This week’s events

Monday 1 August - 1st day of Ramadan. Saturday 6 August - Hiroshima Day; Moon: 1st quarter 11.08 UT.

First question mark

A symbol that is thought to be the world's earliest question mark has been identified by a Cambridge academic. The symbol is two dots, one above the other, similar in appearance to a colon, rather than the familiar squiggle of the modern question mark. The double-dot symbol appears in Syriac manuscripts of the Bible dating back to the fifth century. The double-dot mark, known to later grammarians as zawga elaya, is written above a word near the start of a sentence to tell the reader that it is a question. It doesn't appear on all questions: ones with a wh- word don't need it, just as in English 'Who is it' can only be a question (although we use a question mark anyway). But a question like 'You're going away?' needs the question mark to be understood; and in Syriac, zawga elaya marks just these otherwise ambiguous expressions. Source: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/the-riddle-of-the-syriac-double-dot-it%E2%80%99s-the-world%E2%80%99s-earliest-question-mark/

Quote of the Week

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." Marcel Proust (1871–1922)

UK qualifications gap

One in nine adults have no formal qualifications and there are huge local variations in levels of education within Britain's adult population, reveals an analysis published by the University and College Union.

It shows a Britain divided by a wide educational gulf: in some areas, a third of 16 to 64 year-olds are without qualifications, while in others the proportion is as low as two per cent.

In the Glasgow North East constituency 35 per cent of adults have no qualifications, compared to only 1.9 per cent in Brent North.

The UCU analysis shows that in some southern constituencies it has become very unusual not to have qualifications - while in parts of the West Midlands it remains widespread.

There are more people without qualifications in Birmingham Hodge Hill than in Cambridge, Winchester, Wimbledon, Buckingham, Romsey, Leeds North West and four other constituencies put together.

Source: http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=5676

All-school scholarships

All schools in England should offer university scholarships to their poorest pupils.

The deputy Liberal Democrat leader Simon Hughes said that linking scholarships directly to schools and colleges would motivate children and this would end the situation where some schools sent no pupils to university.

This was one of 30 recommendations made in his final report as champion of university access.

Source: http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/Detail.aspx?ReleaseID=420498&NewsAreaID=2

£5000 OU fees

The Open University has announced tuition fees of £5,000 per year for the equivalent of a full-time place for students in England from next year.

The majority of universities will charge £9000 for some or all courses.

More than two-thirds of the Open University's students are studying part-time - and the university will be expecting to benefit from the introduction of loans for part-time students.

For a typical part-time Open University student, studying at the level of half of full-time, the fees will be £2,500 per year.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-14216167

Google effects on memory

Four studies suggest that searching for information on the Internet decreases our recall of the information but enhances our recall of where to access it.

The advent of the Internet, with sophisticated algorithmic search engines, has made accessing information as easy as lifting a finger.

No longer do we have to make costly efforts to find the things we want. We can Google the old classmate, find articles online, or look up the actor who was on the tip of our tongue.

When faced with difficult questions, people are primed to think about computers as a solution and expect to have future access to information they find.

The Internet has become a primary form of external or transactive memory, where information is stored collectively outside ourselves.

If these arguments seem familiar, it may be because Plato reported that Socrates said exactly the same thing about writing:

Socrates lived relatively shortly after the invention of the Greek alphabet and the widespread adoption of writing.

...for this discovery of yours [writing] will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written characters and not remember of themselves.

Writing is still with us.

Source: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2011/07/13/science.1207745

Key Stage 2 testing to change

The UK Government hass accepted all the recommendations of the independent review of testing, assessment and accountability at the end of primary school.

Changes to the Key Stage 2 system aim to make it fairer and more effective in raising standards.

The review recommended that:

- Writing test should be replaced by teacher assessment of writing composition.

- There should be a spelling, grammar, punctuation and vocabulary test - all have clear right or wrong answers.

- Maths should continue to be externally tested.

- Reading tests should continue but need to be refined.

- Science should continue to be teacher assessed with a sample test to monitor national standards.

- Speaking and listening should continue to be teacher assessed.

- Three-year rolling averages should be introduced to give a rounded picture of a school's performance.

- There should be a greater emphasis on the progress of pupils.

- Progress should be given as much weighting as attainment and should be one of the two headline published measures, alongside attainment.

- There should be a strong focus on the progress of every pupil, as well as greater emphasis on the progress of each Year 6 cohort. A new progress measure should be introduced to focus on the performance of lower-attaining pupils. This will help stop schools focusing on children on the Level 3/4 borderline.

- New progress and attainment measures should be introduced for pupils who have completed all of Years 5 and 6 in a school so that schools are not held wholly responsible for the performance of pupils who have just joined them.

- Teacher assessment judgements should continue in English, maths and science, and should be submitted before test results are announced. This will mean more weight is attached to them and allow longer for these results to inform Year 7 teaching and learning.

- Transition to secondary school should be eased for pupils and their new teachers. There should be more detailed reporting to secondary schools so Year 7 teachers know right from the outset a pupil's attainment and the areas where extra work is needed.

- Pupils who are ill on the day of a test should have a week to sit it, rather than two days.

Source: http://www.education.gov.uk/a00192403/key-stage-2-review-of-testing-assessment-and-accountability-government-response

Quote of the Week

"The gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge." Albert Einstein (1879–1955

Cheques reprieved

The Payments Council has announced that cheques will continue for as long as customers need them.

The target for possible closure of the cheque clearing in 2018 has been cancelled.

The Payments Council Board has stated that they will continue to focus on security, efficiency and encouraging innovation in all types of payments.

Source: http://www.paymentscouncil.org.uk/media_centre/press_releases/-/page/1575/

Poor spelling costs millions

An online entrepreneur says that poor spelling is costing the UK millions of pounds in lost revenue for internet businesses.

Charles Duncombe says an analysis of website figures shows a single spelling mistake can cut online sales in half.

He says the big problem for online firms isn't technology but finding staff who can spell.

The concerns were echoed by the CBI whose head of education and skills warned that too many employers were having to invest in remedial literacy lessons for their staff.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-14130854

Leaders can improve learning

Despite competing priorities, leaders need to focus on creating a culture in which teaching and learning are truly a priority, according to the think piece - Leading Learning in Further Education - by the 157 Group and CfBT Education Trust (May 2011).

The effective leadership of learning appears to involve four areas of practice:

- Investing time and resources to promote the professional development of staff.

- Having a close involvement in the management of the teaching programme.

- Setting clear directions for the organisation, including the centrality of teaching and learning.

- Establishing a culture that respects the professionalism of teachers and empowers them to innovate.

The report also recommends the use of supported experiments - an action learning approach in which staff are involved in identifying areas that need to be improved and investigate new approaches for making these improvements.

Source: http://www.cfbt.com/evidenceforeducation/pdf/2157G-082-LeadingLearning.pdf

UK-Chinese vocational education agreement

A groundbreaking agreement outlining how the UK and China will work together to boost vocational learning in both countries has been announced.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed during an official visit to Beijing, China, by Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning Minister John Hayes.

The five key areas of activity will be:

- Trials of apprenticeships in China drawing on UK models and expertise.

- Expanding the mutual recognition of qualifications and vocational education providers.

- Support for institutional partnerships including joint course development and student/teacher exchanges.

- Joint development of e-learning and remote learning facilities.

- Sector specialists from the UK and China working together to develop curriculum material and training resources.

Source: http://www.wired-gov.net/wg/wg-news-1.nsf/lfi/420348

Quote of the Week

"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first." Mark Twain (1835–1910)

This week’s events

Tuesday 12 July - Battle of the Boyne (Orangemen's Day).

Thursday 14 July - Bastille Day.

Friday 15 July - Full Moon; Buddhist Lent.

Phonics contributes to literacy decline

Concerns have been raised by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Education that the coalition Government's focus on phonics will contribute to a decline in literacy standards.

Their report is based on evidence from 584 teachers and educational stakeholders including the teachers' unions, literacy associations, publishers and outreach organisations.

The report emphasises that literacy policy should focus on instilling a love of reading in order to increase children's motivation, wellbeing and attainment. The APPG also found that literacy policy should not be the responsibility of the Department for Education alone. Social factors – such as parental involvement – and health issues – such as eye care – are significant contributors to children's reading success.

The government's focus on systematic synthetic phonics is at odds with the views of many within the education community, who believe that it risks making reading a dull exercise for English classes. The report identified that phonics and reading are being used interchangeably by policymakers, but reading isolated words is not reading for meaning.

Many respondents also wanted to dispel the myth about how phonics is currently used. Most teachers already use phonics to teach reading, but they do so by blending phonics with other reading strategies.

Source: http://www.educationappg.org.uk/2011/07/appg-for-education-calls-for-action-on-barriers-to-literacy/

Go to right school to get Oxbridge place

Four schools and one college sent more students to Oxbridge over three years than 2000 schools and colleges across the UK, according to a report on university admissions by the Sutton Trust.

Between them, Westminster School, Eton College, Hills Road Sixth Form College, St Pauls School and St Pauls Girls School produced 946 Oxbridge entrants over the period 2007-2009 – accounting for over one in 20 of all Oxbridge admissions. Meanwhile just under 2000 schools and colleges with less than one Oxbridge entrant a year produced a total of 927 Oxbridge entrants.

These figures are driven primarily by differences in the A-level results, but the study also shows different success rates for schools with similar average examination results.

Source: http://www.suttontrust.com/news/news/four-schools-and-one-college-win-more-places-at-oxbridge/

More 16-18 year olds in training or education

Government figures show that the highest ever proportion of 16-18 year olds were participating in education or training at the end of 2010.

The provisional data showed:

- The proportion of 16-18 year olds in education and training was 84.4 per cent compared to 82.5 per cent at the end of 2009. The total number of 16-18 year olds in education and training increased by 1,600 to 1.64 million at the end of 2010.

- The proportion of 16-18 year olds not in education, employment or training (NEET) decreased from 9.4 per cent at the end of 2009 to 7.3 per cent at the end of 2010.

The data also show a record proportion of 16-17 year olds participating in education or work-based learning – the age group that will be the focus of the Department's policy to raise the participation age.

Source: http://www.wired-gov.net/wg/wg-news-1.nsf/lfi/DNWA-8JCGED

Business mentor network launched

A new network of volunteer business mentors, mentorsme.co.uk, has been launched by the British Government.

Mentorsme.co.uk is Britain's first online gateway for small and medium-sized enterprises looking for mentoring services.

The free site offers businesses access to a list of business mentoring organisations across Britain. A search engine allows businesses to refine their searches according to the life stage of their business and their location in Britain.<br.>

The site also allows business professionals to offer their services as a business mentor via the mentoring organisations listed. Aspiring mentors may want to work in a particular area of Britain and have a particular area of expertise to offer. Our search engine allows them to locate mentoring organisations that are the closest match to their profile.

Mentorsme.co.uk also aims to raise awareness about the benefits of business mentoring through its library of online resources, which includes articles about mentoring and case studies of successful business mentoring relationships.

Mentorsme.co.uk is operated by the Business Finance Taskforce, which has been set up by the British Bankers' Association and is made up of five banks: Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and Santander. The taskforce was established to help businesses access the finance they need to grow.

Source: http://www.mentorsme.co.uk/about

Quote of the Week

"The English are not very spiritual people, so they invented cricket to give them some idea of eternity." George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)

This week’s events

Monday 4 July - Independence Day (US); Aphelion (Earth's furthest distance from the Sun) 15:00 UT

Friday 8 July - Moon's first quarter 06:29 UT

Plan to attract best graduates to teaching

Top graduates will be attracted into the teaching profession to help drive up standards in schools.

Despite having many excellent teachers, trained in some of the best institutions in the world, other nations are racing ahead in school improvement. The Government plans to raise the status of the profession, in the bid to make it a highly attractive career for top graduates. There has also been a longstanding problem recruiting the high quality maths and science teachers.

The proposals cover:

- Offering high quality graduates significantly better financial incentives to train as teachers.

- Offering financial incentives to all trainees with at least a 2.2 so that teacher training continues to be attractive to graduates with excellent subject knowledge.

- Requiring all trainees to have high standards of mathematics and English by requiring trainees to pass a tougher literacy and numeracy tests before they start training.

- Allowing and encouraging schools to lead their own high quality initial teacher training in partnership with a university.

- Giving schools, as prospective employers, a stronger influence over the content of ITT training as well as the recruitment and selection of trainees.

- Continuing to subject ITT provision to quality controls that focus on the quality of placements and selection.

Source: http://www.education.gov.uk/inthenews/inthenews/a0078044/government-sets-out-plans-to-attract-the-best-graduates-into-teaching