Billy Camden | Schools Week

Students switch on to STEM

Science enthusiasts at a Lancashire school have found the formula for success with their own Greenpower F24 electric kit car. Engineering firm Siemens offered the students the chance to design, build and race an electric vehicle through its Curiosity Project, which aims to encourage the take-up of science, technology, engineering and maths. Bishop Rawstorne Academy […]

Simon Knight, deputy head, Frank Wise School

Simon Knight smiles when he tells of the one question he is often asked about his work: “Often the comment I get when I tell people what I do is ‘you must be so patient’. There’s this perception that working in a special school requires you to be patient.” This is not a question he […]

Academy chair and ex-DfE director, Theodore Agnew, appointed by Gove to new Justice board

Sir Theodore Agnew, previously a non-executive board member of the Department for Education, has been appointed to the same role at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), now led by former education secretary Michael Gove. The appointment comes amid a MoJ shake-up – with four non-executives stepping down. During his time at the Department for Education […]

Joe aims for a life on the stage

A Nottingham student hopes to tread the boards in the footsteps of actors such as Benedict Cumberbatch and Colin Firth after winning a place in the National Youth Theatre (NYT). Joe Goodhead (pictured), a year 12 drama pupil at independent school Trent College, will take his NYT place after being one of those selected from […]

Triathlon with a difference

Pupils from a Gloucester primary school had heaps of fun in the great outdoors when they teamed up with learners from a nearby college to complete a team-building triathlon. Hartpury Primary pupils were supported by BTec level 3 outdoor adventure students from Hartpury College for orienteering and then building shelters and rafts at Mallards Pike, […]

FA kicks off new programme

The Football Association is aiming to put football “at the heart of school life” with the launch of a new secondary school programme. The free national scheme is comprised of four elements: after-school clubs, leadership and intra-school and inter-school matches. Each element will be supported by downloadable resource packs that include lesson plan suggestions and […]

Sir Alasdair Macdonald, Christine Woods and Craig D’Cunha

Sir Alasdair Macdonald has been elected chair of the New Visions for Education group. His predecessors include Sir Tim Brighouse, the former commissioner for London schools and Birmingham chief education officer, and Professor Geoff Whitty, the former director of the UCL Institute of Education. Sir Alasdair led Morpeth School in Tower Hamlets, east London, for […]

Morgan hopes rugby programmes will hit the mark

Premiership rugby coaches will be drafted into schools to “instil resilience” in disaffected children as part of the government’s drive to develop character education. As England and Wales prepare to stage the Rugby World Cup, education secretary Nicky Morgan (pictured) has announced funding of more than £500,000 for 14 professional clubs to design and deliver […]

Heads are in the clouds as staff abseil for charity

The sky was no limit for headteachers who abseiled eight floors of a hotel for charity. Taking time out of the Boarding Schools’ Association annual conference in London earlier this month, the heads, from more than 20 independent and state boarding schools, descended the side of the 23 metre Victoria Park Plaza Hotel. It was in […]