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The Guardian - UK

National

Judy Friedberg

Cribsheet 15.03.11

Okay, this is scary for me. I appear to be about to write something about football.

Apparently football fans think it would be a good idea if we could tell whether goals actually are goals - something about Frank Lampard and Germany? But the footballing authorities, for some reason, aren't so sure.

Whether or not Fifa takes the plunge and invests in some technology before the next World Cup, experts are feverishly working on new-generation goal-line devices, Lucy Tobin tells us. And some of the leading experts in the field are based on British campuses.

Frederika Whitehead takes a look at some of the goal controversies that could have been resolved by scanners - and she's collected shriek-inducing footage of some of the worst travesties. I know that because I've been watching people watch it.

Education news from the Guardian

• Further education students step into the political spotlight as their spokesman, Shane Chowen, campaigns for the presidency of the NUS. He says:

"Having a president who hasn't been through higher education would be a real step change for the student movement. If I do become president, I'd be keen to redefine commonly held perceptions of what a student is."

• Parents in Lincolnshire were astonished to receive a letter recently suggesting that all the county's schools should become academies "under the CfBT Schools' Trust". Warwick Mansell has been finding out exactly what that would mean.

• Anthony Seldon's private school - Wellington College, one of the most expensive in the country - wants to become a teaching school and train teachers for the state sector. Seldon says barriers between private and state schools are breaking down:

"I think the class war warriors that have dominated for 30 years or more with their apartheid mentality are now voices of the past."

• Forensics has soared in popularity as a university subject in the last 10 years. Now the state Forensic Science Service, where many graduates expected to work, is being closed down. Lucy Tobin looks at the implications.

• A two-year research project shows that, despite fears that they've become screen-obsessed, children still delight in playground games - they just incorporate computer games and TV shows into breaktime activities.

• UUK head and Exeter vice-chancellor Steve Smith met Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli in 2003 as part of a £75m deal with the university to educate "elite Libyan officials".

• The coalition is considering fining universities that charge unjustifiably high tuition fees next year.

The Guardian Higher Education Network

The Guardian has launched an online forum for higher education professionals, offering advice and career guidance, and a place to discuss the challenges facing the sector.

Meantime much excitement about the Guardian's Future of Higher Education conference in London tomorrow, to be addressed by David Willetts, Steve Smith, Bahram Bekhradnia, and Offa's Martin Harris.

Guardian views

Mike Baker The needs of non-academic pupils were not properly addressed by the Wolf review.

(Have a look too at the report from the thinktank Demos, which says half of all teenagers in England and Wales are being failed by secondary schools that focus on brighter children destined to go on to higher education.)

Robin Alexander Ministers canvassing views on the national curriculum shouldn't focus solely on "core" knowledge.

Bahram Bekhradnia The tuition fees equation simply doesn't add up - and the likely outcome is fewer students getting a chance to go to university.

Research revelations

Oh for goodness sake, Improbable Researchers, what are you up to now? Peering into people's bottoms, appears to be the answer. And what, pray, have you found there? Light bulbs, torches, an oil can, a perfume bottle, a partridge and the better part of a pear tree.

Education news from around the web

• Schools desperate to improve their league table rankings make pupils sit their maths GCSEs too early, England's largest exam board, AQA will warn today. In the past three years, the number of students taking the assessment aged just 15 or under has surged three-fold - to 10% of all entrants, AQA head Andrew Hallwill tell delegates at a maths conference, says the Daily Mail.

• The THE reports that vice-chancellors could lose up to 10% of their salaries if they fail to do their job properly under new plans to establish fair pay in the public sector. Under the proposals, set out today by journalist and economist Will Hutton, rank-and-file academics would also play a role in setting the salary of their vice-chancellor. Hutton was commissioned by the government last year to lead a review of fair pay in the public sector.

• Research shows young people from poor backgrounds are excluded from top jobs because they were pushed into taking worthless qualifications at school, the Telegraph reports today. Elizabeth Truss, the Conservative MP for South West Norfolk, says in a study for the CentreForum think-tank that Britain's poor social mobility record will only improve if pupils from low-income families are given a "fighting chance" in the employment market.

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 seminar 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.

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