News in brief
In the first budget of this parliament, the chancellor, George Osborne, restricted pay rises in the public sector to 1% for the next four years – a move that will affect teachers’ salaries. Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: “The chancellor cannot continue to hold teachers’ pay behind private sector pay and expect teaching to remain an attractive profession.”
Racial segregation in schools is having a negative impact on the education of white students, who tend to do better when taught in a racially diverse environment, according to a study by the thinktank Demos. The research found that outside of major cities, schools are becoming more segregated than their local communities.
Gordon Brown – alongside a group of charities and campaigners – have called for an emergency fund to help provide education for young people caught up in conflict and natural disasters. The proposals were heard at an education summit in Oslo, Norway, this week.
A fight to save A-level ancient Greek in the Camden school for girls, considered the only non-selective state school in England to offer the subject, is underway. Charities and campaigners spoke out when, in March this year, the governors of the school said that they were considering cutting the topic for financial reasons.
Research of the week
The mental health and confidence levels of young people is being damaged by the exam culture that now permeates schools, according to a new report.
The research, commissioned by the National Union of Teachers’, found that drilling for tests narrows what children learn and that constant examining leads to many young people developing stress-related illnesses.
Prof Merryn Hutchings of London Metropolitan University, who conducted the research, said that high-stakes testing was having a negative impact on students’ emotional health and wellbeing.
The union spoke to 8,000 teachers and reviewed current research on the topic. A lot of the teachers surveyed found that their classes were very anxious leading up to public exams. “You just see them sat there, a 10- or 11-year-old kid in complete meltdown,” reported one teacher.
Read more about the research here.
Snapshot of the week
What an uncanny resemblance. Thanks for sharing your students’ artistic creation Mrs Socks.
.@GuardianTeach a portrait by my 6yr old pupil (MrsSocks aka Nichola) pic.twitter.com/V0FCselTqw
— MarkCarrutherssocks (@carrutherssocks) July 9, 2015
The week in numbers
Researchers at the University of Colorado have found that a lack of education can be as deadly as smoking. According to their findings, leaving school without decent qualifications can knock a decade off your lifespan.
Dates to remember
It was a historic moment when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed Apollo 11 on the surface of the Moon on 20 July 1969.
The world’s first ever in vitro fertilisation (IVF) – or test-tube – baby, Louise Brown, will celebrate her 37th birthday on Saturday 25 July.
Teaching resources
- Use these recipes to create some edible meteorites to enthuse your young space scientists.
- Stimulate a debate about the use of IVF for mature women.
- This handy template helps younger pupils write up their science experiments.
- It’s not just the elderly who suffer from dementia. This lesson looks at what dementia is and explores common misconceptions about it.
If you have a teaching resource or lesson plan you want to share with the Guardian Teacher Network community, upload it here.
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