Half of teenagers admit to having bullied others and more than three-quarters have witnessed bullying, a survey has found. A poll carried out by anti-bullying charity Ditch the Label found 50 per cent of the teenagers surveyed said they had bullied somebody. Of these, 30 per cent said they did so at least once a week and 21 per cent did so several times each week. Read more
Grandparents in work would be able to take time off to look after their grandchildren under a plan to be outlined by the Labour Party. More than half of mothers rely on grandparents for childcare when they return to work after maternity leave, while two-thirds of grandparents with grandchildren under 16 provide some childcare. An estimated 1.9m grandparents have either given up their job, reduced their hours or taken time off work to look after their grandchildren. Read more
Nine school officials in Atlanta, Georgia, have been sentenced to prison following convictions for participating in an exam cheating scandal. Judge Jerry Baxter called the case ‘the sickest thing that’s ever happened in this town’. Three of those convicted received 20-year sentences, far harsher than the penalties asked for by the state. The state-led investigation shocked the city when it discovered that officials at the city-run schools had encouraged teachers to change students’ answers in order to demonstrate educational progress. Read more
Nearly 50 unregulated schools set up by extremists are being investigated for being anti-British, it has been claimed. Based around the UK – including Luton, Birmingham, and London, it’s claimed that these schools manage to escape prying eyes by operating outside the traditional education system. Many of the students have been pulled out of the mainstream education system and are being home schooled without proper regulation or oversight. Read more
In a surprise inspection, Ofsted found that a haredi cheder (grammar school), Talmud Torah Tiferes Shlomo in Golders Green, London, does not teach pupils basic skills such as spelling, grammar and punctuation. London’s haredi community is fighting the government, claiming the previous announced inspections were accurate and the surprise snap inspection smacks of anti-haredi bias. Read more The cross-communal Clore Shalom primary school in Hertfordshire and Orthodox school Rosh Pinah in Edgware have also been downgraded from ‘good’ to ‘requires improvement ‘and ‘inadequate’ respectively. Read more
Meanwhile, Beis Yaakov High School, a charedi academy in Salford, which was put into special measures last year after inspectors questioned pupils inappropriately, has received a follow-up inspection. In its latest report, Ofsted noted that students were ‘aware of current affairs in Britain and more widely. They learn about democracy, for example, through mock elections’ and that ‘Students are very clear that they bring with them from home and practise in the academy values of mutual respect for all. They learn about strong female role models and articulate their views confidently.’ Inspectors also noted that girls are ‘well aware of specific risks for them associated with life in modern Britain and of the steps taken by the academy to keep them safe’. Read more
Britain’s creative industries are a jewel in our crown and are admired all over the world. Britain’s creativity is important to our country and our national identity. Over 1.5 million people work in the sector and it contributes over £76bn to the economy every year, and it’s growing faster than any other. Acknowledging this, the Labour Party has come up with a comprehensive set of policies which cover five key areas for development: young people and skills, outside London, access to finance, intellectual property and exports. Read more
It’s lunchtime and a queue of hungry diners is waiting to eat at one of the tables tastefully decorated with polka dot tablecloths and flowers. Music plays softly in the background and the smell of freshly cooked organic food wafts from the kitchen. This might sound like the scene of a trendy cafe but it’s actually a primary school in Croydon, London. Mealtimes and food provenance may well be the next hot topics in the discussion about school dinners. Read more