Education articles
Forced marriage: the pupils who vanish in the holidays
Education Guardian, Monday 9 April 2012
Why aren't schools doing more to educate children about forced marriage?
When pupils are at imminent risk of forced marriage, schools sometimes have to take desperate measures. For Liz Coffey, principal of Landau Forte college in Derby, helping children to escape the fate decreed by their families has meant anything from "literally bundling them into a car and away" to stretching the rules to allow students who haven't achieved high enough GCSE grades to join the sixth form, just "so parents would know we were expecting them back after the summer holiday".
Schools concerned about child neglect
Education Guardian Monday 5 March 2012
Teachers are worried about an increase in child neglect that they are ill-equipped to deal with...
We are walking across the bright, airy atrium of a newly refurbished Victorian primary in south London. The head teacher – let's call him Mr Smith, as he has asked us not to identify his school – is about to introduce me to the manager of the school's child protection and family services unit.
Stress, sex and broken hearts
Education Guardian Monday 13 February 2012
Can you die of a broken heart? It can certainly feel that way, and anyone who experiences intense grief after losing a loved one may wonder whether they will survive.
Dr Alexander Lyon, who is a consultant cardiologist at the Royal Brompton, the specialist heart and lung hospital, is working with researchers at Imperial College to understand why some people die in the few days after a sudden, devastating loss.
How should unis deal with student protest?
Education Guardian, Monday 9 January 2012
Some universities are using force and the courts against their own students. Are they going too far?
"Five people were sleeping there that night. At around 6am, I start hearing noises outside. I'm on the top floor, looking up, and the roof hatch is barricaded. They're trying to smash it in and it's not going, so they start smashing in the ceiling. They entered through the roof. There were around 15 bailiffs, all in black, one or two wearing balaclavas, with sledgehammers."
Will rush to academy status force all schools to convert?
The Guardian, Monday 5 December 2011
Headteachers are divided about the ethics of academy status. But how many now feel they have little choice?
In September 2010, 32 schools in England started term as shiny new "converter" academies. By the start of the 2011 academic year, there were 981, and by 1 December, a further 163 had made the switch. Given that there are 20,000-odd schools in England that might not seem a lot. But the pace at which governing bodies in certain local authorities have decided to opt for academy status meant that by September, in 50 council areas, over a quarter of the secondary schools had already converted. More are in the process of doing so and more still are awaiting a decision as to whether they may.Raising the school leaving age will make teachers ill and pupils disruptive
The Guardian, Education section, Monday 12 September 2011
Economists warn of likely stress and absenteeism among staff when the school leaving age is raised
It's the start of the new school year. The bell's gone, 30-odd pupils have shuffled into class and you're now facing a roomful of stroppy 17-year-olds who very vocally don't want to be there. As a teacher, this may well be your daily reality in 2015, when all young people up to the age of 18 will have to be either in full-time education or work-based training...The Oxbridge of catering – sorting the good from the offal
The Guardian, Education section, Monday 25 July 2011
"I'm really, really happy!" exclaims Lucy Cockett, 16. She is one of just 16 young people to win a place on a new hospitality apprenticeship scheme at the Michael Caines Academy launching at Exeter College this September. She knows the next four years are going to be very hard work — and an extraordinary opportunity.
Keeping kids safe on the net
The Guardian, Education section, Wednesday 13 July 2011
Parents are concerned about the risks posed by the internet to their children, but how can young people be protected online and who should be responsible for their safety?
It's in our homes, on the street, in schools and on our phones. The internet is available everywhere we go, but the exhilarating freedoms it offers also prompt serious concern that there is potential for children to be harmed by their eagerness to interact with this technology.
The sound of music festivals
The Guardian, Education section, Monday 18 July 2011
Why do people love festivals – is it the music? The beer? Or a place to forget your rubbish job?
You fetch up at a festival, bop to the bands, get trashed and then hunker down in your sleeping bag for a nice bit of shut-eye. It's been a heavy night, so how do you reckon you feel when an academic researcher comes knocking on your tent flap asking if it would be all right to ask you a few questions?
Surge in the number of women apprentices
The Guardian, Education section, Tuesday 7 June 2011
There's a sharp increase in people signing up to learn a trade, and a lot of the new recruits are women
Remember the joke, "how many women does it take to change a light bulb?" Well, forget the old punch line. The new answer appears to be "just one, and she'll charge you a £40 callout fee".
Essay clangers
The Guardian, Education section, 26 April 2011
New students often struggle with essays,
but study skills departments are there to help.
"When I came to write my first assignment, I cried,"
says Daphne Elliston.
"I just didn't know what I was doing."
Read more...
One of the first primary academies celebrates its new status
The Guardian, Education section, 5 October 2010
Head teachers' leader is among the first to switch to primary academy status. He insists it's right thing to do.
It was champagne for breakfast at Goddard Park primary school in Swindon on the morning when it became the latest "outstanding" school to gain academy status.
Care leavers need financial support to help them go to university
The Guardian, Education section, 23 August 2010
Children who grow up in care may abandon education at 18, but that does not mean they are not eager to learn.
"I absolutely adored education. I used to steal library books as a child," remembers Eileen Munro, 47, who spent her childhood in the care system.
Read more...
Getting dad to school
TES Magazine 22 May 2009
In the macho environment of a former mining community in South Wales, getting fathers involved in school was a challenge.
Getting mums into Pen Pych community primary has never been difficult. But creating an environment where dads get involved with their children’s schooling is a trickier task.
Fear and sadness in the classroom
The Guardian, Education section, 18 July 2006
With child mental health problems on the rise, teachers should learn to spot the symptoms.
Stroppy, irritable and inattentive pupils don't endear themselves to their teachers. Withdrawn, quiet, uncommunicative children can be equally unrewarding to have in a classroom. But both groups may be showing symptoms of depression.
'Sir, are you queer?'
The Guardian, Education section, 10 March 2009
Fear of upsetting parents and faith groups is deterring teachers from tackling homophobia.
"I used to think gay people were wrong when I was young. I had that stereotype, and I'd say 'you're gay', not in a good way, like it was, you know, eurghh", says 17-year-old Moe Salim, an A-level student at Welling school in Bexley. "Now, I'd think, why would anyone say that?"
Scared of school
The Guardian, Education section, 3 March 2009
Educational psychologists are seeing a marked increase in referrals for school phobia.
One morning in November 2005, Jill Hawton, then in her first term at her new comprehensive, told her parents she couldn't face going to school.
Poetry in prison
The Guardian, Education section, 21 August 2007
An innovative programme at a pioneering prison helps long-stayers to write - and perform - their own poems.
Sonnets, rhyming couplets, haiku and villanelles aren't standard fare on the wings of most category B prisons. But after the 7.30pm lock-up at HMP Grendon in Buckinghamshire, a number of inmates will spend the evening crafting verses in their cells...
Pupils at risk of forced marriage
The Guardian, Education section, 10 October 2006
Every year, hundreds of schoolgirls disappear from the classroom. Should teachers be doing more to protect their students from forced marriages?
Barely able to speak for holding back tears, 16-year-old Nabila Hussein looks away as she struggles to keep herself together. She is shaking.
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