Nicky Phillips | Schools Week

Major firms shelve ‘approved’ A-level lists

Fears that some A-level pupils are discriminated against in the workplace because of their subject choices may prove unfounded as employers move towards a more open approach. Global strategy consultant OC&C previously used a list of approved A-levels as a screening filter for CV scoring that left off less traditional but still popular subjects, such as […]

It’s not what you play, it’s how long you do it for. . .

Children who play computer games for more than three hours a day are more likely to be hyperactive, not interested in school and get involved in fights, suggests a new study. University of Oxford researchers looked at the effects of different types of games – and the time spent playing them – on social and […]

EXCLUSIVE: Exam overhauls ‘force’ Cambridge to plan entry tests

– University consults on bringing back own entrance test after 29 years – ‘What I hear is a lot more work for me. It makes me really frustrated’ The University of Cambridge is gathering views on plans to bring back entrance tests – 29 years after abandoning them. If the proposal goes ahead, all school […]

David Blunkett, MP and former education secretary

Boxes are stacked around the wood-panelled office. Folders top the piles. A framed portrait is propped against the wall. A braille machine sits on an empty desk. This is the office of David Blunkett, whose 28-year tenure as Labour MP for Sheffield Brightside is coming to an end. He took his parliamentary seat in 1987 after nearly […]

“If I were education secretary I would…”

I would first recognise the excellence in state schools throughout the country. I would do this by indicating what I meant by “high-impact” schools that develop the whole child, and identifying at least six high-impact teachers/principals and installing them in my office as “first reactors” to all initiatives. I would then: 1. Fund an independent group […]

“If I were education secretary I would…”

The first thing I would do is drastically limit my own powers, and those of my successors, by irreversibly vesting a major chunk of them in a non-political National Institute of Education (NIE). Politicians are condemned by the nature of the political process and by their own lack of experience to — or at least […]

“If I were education secretary I would…”

I would face the facts. Since the advent of high-stakes testing, many schools have become depressing places for students and teachers alike. How exciting can it be to spend the year preparing for a test? In my country, the United States, boys are falling further and further behind in school and I believe the high-stakes […]

Hampshire team get the chequered flag

Victory at the F1 in Schools UK national finals will give two students from Robert May’s School in Hampshire the chance of £5,000 annual bursaries if they study engineering at UCL. Jumping to the top of the podium, team Evolution F1 claimed the best engineered car award before being crowned overall winners. Held at The […]

Pupils bridge the generation gap

A group of tech-savvy Salford pupils have been helping local pensioners get to grips with tablet technology as part of a project aimed at tackling isolation. The Albion Academy pupils trained as digital champions to teach residents at Muirhead Court in Charlestown essential IT skills, including how to use email, Skype, online banking and browse […]