Headteachers are furious about the standard of Sats marking this year, Janet Murray (@jan_murray) reports, and are spending this week busily putting together appeals in time for Friday's deadline.
A snap poll of school leaders found 720 of 954 respondents experiencing problems this year. Heads - who are anxious about how their position in league tables will be affected by erratic test results - complain of wildly inaccurate grading, examiners who seem to have read only the first paragraph and marks that have not even been added up correctly. One says:
"It's as if the person marking was watching the telly at the same time."
If you're a year 6 teacher or head who has been affected and would like to write a short and speedy blog about it, please get in touch by emailing judy.friedberg@guardian.co.uk or tweeting @judyfriedberg.
Education news from the Guardian
• More than a third of English universities will charge a maximum fee of £9,000 in 2012 after their proposals for widening access to poorer students are approved by Offa. The watchdog says negotiations took place with 52 institutions whose initial proposals did not meet its expectations. Of these, 25 have been asked to be more ambitious. Harriet Swain asks: what exactly is the point of having more people do degrees?
• Erwin James reports on the academies set up by a former bank robber to liberate ex-prisoners from a life of crime. He's quite a character, Bobby Cummines OBE. He says his life changed when he started studying psychology in jail:
"I began reading about deviant behaviour and thought, 'I'm reading about me!' The more I read the more I realised I didn't have to be the way I was. The high I used to get from crime was replaced by a bigger high from learning."
• Nurture groups help children with family problems to develop social skills and self-esteem. Guess what. They're being closed down. Sue Learner finds out what the impact will be.
• What's secondary school really like? Last year, Janet Murray spoke to a group of year 6s about their hopes and fears. Now she catches up with them - and their parents - to see how the first year has gone.
Education views from the Guardian
Fiona Millar Allowing unregulated free schools to mushroom seems an obvious recipe for chaos. Perhaps that's exactly the point.
Sue Rimmer Young people on estates who are bored or frightened see college as a haven. Cuts are taking away their last chance.
Research revelations
• The Improbable Researchers are up to a bit of monkey business this week, looking at post-coital penis-cleaning by chimpanzees. It has no health benefits, apparently, so why do they bother? Well, availing oneself of a leaf napkin to refresh oneself is apparently considered the height of social etiquette in better parts of the jungle.
• Psychologists from the University of Portsmouth have been working on improving the level of discussion and participation among juries. What works best, they've found, is if initial deliberations take place in groups of four.
Education news from around the web
• Richard Garner in the Independent advocates becoming a Scottish citizen to escape high university fees. Commenter Ahvgitweanstaefeed responds:
"Fine, fine, fine! Yer very welcum, but please promise not to bore us into a state of cataleptic rigidity with questions about kilts, haggis and deep-fried Mars bars."
• Higher education staff have been given a "final offer" of a £150 pay rise for the next academic year, provoking an angry reaction from unions, the THE reports. The Universities and Colleges Employers Association made the offer - for the third year at below the rate of inflation - at a meeting with unions yesterday.
Best of the blogs
• I very much like the defence of the use of phonics as the primary method for teaching reading on John Bald's Language and Literacy blog:
"Phonics is the most reliable indicator of the information conveyed by letters in English, even though it does not work all of the time. Its rightful place is, therefore, as the main element of teaching, with the other main factor, knowledge and understanding of irregular patterns, taught alongside it."
(Thanks to @oldandrewuk for the link.)
• Is Murdoch drawing Gove into the phone hacking scandal? That's the intriguing question pondered by Allan Beavis (@Allanbeavis) on the Local Schools Network. His argument centres around controversial New Yorker Joel Klein, much admired by both men.
• Former TV presenter Annabel Giles explains in her blog why she's selling her house to pay for a specialist school for her autistic son. There's been such a huge response already, she's written a follow-up, explaining that she's not asking for anyone's money and suggesting wellwishers support charities that help families of children with special needs. More on her twitter page too, @Annabel_Giles.
Tell the Guardian about your school's A-level and GCSE achievements
The Guardian would like to highlight your pupils' GCSE and A-level success this summer. We are asking schools to respond to a few quick questions about their pupils' results as soon as you receive them - on 18 August for A-levels and 25 August for GCSEs. Please take a note of the following web pages and return to them to fill in your results on those days:
We want to tell our readers how well your pupils have performed and are looking forward to mapping the success of young people across the country.
Live Q&A on Tefl
Are you considering a career teaching English as a foreign language? Or searching for your first overseas job? A panel of experts will be offering live advice from 1pm.
On the Guardian's higher education network
What are universities doing to communicate course fee changes? Matthew Caines explores how future students are being informed of the new charges, loans and repayments system.
And on the teacher network
If you go down to the woods today... we have resources on conservation and biodiversity to celebrate the launch of the WWF's Big Forest Picnic. This animation made by and for children is a wonderful introduction and there are useful WWF posters here.
The team at ARKive have resources too: In Biodiversity Hospital, students learn to balance the competing priorities for the conservation of an endangered species. In Adaptation, they find out how species have adapted to live in different habitats.
Education seminar from Guardian Professional
Making the most of media opportunities to enhance your school's profile
Whether it's sharing good news or handling a crisis, headteachers and school management teams need to be able to handle the media in all of its forms. This one-day seminar in association with the NAHT is essential for new and aspiring heads as well as established school leaders who wish to update their knowledge. It includes a session on social media.
20 September, London.
Find us on the Guardian website
All today's EducationGuardian stories
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook
EducationGuardian resources
The Guardian University Guide 2011
The Guardian Postgraduate Guide 2011
The world's top 100 universities
Updating table of university fee announcements for 2012
From Guardian Professional
The Higher Education Network for university professionals
Free online classroom resources on the Teacher Network
More about Cribsheet
Sign up to get Cribsheet as a daily email
To advertise in the Cribsheet email, contact Sunita Gordon on 0203 353 2447 or email sunita.gordon@guardian.co.uk
Subscribe to get Cribsheet as an RSS feed
Interested in social policy too? Sign up for Society Daily
