Sixteen million pounds have been invested to improve maths teaching as part of a major drive to encourage more people to study the subject after GCSE, and to ensure Britain can compete in the global marketplace post Brexit. 

The government has set out a series of actions to increase participation among 16-18 year olds, following a government-commissioned review by Professor Sir Adrian Smith. 

Children’s activities are a valued and much loved feature in the weekly routine for many families countrywide and when attending a structured activity, class or club it is only natural for parents to assume that the organisor is regulated.  But this is not always the case. In fact it is shocking to learn that up until 2 years ago there was no code of practice or even any guidelines in place to monitor standards in the children’s activities sector or to help parents make informed choices regarding the wealth of providers out there.

Naimish Gohil - CEO & Founder, Satchel

It’s long been known that teachers are overworked and the burden of admin and excessive workload is impactful to their lives, both mentally and physically. A recent headline in the Metro newspaper, which read ‘Teachers lose a day’s pay to do homework’ has once again, brought the severity of the teaching crisis to our attention.

By John Aguilar, Principal of Padworth College

The UK is very fortunate because, as a nation, we are brimming with diversity and culture.  The influence of these diverse nationalities has made the UK a hub of culture and urbanity. Could anyone imagine London’s atmosphere were it not buzzing with different languages, the smells of different foods or the stories of those who have come to live here?

With Brexit on the horizon, we want to do all we can to ensure this wonderful and diverse culture that we are privileged to have continues to thrive. This means making sure that everybody in our society feels respected, accepted and included.

Now more than ever, education establishments are faced with replacing and updating equipment on greatly reduced budgets across all departments. IT infrastructure, in particular, is one area that is increasingly central to the provision of modern, high quality teaching and, consequently, requires consistent renewal - something which is beyond the average school or college IT budget.

One solution to this challenge that most education providers are unaware of is the role of refurbished IT hardware and supporting materials. By opting to buy reconditioned PCs, monitors and laptops, schools and colleges can save thousands of pounds.

More than a billion pounds has been pledged to boost core school funding, the education secretary has announced, but education leaders remain concerned over wider implications. 

The announcement follows mounting pressure on the government from campaigns over funding shortages, and will see an additional £1.3bn spent on schools in England over the next two years. 

This funding - £416 million in 2018-19 and £884 million in 2019-20 - is an addition to the core school budget set out in the last spending review, meaning funding for schools will be £2.6 billion higher in 2019-20 than in 2017-18.

The extra cash has been freed up from within the Department for Education's existing budget, with no new money being given by the Treasury. 

UK colleges turn away from free tools to embrace transformative online learning

LONDON: Jul. 17, 2017 — Canvas by Instructure (NYSE:INST), the open online virtual learning environment (VLE), has made successful inroads into the UK Further Education College sector. This quarter, institutions such as Belfast Metropolitan College, DLD College London, The Manchester College (HE), National College for High Speed Rail, Northern College, Preston's College, South Essex College (HE) and Weston College, and have all selected Canvas to improve teaching and learning.

YMCA Cambridgeshire & Peterborough has launched a new offer for schools that will help develop their health and well-being programme and recognise when their children and young people might need extra support.

YMCA already supports schools across Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Suffolk through direct work such as therapy or counselling, as well as resilience programmes including group work, family work and mentoring.

AS the FE and wider skills landscape shifts, effective self-assessment and the improvement plan that shakes out from this, is a key Ofsted expectation, says Louise Doyle, a further education consultant and director of quality assurance experts Mesma. Moreover, she says, such good practices allow education decision makers to stay in control while improving education and training provision.

MISSION TO MARS: LOCKHEED MARTIN & DISCOVERY EDUCATION LAUNCH SPACE CHALLENGE & STEM EDUCATION PROGRAMME FOR UK SCHOOLS

As the first manned mission to Mars draws nearer, UK students are being offered a unique opportunity to join the race to the red planet- by designing a space habitation module for NASA.  

The challenge – the first of its kind in the UK – is being launched today by Lockheed Martin and Discovery Education as part of a new national STEM education programme: Generation Beyond. Unveiled at the Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) in Gloucestershire, the exciting initiative will deliver space exploration resources to UK schools, inspiring the next generation of innovators, explorers and astronauts to pursue STEM careers.

In the past year alone the topic on everyone’s lips has been around cyber-security. While cyber-crime has moved up the business agenda, it’s clear from the recent global ransomware attacks that we’ve still got a long way to go in protecting ourselves from looming threats. 

But where are some of the opportunities for attackers coming from? 

One in particular is Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiatives. After all, allowing employees to use their own smartphones, tablets and laptops has the potential to open the wider business up to potential attacks. Why? Because more often than not, it’s very difficult for organisations to regulate and monitor which protection – if any – their employees are using. 

St Andrew’s CE School has announced its work in partnership with The British Theatre Academy, to bring musical theatre workshops to primary schools across Croydon.  

The workshops were run by groups of 12 students from St Andrew’s, whose work with the British Theatre Academy has seen students from the school perform in West End theatres in productions such as The Colour Purple and soon to be released ‘Pinocchio’The workshops brought movement and singing into the classroom for children in years four and five and began with a performance by the St Andrew’s students.

Experts share their knowledge with students, teachers and parents

When assistant head, Tom Foster, joined Lark Hall Primary school in September 2015, he was excited to learn that the school had previously worked with London Connected Learning Centre (CLC). However, during that time, the school wasn’t in the best position to maximise the opportunities the partnership presented. As computing also falls under Tom’s remit, and having heard great things about the organisation, he decided it was time to revisit the partnership, and what he found was a supportive collaboration that truly benefits pupils, teachers and parents. Here, he shares the school’s story….

Fay Goodman, founder of new Birmingham-based children’s safety education charity The Conies and well-known regional campaigner as managing director of DriveSafe & StaySafe, is urging parents to be extra vigilant about their children’s safety as school summer holidays get under way.

Encouraging the Government to launch a public child safety education campaign in the face of a widespread increase in daredevil activities known as ‘playing chicken’, Fay said:

KCS has expanded the role of one of its experienced staff members to offer free health and safety training to customers.

Neil Tinckham, 37, who has worked at KCS for 21 years, is available to go to nurseries, schools, colleges and businesses to talk about health and safety

After impressing KCS as a part-timer while studying for his A-levels, Neil was invited to join full-time when he left school. Rising swiftly through the ranks, he was appointed Warehouse Supervisor at the age of 18 and Warehouse Manager at 20.