Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles.
One app.

Start reading

Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles. One news app.

Start reading

The Guardian - UK

National

Helienne Lindvall

Cribsheet 30.09.11

Pupils at the Hugh Myddleton primary school reading — Under new rules, inspectors will listen to primary school pupils read. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian

Huge gulf between music education's "haves" and "have-nots"

A study, commissioned by independent charity EMI Music Sound Foundation, found a very uneven spread of musical expertise in the infant classes of 132 English primary schools surveyed earlier this year. Some primaries have several music specialists and many instruments. Others do not have a single musician on the staff and no instruments at all. Four in ten of the heads interviewed said they did not have a music specialist at their school.

The government recently commissioned a review of music education. In his resulting report, Darren Henley, managing director of Classic FM, recommended that all primary pupils should have access to a specialist music teacher. He also said that the amount of time dedicated to music in most initial teacher training courses is inadequate.

Following that report, the education secretary, Michael Gove, pledged to end the musical divide between wealthier children and those in disadvantaged areas. He said a national plan for music education would be published this year and announced that £82.5m would be given to music services across England in 2011-12. That figure is, however, precisely the same sum that local authorities received in 2010-11 and makes no allowance for inflation.

Attention chocolate lovers

Are you aged between 40-65, have high blood pressure, no history of diabetes – and a lover of (dark) chocolate? Well, you're in luck: scientists from Queens University and the Belfast health and social care trust is looking for volunteers to take part in a study to examine the potential health benefits of eating dark chocolate.

The study will run for a three-year period, during which one group will be placed on a diet low in fruit and vegetables. The other group will be encouraged to eat a high polyphenol diet of six portions of fruit and vegetables, including one portion of berries, each day, together with 50g of dark chocolate.

If you are interested in taking part in the study, please contact Dr Rebecca Noad on 02890633108 or 07896977295.

Airbrushed into poor body confidence

In an effort to boost the government's body confidence campaign, not-for-profit company Media Smart is distributing a "media literacy" teaching pack to primary school teachers. The materials will help structure a lesson specifically tailored to the 10-11 age group, looking carefully at the images they're confronted with on a daily basis from the media and advertising to gain a more realistic perception of what is real and what is "photo-shopped".

Teachers can download the Media Smart Body Image lesson free from the Media Smart website .

For more information on the body confidence project visit the Home Office website or contact Caroline Jack at the Home Office Press Office on 020 7035 3846.

See a selection of the kinds of pictures pupils will be shown on the Telegraph website.

Improbable research

Have you ever wondered what effect holding your bladder when you desperately need to pee has on your brain power? Or what is the ideal density of airborn wasabi to awaken sleeping people in case of fire? Or why Australian jewel beetles try to mate with empty beer bottles, sometimes until their death? Thanks to the tireless research by the winners of the 2011 Ig Nobel Prize, we now have the answers to these questions. Read more about their studies, as well as the literature award winner's theory on procrastination. Alternatively, you can always put it off till tomorrow ...

Education news from the Guardian

• Ofsted tightens rules for rating schools as outstanding. Inspectors have been told to pay more attention to pupils' behaviour, the quality of teaching, and children's ability to read.

• Thousands of seven-year-olds struggle with schoolwork. Figures show gaps in achievement persist between boys and girls, and between poor and more affluent.

• Rolls-Royce gives its reasons for difficulty in hiring senior female staff: lack of women studying science and maths.

• Education services company RM issues profit warning. Cuts in education spending lead company to warn of job losses and reduced dividends, and announce the sale of three subsidiaries.

• Can a cut-price traineeship ever be a good deal for a wannabe lawyer? A new venture offers less favourable terms than the top firms, but also a route into the profession for jobless law graduates.

• Meet the teachers from Educating Essex. Passmores Academy's Mr Drew and Mr Goddard reckon they've got "the best job in the world".

• Percy Jackson author Rick Riordan has inspired children across the world to rediscover classic myths. In the latest Guardian Teacher Network blog he writes about the books he wishes he still has - plus links to some fantastic classroom resources on the Guardian Teacher Network.

Education news from around the web

• As part of the reform of school inspections parents will be allowed to report schools anonymously to Ofsted by filling out online questionnaires on the watchdog's website, writes the Telegraph. Teaching unions criticised the move, comparing it to "Rate My Teacher".

• The Royal College of Psychiatrists warns that today's students from poorer backgrounds are less prepared for university life, voicing concerns that student counselling and support services may be an easy target for cuts, says a report seen exclusively by the BBC.

• Learning to code in your bedroom will prepare you for a job in IT just as well as a three-year degree so don't bother spending the money, said almost half of IT professionals in a survey published today by CWJobs.co.uk. The Register reports

From the Guardian's Higher Education Network

• Live chat: Do universities need to become more efficient? Universities UK has set up an efficiency and modernisation task group, but what can HEIs do to improve their own efficiency? And is a focus on value for money healthy for HE?

• Your Twitter tips: using social media to enhance student experience. Here's our round-up of your top tips for how social media can assist student learning and facilitate collaboration.

Education seminars from Guardian Professional

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

Is your school thinking of becoming an academy?

This seminar will provide an independent view of the advantages and disadvantages of converting to academy status. It will look at the process of conversion, the implications of academy status, and the support and funding available. November 30, in London. February 21, 2012 in Yorkshire

Protecting young people in a digital age

Led by school digital safety experts, this one-day course will provide safeguarding policy and Ofsted criteria updates, as well as looking at social media and offering practical advice to help your school develop its digital safety policies. February 1, 2012 in London. February 8, 2012 in Yorkshire.

For a full list visit the Guardian Teacher Network

Teachers seminars from the Guardian Education Centre

Reading for pleasure – bringing classics to life

This half-day conference for secondary school teachers will explore the use and teaching of classic books from Dickens and beyond. Keynote speakers will be Simon Callow, actor and Dickens enthusiast and Judy Golding, daughter of William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies.

20 October, London

Insight into digital journalism

Spend a day at the Guardian and find out how an international news media organisation works. The seminar will focus on aspects of digital journalism including writing and editing for a news website, the relationship between print and web journalism, live blogging, the use of social media, podcasting and video production.

2 November, Kings Place, London