Subject:                                     Head Teachers - Weekly news update 13

 

 

 

 

 

A warm welcome back to the start of the new school term. We hope you have all had a wonderful, relaxing break and

are ready to embrace the challenges 2009 may have in store!

This week.....the North of England Education Conference takes place at the University of Chester with Baroness Estelle Morris

heading the list of keynote speakers.

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News and Events

 

Funding Advice surgeries

SCHOOLS NorthEast have enlisted the expert knowledge of School Fund Finder to run two free surgeries that will offer funding

advice for your school. National and regional funding organisations will be on hand with information on how to access trusts,

grants and foundations, and get funding. You will also receive tips on how to complete funding application forms and write bidding

letters. There are two dates to choose from:

29 January – Burnside Business and Enterprise College, North Tyneside. Time: 8.00am for 8.30am start – 11.00am

12 February – Carmel RC College, Darlington. Time: 8.00am for 8.30am start – 11.00am

We will send you further information about these events later in the week. Please pass on to your school Business Manager

or other relevant staff.

To reserve a place/s on one of the surgeries, contact us on – 0191 2805037 or email - info@schoolsnortheast.com.

 

Environment Awards

If your school is going that extra mile for the environment, don’t miss the opportunity to receive recognition and be crowned

the region’s Eco champions in the Sustainable Schools category of the Journal’s Environment awards. Entries are still being welcomed

in the competition run in conjunction with the Environment Agency. Nominate your school before next Monday (12 January).

Log on to www.chroniclelive.co.uk/gogreen, call Jennifer Cook on 0191 204 3310 or e-mail - jennifer.cook@ncjmedia.co.uk.

 

Cloud 9 from the Entrepreneurs Forum

Send along your most promising young and aspiring entrepreneurs for a day of inspiration, opportunity and knowledge-sharing. As

many as 1500 young people are expected to gather together and enjoy a full programme of events including, informative and entertaining

speakers, topic stations, a trading area, enterprise showcase, media area and live challenge. The event will provide a wonderful opportunity

to showcase some of the great work being done to nurture enterprise and entrepreneurship in the North East. Places are available to individuals

or groups of students from 15 – 26. Date: February 25 2009, Venue: Rainton Meadows, Houghton-le-Spring Time: 9.30am to 15.30pm.

To find out more or to book places please email Cloud9@entrepreneursforum.net

 

FAO Science Co-ordinators/ Teachers KS 2-4

Science Educators’ Conference

The Hub Education Team from Tyne and Wear Museums, in conjunction with Durham Science Learning Centre, present the Science

Educators Conference - Unwrapping Science in Museums. This free event will be held on Friday 13 February at Sunderland Museum

and Winter Gardens. Spaces are limited so reserve a place today. Small bursaries are available for teachers to cover expenses

For further information or to book a place, call The Hub Education Team - 0191 263 9860 or E-mail: eileen.atkins@twmuseums.org.uk

 

Limited places still available!! SCHOOLS NorthEast surgery: Working with the media

Want practical help from the experts on how to deal with journalists, get positive publicity for your school and manage any issues

that could jeopardise your reputation? SCHOOLS NorthEast launches the first of a series of support surgeries on working with media.

This introductory session will help you to understand how to approach the media and the techniques you need to ensure that you get

your message across. The event will be held on Thursday 22 January from 9.00am-11:00am at One NorthEast’s Head Offices

in Newburn Riverside, Newcastle. The session is free and open to all, but places are very limited so get in quick! Further sessions will

be offered subject to demand.

For more information and to register your interest in attending please email – k.stonehouse@schoolsnortheast.com or call 0191 280 5037

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News round-up

 

Local news

·         Middlesbrough Building Schools for the Future hears from pupils (Gazette Live)

·         North schools 'are ahead of game' (Journal Live)

·         Energy pledge to Stockton schools (Northern Echo)

·         Pupils have designs on town's history (Sunderland Echo)

·         Education gap widening claim Tories (Chronicle Live)

·         Northumberland set to abandon huge schools shake-up (Journal Live)

 

The year ahead

·         Education preview for 2009 (The Telegraph)

·         Busy year coming up in education (BBC News)

·         Enjoy 2009. There's a bumpy ride ahead (The TES)

 

UK maths failures

·         Poor maths skills cost Britain 2.4bn a year, says study (The Independent)

·         Taxpayer picks up tab for innumerate children (Financial Times)

·         Failure to master maths adds up to 2.4bn bill (Times online)

·         UK maths failures costs 2.4bn (BBC News)

 

Boring Teaching

·         Ofsted's new mission - to get rid of boring teachers (The Guardian)

·         Ofsted crackdown on dull Teachers (BBC News)

 

Pupil Behaviour

·         Male teachers face more behaviour problems (The Guardian)

·         Sexual bullying: thousands of pupils suspended (The Independent)

·         Schools 'to have their own police officer' (The Telegraph)

·         3,500 pupils suspended for sexual bullying (The Guardian)

·         Panorama - Kids behaving badly (BBC One)

 

Other educational news

·         Tories want tougher primary tests (BBC News)

·         Exam board wins contract to run Sats tests next year (The Guardian)

·         SENCOs should not have to be Teachers say Heads (Children and Young People Now)

·         Grammar schools less likely to take summer-born children (Sunday Telegraph)

·         Education gap for poor kids widens (Daily Mirror)

·         Flu and sickness bug overwhelms schools (The Guardian)

·         The schools where pupils become teachers (Daily Mail)

·         Michael Palin replaces Alexander Pope in English lessons (The Telegraph)

·         School-leaving age may rise to 18 in effort to tackle unemployment (The Guardian)

·         Primary drops school from title (The Independent)

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Star pupil

Team QinetiQ – In an exciting project that intends to encourage pupils to take an interest in science, a team of adventurers

(which includes Olympic Medallist James Cracknell) are racing towards the North Pole with students all across Britain tracking

their progress via the internet. More than 355 schools have registered to take part in the scheme which allows pupils to follow

Team QinetiQ on their challenging journey of discovery. An inspiring science lesson indeed!

(www.teamqinetiq.com/learningzone)

 

Could do better

The Winter flu bug - Thousands of teachers and pupils are expected to call in sick this week in what is predicted to be the worst

flu season in nine years. With cases already up 73 per cent from last year and the winter vomiting bug ‘Norovirus’ still spreading,

Teachers' unions warned that schools across Britain face a "tough time". It is time to stock up on your staffroom supply of oranges,

echinacea and Kleenex!

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The year aHead!

 

It’s January, so the educational media is full of previews and predictions for the year ahead.  In 2008, schools faced a new

secondary curriculum, new A-levels, the first work-related diplomas, the National Challenge, Sats marking mayhem and the early

years foundation stage curriculum.  Are the pundits predicting a peaceful 2009?

 

Date to watch: Tuesday 7 July, the date that national curriculum test results are due.  Will the papers be marked on time?  With the

change of contractor is there time to ensure that the process is robust?  If it all goes wrong again, will 2009 be the year that sees the

end of Sats?

Two reviews: one view?

The interim report from Sir Jim Rose’s Primary review recommended an approach to the curriculum built around six areas of learning,

designed to encourage cross-curricular teaching.  However he says that there will be further changes to his plans, which are due to

be published around Easter and which will be implemented in schools from 2011.  The larger independent review being run by Professor

Robin Alexander at Cambridge University is also due to report in the spring.  The review has already highlighted the stress caused by Sats

in the final two years of primary schools and will address the issue of teaching to the test at Key stage two.

On the up? Diplomas

September will see the second cohorts of students embarking on the diplomas.  New courses on offer will cover business, administration

and finance; environmental and land-based studies; hair and beauty studies; hospitality and manufacturing and product design. With fewer

than 12,500 students enrolled from last September, will 2009 be the year that Diplomas sink or swim?

In the House: The Children, Skills and Learning Bill will go through its parliamentary stages in the year ahead. Amongst the changes it

introduces are the splitting of the QCA to create a new exams watchdog, Ofqual and a new Qualifications and Curriculum Development

Agency.  In addition, The Learning and Skills Council will lose its responsibility for funding 16 to 19 education as responsibility transfers to

local authorities and to an expanded apprenticeship scheme.  The Bill will also give the Schools Secretary more power to force local

authorities to intervene in low performing schools and set up a new pay body for school support staff.

One size fits all? The education White Paper due out in Spring, ‘21^st Century schools’, will include the Government's plans for school report

cards. Ministers hope they can come up with a way of giving each school a single grade which encompasses their performance across

a whole range of indicators. Supporters suggest that if the report cards catch on, they could replace league tables as the main way parents

 judge schools. But is it possible to develop a system that will allay concerns that a single score will be too crude and simplistic?

New challenges: Following the widespread criticism of the National Challenge at secondary level a more holistic approach (not so closely

linked to performance against floor targets) is expected in the school improvement strategy for the primary sector.  The scheme is likely

to include extra one-to-one tuition and support for leadership and the deployment of advisers in schools judged to need extra help.

An inspector calls: The Commons’ schools select committee will examine inspections as part of a major inquiry into school accountability.

New-style inspections would see inspectors spending more time observing lessons in low-performing schools and mean that high-performing

schools are inspected every six years instead of every three. 2009 also heralds the lightning inspection where Ofsted gives no notice before

dropping in on lessons.

A focus on: Special educational needs. From September, all special needs coordinators will either have to be qualified teachers or, if they

are already in post, be training to qualify by 2011. An Ofsted review will consider whether the whole system for meeting special educational

needs is in need of reform. A separate Government review will examine parents’ confidence in the system and why schools and local councils

are not giving parents the information they should legally receive.

 

This term’s SCHOOLS NorthEast newsletter will feature the hopes, expectations, fears and predictions of educationalists, politicians and

commentators from across the North East.  Let us know your predictions and views at think@schoolsnortheast.com

 

If you would like to take part in our regular ‘Head to Head’ feature and tell us all about your week, please contact the team at

info@schoolsnortheast.com or call us on 0191 2805037.

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Funding and opportunities

 

Safer Internet Programme

Earlier this month the European Commission announced the introduction of the new Safer Internet Programme 2009-2013 that

is proposed to help protect children in the ever more sophisticated online world, and empower them to safely use web services

like social networking, blogging and instant messaging. The Safer Internet Programme will have a budget of €55 million and will

co-fund projects to increase public awareness and empower young people, their parents and Teachers in creating a safer online

environment.

For more details or to apply for a grant, go to - http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/sip/programme/index_en.htm

 

Get your Gifted and Talented pupils motivated!

The Young, Gifted and Talented programme, funded and supported by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF)

is dedicated to providing opportunities, within and beyond the classroom, for gifted and talented children and young people aged

from 4 to 19. Register your pupils online at www.ygt.dcsf.gov.uk and gain access to stimulating activities and resources including

the online learner catalogue where you can find information about courses and online resource material, plus news, feature articles

and discussion forums. To receive an information pack for your school, call – 0845 602 1732.

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North East in a Nutshell – know your region

 

Outside of London, the North East has the highest proportion of no-car households with over a third of homes in the North East without

a car.

 

NERIP - State of the Region 2008

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Wise words

 

New Year's Day… now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with

them as usual.

 

Mark Twain

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SCHOOLS NorthEast is your network.  Please get in touch with your ideas, concerns, views and experiences- email: think@schoolsnortheast.com

 

....and don’t forget, if you’ve missed any of our previous weekly news updates, you can find them at:

http://www.schoolsnortheast.com/content/new-resources/weekly%20news.html

 

 

To unsubscribe to this weekly update, please email us at – info@schoolsnortheast.com

 

Have a good week!

 

SCHOOLS NorthEast Team

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Katie Stonehouse

 

Communications Officer

SCHOOLS NorthEast

 

Tel:    0191 280 5037

www.schoolsnortheast.com