Nicky Phillips | Schools Week

Book series for all abilities

Cambridge University Press has launched a new primary school reading scheme in a bid to get pupils more excited about books. Cambridge Reading Adventures, created in partnership with the Institute of Education (IoE), features 90 titles split into 11 different bands for pupils of all abilities. Designed around a child-centred pedagogy, it includes fictional tales, […]

Academy’s high-level success

It was mission accomplished for three Fakenham Academy Norfolk students who launched a high altitude balloon into near space. After months of planning and preparation – and one postponement because of poor weather – the group’s helium-filled latex balloon, FANHAB1, reached 26,533m. The students launched it from Elsworth in Cambridgeshire where FANHAB1 climbed steadily for […]

Asher stands up to the challenge

An 11-year-old pupil from Nottingham, who suffers from a severe visual impairment after treatment for three brain tumours, is attempting a three-mile solo paddleboard for three charities close to his heart. Asher Jenkin Jones of The Elms junior school plans to paddleboard from Caldey Island, off the south west coast of Wales, into the harbour […]

Alternative provision academy to offer International Baccalaureate

A new post-16 academy will become the first alternative provision (AP) school in the country to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB). The headteacher at TBAP academy, in Fulham, west London, said the “much broader” programme than traditional A-levels would give students who had experienced “disparity” at key stage 4 a “clearer path” to university. The […]

Chloe Smith, Katie Paxton-Doggett and Daniel Grewcock

Chloe Smith, the Conservative MP for Norwich North, has joined the advisory council of Future First. She says she will work with the charity, which aims to build alumni networks in state schools, to “develop students’ confidence to succeed in their chosen career and inspire them to work hard in school now. “We know that in […]

Humanism resources

Resources designed to help pupils learn about humanism have been launched following a High Court ruling last year that non-religious views must be included in religious education. Created by the British Humanist Association (BHA), the Understanding Humanism website includes lesson plans, presentations, classroom activities, videos and humanist perspectives. From September, schools will be required to include non-religious […]

Why 3-day qualifications can be just as valid as GCSEs

The ECDL, as promoted by the schools network, the PiXL club, is a valuable qualification for many students, says Brian Lightman – one that should prompt Ofqual to think carefully before placing further constraints on awarding bodies Ask any employer what they want from a qualification and they will tell you they want it to […]

Schools ban watches to outsmart exam cheats

Teachers should be on high alert for technology-aided cheating during this summer’s exams after a scam involving cameras and smartwatches was uncovered in Thailand. The scam, discovered during medical school entrance exams at Rangsit University in Bangkok, involved three students filming their test papers using tiny cameras in their glasses. They then sent the images […]

Changes to UCAS data rules cause problems for Russell Group uni

A Russell group university has been blocked from accessing confidential pupil information from the government after it claimed it could no longer get accurate data from UCAS. The University of Exeter said it needed information from the national pupil database (NPD) as part of its widening participation programme, but was refused access by the Department […]