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The Guardian - UK

National

Frederika Whitehead

Cribsheet 25.11.11

TV chef Jamie Oliver has accused the education secretary, Michael Gove, of letting unhealthy food back into schools, reports the BBC. The row relates to meal provision in academies, some of which are seeking to end the ban on sausage rolls, sweets and other snacks banished by law from school dinner menus in 2008. Academies are exempt from the regulations which restrict the amount of sugary, fatty and salty foods in school meals. Catering representatives told the BBC that some academies are asking them to put these foods back on the menu.

Education stories from the Guardian

• Michael Gove would like greater emphasis on British history in history lessons. He said he was "startled" by the narrowness of the topics students pursue when studying history, and that there was a "quite a lot of concentration on Hitler and also a surprising and under-remarked enthusiasm for the American west 1848-1895".

• The US sociologist Craig Calhoun has been appointed as the new director of the London School of Economics, after its former head, Sir Howard Davies, resigned over the university's links with Libya. Davies resigned in March over the decision to accept a £1.5m donation from a charity run by Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam.

• British National party activists have warned a primary school's headteacher and chair of governors that they will face demonstrations outside their homes if they do not drop plans to extend sex education lessons to children aged four. BNP activists, who arrived as the school was preparing to close on Tuesday, demonstrated outside and handed in a letter warning the head: "We believe that your evil plans to introduce these children to sex at such a young age borders on paedophilia and that it is not acceptable."

• Police have increased patrols in one of Leeds' main student areas after seven attacks on young people by a gang of between ten and 15 masked men. Leeds university has also deployed extra security staff although West Yorkshire police say that there is "there is nothing to suggest that students are being specifically targeted."

• The launch of a professional college for social work has been called off amid claims that £5m of public money is being used to create a closed shop for the public services union Unison. The College of Social Work had been due for launch by government ministers next Tuesday. Under a proposed deal with Unison, members of the college would automatically become members of the union unless they asked to opt out. But MPs have intervened to try to stop the deal going ahead.

Education stories from around the web

• Gove need not fear too much, Jamie might not think he's much cop when it comes to school meals but the Daily Mail still lurves him. Today the august organ devotes a double page spread to his "passionate rallying cry for a return to traditional teaching values"

In an extraordinary speech, the Education Secretary vowed to allow the next generation to 'transcend the circumstances of their birth' by turning free schools and academies into the latter-day equivalent of grammars.

• Meanwhile back in a less icky world, Jacky Schneider's blog has some sensible comments on the government's National Plan for Music Education. It's great that schools must provide good quality music lessons, she says, but if music is left off the national curriculum and out of the EBAC league "what pressure is there on heads to ensure that music is taught?"

• Sheffield has been named the university of the year by the Times Higher. The university was commended for "its 'determination and grit' in focusing on its local community."

• And the winners of the Queen's Anniversary Prizes have been announced by the Royal Anniversary Trust. Eighteen universities and three FE colleges have been given the nod for their outstanding achievments and the contributions they have made to their fields.

Overseas education news

• Malaysia is to overturn a law that forbids students from becoming members of political parties

On the Higher Education Network

Lord Browne and UC Davis chancellor Linda Katehi: first or fail?

Lord Browne redeems himself with a new prize for engineering, but the chancellor at University of California, Davis comes under fire

On the Guardian Teacher Network

History teachers know film is a great way to hook students in, but is the book better than the film? Debbie Bogard puts forward her ideas for using fiction to engage students and shares her lesson plan on using fiction to study the impact of the First World War.

University Guide 2013

As we prepare the next Guardian University Guide, we invite universities and colleges to check that we are on the right track when it comes to matching subjects with cost centres and Jacs codes – the subject categories used by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa). Please enter your university's details via our dedicated website.

Education seminars from Guardian Professional

The Guardian Teacher Network runs training sessions for teachers throughout the year in Yorkshire and London. Upcoming courses include:

Protecting young people in a digital age

Led by school digital safety experts, the Guardian Teacher Network's new one-day course will provide Safeguarding policy and Ofsted criteria updates and explore the latest thinking in ensuring digital safety.

February 1 in London. February 8 in Yorkshire

• For a full list visit the Guardian Teacher Network

The Guardian's education centre

The Guardian runs a range of free workshops for primary and secondary children as well as adult learners and further and higher education students. Visitors to the centre can become reporters and editors and will create their own newspaper. History workshops that draw upon the newspaper archive are also available, as well as science and environment lessons.