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The Guardian - UK

National

Judy Friedberg

Cribsheet 08.03.11

Pancakes on a plate — Are you planning a little treat for yourself this lunchtime? Photograph: Guardian

Hope you're all making pancakes and respecting women today? Good. On with the show.

• Universities have been told they'll have to double the amount they spend (from around £400 to £900) on widening access to poorer students if they want to charge the maximum tuition fees. And they'll have to draw up an agreement with the Office for Fair Access (Offa) saying how they're going to widen their pool of applicants.

Guardian reader Pinkslippers, a "recent graduate from a poorer background", says tuition fees are not actually the immediate issue as they don't have to be paid upfront:

"The far bigger problem, which starts from day one, is how you are actually supposed to live whilst at university. The financial support I received (full loan and a bursary, with a London weighting of around an extra £20 per week) was woefully inadequate, much lower than benefit levels for unemployed or income support, and resulted in living conditions that would cause most people to drop out, which I considered every single day."

The Russell Group's Wendy Piatt reiterates its point that:

"It is really important to understand that the most important reason why too few poorer students even apply to leading universities is that they are not achieving the right grades at school… Universities can and do help but we simply cannot solve these problems alone."

• Tomorrow sees the publication of the very long awaited green paper on special needs education. Blogger Guerillamum has written about her hopes for and expectations of it - and we'll hear more from her tomorrow when the report is out.

Education news from the Guardian

• Guatemala educates nearly 90% of its under-12s. But one group is slipping the net. Street children, missing out on a formal education, are learning instead how to survive on the murderous streets of the capital. Jessica Shepherd finds out what the future holds for them. And we have a gallery to go with that story.

• What do real teachers make of Jamie Oliver's celebrity team? Janet Murray gets their views on episode 1. Here's headteacher Jo Shuter:

"I love Jamie Oliver, but this programme made me really angry. What makes him think he has the right to play with children's lives like this? It felt like the public were voyeurs watching a load of chimpanzees, waiting for them to misbehave."

Here's a blog by @mikematthewsCDN on why the programme is an entertaining failure.

And, in case you've not seen this yet, a piece in the Telegraph about what the teenagers who took part think of it.

• BTecs are going to have their own national results day, Warwick Mansell reports. It looks like a bold decision on the part of Edexcel.

• Can universities make sure that what happened to the LSE over Libya never happens to them?

• Lucy Tobin is following five sixth-formers as they take decisions about their future. Josh tells her why he's applying to go to university in Holland.

Guardian views

• Fiona Millar Why is it that the one quango that should have been scrapped has instead grown bigger?

• Tom Bewick The well-intentioned Wolf review doesn't understand that we need to develop an entrepreneurial mindset among young people.

Alison Wolf's own blog, written for the Times, about her review is on the Department for Education website.

• Roger Brown How can we regulate higher education providers who are in it for the money?

Research revelations

Two great stories from research academics today:

• I have a big soft spot for bad poetry. And bad poetry about cheese takes the biscuit. The Improbable Researchers have come up with a cracker by James McIntyre, b1828, which begins:

We gave seen thee, queen of cheese,
Lying quietly at your ease,
Gently fanned by evening breeze
Thy fair form no flies dare seize.

How great is that?

• And sunglasses. Who doesn't look cooler wearing them? According to Vanessa Brown, we look more glamorous because we feel more glamorous. Check out our gallery of shades fans.

Education news from around the web

• The University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies privately tutored Mutassim Gaddafi, another of the Libyan leader's sons, in 2006, Nick Collins reports in the Telegraph. Last year Soas announced a collaboration worth £188,024 with the Tripoli-based AlFateh University to run an MSc course in finance.

• The THE reports that income from tuition fees paid by overseas students rose by 17.8% last year to represent almost £10 out of every £100 earned by the English higher education sector according to Hefce figures.

• Though it's early days, there are some interesting snippets coming out about the government's overhaul of the national curriculum, Susan Young (aka @morticiasmum) writes in her blog for the NAHT. Apparently a serious look is being taken at "key stages" and the option of year-by-year syllabuses.

Media skills seminar for education leaders

This one-day seminar on 22 March is organised by the Guardian and the NAHT.

Whether it's sharing good news or handling a crisis, headteachers and senior school management teams need to be able to handle the media in all of its forms. This seminar is for new and aspiring heads, established school leaders who wish to update their knowledge, and chairs of governing bodies who may find themselves in the media limelight. Speakers will cover print and TV, and give up-to-the-minute advice on the internet and social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

Caricature masterclass by a Guardian cartoonist

Sharpen your pencils - the Prince's Drawing School is running a weekend masterclass for adults, led by Nicola Jennings, on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 March from 10am to 4pm.

The weekend will begin with a brief history of caricature, followed by a look at the proportions of the face. Students will learn to observe and analyse facial expressions and movements, highlighting appropriate characteristics to describe personality. Here's the booking form.

Insight into journalism seminars for teachers

A unique opportunity for teachers to spend a day at the Guardian, find out how a national news media organisation works and get ideas and resources that can be used in the classroom.

News 11 March Learn about the 24 news cycle; meet news reporters, feature writers, picture and sub editors; understand the role newspaper advertising; go on a tour of the editorial floors and take part in a workshop creating you own news front page which will be evaluated by an editor.

Multimedia 31 March Writing for a news website, web editing, blogging, the use of social media, video production; podcasting.

Places are limited and likely to fill up quickly, so book soon.