Education Magazine Edition 60

Edition 4, 2014

Breaking down the barrier - ensuring education is fit for life see page 11 Polam Hall school goes Free see page 12 The next evolution for ID cards see page 16 Hazardous wastes in schools see page 22 Are interactive whiteboards destined for nostalgia too? see page 26 UIFSM: have you thought about serving the extra school meals? see page 32

Kempston Rural school SUPERSIZES! see page 18

Why active learning is good for children see page 34

www.education-magazine.co.uk - for ar ticles news and pr oducts

Education Magazine Edition 60 Annual Subscription £10 Free to qualifying individuals Editorial Sales Team: Tracy Johnson and Steve Mitchell Tel: 01234 348878

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Published by Review Magazines Ltd, 53 Asgard Drive,Bedford MK41 0UR

Website: www.education-magazine.co.uk

E-mail: info@education-magazine.co.uk Copyright Education Magazine 2014

Contents 2 News

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Kempston Rural school SUPERSIZES!

11 Breaking down

the barrier - ensuring education is fit for life

22

Hazardous wastes in schools

By Sarah Sherwood

12 Polam Hall school

32 UIFSM: have you

thought about serving the extra school meals?

By John Wannan

34 Why active

Written by Rob Cassidy

goes Free

Talking to John Moreland, the Head of Polam School.

26

Are interactive whiteboards destined for nostalgia too?

16 The Biometric

Card – next evolution for ID cards

By Kim Humborstad

28 More news

If you are building, developing new ideas or have some excellent examples of ‘good practice’, spread the word about them and contact PIR Education Magazine on

01234 348878 or

learning is good for children

The Magazine for Heads and Financial Directors of Academies, Independent and Free Schools

email info@education-magazine.co.uk We are always looking for good news on Education issues.

We approve all articles prior to press.

Look forward to hearing from you!

The Publisher holds all copyright and any items within may not be reproduced in any way, for any purpose, without the written permission of the Publisher. While every care has been taken to ensure accuracy, the information contained within this publication is based on submissions to the Publishers who cannot be held responsible for errors and omissions. The publisher does not necessarily agree with the views expressed by contributors and cannot except responsibility for claims made by manufacturers and authors, nor do they accept any responsibility for any errors in the subject matter of this publication.

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Plan for education: reversing decline in academic subjects Record numbers take challenging English Baccalaureate (EBacc) at GCSE. Government reforms to GCSEs are helping reverse the decline in the number of pupils taking rigorous academic qualifications, with results out on 23 October 2014 showing an increase in those taking challenging EBacc subjects.

Provisional GCSE results for state-funded schools in the academic year 2013 to 2014 show 38.7% of pupils entering crucial EBacc subjects like science, history or geography while 23.9% achieved the EBacc measure - a rise of 3.2 percentage points and 1.1 percentage points respectively.

Pupils achieve the EBacc if they secure a C or better in English, maths, 2 sciences, history or geography, and a language - the subjects most valued by universities and employers.

After thousands of poor-quality qualifications were stripped out of this year’s performance measures, the figures also show the number of entries for non-EBacc qualifications have almost halved.

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said: I am delighted to see more and more young people taking the high-quality subjects that will properly prepare them for life in modern Britain.

With record numbers taking science at GCSE, and maths now the most popular subject at A level, our plan for education has finally reversed the decline in key academic subjects.

Overall the proportion of pupils achieving 5 A* to C grades including English and maths in state schools has fallen across all types of school. This follows crucial reforms to the exams to ensure they remain at a high standard. GCSE results have fallen by:

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6.6 percentage points for all schools - from 59.2% in 2012 to 2013 to 52.6% in 2013 to 2014

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4.7 percentage points in state schools from 60.6% to 55.9%

Of the 4.7 percentage point reduction in state schools, the provisional data shows that 3.7 percentage points can be attributed to early entry and vocational qualification reforms which impact on the way qualifications contribute to performance table measures.

These measures do not impact on results achieved by individual pupils. Excluding these reforms, there has been just a 1 percentage point drop in the proportion of pupils achieving 5 A* to C including English and maths compared to last year, showing the government’s commitment to keeping GCSEs ambitious and rigorous.

Separate figures also released show the proportion of A level entries in the so-called facilitating subjects - defined by the Russell Group of universities as those A levels most commonly required for entry to leading universities and therefore giving students more options - are also up.

In A levels in the 2013 to 2014 academic year:

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the proportion taking facilitating subjects rose by 1.1 percentage points from 53.9% to 54.9%

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maths became the most popular A level for the first time, accounting for 10.7% of entries into A levels, compared to 10.5% for English

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the proportion of students entering A levels in biology, chemistry and physics all increased

This year’s results are the first to be affected by a number of major reforms.

The key changes at GCSE are:

them on a par with the best in the world to prepare pupils for life in modern Britain.

We have made important changes to a system that rewarded the wrong outcomes. We have stripped out qualifications that were of little value and are making sure pupils take exams when they are ready, not before.

The results show some big variations in results in all types of schools but, crucially, changes in performance tables will have no impact on individual pupils’ results.

Young people can only succeed in life, and fulfil their potential, if they are given the tools to do so. The old exams system did not do that. Our new system will.

University education becoming less important to employers THE majority (63%) of SME owners in the UK believe that a university degree is becoming increasingly devalued, according to a recent poll.

Of that number, over two fifths believe that university degrees are now so commonplace that they have lost some of their meaning, while over a third say there is no substitute for practical experience.

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only counting a pupil’s first attempt at an EBacc qualification in performance tables - ending the practice of schools repeatedly entering pupils for exams so they could ‘bank’ a good grade

The figures come from the latest Close Brothers Business Barometer, a quarterly survey that canvasses the opinion of business owners and managers from a range of sectors across the UK and Ireland.

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restricting the list of qualifications counted in performance measures to only those of the highest quality, preventing any qualification from counting as equivalent to more than 1 GCSE and capping the number of non-GCSEs counting in performance measures to 2

CEO of Close Brothers Invoice Finance, David Thomson, said: “It may not come as a surprise to some that so many employers think that a university education is becoming less valuable.

The key change at A level is:

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removing the opportunity for students to enter AS and A level modules in January, freeing up more time for study rather than taking exams

Figures released over the summer showed how putting an end to multiple entry at GCSE has ensured pupils took exams only when they were properly prepared - with a 40% drop in the number of entries by pupils aged 15 under.

The figures show that while the proportion of pupils studying maths GCSE has increased slightly from 95.4% to 96.2%, the number of entries fell by 21%.

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said: As part of our plan for education we are making GCSEs more ambitious and putting

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“Despite the fact that the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) recorded the highest level of entrants to UK universities last year with almost 496,000 students beginning full-time undergraduate courses, the value of third level education is becoming a subject for debate.

“Our statistics seem to suggest that many employers are beginning to give greater recognition to practical, hands on experience, arguably ahead of academic achievement.”

The survey found that almost two fifths of bosses say they do not consider a degree to be important at all when it comes to hiring new staff members.

“Given that SMEs account for 99.9% of all private sector businesses and collectively employ 14.4 million people in the UK, it is perhaps time for young people to think differently about their career path.

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Children in care reading and maths project expands

Keep winter bugs at bay with good hand hygiene The colder season brings with it different challenges for schools and nurseries but hand hygiene should always remain a top priority in order to shield children from winter bugs, such as colds, flu and even norovirus.

Alan Johnson MP is the new Patron of postal club for children in foster care A project that started in Leicester with just 20 children now reaches over 7,500 children nationwide and has extended to 5-7 year olds.

According to the Department of Education, 62% of overall absences in the school year is due to illness - the equivalent of 11.4 million school days.

The Letterbox Club was the brainchild of University of Leicester academic Dr Rose Griffiths.

Manty Stanley, managing director at TEAL, says: “Viruses such as the flu and norovirus occur more frequently in the colder months.

This month, the project announced its new Patron, MP Alan Johnson – a former postman- at an event attended by The Chancellor of the University of Leicester, Lord Grocott, and Children’s Laureate, Malorie Blackman.

“Hand hygiene needs to be kept top of the agenda as it can safeguard both pupils and staff against winter bugs and the distress they can cause.

The event at Portcullis House, London, also celebrated the launch of Letterbox Orange, a new range of materials for children aged 5 to 7.

“Anti-bacterial gels are not enough to protect children – washing hands with soap and warm water is the gold standard of hand hygiene,” says Manty.

Alan Johnson praised Letterbox Club for helping foster children improve their reading and mathematics and discussed the value to children of having colourful Letterbox parcels of books and number games sent to them personally at their own address. He also talked about the enjoyment he had had from gifts of books when he was a child.

TEAL manufacture the Kiddiwash range – portable, warm water, hand wash units which require no access to mains water or drainage.

The KiddiSynk, is fun to use and makes hand hygiene fun and educational.

The unit can be filled with up to eight litres of fresh warm water – enough for 10, 40-second hand washes.

Highly portable, the KiddiSynk has a secure waste water container which is separate to the fresh hand washing water.

The Letterbox Club started with just 20 children in Leicester in 2003, and now reaches over 7,500 children aged 5 to 13 each year across the UK.

The KiddiSynk is just one of a range of solutions available from TEAL.

For more information: W: http://www.kiddiwash.com T: 0121 770 0593 E: enquiries@tealwash.com

To find out more, see www.letterboxclub.org.uk . The Letterbox Club is hosted by Booktrust.

Education Magazine

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School gardens limited in improving children’s fruit and veg intake

Previous research by Dr Christian demonstrated that eating meals together as a family, even if only twice a week, boosts children’s daily fruit and vegetable intake to near the recommended five a day.

Little evidence exists to suggest that school gardening initiatives alone improve children’s fruit and vegetable intake, research led by an academic at Leeds Metropolitan University has concluded.

The study of primary school-aged children, funded by the National Institute for Health Research Public Health Research (NIHR PHR) Programme, also suggested parental consumption of fruit and vegetables and cutting up portions of these foods boosted children’s intake.

Dr Meaghan Christian, a researcher in the Institute for Health & Wellbeing at Leeds Met - which will become Leeds Beckett University on 22 September -undertook two randomised controlled trials of primary school children aged 8-11 from eight London boroughs using the Royal Horticultural Society’s (RHS) Campaign for School Gardening, to discover whether school gardening initiatives had any effect on a change in fruit and vegetable intake amongst the participating pupils.

The study, published in the latest issue of the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity Public Health Research concludes that school gardening alone cannot improve fruit and vegetable intake and highlights the need for more sophisticated and accurate tools to evaluate diet in children.

Speaking about the findings, Dr Christian said: “Children’s fruit and vegetable intake in the UK is low and changing that intake can prove challenging. There is a suggestion that gardening in schools might be a vehicle for facilitating additional fruit and vegetable intake.

“For school gardening to improve children’s fruit and vegetable intake however, it needs to be successfully integrated into the school curriculum and environment.

The results from this study suggest using a holistic approach and incorporating nutrition education or cooking along with parental involvement would be more likely to achieve higher consumption levels and increase children’s knowledge.”

Findings from the study also showed that eating a family meal together, cutting up fruit and vegetables, and parental modelling of fruit and vegetable intakes were all associated with higher intakes of fruit and vegetables in children.

The research study is the first to use clustered randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of a gardening intervention to evaluate the impact of school gardening. A 24-hour food diary [the Child and Diet Evaluation Tool (CADET)] collected information about dietary intake, whilst questionnaires measured children’s knowledge and attitudes towards fruit and vegetables. Changes in fruit and vegetable intake were analysed using a random effects model, based on intention to treat.

Dr Meaghan Christian’s research interest is in dietary assessment and the development of nutrition promoting interventions in primary school-aged children and adolescents.

Risk-Avert programme to roll out across the UK following successful pilot in schools An innovative new approach to identifying young people vulnerable to multiple risktaking is being rolled out across the UK following a successful pilot in Essex.

Risk-Avert has been developed to explore different ways of helping young people understand and manage risk. Risk-Avert screens an entire year group (year 7 and 8) using an online or paper-based survey and aims to look beyond the behaviour to understand the access points to risk-taking.

Following the screening, a risk profile is generated for each child and school, and those most at risk are offered the programme. This approach targets young people most appropriate for the programme, enabling schools and local authorities to target resources based on need.

The survey alone is generating a huge database of information related to risktaking behaviour in young people, this year alone over 6,000 young people will complete the survey. So far, key findings include:

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17% of young people surveyed have drunk alcohol with their peers

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2.4% of young people have tried a cigarette

Essex and a further 17 in Medway and the evaluation and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive:

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94% of young people felt more confident about making plans to avoid or manage risks

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76% of young people thought that their relationship with their teacher improved

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86% rated their improvement in knowledge around risk-taking behaviour between 8-9 out of 10

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86% thought their confidence had improved, with most reporting an average score of 8-9 out of 10.

Risk-Avert has been jointly developed by Essex County Council and The Training Effect, a specialist consultancy with specific expertise around young people and public health.

Risk-Avert is now being rolled out to other local authorities, academies and independent schools across the UK. More information can be found at www.risk-avert.org

Better in a sweater We’ll be sticking on our festive sweaters for Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day on Friday 12th December – and you can join in the fun too!

Save the Children is asking people to make the world better with a sweater by wearing a Christmas jumper for the day and donating £2 to Save the Children.

Get your friends, family, colleagues and classmates involved, and help to raise as much money as possible to help transform children’s lives in some of the toughest parts of the world, and give children living in poverty here in the UK the chance to fulfil their potential.

TAKING PART IS EASY

1.

Sign up at: www.christmasjumperday. org to get your free Christmas Jumper Day Kit

2.

Get family, friends and colleagues involved.

3.

Make, borrow or buy a festive sweater and wear it on Friday 12 December.

Donate (we’re asking grown-ups for a suggested £2 and schools and children for £1 per woolly).

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The survey is also concerned with parental permissiveness and has found that:

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13.1% of young people think their parents would think it was only ‘a little bit wrong’ or ‘not wrong at all’ if they drank alcohol regularly.

However you wear it, show some good wool this season.

The programme, which is delivered by teachers and other appropriate school staff, has been piloted in 20 schools across

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If you would like more information on the important work that we carry out, please see our website www.savethechildren.org.uk

Education Magazine

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Academy chain beats national average at GCSE The academy network, Ark, has beaten the national average for GCSE results this year.

Overall, 58% of students at Ark schools got 5 GCSEs A*-C, compared to a national average of 52.6% This is despite the fact that this year, two-thirds of our pupils at GCSE were eligible for the pupil premium, compared to a national average of just 26%. Over a quarter of our pupils started secondary school behind expected levels, twice as many had special educational needs as the national average, and nearly three times as many spoke English as an additional language.

In many other schools, these pupils would not succeed. But at Ark schools they are more likely to get the results that allow them to have real choices in the future.

While the national figure fell by over 6 percentage points, Ark results were up by 4 percentage points.

Lucy Heller, Chief Executive of Ark, said: “I am incredibly proud of the hard work of our students and all the staff, particularly our teachers. There have been big improvements in our GCSE results since we opened our first school in 2006. In what has been a tough year overall for results, we believe that whatever the background of our students, they deserve to have real choices about their future – with the results that will let them get into a good university or pursue their career of choice.”

40,000 Young musicians set to take part in world’s largest youth music festival Music for Youth (MFY) launches the Regional Festival Series 2015 giving 40,000 young musicians a chance to get their music heard.

The Series, sponsored by the ABRSM, takes place between February and April 2015 with over 1,500 music groups performing in 50 festivals across the nation.

The Series is open to groups of young musicians based in the UK, aged 21 and under, who are performing an eclectic range of music to any standard. The Regional Festivals are free to enter and offer young musicians a platform on which to perform anything from folk, world and roots to western classical and contemporary jazz through to urban and electronic music.

Judith Webster, Chief Executive said: “We are pleased to launch our 2015 Regional Festival series, and look forward to celebrating the range and quality of musicmaking currently taking place both inside Education Magazine

and outside of schools across the UK. Following ABRSM’s recent report on music making trends across the country Making Music, Teaching, Learning & Playing in the UK, we watch with interest to see how this bears out in our festivals.

Supporters of participating musicians are invited to come along and get involved with their local Regional Festival so they can hear the unique mix of music being performed and see for themselves the great work happening in music education today.”

“ABRSM is extremely proud to sponsor Music for Youth’s Regional Festival Series and the charity’s work. It’s a partnership that dates back to 1995 and, together, we want to inspire as many people as we can to participate and progress in music. Giving young musicians the opportunity to perform live and receive feedback from MFY mentors is something we applaud loudly.’ - Leslie East, Chief Executive, ABRSM. To find your nearest event and to enter to take part in the MFY Season 2015, visit www.mfy. org.uk/regional until Monday 8 December.

For more information on the Regional Festival Series, sponsored by ABRSM, the exam board of the Royal Schools of Music, contact Music for Youth on 020 7759 1830 or email mfy@mfy.org.uk

UK parents support teen ambitions to be tomorrow’s engineering talent Parents wholeheartedly support the ambitions of thousands of talented teens to become the UK’s future engineering talent, yet young people lack the support in schools needed to fulfil their career ambitions.

According to new research to mark Engineers Week, three quarters of parents would recommend a career in engineering to their children. Almost as many (73 per cent) view engineering careers as desirable even though half (49 per cent) admit they don’t know a lot about what engineers do.

Nearly half (47 per cent) of secondary school children would consider a career in engineering, the research shows, with 29 per cent of girls actively considering an engineering career. However, only a third (34 per cent) say they know what to do next in order to become an engineer.

Schools may not have the information needed to support the engineering ambitions of their students. More than half (56 per cent) of GCSE science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) teachers surveyed have been asked for advice about engineering careers by their pupils in the last year, yet only a third (36 per cent) felt

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confident giving such advice. Almost one in five (17 per cent) said they felt a career in engineering was undesirable.

The findings reveal further disparities between teacher attitudes and pupil ambitions. 42 per cent of teachers believe pay is the most important factor to pupils when making career choices, when in fact only 15 per cent of pupils cite pay as most important. Choosing a career in something that they are interested in is the biggest influence for teen’s career choices (42 per cent), and parents agree (24 per cent).

In a separate study of young engineers under 30 by EngineeringUK[2], a quarter (23 per cent) of those surveyed said they didn’t consider engineering as a possible career choice when they were at school or college and 15 per cent were discouraged by a teacher. 42 per cent of those that didn’t consider an engineering career would have changed their mind if they had received better careers advice, information or inspiration and 21 per cent if they had known what engineering careers involve.

Paul Jackson, Chief Executive of EngineeringUK, said: “Engineering makes a significant contribution to UK GDP growth and engineering companies will have over 2.5 million job openings between 2012 and 2022 across a diverse range of disciplines.

We’re delighted to see that parents are so supportive of their children’s engineering ambitions at a time when their talents are much-needed. However, the findings reveal a worrying lack of school support for young people. We urge schools to use the excellent Tomorrow’s Engineers careers resources and website to inspire their students. At the same time, we call on engineering employers of every size and sector across the UK not only to give schools access to high-quality careers information and resources but to open their doors to show young people just how exciting a career as a 21st Century engineer can be.

Our overarching aim is to ensure that every 11-14 year old has at least one employerlinked engineering experience to help them make the connection between classroom learning and career opportunities.”

The Tomorrow’s Engineers Week research showed that team work, working in a creative or inventive environment, and bringing new ideas to life are what young engineers enjoy most about their job.

Three quarters (76 per cent) of then felt positive about how quickly and how far they will progress in their careers. Twofifths (41 per cent) enjoyed a pay rise within the first year of employment and 19 per cent got a promotion or increased responsibilities within six to twelve months of starting.

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Languages at Primary Level: Help for Pupils, Help for Schools In 2014 it became compulsory for UK primary schools to teach a foreign language; and according to language educators Spanish Amigos, there has never been a better time for children to start learning young.

Spanish is the second most common native language in the world behind Mandarin, with well over 450 million native speakers worldwide; compared with just 74 million native speakers of French, the UK’s traditional first linguistic port of call.

Maria Fallon, Director at Spanish Amigos, is well aware of the difficulties facing some schools. “Not all primary schools have teachers with language specialisms beyond GCSE level,” she says. “We can help, from directly teaching the children in line with the National Curriculum, to developing teachers’ skills.”

Spanish Amigos is dedicated to providing an engaging and effective introduction to foreign languages and culture. It operates throughout the UK, and offers both Spanish and French (as Amis FranÇais) as its core languages. As well as offering Spanish as part of the national curriculum within schools, it runs after-school and lunchtime clubs, again in line with National Curriculum requirements. It can provide teachers or assistants for in-school lessons, organise training for language teachers, or assist with transitioning between French and Spanish.

ALL Connect: connecting up language learning

Another feature offered by Spanish Amigos is school trips overseas, where children can participate in intensive and immersive residential language courses to enhance and consolidate the skills they have learned at school.

Today we live in a very global community, and children will benefit from learning new languages and cultures. By introducing it in an engaging and highly interactive fashion, primary language courses can provide an invaluable foundation – and are a lot of fun for the participants too!

To find out more about Spanish Amigos and the schemes available in your area, please visit www.spanishamigos.co.uk.

Please contact the Management team on 01932 883457

Centre, part of the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences at Newcastle University (which houses Network for Languages North East and is co-ordinating the North East Teaching Schools Partnership); and Network for Languages East Midlands, a specialist centre within the School of Arts & Humanities at Nottingham Trent University. The project will offer free face to face and online training on major themes such as speaking, writing, grammar, transition and progression to those working in mainstream education. The training model is teacher-led and training will be provided at a local level by Lead Teachers to colleagues from the primary and secondary sectors. This will offer participants the opportunity to train and network with peers and to share best practice together.

With the arrival of the new national curriculum in England from September 2014, the teaching of languages is now compulsory for all 7 – 14 year olds in England. This may be a challenge for colleagues in primary schools, many of whom will be teaching languages for the first time, and for those in secondary schools, who will need to assess the progress students have made, and build on these foundations. So where do language teachers across the country find the support and advice they need to rise to these new challenges?

The Association for Language Learning (ALL) is the UK’s major subject association for teachers of all languages, at all levels, and in all sectors – so it is well placed to offer support, advice and training on the teaching of languages to colleagues working in primary, secondary and beyond.

We have been busy developing a network of Primary Hubs run by these wonderful volunteers. Many of these new Hubs offer training and upskilling courses for primary teachers to get the confidence and the skills that they need. These activities will continue to run in addition to the ALL Connect programme and are accessible by teachers in a broader range of geographical regions of the country.

We have also been working hard to provide online support on our website, including information on training and professional networks and guidance for primary teachers on sources of peer support.

We are delighted to announce that ALL has received funding from the Department for Education to provide CPD on the new curriculum for teachers in KS2 and KS3. The ALL Connect project will operate initially in the North East, East and the North Midlands regions working in partnership with Regional Co-ordinators at Comberton Village College in Cambridgeshire; the North Leadership

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Education Magazine

Delta Security provides inner-city primary school with total security solution Delta Security has upgraded the security and safeguarding systems at Hackneybased Woodberry Down Community Primary School, ensuring seamless integration between the multiple systems installed and providing enhanced safety for pupils, employees and property.

With its own playing grounds, Woodberry Down stands on a large footprint totalling 10,425 square metres. It has 550 pupils and is part of the Federation of Grazebook and Shacklewell Primary Schools. Delta Security has a long-standing relationship with the Federation and this has now been extended to include Woodberry Down.

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Included in the installation is the Ofsted-approved EntrySign visitor management system, a state-of-the-art Salto access control system complete with integrated badges, CCTV that now monitors a greater area of the school, and new entrance gates.

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Alia Choudhry, Federation School Business Manager working with Woodberry Down, says that a school’s security requirements depend on many varying factors including layout, perimeter fences and reception areas: “Delta Security appreciated our specific requirements and delivered a service that was unique to Woodberry Down.

“Dave Mundy, Operations Manager at Delta Security, took it upon himself to facilitate stakeholder meetings where we were able to discuss requirements and possible solutions. This included representatives from Skinners’ Academy, a local school that we plan to share a dual-purpose access gate with. Delta was very flexible in amending quotes and specifications, ensuring we received the best possible service and installation.”

For more information email sales@deltasecurity.co.uk www.deltasecurity.co.uk or Tel 020 8985 1855.

Nora flooring specified for Lady Eleanor Holles School

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A popular choice for educational facilities worldwide, nora® flooring solutions have installed over 2500m2 of its noraplan stone floor covering at Lady Eleanor Holles School in Hampton, Middlesex.

First established in the early 1700’s, Lady Eleanor Holles is an independent day school for girls. The school maintains exceptionally high standards of education and provides excellent facilities for girls aged 7 to 18.

Specified by architects Walters & Cohen, London for its versatility, noraplan stone has been installed in many different areas all over the school including the art department which has won the RIBA London Award.

Chosen for its durability, excellent slip resistance properties and ease of maintenance, noraplan stone ranks among the highest selling floorings from the noraplan series and is now available in a refreshed colour palette and additional smooth surface version.

For more information contact nora flooring systems.

Tel. 01788 513 160 email. info-uk@nora.com www.nora.com/uk Education Magazine

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New free App for bereaved young people

For more information go to www.childbereavementuk.org or email: support@childbereavementuk.org

A new App has been created by a group of bereaved young people working with leading bereavement charity Child Bereavement UK. The App, ‘Grief: Support for Young People’, has been developed for 11-25 year olds who have been bereaved of someone important to them. It can also be used by friends, teachers, parents and professionals who would like to know how to support bereaved young people.

New fundraising initiative will develop educational game for care leavers

The App was developed in conjunction with Laughing Giraffe Technologies and has been very well received by bereaved young people who have reviewed it.

James, age 17, told us: “It would have helped me to feel I’m not alone and given me ideas of how to cope when my Dad died.”

Charlie, 15, said: “The App enables you to get the support that you want in your own space and your own time.”

‘Grief: Support for Young People’ has information about:

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bereavement grief feelings how others can help

It also links to Child Bereavement UK’s website where you can use search facilities to find other support organisations near you. It includes stories from bereaved young people as well as short films that they have written and made. The App aims not only to help young people feel less alone after bereavement, but also to inspire others on how to support them.

Ann Rowland, Director of Bereavement Services, Child Bereavement UK, said: “Our Young People’s Advisory Group got together and came up with the idea of developing a resource that young people can access, whenever they need it, wherever they are. Having instant access to support and information via an App on your phone was the perfect solution. ‘Grief: Support for Young People’ is the result of their experience, hard work and creativity, that we hope will be of benefit to many more bereaved young people.’

‘Grief: Support for Young People’ can be downloaded free of charge from the App Store.

Global education technology company Promethean has launched a new UK campaign which will help raise funds for children’s charity Barnardo’s to finance the development of an interactive educational game designed to prepare Care Leavers for independent living.

With a minimum target of £10,000, from now until 31st July 2015 Promethean will donate £10 for every ActivBoard Touch or ActivPanel Touch sold as part of the ‘Changing is Easier Than You Think’ cashback campaign. The initiative also gives schools the option to pledge all, or part, of the cashback they receive to the Barnardo’s game project.

Commenting on the partnership, Forbes Mutch, Head of Partnership Development, Barnardo’s, said: “We work with some of the most vulnerable children in the UK and helping to prepare them for life beyond care is one of our biggest challenges. Following consultation with young people, we’ve identified a digital game as an excellent way of reaching out to Care Leavers and helping them to further develop the life skills they will need when living independently. Promethean’s support will turn the game into a reality and undoubtedly make a positive impact on many young people’s futures.”

As a company that is committed to improving the lives of everyone in education, supporting Barnardo’s in this way extends Promethean’s reach by helping to improve the lives of children outside of the classroom.

Ian Curtis, Head of Western Europe, Africa & ANZ, explains: “Barnardo’s aims to transform the lives of the UK’s most vulnerable children and believes every child deserves the best start in life and the chance to fulfil their potential. This vision resonates with our own, where we believe no child should be left behind and that education holds the key to realising true potential. We are especially proud to enable the development of a digital game which will help Care Leavers make the

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step into independent living confidently and successfully.”

Currently at planning stage, the money raised by Promethean will finance the full design and development of the Care Leavers game. As part of a wider Barnardo’s digital offer for Care Leavers, the game is designed to engage the ‘digital generation’ and help equip them with the life skills and understanding which are essential for independent living as young adults. For example, players will be presented with everyday life situations and tasks such as paying bills and completing a job application, which they will need to complete in order to improve their ‘online world.’

To learn more about the campaign, please visit www.PrometheanCashBack.com

Online tutoring opens door to peer learning The rise of online tutoring in the UK is paving the way for a growth in peer learning: a teaching method that sees school children tutored by students of a similar age.

Whilst face-to-face peer learning has long been lauded by the likes of Durham University and the Education Endowment Fund, its online counterpart has only recently become widely available - thanks to improvements in broadband speed and connectivity. And cross-age tutoring in particular is now in the spotlight. www.mytutorweb.co.uk is among those recruiting university students to teach school pupils online and reports that it has orchestrated more than 8,000 one-to-one tutoring sessions since its launch last year.

“It’s early days for online peer learning, but we’re already getting positive feedback,” says its founder Robert Grabiner, who uses top grade Russell Group university student tutors to support pupils with everything from day-to-day homework, to GCSE and A-level study and university applications.

“Pupils tell us that they feel comfortable being taught by someone of a similar age who has just excelled in the same exams, parents speak of good academic progress and the student tutors themselves say that they consolidate their own subject knowledge by explaining concepts to tutees,” adds Grabiner.

“One deputy head teacher says that he sees the service as an extension of his own school’s mentoring schemes, in which sixth form pupils support those in the lower years,” continues Grabiner. “But the university student tutors have the advantage of having actually been through the exams themselves.»

For more information, please contact Katie Hughes on 07812 610520 or katie@mytutorweb.co.uk

Education Magazine

Breaking down the barrier - ensuring education is fit for life How can schools prepare young people with autism for life in the wider world when more than five out of six adults with autism have no full time employment?

The answer may be to make the world of work a regular part of school life

Sarah Sherwood

Director of Special Educational Needs, LVS Hassocks and LVS Oxford explores the importance of encouraging whole life skills, work experience and a route map to a sustained quality of life in a specialist school for children diagnosed with Autism.

The first taste of work experience can be daunting enough for any teenager, but if you are a person diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum you may be treading on eggshells before you have even started.

That was the challenge facing Harry Fields*, 17, when he began working at Little Chef every Tuesday morning. A residential student in a special school for young people with autism in West Sussex, Harry often has problems distinguishing between fiction and reality, in conversation he jumps around from subject to subject, interjecting burps and sniggers, followed by a giggle.

When asked how he will prepare for work, he says: “Go to Police Academy.”

It’s a measure of the task facing any school trying to help students with autism become independent that only 15 per cent of adults with autism are in full-time employment.** According to the National Autistic Society, employers often don’t realise that people with autism can be highly skilled and qualified. While some young people with autism have accompanying learning difficulties, people with high-functioning autism or Asperger syndrome are often of average or above average intelligence and many have university degrees. Many have strengths that may be valued by employers, such as a high attention to detail and accuracy, reliability and meticulous application of routine tasks.

Where they may have difficulty is in learning how to handle interaction with other people – as well as other people not understanding their condition.

Education Magazine

In the case of Harry Fields, his burping, coughing and sneezing was making customers uncomfortable and took him to the brink of being withdrawn from the work experience. Young people with autism can find it much harder to end compulsive behaviour than others often because they are strongly attached to set routines and behaviours and find it difficult to change.

In many schools, staff might simply accept that the employer can’t cope with this particular set of problems and look for another opportunity. But at Harry’s school, in rural West Sussex, there is a strong commitment to overcoming such obstacles, because of its emphasis on preparing children for life after school and employability.

Most students with autism are able to learn academically but they struggle hugely with the social demands of work. In trying to give students strategies to manage those demands, they are then able to use their skills for the work experience placements and thus improving their chances of gaining employment after leaving school.

For example, at LVS Hassocks students spend a whole day each week in the community going to cafés, shops, museums and the supermarket, where they learn to how to take money out of the cashpoint, use a wallet, and order and pay for their own drinks or products, among other skills that are paramount to their independence when leaving school.

In addition, younger students are given jobs around the school, such as emptying the compost bins or delivering fruit to the classrooms each day and from age 16, students gain experience working in the administrative office in the school at lunchtime, filing and photocopying and collating documents for teachers; or cooking cakes, pastries and preparing drinks for 4 o’clock teatime.

Ultimately students are placed externally in local businesses – including, a restaurant, a pet shop and stables – working there one day a week, making it part of their regular curriculum, rather than being given the odd week of work experience each year as typically occurs in mainstream schools.

The challenge for teachers is how to support students in these new situations when many of them are hypersensitive to changes in their daily structure and to dealing with new people.

One difficulty many students with autism face is being unable to recognise emotions in the facial expressions of other people.

According to teacher Angie Cox, while most know emotional words like happy or sad, they don’t know the grades of those emotions, so

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they don’t know you can go from irritated to furious. “They might be able to read someone is angry but not necessarily on the scale of a little angry to very angry,” she says. “So we work on that. We add layers of language to what is already a basic awareness. “ The staff also have to work closely with employers, to ensure students are given roles in an environment which they can cope with and where their behaviour will be treated with understanding.

According to The National Autistic Society, only 15% of adults with autism have full time employment , coupled with The National Autistic Society research that revealed that 28% of adults surveyed in 2012 still live at home with parents reveals that a significant amount of adults with autism are having minimal success in transitioning from school to independent life.

These results only highlight the necessity in providing young people with whole life education alongside academic guidance to guarantee the ultimate success of an individual on leaving the school.

Independent specialist schools have risen to the challenge, developing teaching methods and programmes and creating opportunities for children diagnosed with autism to flourish in a safe and encouraging environment. By focusing on whole health learning, connected learning and real world learning. Through a structured environment and approach that focuses on developing their independence and confidence.

Achieving a wider understanding of the importance of teaching children with autism not only academically but how to build confidence and develop practical skills is paramount. To further enhance their chances when leaving school; be it to find full time employment or to advance onto further education, whole life education is a key issue being addressed across the country and these methods will continue to spread from school to school.

That is the end goal we are looking for that they go out into the wider world able to access the next stage in their lives feeling that they can be useful members of society.

Written by Sarah Sherwood. * This name has been changed to protect the student’s identity

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Polam Hall school goes Free John Moreland studied History and also obtained his PGCE at Oxford.

His teaching career includes 19 years at Rugby school during which he held the roles of Head of Department, Housemaster and Assistant Head. It in this last role that he realised that being a Head was his real ambition. In 2007 he completed the National Professional Qualification in Headship. He then was successful in winning Polam Hall School is located in Darlington and was founded by Quakers in 1848. It’s recently changed from a girls’ school to co-educational and has a head count of 413 a third of which are boys. There are 36 boarders and teaching staff numbers are 48. The ethos of the school is summed up by the head as: ‘Through a holistic approach the pupils obtain the development of their whole personality. The school has created a family based atmosphere where everyone knows one another. It has many activities that are designed to develop resilience, compassion and a desire to return something to the community. These instil those all-important soft skills that make the pupils capable of thriving in the workplace and wider world.’

Exam results are good, the most recent results are: 5A* (Including maths and English) at just under 61%. The school has a significant population of far eastern pupils who do not sit an English exam and taking this into account the 5A*figure would have been 70%. The school also has an excellent reputation for SEN children.

I wanted to know why the school was converting to Free School status and how the transition was being managed.

Education Magazine If you are doing well so in exams and child development why has the school decided to take the DfE shilling and become a Free School?

John Moreland First and foremost is our history. The founders of this school were Quakers and their vision of the role of the school was of it being firmly in the local community and it making a wider contribution to society. Changing would be following their ethos which expects us to take our educational offering to a much wider audience. The free school system gives us a way of implementing that ethos. We are confident as well about our offering, about our educational achievements and the challenge

the role of Head at a school in Milton Keynes, this was at an independent day school with an age range of 3 to 18 which was owned and run by Gems. Two years later the Head’s job at Polam Hall School became vacant and it ticked all the boxes he was looking for to further his career. A couple of these being it is a charitable status school that had just become Co-educational, it was also in ‘The North’ where he grew up and wished to return to. His hobbies include Athletics and he won four medals in the 2014 British Masters Athletics Championships, an event he has attended since 1999 where discus, shot and hammer are his preferred events.

The view of Polam Hall School from within the grounds.

has been to get this vision across to a larger group of children, at a time of recession.

The Independent school sector in the whole of the north of England has struggled with numbers in the years since the recession started. Fees have become a barrier to attendance and as the leaders in the school we have responsibilities to take strategic decisions. We are predominately a day school so increasing numbers through boarders wasn’t a viable option. Free School status offers options and security in a very difficult economy. Free school status gives us the opportunity to add our strengths into the local educational sector, adding to the richness and diversity of the local offering.

EM One effect of this is that fee paying parents are no longer going to be getting a large bill from you every year, but finance is not the usual reason for sending children to private schools, it usually includes a willingness to pay for the extras private education can provide.

What has been the feedback from the parent body on the decision?

JM When the news first came out there was some concern. We held a number of meetings with all parents soon after the prospective change was announced at which 12

we presented the plans. These included the intention not to change anything that made the school what it is. We were going to maintain the ethos, vision, values, extracurricular programme and the uniform!

Only a handful of children were withdrawn out of a population of 250 as a result of the announcement. The rest of the parent body were either really supportive or they took the view that as there was not any intention to change the nature of the school they would wait and see how it developed. The savings in fees were obviously welcomed as over the school life of the child the saving will be considerable.

EM There will be a reduction in total funding though. You are now going to be drawing the state allowance for each pupil, not the private school fees, how much of a financial change to income will that be to the school?

JM State funding per pupil is less than private fees so, clearly, our best way forward is to grow the school roll. This is already starting to happen as we opened this academic year with 413 pupils, compared to the 261 we finished last year with. We know this is because parents are keen to secure places prior to us becoming a free school but, nevertheless, it is a positive indication Education Magazine

of the popularity of the school. Our target for head count when we are a Free school is 640 and at that level we will be full and will be generating a surplus to put towards building projects and suchlike. We can do this as Free schools and Academies are permitted to make surpluses within certain limits and these can be used for capital investment.

EM When Independent you were masters of your own destiny, now you have to march to the State schools’ tune, what changes will pupils and parents see as a result?

JM Free Schools and Academies already have considerable flexibility on curriculum, term dates etc. so little will change there.

One change will be the introduction of Key Stage 2 SATS and reception baseline testing.

John Moreland during an ascent of Mont Blanc.

We will be more conscious of our position in the exam league tables and will be held to account to that by Ofsted. We do not have to teach the National Curriculum, but statutory assessments and league tables will have some effect on what we do teach. That said, we operate a traditional curriculum already, so matching it to the Government league tables is something we will find quite natural. In effect then, the parents and teachers will not notice a negative change at all, they will see continuity and even greater robustness around pupil progress. And this is something we stressed to our parents in our presentations to them.

EM What about the boarders and the Saturday morning lessons, will they continue?

JM We have never had Saturday morning lessons and the boarders have organised activities over the weekend which will not change. We will effectively become a state boarding school and we are therefore allowed to charge a boarding fee, this covers the additional staffing, food and admin costs and is in the region of £10,000 per year. At the moment the full cost of boarding and education here is £24k per year so these parents will see a significant drop in costs.

Education Magazine

EM What has been the effect on staff of your plans to convert to a Free school? For instance their classes will be bigger.

JM It’s been welcomed by them all and they look forward to it. Our class size will increase, but they will still be small compared with the state sector average. The biggest change for the Junior school staff is the considerable increase in head count that was a result this year’s exceptionally high intake.

Junior numbers have gone up from under 100 to 260 over the summer holidays. A major change will be a move from inspection by the ISI to inspection by Ofsted. This will involve a change of mind set and procedure, so we have been working with the staff to prepare for this. This is having a generally

can contribute to the diversity of the local education offering.

EM What about the local community’s reaction? What about the unions’ reaction?

JM The community have embraced it, we have consulted with the Local Authority and community leaders and they know the contribution we have made and can therefore make in the future The locals have voted with their feet, our open days were inundated with prospective parents and the ‘Expressions of Interest’ that we have collected to prove our case to the DfE have totalled well over a thousand. Our numbers have increased by nearly 200 recently and there are more joining in January and in September. Some of the unions have opted

The Polham Hall School uniform.

beneficial effect as staff are thinking about their teaching and the pupils learning in different ways and as a consequence some very exciting initiatives are coming forward.

Overall the staff are really excited by the plans and think the increase in numbers joining the Juniors is great news. This also means that it will be easier to raise teams for sports, get casts to run plays and suchlike.

EM You are now in competition for local state pupils, what do the other schools in the area think of the change?

JM Questions have been asked, and that is understandable, but Darlington is no different from other parts of the UK in that there is a school population boom that is seated in the primary level at the present. So there is pressure on places locally and by us taking the Free school route we are helping relieve that pressure. I think local primary heads were initially concerned, however after we had held meetings with them and the local NAHT Representative they are now of the opinion that our change is going to contribute to solving the local schooling issues. The secondary heads are much of the same opinion as they can see the population pressure coming through within the next few years. They also see that we 13

to take a political stance on the free school movement nationally and locally the NUT has been negative about the proposals, but this won’t detract us from our goal – that being to secure the future of Polam Hall as a vibrant and academically successful, all inclusive school, making a valuable contribution to the local community.

EM Thank you for talking to Education Magazine.

Publisher’s opinion. This is equality working, for many years it’s been said there are broadly two sorts of education in the UK, the state and the private sector. To date the private sector has had the majority of the best outcomes for its children and those whose parents cannot afford the fees have not been able to take advantage of the benefits private education can bring.

Now they can, this is evening up the playing field and bringing some more of the best education to every child in Darlington. What does it matter that better off parents who have paid £12,000+ per year up to now will get their children’s high quality schooling for free in future, just like everyone else does. What’s there not to like about this sort of conversion?

Letters to the publisher : stevem@pirnet.co.uk

NEWS News News News NEWS News NEWS News

Ofsted consults on radical changes to inspection Ofsted’s Chief Inspector has set out proposals for some of the most far-reaching reforms to education inspection in the last quarter of a century.

Launching an eight-week consultation, Sir Michael Wilshaw said the reforms would bring about a radically different inspection regime designed to maintain and accelerate improved educational standards in England.

Sir Michael said: ‘Most schools and colleges have been improving over the past couple of years at a faster rate than ever before.

‘This is hugely encouraging and testament to the commitment of leaders and teachers to deliver a higher standard of education for our children and young people. They have responded to Ofsted’s more challenging inspection frameworks, in particular the introduction of the Requires Improvement judgement and our insistence that only good is good enough. This has been central to driving improvement.

‘It is absolutely vital that this progress is sustained and that our system does not falter. Over two thirds of good schools and colleges maintain their performance, and so there is a strong case for more proportionate inspections which focus on a professional dialogue between head teachers and inspectors. But by no means all of them do. In the past academic year alone 860 schools we inspected, attended by 335,000 children, declined in performance.

‘The time has come, therefore, to introduce frequent but shorter inspections for good schools and further education and skills providers. These inspections will be different to what has gone before. They will have a much clearer focus on ensuring that good standards have been maintained.

‘In particular, inspectors will be looking to see that headteachers and leadership teams have identified key areas of concern and have the capability to address them. For good schools and further education and skills providers who have the capacity to show this, the changes being proposed will mean that there is no longer any need for a full inspection.

‘Led by Her Majesty’s Inspectors, these short inspections will encourage professional dialogue and the sharing of good practice from across the country.

They also mean that we can spot signs of

decline early and take immediate action. If we find significant concerns then we will carry out a full inspection. Where we think the school or provider may have improved to outstanding, we may also decide to carry out a full inspection to confirm this.

‘At the moment, it can be five years or even more between inspections for a good school or provider. This is too long. It’s too long for parents and employers. It’s too long for us to spot signs of decline and it’s too long for improving institutions to show that they are now delivering an outstanding standard of education.

‘Parents and employers also need to know how schools are performing on a more regular basis. Shorter but frequent inspections of good schools and colleges will mean that we can keep them much better informed.’

Sir Michael confirmed that Ofsted will retain the power to undertake a full inspection at any time where there are significant concerns about standards.

Another key proposal due to take effect from next September is the introduction of a new common inspection framework, which will standardise the approach to Ofsted education inspections. This will be adapted to suit nurseries, schools and colleges, including the independent schools that Ofsted inspects, making it easier for parents, employers, pupils and learners to compare different providers and make more informed choices.

Sir Michael said: ‘I believe that our new inspections should place emphasis on safeguarding, the breadth of the curriculum in schools, the relevance of courses and training in further education and skills, and the quality of early learning. Only then will we be able to make sure that all children and learners are properly safeguarded and prepared for life in the modern world.’

The consultation also sets out proposals for four categories of judgements:

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Leadership and management

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Teaching, learning and assessment

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

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Outcomes for children and learners.

Sir Michael also said that Ofsted would not be consulting on the question of whether to introduce routine no-notice inspections.

‘I have already broadened the criteria Ofsted uses to judge whether an unannounced inspection is required for particular schools.

After careful consideration, I have therefore concluded that we do not need to consult on moving to routine no-notice inspections at the present time.’

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Olympic legacy funds are helping primary school pupils, says inspectorate New funding for primary schools is improving children’s PE skills and participation in sport.

Ofsted undertook this survey of 22 schools previously identified as performing well in PE. It evaluates the effectiveness of the Primary PE and Sport Premium, which the government introduced to all primary schools in England in 2013 to build on the 2012 Olympic legacy. School leaders are able to choose how they spend their funding as long as it improves the quality and breadth of PE and sport.

One year since it was introduced, Ofsted finds that 22 schools visited by inspectors are making good use of the money. Most headteachers are spending their new funding in different ways, including training their teachers, employing sports coaches or specialist teachers to improve the quality of PE teaching and extending the range of sports on offer to children. Many of these 22 schools are also working with local sports clubs and other schools to provide improved PE teaching and more sporting opportunities for all pupils.

Inspectors found that as a result of the funding, pupils’ PE skills are improving and they are readily taking part in sport.

However, headteachers told inspectors that they were given the money without clear advice on how it should be spent. They said they would welcome further guidance from the Department for Education to ensure that the benefits to pupils can be sustained over the long term.

Ofsted inspectors recommend to schools that they should look more carefully at ways that they can show the impact of the funding on improving PE and sport.

They also say that schools should consider better ways of using the funding to improve pupils’ health and well-being - for example, to help tackle obesity.

Sean Harford, Ofsted National Director for Schools Policy, said: ‘Sport has the power to transform young lives. It is encouraging that schools are using the Primary PE and Sport Premium effectively. This may unearth a future Olympic star, but more importantly it is allowing all children to fully take part in PE and enjoy a greater range of sports.

‘This is an obvious boost to their health, but it also helps to form good character too. I have found that the best schools know that sport is not an add-on to the timetable, but is an integral part of a school’s ethos.’

To encourage more primary school aged children to play sport Ofsted recommends that schools should: Education Magazine

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ensure that plans set clear targets for showing how the new funding has improved PE and sports provision

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clearly show how the premium is making a difference to the quality of PE and sport in the school

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encourage those pupils who are less keen on PE and sport to take part and enjoy the activities

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establish links with local sports clubs

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introduce activities to allow their most able pupils to realise their full potential in PE and sport

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work with parents and carers, and local health agencies to promote pupils’ health and well-being, including tackling obesity

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not use the premium as an alternative means of funding existing PE or sports provisions.

Ofsted begins series of no notice school inspections HM Inspectors are mounting a wave of no notice inspections of schools across every region in England, Ofsted announced on 15th Sep 2014.

Around 40 schools up and down the Education Magazine

country have been selected for the two-day unannounced inspections during a two-week window in September, under powers already available to the inspectorate.

Following recent events in some Birmingham schools, Chief Inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw agreed to examine the feasibility of moving to a system of inspecting all schools without notice, rather than the half-day notice that the majority of schools currently receive.

In the meantime, he has instructed Ofsted’s Regional Directors to make wider use of existing powers to conduct no notice inspections of schools where there are concerns about:

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rapidly declining standards

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safeguarding, including a decline in the standards of pupils’ behaviour and the ability of staff to maintain discipline

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standards of leadership or governance, or

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the breadth and balance of the curriculum (including where the statutory requirement to publish information to parents is not met)

Many of the schools selected for these inspections over the coming days were already scheduled to undergo ‘section 5’ inspections this term. However, others will be schools that weren’t due for inspection but where Ofsted has become aware of concerns.

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HM Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, said: ‘Parents rightly expect Ofsted inspections to get to the heart of any problems that may exist in a school – whether they are to do with discipline, safeguarding, poor leadership or governance, or a narrow, unbalanced curriculum. That’s why we’ve expanded the criteria for conducting unannounced inspections for the coming year.

‘I’m currently giving thought to whether Ofsted should move to more routine no notice inspections as part of our wider education inspection reforms, which we will be consulting on later this year.

‘In the meantime, under our regional structure, inspectors are well placed to use their local knowledge and contacts to identify where these sorts of problems may be taking hold so we can respond swiftly and report publically on what we find.’

Ofsted will continue to carry out unannounced inspections throughout the academic year. By conducting the first wave within a two-week window, Ofsted will be able to make an early assessment of their impact.

A full report for every inspection will be published on the Ofsted website.

The Biometric Card – next evolution for ID cards ID cards evolve from bar code to magnetic stripe to proximity to smart card and, finally, to the biometric card First there were bar code cards. They evolved to magnetic stripe cards which evolved into proximity cards. As proximity became the predominant credential technology over the last decade, it’s evident that contactless smart cards will replace proximity and the other legacy credential technologies over the next three to five years. That’s because the multi-application flexibility of contactless smart cards lets an organization use them for logical/ information access control, time and attendance and other applications in addition to physical access control. Each application gets its own memory space on the card or tag and security keys prevent one application from accessing another. For those considering biometrics at some of their access points, the card can even hold the biometric template.

Nonetheless, there still remains a problem with the smart card. Who is presenting the smart card to the reader? The system doesn’t know. All it can understand is that an authorized card has been presented to the reader. Thus, the door should open, respective of who is holding the card.

Yet, a biometric template carried within the card could help solve that problem but at what expense? To do so, it needs a biometric reader, an additional piece of hardware, raising the infrastructure cost to do what the card should be doing in the first place, verifying who is trying to enter. Why not put biometrics directly on the smart card? There would be no additional hardware to buy and the smart card wouldn’t work unless verified by the authorized person’s thumbprint on the card. With a biometric card, the

organization would reap all of the security and access control advantages of the smart card plus biometrics.

How did we get from then to now?

Let’s review the most commonly used types of card technologies used today.

Bar Codes. Some facilities still use bar code badges, the least secure of all credentials.

They are what they sound like. A bar code reader scans the bar code to allow access.

However, since the bar code is visible, it can be reproduced very easily. There is a solution, though. By covering the bar code with an opaque film, the badge is only read by a UV bar code reader. Of course, this raises the cost.

Magnetic Stripe. No different than the common, ordinary credit card, information on a magnetic stripe card is held on a strip of coated magnetic recording tape. Since the stripe must come in contact with the reader, there is ultimate wear-and-tear on the card.

There’s a reason that they’re the de facto credential for credit companies. They’re less costly and easier to produce than other badges. Of course, this also means that they are easy to forge, making their security questionable. Nonetheless, they are successfully used by thousands of companies who require only simple access.

Proximity Badges and Tokens. This is today’s most widely used access control technology for two main reasons. First of all, there is no contact between cards and the reader. This eliminates the wear-andtear factor. Secondly, proximity readers can be made very durable or even hidden into another structure to make them relatively vandal-resistant. Badges contain an antenna with microchip. As the badge enters a “wake-up” field, the electronics inside the badge power up and send the encoded information to the reader.

There are three types of proximity badges.

The read only, true to its name, can only be read. The number cannot be changed.

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Read/write badges can have their numbers re-programmed. And, multi-technology badges are proximity badges that also employ another technology. For instance, leading vendors provide such badges in combinations such as proximity/magnetic stripe. These are typically employed where a company has an older legacy access control credential technology and wants to migrate without eliminating access to buildings.

This is especially important for companies with multiple facilities. In other cases, the company cafeteria or some other application may only take magnetic stripe or the other technology credentials.

Contact Smart Cards. These cards contain a microchip that holds and processes large amounts of information. Metal pads on the card make contact with the reader to power up the circuitry and communication with the microprocessor. As a contact technology, though, they suffer the effects of wear-and-tear.

Contactless Smart Cards. This technology is ideal for physical access control and other applications. It is more secure than the proximity card and provides greatly increased flexibilities. With their lower reader costs, reduced costs of system ownership and increased applications opportunities, every security professional needs to more closely appraise contactless smart cards as they review their present systems.

The newest evolution – the biometric card A contactless smart card credential with on-card fingerprint reading provides all the assets of the smart card and eliminates its most glaring deficiency, knowing who is holding it. The biometric card quickly reads the user’s fingerprint in less than a second. Eliminating the problems of solely deploying PINs and standard cards, the wirelessly powered biometric card lets users authenticate themselves directly on the card through something they are, a fingerprint or thumbprint. Only then will the card system Education Magazine

activate the lock. This is much more secure than simply using a standard card, which verifies only something the user carries.

An on-card fingerprint scanner with 3D capacitive technology resides on the contactless smart card which has universal compatibility with all ISO 14443 readers from the leading brands. The biometric card is DESFIRE EV1 and MIFARE Classic compatible. Without having to change out an organization’s existing card readers, the biometric card provides an easy, low cost way for organizations to provide a biometric upgrade to access control systems using smart card readers or multi-technology readers that also read smart cards.

Thus, the biometric card is more secure to use than other available ID and authentication solutions on the market today. The fingerprint data is captured by the on-card fingerprint scanner and is thereafter encrypted and stored only inside the card. No exchange of data is conducted with external systems. This provides secure template management since the fingerprint never leaves the card. It also eliminates user concerns with privacy issues. The card is unique to the user and only the authorized card holder can activate card communication with the reader. When a positive match occurs, the biometric card activates encrypted

communication with the lock or reader in the same way as other ISO 14443 contactless smart cards.

Problem Solved No longer do organizations need to worry if someone not authorized to enter is using another person’s ID card. With the biometric directly on the card, they can be assured that the only people getting in are those authorized to do so.

By Kim Humborstad, CEO of Zwipe

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Kempston Rural school SUPERSIZES! The last time I spoke to Head Teacher Angela Stanbridge was in a small office in a small school where a new and interesting playground had just been installed. Now Kempston Rural School has relocated into a large modern building on a green field plot that’s a mile from the old building amid a large new housing development. As you can see from the photographs it’s a fabulous facility and I wanted to find out what had occurred to bring this about.

Education Magazine How did the transformation from small rural school to large rural school come about and why?

Angela Stanbridge A large housing development was given planning permission on the condition that a new primary school was built under the section 106 funding scheme. We were then asked by the Local Education Authority if we would like to move into the proposed facility. This was a big decision for the governors and parents as the old school was a charming one that everybody loved and suited our needs very well. However in the end the decision was an obvious one and we took the plunge.

EM What was the capacity at the old school compared with the capacity here and how are you planning to manage the increase?

Each of the corridors ends with a large fully opening set of doors.

AS We have moved from a capacity of 100 to a potential capacity of 400. At present we have a headcount of 151. To manage

the increase we are beginning with two expansion classes in the Early Years. Our existing single classes in years 1, 2,3 and 4 will continue as they are. Next year we will again have two expansion classes in the Early Years and so on. So by the time we have been open for 4 to 5 years we will have 2 classes for every year group and we will have reached capacity. That will be about the same time as the estate that is being built and that created the demand for the bigger school will be finished.

EM What has happened to the old building that everybody liked so much?

AS It’s been emptied of all our equipment and materials and it looks very sad! It’s owned by the Diocese of St Albans and the LA had rented it from them for all these

years. They are looking for new tenants and there is a rumour that a nursery may be interested, which would be a good use for the building.

EM This new structure is a very striking 18

building, it’s unusual for me to walk into a building and go ‘Wow’! How did it all come about and what was the input from the staff?

AS It is a fabulous building, and for the past two years we have been working towards the opening. What we have is an off the shelf building that was picked out of a catalogue!

This one is called a ‘Keynes’ model and the outside structure is fixed in size and shape and the inside is fairly rigidly controlled too and as a result we were only able to make a few changes to the design. Specifically this is known as a ‘Two form plus nursery Sunesis Keynes model’. One of the few changes we made was the omission of a wall in an office to make it slightly larger and the other was access to the toilets. In the standard design the access is from the cloakrooms

between the classrooms. I didn’t consider that suitable for all the age groups and so we had the access to the toilets changed to it being off the main corridor that runs through the building. The toilets in the Key Stage 2 area were designed to be unisex however if Education Magazine

One of the two ‘Learning Streets’.

An IT area can be seen in the centre.

we ever do have the whole of Key Stage 2 here, and the building is designed for this, I considered that to be inappropriate for the age group.

EM Whoever designed this had wonderful vision and really knew how to make a building flexible and inspiring. The ability to open up individual areas into one large area by incorporating the very wide corridors gives great flexibility. However in a school with class sizes on about 30 is that really required or is it a waste of space that could be put to better use as classrooms or a smaller and therefore lower cost building?

AS The ability to open up large areas is very useful, if we are having presentations to large groups of children or perhaps to parents then we can have all the space we need to do it well. Another very good reason for it is to give that really necessary impression of space. Children, and to a lesser amount adults, find space inspiring. The large corridors are called ‘Learning Streets’ and they are not just conduits for getting from one part of the building to another.

Within them are facilities like a cookery area and an area for IT. There are also a couple of areas where children can be taken from a classroom environment into an informal teaching environment if the Teacher thinks it’s more appropriate. This may be useful for times when more space is required for greater movement or perhaps for drama or dance. It’s also used for breakout space where interventions can be carried out if a child needs one to one attention.

them, are they used as classrooms or for less formal work?

AS They are for IT teaching primarily, however they can also be used for reading and a child’s own activity. We have also found that if a child is not responding to learning in a more formal square classroom then the larger more informal space seems to inspire them and they learn far better.

EM Physical Education, do you have a specific area for that or do you use the space the Learning Streets provide and the outdoors?

EM Interventions in most other establishments I’ve visited take place in quiet private areas; it seems unusual to hold them in areas that seem very public, why is this?

AS It’s carried out in the main Sports Hall and in the Multi Use Games Area (MUGA).

We will also be using the large grass areas that surround the school. Sport England

AS It may well be that we will section off a smaller area of the Learning Street to use for such purposes however at the present we are still learning how to use the building.

were involved in the layout of the school fields and ensured that there was plenty of space for a full sized sports field and room for sports pitches and the necessary facilities that go with them. We will be having a full range of sports such as football, hockey

EM In the middle of the Learning Streets are a number of desks with computers on Education Magazine

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and athletics. The grass was only seeded in August and so the field will not be in full use until late this year or early next. Each of the corridors ends with a large fully opening set of doors that enable full access to the outside areas.

EM The school structure was effectively selected from a catalogue and paid for by the developers and the LA, how did you go about equipping the place?

AS We had a budget for IT that was from the LA and so we have state of the art IT equipment. There were also funds available for the furniture and fixtures. We will have a requirement to purchase more as the headcount of the school increases over the next four years and we have been assured the funds are allocated. We bought over a

lot of the classroom furniture from the old building. Most of it was in good condition and as we knew we were moving for three years we were able to save money from continues overleaf u

Kempston Rural school SUPERSIZES! continued getting the place ready to open. This involved the packing and unpacking of 300 crates of material and equipment that had to be bought over from the old building. The school was ready to be open on the day term started. To achieve this required a level of dedication from the staff that I can only describe as staggering.

It’s also a measure of the ownership the staff had developed for the place.

EM What was the reaction of the children and parents?

A catering area used for teaching.

our annual budget to help fund the extras that we considered were needed. These included a particular type of flooring that we considered was more appropriate and better suited to the task, the original specification was for a rubberised flooring much as is used in hospitals however we wanted something that would add to the look of the building so that in years to come it still looked really special. We also had large curtains made for the main hall to enable the light to be controlled.

EM Staffing, how many did you have at the previous building and what’s the plans to increase headcount? Has there been an effect of the staff from the move to the new building?

AS We had five teachers at the old school and that’s increased to six, that will increase as the classrooms are filled. We have had to recruit more teaching assistants, supervisors and cleaners. We are still looking for a higher

level teaching assistant to cover for the out of class time the teachers now have. The company that built the school, Willmott Dixon, have been very good at allowing staff and parents and children access to the site as it was being built. This enabled people to become familiar with the project and to gain some ownership of it. This was also done by staff being able to choose things like the colour of their classrooms. As a result of this we were all sad at leaving the old building however we were very excited at the prospect of moving into this one as we knew just how good it was. One of the biggest changes was the increase in class sizes, previously there was only room for 20 to be taught at a time, and here there is room for 30. This will have a big effect on the staff.

EM The move between the buildings, how did you do it?

AS All the staff had a couple of weeks off in the summer holiday and then we were here from 8 in the morning to 9 at night

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AS They love it! One child on first seeing it exclaimed ‘Mrs Stanbridge it looks like a hotel!! I just cannot believe how good it is!’

The parents had nothing but praise for it, I wondered if it was a touch overwhelming for some of them as the old school was so tiny and here there is enough room to have 10 buses end to end down the corridor. It’s required us to develop new systems for the arrival and departure of the children as all of the classrooms are some distance from one another.

EM Energy efficiency is a big requirement these days, how has that affected the building?

AS We have air sourced underfloor heating that’s some 50% more efficient than conventional methods and the building has a high BREEM rating and the lighting is all LED and it controls itself automatically to reduce usage whilst the areas are not in use. The insulation is superb and it also serves to keep the noise down.

EM Thank you for talking to Education Magazine.

It’s a fabulous school and the small friendly atmosphere of its smaller predecessor seems to have been retained. The Learning Streets are not noisy echo chambers either, I was

touring during lunch time when food service was in progress and it wasn’t noisy. The place has a calming atmosphere, almost as if the building is making enough of a statement without any assistance from the children!

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Hazardous wastes in schools Many educational establishments also don’t allocate responsibility within their workforce for making sure hazardous wastes are disposed of correctly. This can be as simple as adding the responsibility to the caretaker’s job description, and ensuring they have the right information to fulfil that obligation.

While much has been made of recycling in schools, other waste streams often get short shrift.

Rubbish isn’t a glamorous or particularly exciting subject and surely isn’t top of the agenda for all but the “greenest” of establishments, but if we’re serious about protecting the environment we need to be aware of our waste streams and how they need to be managed.

Schools can also be fined for getting it wrong. While the Environment Agency prefers to inform than penalise (the carrot as opposed to the stick), the fines it can impose for the improper management of hazardous wastes demonstrate the importance of sorting your waste. Almost ten years after the Hazardous Waste Regulations came into effect, it’s surprising that so few of Britain’s schools are even aware of their legal obligations.

Assuming your school generates less than 500kg hazardous waste on each site (the most likely scenario) there is no need to register with the Environment Agency, but you do still need a separate collection and disposal system in place.

The fact is that disposal of hazardous wastes in with general rubbish is illegal, so it’s important to understand the law and get it right.

In seeking to understand awareness of the Hazardous Waste Regulations (2005), Biffa found that half of the UK’s education and public sector organisations surveyed didn’t realise they are producing commonplace hazardous wastes, and even fewer are complying with law.

Looking at the survey results in more detail, the difference between perception and reality is striking. 95 per cent of educational organisations said that they don’t find managing their waste confusing, and yet less than a third are confident that their staff know how to identify and dispose of hazardous wastes.

The arts room will also likely generate aerosol cans, along with other “hazardous” items such as paint tins and adhesive tubes.

(Larger waste electronic and electrical equipment such as computers, TV’s and fridges fall under separate legislation and most schools are already aware of their responsibilities here...)

Making sure your cleaners, caretakers and teaching staff are aware of the law doesn’t need to be a complicated undertaking. For example, an appropriate level of information can be delivered via clearly labelled posters in supply cupboards and an update in an annual briefing.

Due to the broad range of materials that are classified as hazardous, it’s no wonder that many schools are confused. That’s why it’s important to check with your waste contractor and make sure all your hazardous materials are being managed properly.

Biffa, for example, has recently launched a new service called HazDirect, which provides fully compliant storage and disposal services for hazardous wastes. Recognising that many schools only generate small amounts of these materials, Biffa has developed the Waste Safe Mini box which they will collect on a daily, weekly, monthly or annual basis.

(The law states that collections must take place at least once a year.)

A recent survey carried out by waste and recycling company Biffa showed that a significant number of schools and colleges aren’t aware that they generate hazardous waste. It’s a fair enough assumption since our playgrounds and common rooms aren’t littered with toxic oil drums and smoking heaps of goodness-knows-what.

But in fact many items commonly discarded in black bags are hazardous, and schools are required by law to separate them for special collection and treatment, thereby avoiding harm to the environment and human health.

from caretakers and cleaners’ activities include aerosol cans, fluorescent tubes, batteries and smaller waste electrical items such as kettles and toasters.

So what materials constitute hazardous waste, and how do they need to be handled?

The majority of commonplace hazardous materials arising in schools are likely to come from the caretaker’s cupboard and the arts room. The type of hazardous waste produced from science and chemistry labs must be handled and disposed of in a controlled manner where all waste produced needs to be identified and packed by a mobile chemist making it compliant for transportation. Biffa are able to offer this through their HazPack service where their expert mobile chemists conduct visits to schools to prepare hazardous substances for transportation off the premises.

Cleaning and building maintenance wastes are generally benign, but there are still some commonplace items that must be separated for special collection and treatment. Typical hazardous wastes arising

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Properly collected and treated hazardous waste can be processed into safe and nonharmful materials, most of which can then be recycled or used to generate energy.

What’s more, by procuring a professional service you can be sure that your school is complying with the relevant aspects of transport legislation, Duty of Care, the Environmental Protection Act and Hazardous Waste Regulations.

It needn’t cost a lot to have peace of mind that your school’s waste is being treated in the appropriate manner, minimising the environmental impact and maximising your recycling. Once you’ve got it sorted, you could even help spread the word to parents who run their own businesses. There’s a strong chance that they aren’t aware of the law either, and your school can help set a good environmental example within the broader community.

Written by Richard Hickman, Head of Commercial Hazardous Waste & Environmental Services at Biffa For more information about the Hazardous Waste Regulations, visit: www.biffa.co.uk/ hazdirect or call 08455 216 666.

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Primary school pupils denied life-saving skill National governing body calls for greater priority for swimming and water safety The Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) is calling on primary schools and politicians to show their commitment to school swimming as new figures reveal that 45 per cent of primary school children are unable to swim 25 metres despite it being a national curriculum requirement.

The call comes as the national governing body for aquatics released its third annual School Swimming Census¹ on the state of school swimming.

The report, published recently, found that 45 per cent of children aged between seven and 11-years-old are unable to swim the length of an average sized pool unaided. While this is a six per cent improvement on figures released in 2013, the ASA believes more needs to be done to ensure all children leave primary school with the ability to swim and the knowledge of how to keep themselves safe in and around water.

The 2014 Census also revealed that despite school swimming is part of the national curriculum, nearly 1,300 (6.6 per cent) primary schools do not teach it in Key Stage 2. This is despite drowning being the third highest cause of accidental death in children in the UK, and concern that if they do not learn to swim at primary school, one in five children will never be confident in water.

The ASA also found that while the average number of school swimming lessons made available in a school year has increased from 16

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to 18 since 2013, the amount of time spent in the water by pupils was just under 10 hours. This is less than half the 25 hours of study time that the ASA recommends is required to ensure a child has sufficient opportunity to learn to swim.

As a response to these findings the ASA has developed the School Swimming Charter, a comprehensive package of support that aims to ensure every primary school in England has the necessary knowledge and resources required to deliver high quality school swimming programmes.

ASA Acting CEO Ashley Beaveridge said: “Swimming isn’t just a leisure activity or a way for young people to keep healthy, it’s a life saving skill that every child has the right to learn. As such it is concerning that despite school swimming being a national curriculum requirement, nearly 1,300 primary schools still do not offer swimming lessons.

“Our research shows that school swimming is often the only opportunity many children have to learn to swim, so it is vital that we look at the barriers preventing primary schools from allocating the required time.

“As the national governing body for aquatics, the ASA has a unique responsibility to support schools with their swimming programmes. This is why we are asking every primary school in England to sign up to our School Swimming Charter so that together we can increase the number of children leaving primary school able

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to swim and with the knowledge of how to keep themselves safe in water.”

The ASA is also asking politicians to support calls for Ofsted to be more rigorous in their assessment and reporting process of school swimming. Currently the standard and regularity of swimming is overlooked in school assessments, resulting in schools sometimes prioritising other curriculum subjects over this important area.

The ASA recommends that Ofsted should require primary schools to provide Key Stage 2 attainment levels as part of their primary school PE inspections, and to also publish results on their websites. This would provide transparency for the 40 per cent of parents who are currently unaware of their child’s progress or ability when it comes to water safety and swimming, and the 83 per cent of secondary schools that have reported not knowing the swimming ability of incoming pupils.

Beaveridge added: “The Department for Education has shown its commitment to school swimming by keeping it within the revised national curriculum and providing funding through the Primary PE and Sports Premium. We are asking those in central and local government to continue to show their support for the only sport that saves lives by supporting calls for Ofsted to be more robust in their assessments and encourage their local primary schools to sign up to the School Swimming Charter.”

For more information about the School Swimming Charter people can visit www. swimming.org/schoolcharter

Are interactive whiteboards destined for nostalgia too?

It doesn’t seem so long ago that we were saying a fond farewell to classrooms featuring traditional blackboards, as they were replaced first by standard white boards and then interactive ones, opening a host of dynamic and engaging possibilities for teaching across all subjects.

But now, interactive whiteboards (IWBs) may well be heading to the blackboard graveyard too.

As technologies advance and costs continue to decrease, the future of classroom learning could well be dominated by LCD Touch Screens. From next year, the size of these screens will be available up to 98”, making them an ideal alternative to the IWB in your classroom by offering better value, better reliability, and more flexibility with teaching strategies.

The downsides of interactive whiteboards There is little doubt of the prevalence of IWBs in classrooms across the UK, and they have proved extremely beneficial in opening up lessons with a variety of interactive activities and multimedia content, offering new learning techniques to students of all ages.

There is no limit to the creativity that large format touch screens from andersDX and Philips enable

Classroom solutions with LCD touch screens Above all, IWBs are expensive to run.

They’re typically in use for around six

consumption and lack of bulb replacements needed results in a considerably smaller expenditure of under £4,000 in the same time span.

However, they’re not without their problems. As a teacher, it’s likely that you’ve experienced at least one of these issues with your IWB in the last couple of years:

• Pupils having difficulty viewing the

screen - Ambient light in the classroom can cause IWB screens to ‘wash-out’ making the content fade and almost impossible to view, even with the lights off.

• A blown bulb - Standard projector

bulbs only have about 2,000 hours of life, and they’re expensive to keep in stock. When they blow out, you’re often without an IWB for a couple of days at least.

• Beam misalignment or obstructions

- It’s not uncommon to find the IWB projector getting knocked out of place, or the beam of light being obstructed by classroom objects or pupils’ heads.

hours a day, 220 days a year, and require a significant amount of energy to use. Unless the projector is turned to off rather than standby, they continue to draw energy even when not in use.

Based on average electricity costs and a five year operating period, purchasing and running an IWB can be almost £5,000.

Comparatively, whilst the initial cost of an LCD is higher, the annual power 24

With school budgets as tight as they are, this alone can be the deciding factor in investing in an LCD Touch Screen.

But there are many more benefits to an LCD Touch Screen which could see them replacing IWBs in classrooms in the very near future: continues overleaf u Education Magazine

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Mobile phone tracking designed for school trips “Around the world and around own” Developed with schools for schools, Locuro provides cutting edge parental peace of mind and parental interaction by providing permissions based access to their children’s school trips.

Details available at www.locuro.com Education Magazine

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Are interactive whiteboards destined for nostalgia too? continued

AndersDX and Philips touch screens can handle up to five simultaneous touches Top image: AndersDC and Philips touch screens eliminate issues with users standing in the projector beam

• They’re really easy to use - Touch screens are extremely user friendly, and only require a simple small computer to run. Or you can use them with existing computers too. Companies like Tiny Green PC will even offer training to staff when they’re installed.

• They’re secure and long lasting - The single reliable unit and secure log in prevents students from tampering with it.

• They’re what children are used to - Kids

are so used to being able to touch the screens in front of them, it’s strange for them not to be able to use their hands and fingers on IWBs. Touch screens allow multitouches, and are much more accurate and

responsive than traditional IWBs.

• They’ve got lots of different uses - As well as all existing IWB programmes, there’s a plethora of other software which can be used with LCD touch screens, to help children play, create and be inspired.

And you can turn off the touch screen functionality too, to use the system as information screens or to play videos and other media content.

When it comes to replacing the IWB in your classroom, it could be wise to consider an LCD touch screen instead for both practical uses in the classroom, and for cost effective budget reasons.

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Look out for educational demonstration vehicles from companies like Tiny Green PC and andersDX which are currently touring schools and colleges around the country, to see the benefits of an LCD touch screen for yourself, and find out more about how they can transform your learning environment.

Tiny Green PC is a division of Anders Electronics PLC, based in London. They offer large-format LCD screens software and displays, along with small, quiet and energy efficient PCs , ideal for helping children develop in education settings. For more information visit www.tinygreenpc.com

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NEWS News News News NEWS News NEWS News

£150 million to boost primary school sport

them all to be given the chance to fulfill their sporting potential.

The latest PE and sport premium allocation is the second of 3 annual payments worth a total of over £450 million which this government is committed to giving to schools.

The funding, introduced in 2013, goes directly to primary school headteachers so that they can decide how best to use it to provide PE and sporting activities for pupils.

Vauxhall Primary School has used its PE and sport premium funding to extend the range of after-school clubs, replace sports equipment and increase participation in competitions.

Primary schools receive fresh funding boost of over £150 million to improve PE lessons as part of the PE and sport premium.

Headteachers have already used the PE and sport premium to recruit hundreds of extra specialist PE teachers, to buy new equipment and to offer a wider selection of sports, and free after-school clubs.

Research has shown that 9 out of 10 schools have already improved the quality of their PE lessons as a result of the funding - and more than 90% reported improvements in children’s health, behaviour and lifestyle.

As a result, figures show that on average primary school pupils are spending more time in PE lessons. Last year pupils spent an average of 122 minutes every week doing PE up by 13 minutes from the previous year.

Minister for Children and Families Edward Timpson said that primary schools were delivering better quality lessons as a result of the extra money, and devoting more time to PE. A typical primary school with 250 pupils will receive £9,000 following the announcement - which is equivalent to the cost of employing a specialist sports coach for 2 days each week.

A £2 million package will be offered to schools to help them tackle homophobic bullying, the government announced on 29 October 2014.

New schools announced alongside a survey of free school headteachers.

The money announced will be offered to charitable and not-for-profit organisations that come forward with creative ideas to stamp out homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in our schools - those projects that will make the biggest difference to the lives of all young people growing up in modern Britain.

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan has approved 35 new free school applications, creating more than 22,000 additional school places for children across England.

Establishing new schools is a vital part of the government’s plan for education - boosting choice for parents and helping drive up standards across the board.

The announcement comes as a survey published on 30 September 2014 reveals the positive impact free school headteachers say their schools are having on raising the standard of education in neighbouring schools.

The representative survey shows how free schools are bringing new ideas and approaches to education:

Announcing the latest allocations, Edward Timpson visited Vauxhall Primary School in London on 3 November where he took part in a PE lesson and watched a football match.

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72% of headteachers say they are having a positive impact on schools in their local area - often by competition or collaboration

Minister for Children and Families Edward Timpson said:

•

two-thirds offer an alternative to the national curriculum in some or all subjects

Whether a child is a potential future Olympic champion or a keen amateur like me, I want

Organisations urged to come forward with ideas to stamp out homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying.

For many, memories of being bullied in the playground, in the corridors and in classrooms will stay with them for the rest of their lives. It can deter children from being themselves, achieving their full potential and developing the important skills they need to succeed.

84% of free schools are collaborating with neighbouring schools, or plan to do so

Thanks to our PE and sport premium, primary schools are offering more and better quality sport programmes - and this funding boost will help headteachers go further.

£2 million fund to tackle homophobic bullying in schools

35 new free schools providing more than 22,000 places announced

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As part of our plan for education, we want all children to get into the habit of playing and enjoying sport in primary school as it can help instil confidence, discipline and determination.

government’s plan for education - boosting choice for parents and helping drive up standards across the board.

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around half have an extended school day

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan has approved 35 new free school applications, creating more than 22,000 additional school places for children across England.

Nurseries ‘must do more’ to give children the best start in life Minister Sam Gyimah has called on nurseries to take action after statistics show not enough children are making good progress.

Nurseries and other child carers must do more to help toddlers learn, Childcare and Education Minister Sam Gyimah has said, after statistics published on 16 October 2014 show too few young children are ready for school.

The statistics show that overall 60% of children aged 5 are making good progress against the early years foundation stage profile (EYFSP). However, the gap between those from the most disadvantaged areas and their peers has remained static at 12%.

The EYFSP is designed to ensure that all children are prepared and ready for school and life in modern Britain. It measures things like how children play together through to being able to count to 10 and write their own name.

Childcare and Education Minister Sam Gyimah said: Ensuring parents have access to affordable, flexible and high-quality early years provision is a key part of our plan for education.

Establishing new schools is a vital part of the

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News News NEWS News

News

Schools plan to increase focus on maths, new report shows

require more teaching time. An international study from 2011 showed England lagged behind other countries in maths provision but this news shows this is reversing, thanks to the government’s plan for education.

Surveys show schools are placing a greater emphasis on maths and other important academic subjects.

Encouraging more pupils to study maths is a key part of the government’s plan for education.

Young people with an A level in maths go on to earn 7% to 10% more than similarly educated people without this qualification.

Schools across the country are planning to boost the amount of time and staff devoted to teaching maths, surveys out on 24/10/14 show, giving more young people a greater knowledge and understanding of the subject.

The surveys revealed that ahead of the introduction of a new, more demanding maths GCSE to be taught from next September:

• • • •

more than a quarter of schools planned to increase the amount of maths taught per week half of schools were introducing training programmes for maths teachers more than one-third of schools said they had recruited additional staff to prepare for the new maths GCSE more than three-quarters of senior leaders said they were confident that their school’s curriculum reflects the new national curriculum for maths

The new reformed GCSE will demand a deeper and broader understanding of mathematical concepts, which is likely to

Academies funding: training videos and webinars launched An online resource aimed at academies and free schools to help them understand the impact of the funding changes for 2015 to 2016 Following the success of last year’s training resources, on 26th September 2014 the Education Funding Agency (EFA) released a series of short training videos to help academies and free schools understand how their 2015 to 2016 funding allocation will be calculated. This can be found at www. registration.livegroup.co.uk/efa/ This online approach allows instant access to relevant information, which academies can view at a convenient time. It includes bite-size updates about different elements of schools funding. The videos are

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accompanied by powerpoint presentations which are also available to download for internal training purposes.

Thousands more school leavers staying in education or training New figures reveal more young people are gaining knowledge and skills demanded by employers.

Skills Minister Nick Boles has welcomed figures that reveal thousands more school leavers are staying in education or training after the age of 16.

Previously, young people too often left school without the knowledge, training or experience demanded by employers and universities. But now the rules have been changed so that they have to remain in education or training beyond the age of 16, the 2 October 2014 figures demonstrating the real impact this is having for thousands of people across the country.

This comes after figures published over the summer show the number of 16- to 18-year-olds not in education, employment, or training (NEET) is at its lowest recorded level. 91,000 fewer 16- to 18-year-olds are now NEET, compared to 2009’s peak level.

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Nationwide celebration of the ‘great school lunch’ The Deputy Prime Minster kicked off a week of celebrations to highlight just how far school meals have come since the days of lukewarm liver and bacon and lumpy banana custard.

As part of National School Meals Week (3 to 7 November 2014), hosted of celebrity chefs who joined forces with school cooks to promote the great school lunch. It comes just months after the launch of free school meals for 2.8 million primary school children and the introduction of cooking on the curriculum.

The following Monday, the Deputy Prime Minister joined school children at Brasserie Blanc in Oxford, to get some top cooking tips from Raymond Blanc, before heading to a primary school in North London to cook up a storm with Lorraine Pascale.

To help raise awareness and enhance children’s relationships with food, school cooks will be taking their skills out of the school kitchen to showcase to parents and pupils the variety and quality of food now being served in schools.

Bursaries and scholarships for top graduates who train to teach Financial incentives worth £25,000 for academic year 2015 to 2016 announced.

Bursaries and prestigious scholarships worth £25,000 tax free will be offered to top graduates who choose to get into teaching and to help raise standards across England’s schools, Schools Minister David Laws announced on Thursday 25 September.

Raising teaching standards and delivering the best schools and skills to prepare young people for life in modern Britain is key to building a stronger economy and a fairer society.

To help recruit the best and brightest graduates, with the potential to be brilliant teachers in key subjects, the coalition government has announced increases to financial incentives available to trainees starting in the academic year 2015 to 2016.

Changes include:

• Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: It’s a very simple truth that if you don’t give children a healthy, balanced meal at lunchtime, you can’t expect them to sit down, concentrate and learn well in the afternoon.

That’s why I’m so proud of the work we’ve done in government to put school food back on the agenda. We’ve introduced new food standards, cooking on the curriculum and free school meals, which can save families up to £400 per year, help children do better in class and improve their daily diet.

This week is about not only encouraging children to really understand and enjoy the food they eat but to celebrate all the schools chefs and catering staff who work day-in dayout to help provide school meals and ensure that we live in a fairer society where every child can get the best possible start in life, regardless of their background.

Hundreds of schools across the country will also be taking part in the celebrations, which mark the biggest healthy eating awareness week aimed at children in England and Wales. With 1 in 5 children leaving primary school overweight and obese, ensuring a healthy, nutritionally balanced school lunch has never been so important.

a £25,000 tax-free bursary (up from £20,000 in 2014 to 2015) for top trainees with a 2:1 or a 1st in physics, or a 1st in maths, chemistry, computing or languages

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a £20,000 tax-free bursary (up from £15,000 in 2014 to 2015) for graduates with a 2:1 in chemistry or languages, and £15,000 for graduates who get a 2:2 (up from £12,000 last year)

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increased funding for schools offering salaried School Direct places for trainees in maths, physics and computing to boost the starting pay in these subjects - trainees could earn more than £21,000 nationally and £25,000 in inner London

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increased bursaries for trainees in design and technology and geography (£12,000 for a 1st, £9,000 for a 2:1 and £4,000 for a 2:2), biology (£15,000 for a 1st, £12,000 for a 2:1 and £10,000 for a 2:2) and those with a 2:2 in music will now get £4,000

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a new bursary for trainees in religious education - £9,000 for a 1st and £4,000 for a 2:1.

As well as a range of lucrative bursaries the government is continuing to offer soughtafter teacher training scholarships for the most gifted maths, physics, chemistry and computing trainees, in partnership with

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highly respected professional bodies:

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the Institute of Physics (IOP)

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the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)

the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT

Around 1,000 top graduates have already benefited from the scholarship schemes, which have been running since 2011. As well as financial benefits, scholars enjoy a range of perks including free membership to professional bodies, access to resources and events to support them in their teacher training, and early career support through their first years of teaching.

New funding will help most disadvantaged 3and 4-year-olds The early years pupil premium is worth up to £300 per child.

Schools, nurseries and childminders will be given up to £300 for every 3- and 4-year-old from a low-income family to help prevent them falling behind before they have even started school, the government has set out.

The early years pupil premium, totalling £50 million, is designed to narrow the attainment gap between young children from lowincome families and their peers, setting them on a path to a more successful future.

In a response to an early years pupil premium and funding for 2-year-olds consultation published recently, the government has also announced that 7 areas will share a £1 million pot to trial the new support ahead of its introduction nationwide next April.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: It is vital that we intervene at the earliest possible stage and do all we can to help young children develop and learn.

I’m so proud that we’ve been able to deliver this early years pupil premium so that toddlers from the poorest families get the support they need, which will pay dividends later in life.

In my view, this will be one of the great legacies of this government, helping create a fairer society which benefits families up and down the country.

Education Magazine

News News NEWS News

News

EFA Information Exchange calendar now live The new calendar function is now available on the Education Funding Agency Information Exchange. EFA has launched the new calendar function on the EFA Information Exchange.

It shows EFA’s deadlines, publication dates and events that affect you.

They have launched a brief survey to get your feedback on the calendar and other aspects of the EFA Information Exchange. This will help us plan the next stage of developments.

Its at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SFZ77FD

NEWS NEWS News

Childminder choice has never been better thanks to first agency The first childminder agency (CMA) in England will help families find first-class services that fit around their specific working hours and needs.

You can access the EFA Information Exchange through the Department for Education’s Secure Access portal. Advice on how to do this is available on GOV.UK. at www.gov.uk/ government/publications/efa-information-exchange

Funding to prevent female genital mutilation and forced marriage Minister for Women reinforces ‘practice will not be tolerated’.

To mark International Day of the Girl (11 October 2014), £330,000 of funding to help tackle female genital mutilation and forced marriage head on has been committed by the government.

The funding will be used to extend a number of projects that provide expertise and support services in some of the most at risk areas of the country to help eradicate this abhorrent practice.

This furthers the commitment made by the Prime Minister in July 2014 to galvanise international efforts to combat female genital mutilation and forced marriage.

Minister for Women and Equalities Nicky Morgan said: All women, whether young or old, have the right to live their life free from violence without being forced into marriage or experiencing the lifelong physical and psychological effects of female genital mutilation.

These horrific practices are a violation of the rights of girls and women across the world, including here in the UK. This funding will offer much needed further support and guidance to those at risk or surviving, whilst reinforcing to communities that this practice will not be tolerated.

The money announced will be split between 3 important groups of projects addressing both female genital mutilation and forced marriage:

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£100,000 will go to the Forced Marriage Unit to be directed at community work to support victims and survivors of forced marriage

community champions fund who will work with local faith leaders to promote messages during faith meetings; supporting girls at risk to speak out; work with media to tackle attitudes that perpetuate these crimes; and work with local areas to ensure that their services are sensitive to needs of those in need

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£150,000 for community engagement in at risk areas led by the Department for Communities and Local Government Home Secretary Theresa May said:

The UK government stands shoulder to shoulder with campaigners across the globe in our commitment to eradicating violence against women and girls.

We have already criminalised forced marriage, strengthening protection for victims and sending a clear message to perpetrators that it is entirely unacceptable.

New funding for our world-leading Forced Marriage Unit will help us to rehabilitate more survivors, educate more professionals about the new legislation, and strengthen our work with faith groups to reinforce the message that forced marriage is not condoned by any major religion.

Together, we will continue to fight to protect girls whose education, freedom and ambition is at risk of being curtailed by unwanted marriage.

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£80,000 to the Department for Communities and Local Government’s

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Parents whose childminders fall ill will be offered immediate emergency solutions thanks to St Bede Academy in Bolton becoming the first CMA in the country to gain the green light.

The new agency will give parents peace of mind about their child’s education and care with agencies having regular contact with childminders to ensure high standards are being upheld.

Childcare Minister Sam Gyimah said: Ensuring parents have access to affordable, flexible, high-quality childcare is part of our plan for education.

Agencies will make life easier for parents by providing a one stop shop to help them find the right early education and care for their child. That kind of umbrella role is something that neither a childminder nor a nursery can currently perform themselves.

I know many parents greatly value homebased childminder care, as well as the role they play in providing wraparound care for children. That’s why we want to help childminders thrive in offering quality education and care.

Childminders’ registration with CMAs is entirely voluntary, and in return they will receive training and administrative support that means they can spend more time focusing on children and less on bureaucracy.

Agencies will help new childminders spread their initial costs and will be able to offer financial savings in areas such as group activities and shared resources.

Recent reforms have helped all types of childcare, including both independent childminders registered with Ofsted and agency registered childminders. It is now easier for all childminders to access government funding to support 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds.

UIFSM: have you thought about serving the extra school meals?

Foodservice counters can enhance speed and safety and be a focal point in the dining area Universal infant free school meals has focused lots of attention on the school kitchen, but a number of extra children to feed is going to have a huge impact on the dining area, too.

Especially when it comes to serving the food.

Foodservice counters should help ensure the child is served in a safe manner and has a positive dining experience. Here John Wannan, looks at some key points to consider when it comes to planning and specifying foodservice counters.

First things first: a key factor that some specifiers overlook is the operating height of the counter. It’s critical and especially important for primary schools, where younger children will need a lower counter.

This isn’t just about safety, it’s also about ensuring there’s no barrier between the child and the caterer: visibility is vital to ensure easy communication. Some manufacturers offer a choice of heights, so it shouldn’t be an issue – provided it’s factored in at the start.

Depending on the size of the school, the equipment needed to serve food will range from a single foodservice trolley to a multi-

module foodservice area, with hot and cold display units, cooking stations and so forth. For primary schools looking to expand their food servery area, mobile counters make a lot of sense, as they can be wheeled in when required and then wheeled away when service is over, so that the area can be used for other activities. Mobile units also offer the option of changing the layout – to account for changing numbers, changing menus and so on.

Whether mobile or static, the layout of the counters needs to guide the child through the dining ‘journey’, from the tray to the food to the eating area. Here the humble tray slide can be an important factor, allowing simple progress, promoting safety and improving the speed of the whole operation. The area also needs to provide

space for the storage of utensils, trays and cutlery. Any ‘reach-in’ sections that children can access need to be safe, in terms of temperature and a smooth finish.

Clearing up needs to be planned for, too – how you manage waste and get the dirties to the wash area. One answer is a mobile clearaway trolley, where children can scrape food waste and deposit trays and crockery.

Obviously the design of the counter needs to promote hygiene and protect food safety and quality through, for example, consistent temperature maintenance, in both heated and chilled food units. However, a bright, aesthetically pleasing foodservice counter can also be focal point of the dining area and encourages meal take-up. Manufacturers can help enhance the look of their models through a choice of colours and finishes. Some may be able to add graphics and logos, too, to appeal to younger diners.

When it comes to specifying the counter, it should be easy to clean and maintain, simple to operate and with full controllability of any built-in appliances. If it’s mobile, check 32

that it’s easily manoeuvrable and has braked casters. It should also be able to maintain the consistency of food quality, throughout the duration of service, and be designed to accommodate industry-standard sized containers.

Schools on tight budgets will be looking for value for money – so don’t ignore lifetime running costs. With rising energy bills, a

more efficient model can repay any extra investment in a very short timescale.

John Wannan is the marketing manager for British catering equipment manufacturer E&R Moffat who is the current LACA Supplier of the Year.

E & R Moffat is one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of quality foodservice equipment, designing and manufacturing in-house.

For more information on E & R Moffat visit the website on www.ermoffat.co.uk

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supply2schools We at supply2schools send emails on behalf of our clients who wish to contact, inform and supply products and services to schools across the U.K. Our clients offer the best products and services at the most competitive prices with reliability at their heart.

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When schools receive an email via supply2schools they can be confident that they are getting up to date information from a reliable company who has experience in supplying the education sector.

For more information please contact info@ supply2schools.co.uk where one of our account managers will be happy to talk you through how simple and inexpensive our services are.

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Why active learning is good for children With more technology than ever at their disposal, teachers can create fun and creative lessons via the Internet to keep children engaged. From interactive whiteboards to iPads, the amount of resources available in schools is growing and there is a wealth of online resources to complement that too.

being kind. But even when it isn’t, you can still use this to your advantage. Not only does active learning encourage individual participation but it can also encourage children to work in teams, collaborate to answer problems/solve tasks, and also build communication skills in terms of listening and talking. These are many of the key skills that will go on to benefit them later on in life, whether it is further education, career prospects or everyday life. Some of these lessons can be easily adaptable to do at as part of home-based learning too that parents can get involved in. Here are some examples of how lessons could be adapted in key core subject areas: English

‘2 kids at a 2Touch IWB in Melbourne 1’ by Pablo Garcia licensed under Creative Commons license CC BY 2.0

However, this should not be at the expense of active learning and in particular activities outdoors that helps to keep children active and also helps them to understand the world around them. And here is why:

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Studies have shown that active learning can help students remember more

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Active learning helps to build key skills

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It can promote healthy learning and encourage youngsters to spend more time outdoors

When the temperature gets warmer, pupils can be taken outside to read books as a group. They can take it in turns to act as characters in the book or even read paragraphs from the book. All students can be further included by asking them questions about the book. Future lessons can then recap what happened previously or a small quiz can be compiled to test their knowledge.

having a tag race. Pupils are split up into groups of four or five. Each team are given a pen board and pens in their group. The teacher organises each team member in which order they will go up and do the activity. When at each sum, the pupil reads out what it is to his or her team. The rest of their team members then work together in a team to calculate the answer and write down what they think it is on the pen board.

If they are correct, their team member moves forward to the next task. If not, they stop where they are and the other teams can move forward in front of them. When they reach the end, the person goes and tags the next person up and they come back in the opposite direction. The sums are turned over or replaced by new ones to ensure they give different answers. The process then repeats until one team gets their entire team through the process to the end. Sums can get more advanced with different age groups.

Science Trees and plants offer teachers the opportunity to explain about germination, different types of plants, how sunlight affects plants and more. Teachers can also encourage youngsters to grow their own plants either inside the classroom at home to get them to record their findings and study.

‘Story Time’ by Dave Parker licensed under Creative Commons license CC BY 2.0

‘Bakewell C of E Infant School – Bath Street, Bakewell’ by Elliott Brown licensed under Creative Commons license CC BY-SA 2.0

What is active learning?

Active learning is the use of techniques to get children involved in lessons whether it is letting them investigate and explore ideas, show and tell, or through play. It is understandably more associated with Physical Education with children having time outdoors, however, there are many examples of where active learning can stimulate and encourage children in other subject areas within the curriculum.

How lessons can use active learning outdoors Understandably, a lot of outdoor activities are heavily reliant on the British weather

In terms of helping with pupils learning spelling, write out correct and incorrect spellings of words on A3 paper which can then be laid on the ground in the playground.

Kids take it in turns to throw beanbags at the spelling they think is correct. Or you can ask them all to move towards the spelling they think is correct. Words that pupils struggle with can then be used in the future when doing more spelling-related tasks.

Maths With maths, tasks could involve laying out different calculations on paper with different movements. For example: from the starting position at one side of the playground, children are told to walk forward five steps.

The next sheet of paper then says to multiply the number of steps taken by 2 and this is the number of skips they should do to the next sheet. The answer should be shouted out at each step and if it is correct they move on. If incorrect, they are out of the game that round. Substitute correct answers for the next pupil participating.

This could be turned into a team game by 34

‘Spring’ by Bill Tyne licensed under Creative Commons license CC BY-SA 2.0

Weather is one such subject area that can be great to teach kids and you could get them to undertake tasks involving different types of weather (for instance measuring rainfall) and recording this for a month. This will allow teachers to explain seasonality, what happens in different seasons and why weather occurs as it does.

Active learning can be used in any number of different ways in fun, safe and inclusive ways. By offering opportunities for children to work together or do things outside of a classroom environment, it can help to increase knowledge and enjoyment away from the indoor environment.

Written by Rob Cassidy, the Marketing Manager at Canopies UK

Education Magazine

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