the need to review funding reflected the popularity of the academy programme.

According to the Department of Education website, 1,244 schools have applied to be an academy since June 2010 and 704 academies are in operation.

Reduced grant

Academies are outside of the local authority support structure, and receive no services from councils. Instead, they receive their funding directly from the government.

Once operating as an academy, the school receives the same per pupil funding as other state schools. However, it also gains control of a portion - up to 10% - of its budget which would previously have been held back by the local authority and used to provide services across the borough.

The Department for Education, through the local government settlement, said it was reducing the grant available to councils for support to schools to compensate for this.

The councils claim this cut has been calculated by deducting the amount it will cost individual academies to run those services themselves, rather than by the amount that councils will save by not providing them.

This, they argue, will leave them out of pocket and is against the government's own guidelines, known as the New Burdens Rules, on such matters.

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School of Blair

10 June 2011 Last updated at 10:49 GMT By Victoria King Political reporter, BBC News The culmination of this year's Blair Government course was a chance to quiz the former prime minister himself at his London offices With the ink barely dry on his page in history, university students are already able to study a course on Tony Blair's government. During the past year they've had the chance to quiz some of his ministers, mandarins and even the man himself.

"One of the exam questions was, 'Was Alastair Campbell the best in the business?' That was the one Tony Blair enjoyed hearing about the most," jokes 21-year-old Sian Cleary.

"I think it's his own quote so maybe that's not surprising!"

Sian is one of 12 students who took the Blair Government course at Queen Mary, University of London this year.

It has been running since September 2007 as a third-year specialist subject and covers everything from public service reform, to spin and the Iraq war.

Taught by historian Dr Jon Davis and John Rentoul, chief political commentator at the Independent on Sunday, it is soon to expand into a broader Masters degree, entitled New Labour in Government.

The students analyse speeches, manifestos and policy documents, but most important of all they get to question some of the people who ran the country during those years.

Sian, Marie and Jon relished the opportunity to quiz former ministers and senior civil servants

Guests include ex-ministers like Ed Balls, Lord Mandelson and David Blunkett, and right-hand men like Jonathan Powell - Tony Blair's chief of staff for 12 years - and Alastair Campbell. Among the other figures to talk were former Cabinet Secretary Lord Wilson and former top civil servant at the Ministry of Defence Sir Kevin Tebbit.

"It's one thing reading about something in a textbook, but for you to be able to hear it first-hand... that's amazing," says 23-year-old Marie Kemplay. And they were definitely a bit disarmed. They were much more frank than we expected."

Sian adds: "It was great timing too because a lot of them have recently released memoirs so we could say, 'You've said this here, do you still think that?' And what was interesting was how many of them said, 'Actually, no I've changed my mind.'"

'Grasp of history'

The students are split on their favourite guests - but they agree that several really surprised them.

"For me, it was Peter Mandelson," says 21-year-old Jon Boulton (no relation to Sky News journalist Adam Boulton or his wife, former Blair aide Anji Hunter).

"He always puts out this sinister image but when you get him face to face he's quite a decent chap. He's quite funny and he's very eloquent."

Marie goes on: "It was the same for Ed Balls. He was the complete opposite of his media persona. He comes across as not very personable at all. But he was really nice and helpful."

Sian adds: "What was different with Ed Balls was his grasp of history. He was thinking about the historical relevance of what we were studying. He really thought all of his answers through, they obviously weren't rehearsed.

Continue reading the main story

I came to it disliking Blair... but there's a lot more subtlety to it, he did good things and bad”

End Quote Jon Boulton Student "But for me, some of the senior mandarins were the most interesting. You know what a Charles Clarke is going to think about a certain issue, but often these people have never had a platform before, or if they have, they've always stayed very neutral. They were the most revealing of all."

The students didn't just meet former politicians. One of their speakers was Universities Minister David Willetts, who went ahead with his appearance despite taking a hammering that day for suggesting rich families might be able to pay to guarantee university places.

"We were expecting him to be a bit world-weary by the time he got to us, but he was really on the ball," says Marie.

Jon adds: "He was even questioned about the row and he didn't duck the question. He just took it on and said, 'This is why I think it's right.'"

Beyond the 'froth'

But famous faces aside, why did they choose the Blair course? Was it to learn more about a political hero - or to gather ammunition about a political bogey-man?

"I think I had quite a balanced view of him when I came in, sceptical about some things... but I think I became pro-Blair by the end of it," says Sian.

"It was especially because of Northern Ireland. I didn't know anything about that, and to me, when you look at the policy and negotiations that he led you see a huge amount of good."

Marie agrees: "Throughout the course I actually came to admire him. When I began, I was keen to get behind the spin because that's all you hear about, but that's not who he is, that's just the froth that's going on above him.

"He was a strange one in that he was the only prime minister who's ever chosen his own exit date and that says a lot about him. A lot of people acknowledge that by the end of his premiership he was at the height of his confidence and his command of the civil service, and I just think that's really interesting, so I have a lot of admiration for him."

Blair arrived fresh - or not so fresh - from a long flight to face questions

Conservative-supporter Jon says: "I came to it disliking Blair.

"I liked the foreign policy side, I thought Sierra Leone and Kosovo were great successes, but I wasn't a fan of his domestic policy and I wasn't a fan of him as a politician. I thought he was very showy, lacking substance.

"But the more I learned about him the more I saw there was a grounding there and I've become slightly more approving of his domestic policy. A lot of Conservatives see Blair as this very negative figure but there's a lot more subtlety to it, he did good things and bad."

And what was it like meeting the man?

"He's definitely still got it," says Jon, laughing.

"There's a reason why he's the most successful Labour politician ever. He seemed genuinely intellectually intrigued that we were studying his government and wanted to know all the questions on the exam paper."

Sian agrees: "You can be cynical and you can say he's very polished but he'd got back at two o'clock in the morning from a flight, so he hadn't rehearsed. He'd also had [his son] Leo's birthday.

"I like to think he was impressed by our questions and enjoyed answering them. His responses were frank and he came across very well."

'Top PMs'

As young people, one might assume their views were inescapably coloured by the issue of Iraq, but in fact the students say that wasn't the case.

"It's very easy to look at the headlines of the Blair government and start there," Sian says. "But we go behind that. We scrutinise documents and process."

Jon agrees: "We're asking things that no-one else does ask. Everyone talks about Iraq, but when you study the Blair government in the sort of detail we do you see there are so many other things that no-one pays attention to.

"Those are the things that changed this country far more than Iraq did and they're clearly the things he wants to be remembered for. That was obvious when he talked to us."

Dr Davis agrees: "I don't think any prime minister is perfect, but I think that when history starts to calm down, emotions calm down, I confidently expect he will come to be seen as one of the top three prime ministers since the war.

"We're a more tolerant, stable society in the 21st Century than we were in the 20th and I think much of that is down to the tone Blair set."

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NI pupils to find out school choices

28 May 2011 Last updated at 08:50 GMT John O'Dowd said some students will be disappointed. More than 23,000 children across Northern Ireland will find out on Saturday which post primary school they will transfer to in September.

Around 9,000 of those pupils will be going to grammar schools.

Transfer test results were delivered to students around the country back in February.

The Education Minister John O'Dowd said if parents are unhappy they can challenge the decision.

"There are a number of appeal mechanisms available to parents," he added.

"Those are available on the Department of Education's website if they wish to appeal the decision that has been made around their child not getting their first choice of school.

"There will always be disappointment. It's how we manage that disappointment."

Mr O'Dowd urged parents to talk to teachers at schools and to check out the department's website for more information.

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NI school selection is a 'charade'

27 May 2011 Last updated at 05:27 GMT By Maggie Taggart Education Correspondent A group of principals has called on schools to stop academic selection.

A hard-hitting statement describes the testing of 10 and 11-year-olds as an "annual charade".

Grammar schools have now used their own exams in place of the eleven plus to select pupils two years running.

The Catholic Principals Association, which claims to represent the majority of Catholic primary and secondary schools, says grammar schools should not "pick and choose" their pupils.

Instead it urges them to embrace a fully inclusive system.

It has a particular message for Catholic grammar schools, which show little sign of moving towards the end of academic selection, against the wishes of the bishops.

It says the use of unregulated tests by those schools flies in the face of advice from the commission for Catholic education.

The statement is timed to coincide with letters to parents telling them which schools have accepted their children for the next academic year.

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Autumn school truancy at new high

25 May 2011 Last updated at 13:59 GMT No clear reasons are given for the majority of unauthorised absences The autumn-term truancy rate in England's state schools in 2010 reached a five-year high, although overall absences continued to decrease.

Government statistics showed unauthorised absence rose from 0.93% of half-days missed in autumn 2009 to 1.04% in 2010.

Some of the rise, but not all, was due to an increase in the number of family holidays not agreed by schools.

But a fall in secondary-school absences means the overall figure has dropped.

The last government said schools were cracking down on "weak excuses", which meant more pupils were missing school without permission.

The unauthorised absences figure for autumn 2010 is the highest in the five years since the government began to collect termly data.

No clear reasons were given for the majority of cases, although about 17% were due to family holidays and 6% were classed as pupils arriving late.

The rise is mainly driven by primary school unauthorised absences, which have risen from 0.48% of half-days in autumn 2006 to 0.75% in 2010.

'Literacy link'

During that period, the proportion of unauthorised absences that were due to unagreed family holidays rose from 8% to 17%.

Schools minister Nick Gibb said absenteeism "is still too high".

"Truancy is often linked to poor literacy skills - that's why we are focusing on improving reading with synthetic phonics," he said.

"Our Education Bill puts teachers back in control of the classroom so pupils can be taught without disruption and teachers have more power to tackle truancy."

The main reason for authorised absence was illness (60%), followed by medical and dental appointments (5%) and agreed family holiday (7%).

Overall absence in autumn 2010 (6.1% of half-days) was higher than in autumn 2006 (5.9%), but is down from a peak in 2008 (6.4%).

There were also nearly 27,000 pupils classed as "persistent absentees", having missed more than 64 half days of school - although this figure has dropped from 48,000 in 2006.

'Easy-fix discipline'

Children's charity Barnardo's said the latest figures were a sign the school system was "failing somewhere".

Assistant director of policy and research Louise Bamfield said: "Throwing more robust discipline and punishment at absenteeism is misdirected.

"The root causes of a child's impulse to flee the classroom, which often lie outside school, also need to be addressed."

"The government needs to think beyond easy-fix discipline which treats the symptoms and not the cause."

The previous government also tried to clamp down on truancy, and parents have been prosecuted for letting their children miss school.

When Labour came to power in 1997, the annual rate of unauthorised absence was about 0.7% - a constant figure since 1994.

School absence figures for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are published separately.

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Cricket 'dream school' for a day

26 May 2011 Last updated at 12:14 GMT By Hannah Richardson BBC News education reporter Schools will see cricket-themed lessons A cricket "dream school", where luminaries of the sport take cricket-related lessons in a range of subjects, is being set up in London for a day.

Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King and an England cricketer will teach pupils at Johanna Primary School, Waterloo.

Sports Minister Hugh Robertson will take a cricket-themed assembly.

Classes in 4,000 schools in England and Wales will also be given a cricketing twist, on a "national day of cricket".

Organised by the Cricket Foundation's Chance to Shine campaign, the day, on 23 June, will also feature coaching sessions in school playgrounds and competitions at local clubs.

'Lessons for life'

The charity has devised a range of cricket-based lessons in subjects ranging from geography to citizenship and numeracy.

A member of the England cricket team, still to be announced, will take pupils for a physical education class.

And Mr King, who is president and co-founder of the campaign, will give pupils cricket-themed lessons in maths.

He said: "It's a day on which we hope that the qualities engendered by cricket can extend beyond the cricket pitch and into the classroom."

England captain Andrew Strauss said: "There's so much about cricket that prepares you for life - working in a team, communicating with other people, getting out and being active and learning how to win and lose."

Events on the day, sponsored by Brit Insurance, will also feature at schools in other cricket-playing nations, including some in Mazar-i-sharif in Afghanistan and Victoria, Australia.

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