The new Chartered College of Teaching opened its doors to members this week. Chief Executive Dame Alison Peacock said it would ‘build an authoritative, collective voice about teaching, inspired and informed by research and stories of practice’. It aims to be a voluntary, teacher-led organisation which will support professional development, promote and share evidence-informed practice, and recognise excellence. Read more
Ofqual research reveals widespread confusion surrounding new 9 to 1 grade scale that will come into effect this summer Research reveals that more than two-thirds of students and parents do not understand the 9-1 grading scale that will replace the A*-G system at GCSE. Meanwhile, 84 per cent of human resources professionals and 76 per cent of small-business owners remain clueless about the specific question of what a new grade 1 will be worth. Read more
Nearly half of working fathers would downshift to a less stressful job in order to spend more time with their family, according to a new study. The Modern Families Index revealed that 47% of dads would move to a less demanding job to better balance work and family life. The report by charity Working Families and Bright Horizons found 38% of working fathers would take a pay cut if it meant they could make more time to help with childcare. Read more
Schools should encourage pupils with poor grades to mix with stronger students if they want to keep them in education, suggests a study. Positive parental and friendship group influences are key to cutting drop-out rates, according to Arizona State University research. The study found that parents’ influence fell if pupils had too much contact with other disaffected students. Read more
New research commissioned by the Independent Schools Council (ISC) found that pupils at fee-paying schools are tougher than those who went to state schools. The study, titled An Analysis of Mental Toughness at UK Independent Schools, involved 9,000 pupils of all ages from 58 schools in England and Scotland. It measured four categories: control, commitment, challenge and confidence. Read more
Babies build knowledge about the language they hear even in the first few months of life, research shows. If you move countries and forget your birth language, you retain this hidden ability, according to a study. Dutch-speaking adults adopted from South Korea exceeded expectations at Korean pronunciation when retrained after losing their birth language. Read more