News in brief
- Schools are finding it difficult to recruit senior teachers, a leading teaching union has warned. Of the headteachers surveyed for the National Association of Head Teachers, almost 62% said they are struggling to recruit teachers on the upper pay scale, with 14% reporting they have been unable to recruit deputy heads.
- A headteacher has been banned from the profession for changing answers on Sats exams. Julie Beech, of Sunnyfields primary school in Doncaster, was found to have amended one answer each for eight pupils in the year 6 exams last year.
- Teachers in major English cities are being offered seminars on preventing radicalisation. The help, offered by the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), comes after legislation passed this year places a statutory duty on schools and colleges to counter radicalisation.
- PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) announced plans to ditch A-level results for recruiting graduates because of the unfair advantage given to private school pupils. The international accountancy firm said it would “miss out on key talent from disadvantaged backgrounds” unless it stopped using A-levels and similar exams as part of its graduate recruitment efforts.
Research of the week
When children face adversity – such as their parents divorcing – they’re more likely to confide in their pets rather than siblings, according to research.
The study, conducted by Matt Cassels at Cambridge University, is based on a 10-year study of 100 families in the UK. Cassels examined data from a longitudinal study carried out by the Centre for Family Research at Cambridge University, which tracked children from the age of two.
Too little attention has been paid to the significant role of pets in young people’s emotions, according to Cassells. Family break-ups mean that in the US kids are more likely to live with a pet than their natural father, the research says.
The information on pet ownership was based on when children were aged 12. “The data on pet relationships stood out, as it had never occurred to me to consider looking at pet relationships, although I had studied children’s other relationships,” says Cassels.
Snapshot of the week
The sun is out and Taverham Hall school made the most of it with a paper aeroplane competition – a sterling effort.
The week in numbers
Nearly half of children with limited hearing fall behind at school, according to a small online questionnaire of parents and professionals. The majority of the parents questioned (86%) had partially deaf children in mainstream schools.
Labour has warned of teacher shortages across the country, as figures reveal that applications to join the profession have declined by 27,000 in the last year.
Dates to remember
The theme for this years’ Christian Aid Week (10-16 May) is gender equality, with a focus on Ethiopia. Mental Health Awareness Week (11-17 May) looks at how mindfulness can help you overcome stressful times.
Teaching resources
- Share ideas for Christian Aid Week with this primary assembly pack. A secondary version is available too.
- What is mindfulness? Explore young people’s wellbeing and learn how breathing exercises can help with stress.
- Six reasons to put your phone away looks at the negative affect constant phone use can have on students’ mood, memory and exam performance.
- Who were the Vikings? is a news article that looks at what we know about the Vikings. It includes a discussion point and class activity.
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