Michael Gove may have been defeated in his curriculum battle, but the fight has been worth it

Even those opposed to Gove's history curriculum reforms must admit it has focused attention on teaching

Michael Gove leads his troops into glorious defeat at the Battle of the Curriculum

There is an apocryphal story told of a British officer of the First World War, sent from headquarters to the front, catching sight of the appalling horror of the battlefield and collapsing into tears, crying to the Heavens for the dreadful waste of life for so little land gained.

If Michael Gove – resplendent, perhaps, in a general's uniform – were to survey the scene of the recent "history curriculum wars", would he respond the same? Would he see, broken in the mud, the corpses of Mr Men called in aid of his argument; watch Niall Ferguson and Richard Evans, bloodied but unbowed, march from the field still defiantly bellowing at each other; note the unstilled sniper shots of @toryeducation still picking out enemy troops even after the armistice? And would he wonder "Was it all for nothing?"

Cost of a degree 'to rise to £26,000' after tuition fee hike

Graduates face being left with debts of almost £26,000 after universities revealed that the cost of a degree course would rise to a new high next year.

Data submitted to the Office for Fair Access has shown that the cost of a degree will rise in 2014.

Official figures show that annual tuition fees will increase by around two per cent to an average of £8,647 for new students starting in 2014.

Almost three-quarters of universities and colleges in England will charge the maximum amount – £9,000 – for at least one course, it emerged. This is up from just six-in-10 in 2013.

Arrest in music schools sex abuse probe

Police investigating allegations of sex abuse at two music schools in the North West make another arrest.

Police investigating allegations of sex abuse at two music schools in the North West make another arrest

A 65-year-old man has become the third man to be arrested by police investigating allegations of widescale sex abuse at top music schools.

The man was arrested by Greater Manchester Police as part of the probe into historic sexual abuse at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) and Chetham's School of Music, both based in Manchester.

Schools 'playing the system' to boost GCSE exam grades

Children are being forced to sit exams in the same subject as many as seven times as part of an elaborate ploy to boost GCSE results, a Government investigation has found.

The DfE found that pupils were entering exams in the same subject as many as seven times to get a good grade.

Rising numbers of schools are entering pupils for a series of different tests in English and maths but only registering the best score to improve their position in league tables.

In many cases, children are taking exams a year or two early and then re-sitting the test after failing to get good scores at the first attempt.

Same-sex parents 'should be featured in school books'

Children's books used in primary schools should feature same-sex parents to help teach tolerance among youngsters, according to an academic.

Schools should stock books that promote same-sex parents to combat homophobia, it is claimed.

Mark McGlashan, from Lancaster University, said pupils as young as five should be introduced to texts that "challenge homophobic bullying and encourage inclusivity in schools".

There is evidence that giving young children access to picture books that show gay and lesbian characters in a good light can have “positive benefits” and promote equality, it is claimed.

Slumdog Millionaire professor sets up first 'cloud schools' for teacherless lessons

A radical new scheme involving holding lessons without teachers is to be tried out at two schools in Britain for the first time.

Prof Sugata Mitra

Two so-called “cloud schools”, in which children use internet links to learn directly from experts, are to be set up inside existing schools in the North East of England.

They are part of an initiative by Prof Sugata Mitra, the education expert whose previous ideas include providing “Hole in the Wall” computers in Indian slums to enable impoverished children to learn by themselves.

Graduate 'background checks' as 85 compete for each job

Middle-class students face extra competition for top graduate jobs as companies increasingly favour applicants from poor backgrounds to engineer a more “diverse” workforce, research suggests.

More companies are vetting recruits' backgrounds to prevent jobs being monopolised by graduates from middle-class families.

Rising numbers of employers are carrying out background checks on graduates during the annual recruitment round amid political pressure to boost social mobility, it emerged.

A new report reveals that more than one-in-six top companies currently vet applicants’ socio-economic status and numbers will increase to almost four-in-10 in coming years.

Costs for state school hits '£22,500 per child'

The cost of putting a child through state school has risen by more than £6,000 in the past five years, according to research.

The latest Aviva School Sums index reveals that families are paying out more than £1,600 per child per year

The cost of educating children is enough to make even celebrities wince.

In an interview with the Telegraph, Status Quo rocker Francis Rossi said his children's education was the biggest drain on an estimated fortune of £10m.

His eight children have been privately educated, but new research out today shows that the cost of educating a child through the state system adds up to more than £22,500.

Teachers to strike over pay, pensions and workload

Teachers are to stage a one-day national walkout in the autumn in a continuing row over pay, pensions and workload, it was announced today.

The General Secretary of the NASUWT union, Chris Keates

Every region in England and Wales will be affected by regional strikes in the first and third week of October, the NASUWT and the National Union of Teachers (NUT) said.

This will be followed by a national strike later in the term.

Degree courses filled with foreign students, minister says

Universities are being forced to fill large numbers of degree courses with foreign students amid a shortage of well-qualified British applicants, the Education Minister has warned.

Elizabeth Truss, the Education Minister, said not enough pupils were taking maths beyond the age of 16.

Many places to study subjects such as maths, science and engineering are going to undergraduates from oversees because home-grown teenagers fail to take appropriate A-levels in the sixth-form, according to Elizabeth Truss.

In a speech, she told how England was “way behind our competitors” in terms of the number of students studying maths beyond the age of 16 – a prerequisite for most technical degree subjects.

Poor boys 'two-and-a-half years behind wealthy peers'

The gulf in standards between bright boys from rich and poor backgrounds is wider in Britain than in any other developed nation, according to research.

The Sutton Trust said that bright children should be identified and given extra help from the age of five.

Clever boys from wealthy families are around two-and-a-half years ahead of their peers in the most disadvantaged families by the age 15, it emerged.

The study showed that boys’ chances of doing well were more closely tied to social class in England and Scotland than anywhere else in the western world.

Fewer children 'should take packed lunches to school'

Schools will be told to increase the number of pupils eating canteen meals today to cut childhood obesity despite warnings from teachers that the plans are "not feasible".

Leon bosses Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent will recommend that parents stop providing packed lunches as part of an overhaul of school dinners.

A Government-backed report is expected to push for a halving in the number of children taking packed lunches to school in an attempt to stop pupils eating so much fatty and sugary food.

The study – by Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent, co-founders of the Leon restaurant chain – will call on head teachers to make school dinners more attractive to pupils.

Head teacher 'snaps' and runs over keyboard

A head teacher had a “Basil Fawlty-style” meltdown in front of his pupils, when he destroyed an electric organ by repeatedly running over it in his car.

Malcolm Hayes, headteacher of Horsmonden Primary School, Kent

Malcolm Hayes was playing the instrument during an assembly at Horsmonden Primary School, near Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, when he is said to have “snapped”.

He began smashing and punching the keyboard before picking it up, and asking pupils to follow him as he carried it outside.

Free school under fire: 'We've made a difference to the children's lives'

Free schools epitomise David Cameron’s Big Society, but the founders of the first to fail an Ofsted inspection says this new way of education needs time to succeed

Andrew and Lindsey Snowdon at Discovery, the first free school put into special measures by Ofsted

Andrew and Lindsey Snowdon are a model Cameron couple. Until May 2010, they enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle, earning up to £250,000 a year and living in a spacious home in Crawley, West Sussex. But rather than taking longer holidays and joining the golf club as they entered their fifties, they gave up their jobs to set up one of Britain’s first free schools.

Dave Shelton wins 2013 Branford Boase Award

Illustrator and author Dave Shelton has won the 2013 Branford Boase Award for his debut novel A Boy and a Bear in a Boat

Dave Shelton wins the 2013 Branford Boase Award for most outstanding debut novel for children for A Boy and a Bear in a Boat, with David Fickling honoured for his editing.

Dave Shelton has won the 2013 Branford Boase Award for his witty and imaginative debut novel A Boy and a Bear in a Boat.

The revised national curriculum: subject by subject

The Government has today published a revised national curriculum to be introduced to schools in England in September 2014. Here are some of the main points by subject:

The curriculum says that 11 to 14-year-olds should study a range of English literature, both pre and post-1914 including prose, poetry and drama

ENGLISH

Age 5/6: Read using phonics, recite poetry by heart in class, learn alphabet, ensure left-handed pupils get help

National Curriculum overhaul: pupils to study more Shakespeare

Shakespeare will be placed at the heart of a rigorous new National Curriculum designed to enable English schoolchildren to keep pace with those in the world’s top-performing countries, it was announced today.

James McAvoy and Claire Foy in the West End production of Macbeth

All pupils will be required to learn at least two of the Bard’s plays in full between the age of 11 and 14 – up from one at the moment – as part of a wide-ranging plan to drive up education standards.

The move follows criticism of the existing curriculum amid claims pupils can leave school without studying anything more than bite-sized extracts of Shakespeare’s most famous plays such as Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, Othello and Romeo and Juliet.

Curriculum reforms criticised as a 'memory test'

A group representing teachers and lecturers has said new proposals to revamp the National Curriculum, which will include five-year-olds learning fractions, is not what children need.

The proposals are intended to ensure that children are given a proper grounding in the basics at a young age

David Cameron is set to unveil reforms to primary and secondary education today, which will have more focus on children learning the basics in maths at a young age and see children solving practical computer problems.

But Dr Mary Bousted, General Secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the reforms have not been properly thought out.

Michael Gove: new curriculum will allow my children to compete with the very best

Michael Gove has said that he hopes his reforms to the national curriculum could allow his own children to in future compete with better-educated foreign students.

Education Secretary Michael Gove

Under the new plans, five-year-olds will have to learn fractions and traditional science subjects will be brought back into the classroom.

Mr Gove, the Education Secretary, said the curriculum changes "can't come quickly enough" because countries across the world are “doing better than our own”.

Britain needs builders as well as graduates, the Duke of York says

Britain needs builders as well as graduates, the Duke of York has said as he calls for greater respect for vocational skills.

The Duke of York is to introduce an award for those studying for technical qualifications

Prince Andrew has praised the education of the “whole person” as he called for young people who gain a technical education - in order to take on jobs such as machinists or technicians - to be given more credit.

He will today visit a technical school in Walsall, West Midlands, where he will launch the Duke of York Award for technical education.

Painkiller sales surge as competitive parents push limits at sports day

Sales of treatments for sprains and muscle injuries has surged as competitive parents are increasingly getting hurt taking part in school sports day races, it is claimed.

The mothers' race is one of the most fiercely competitive school sports day events

Injuries are soaring among ultra competitive parents as they feel the pain after battling to be first at the winning tape in their children's school sports day, according to a new report yesterday.

High Street stores are reporting a surge in sales of pain relief products as mums and dads sustain sprains and falls as they try to turn back the clock and show they are still winners on the athletics field.

Universities to target mothers in student recruitment push

Universities are to market themselves directly to students' mothers following a surge in the number of pushy parents intervening in the higher education admissions process.

Students are increasingly relying on parents to help them get into university, it is claimed.

Institutions will advertise courses on the parenting website Mumsnet for the first time amid claims that mothers and fathers are going to extra lengths to make sure sons and daughters win places at leading universities.

Admissions tutors have told how many parents are now accompanying children on university open days, writing their application form and even fighting appeals on their behalf if they are rejected.

Michael Gove: quality of religious education has dropped

A fresh drive to raise standards of religious education will be launched after Michael Gove admitted the subject had “suffered” as a result of Government reforms.

Michael Gove said religious education had suffered as a result of Government reforms.

The Education Secretary suggested a new strategy was needed to improve the quality of lessons amid fears over a decline in the number of children studying RE to a high standard.

Major faith groups including the Church of England and Roman Catholic Church will be involved in the project to “improve the quality and celebrate great religious education teaching”, he said.

One-in-five graduates from worst universities left jobless

A fifth of students are unemployed after leaving Britain’s worst-performing universities amid a continuing shortage of graduate jobs, new figures show.

Data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency showed that employment rates differed significantly depending on students' university.

Graduates’ chances of securing work differ significantly depending on their choice of university and degree course, it emerged.

Figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency showed that students at some institutions were around 10 times more likely to be left unemployed than those at other mainstream universities.

Jim Causley, Cyprus Well, album review

Folk singer Jim Causley's album Cyprus Well is a lovely musical tribute to Charles Causley, one of England's finest poets

Poet Charles Causley at home in Launceston in October 1981

When Charles Causley turned 65, such was the regard for him that a group of leading poets – including Seamus Heaney, Philip Larkin, Ted Hughes and DM Thomas – contributed to a tribute book of verse. "He was a marvellously resourceful, original poet," said Hughes.

It will be 10 years in November since Causley died, at the age of 86. But he is not forgotten. Singer and pianist Jim Causley, a distant relative whose kin hail from the poet's original family village of Trusham in the Teign Valley, has recorded a lovely folk album, setting 12 of Causley's poems to music.

Pupils to sit 'Tech Levels' in drive to boost vocational skills

Teenagers will be encouraged to study new “Tech Levels” at school and college as part of a Government drive to eradicate Mickey Mouse qualifications, it was announced today.

New Tech-Level qualifications will be introduced to drive up standards of practical education.

Top-quality practical courses will be banded together under the title for the first time after being formally endorsed by companies and trade organizations, it emerged.

Ministers said Tech Levels would be the only qualifications to count in league tables for 16- to 19-year-olds to stop teachers pushing pupils onto substandard courses to boost their positions in official rankings.

Foreign pupils should attend British schools, says David Cameron

Foreign pupils should be encouraged to attend Britain’s state schools, according to a recommendation in a leaked letter from David Cameron’s private secretary.

Britain should consider allowing international students to access places at academies, according to a leaked letter.

The four-page document, dated July 1, reveals that the Prime Minister has asked David Willetts, the Universities Minister, to work with the Department for Education on plans "allowing international students to access places at academies".

It is not clear how Mr Cameron believes the proposal should be put into action, or whether overseas pupils would be charged fees, but it is likely they would have to pay.

Maths lessons 'failing to prepare pupils for world of work'

All pupils should be required to study maths up to the age of 18 amid fears GCSEs in the subject are failing to prepare children for the workplace, according to a major report.

The Sutton Trust warned that children risked missing out on good jobs because of poor maths skills.

Schools and colleges should provide an extra two years worth of teaching because too many teenagers struggle to use mental arithmetic, reasoning, spreadsheets and graphs in their everyday life, it was claimed.

The report – published by the Sutton Trust charity – said that a basic grounding in maths was a prerequisite for most careers, particularly finance, nursing, engineering, construction, transportation and retail.

Sack the worst performing school governors, say MPs

Poorly performing school governors should be sacked because of concerns children’s education is being undermined by “inadequate” leadership, according to MPs. 

The Commons Education Select Committee said that standards of school governance was often 'inadequate'.

In a report, it was claimed that governing bodies should be given new powers to dismiss volunteers who fail to make a decent contribution as part of a sweeping overhaul of the way schools are run.

The Commons Education Select Committee also recommended that fully-paid clerks – similar to company secretaries – should be employed for the first time to give boards a more professional edge.

Anger over move to allow Church of England to run state schools

The Church of England could be given the power to run thousands of secular state schools in UK under a deal with the Department of Education. 

The Church will be forced to preserve the character of non-faith schools and community schools joining a Church of England academy chain would not have to change its admissions policy, religious education lessons or employment terms for teachers, according to a report in the The Times.

But the move would give Bishops the power to appoint governors at the schools.

Michael Gove: more children raised in 'chaotic homes'

Rising numbers of parents are raising children in “chaotic homes” with no discipline, structured meals or proper bedtimes, according to Michael Gove. 

Michael Gove told a Church of England seminar that rising numbers of children were being brought up in chaotic homes.

 In an outspoken intervention, the Education Secretary warned that many households were being turned into guesthouses with “fleeting” fathers playing a bit-part in children’s lives and young people being left to fend for themselves. 

Children often turn up at school without eating breakfast in the morning as a result of poor parenting – not because of financial hardships, he said.

Third of children 'not ready for school' aged five

A “significant minority” of children are not ready for school at the age of five because of poor standards of early education, according to Ofsted. 

Ofsted found that large numbers of children were starting compulsory education without the skills needed to make a success of school.

More than a third of infants struggle to count to 10, hold a pencil properly, write simple words or take turns in class amid a shortage of high-quality provision, it was claimed.

Sir Michael Wilshaw, the chief inspector, said too many nurseries and childminders were “not improving fast enough to give children the best start in life”.

Schoolboy, eight, left at public swimming pool by teachers

An eight-year-old schoolboy was forced to walk along a busy main road after his teachers left him behind at a swimming pool six miles from their school.

The pupil was left at Lords Meadow Leisure Centre

The pupil from Cheriton Fitzpaine Primary School, Devon, was still in the changing rooms at Lords Meadow Leisure Centre, Crediton, when a coach load of his classmates were driven off.

Staff only noticed the child was absent when his mother was waiting to collect him from the school at the end of the day.

Academics warn of 'social chasm' on university campuses

Working-class students are less likely to play a full part in university life because of the financial burden of getting through a degree course, according to research.

A study by Bristol University and the University of the West of England found significant differences in the experiences of rich and poor pupils at university.

Undergraduates from poor families are forced to miss out on extra-curricular activities to take “mundane” term-time jobs amid a gulf in the quality of the university experience between rich and poor students, it emerged.

Researchers said that middle-class students were often “cushioned by their parents’ financial support” that helped ease the pressure of higher education.

Schools ordered to plug gap between rich and poor pupils

Top schools will be stripped of their “outstanding” status for failing to narrow the gap between rich and poor pupils under new plans to overhaul the inspection system, it was announced today. 

David Laws, the Schools Minister, said Ofsted would intervene to reprimand schools that fail to raise standards among poor pupis.

Ofsted will reprimand schools that register good headline exam results while allowing a small minority of children from working-class families to lag behind, ministers said.

It also emerged that the progress made by the poorest pupils would be added to official school-by-school league tables – naming and shaming those institutions that fail to “shoulder the responsibility” of supporting deprived children.

Medical schools could drop grades for poorer students

Medical schools could drop their grades for students from poorer backgrounds, meaning those with better results miss out, under a project which has sparked concern from academics.

The project has been launched by the Medical Schools Council

A national scheme promising “rapid progress” to help aspiring doctors from under-represented social and economic backgrounds will recommend changes to selection methods employed by medical schools to recruit more students from deprived groups.

The project, which has just been launched by the Medical Schools Council, will examine whether more use should be made of “contextual data” - information on candidates’ school, ethnicity, postcode, family income and level of parental education - to give students with lower grades a place.

More pupils speaking English as a second language

The number of schoolchildren speaking English as a second language soared to a record high of more than one million this year amid a continuing rise in immigration, it has emerged.

More than one million pupils now speak English as a second language at school.

Official figures show that almost one-in-five pupils in primary education now speak another language in the home following a sharp hike in the number of foreign-born pupils over the last 12 months.

In inner London, native English speakers are now in a minority, with the proportion as low as a quarter in boroughs such as Tower Hamlets, Newham and Westminster.

Boarding school at centre of sex abuse claims to close

A troubled £39,000-a-year boarding school at the centre of sex abuse claims is to close.

Stanbridge Earls School in Romsey, Hampshire

The Stanbridge Earls School, which was branded the “Lord of the Flies” school by parents, has been accused of turning a blind eye to years of abuse amongst pupils, and is currently being investigated by police.

It will cease to exist from December 1, when another school will replace it on the 54 acre grounds in Romsey, Hampshire, parents were informed by letter this morning.

'My mum will watch me graduate today’ – the first-class traveller from Cambridge

Zoah Hedges-Stocks is thought to be the first travelling showman to graduate from Cambridge University 

Zoah Hedges-Stocks is one of just five history students from Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, to graduate with first-class honours

It is barely a 10-minute walk from Midsummer Common to Cambridge University’s 18th-century Senate House, where its lavish graduation ceremonies have long taken place.

But at around lunchtime today, as Zoah Hedges-Stocks slips on her black gown with its rabbit-fur hood, she will become the first person from her community ever to cross the divide.

Bath Festival of Children's Literature 2013: 10 highlights

Children's Laureates, storytelling and a discussion by children about food are some of the highlights of the 2013 Telegraph Bath Festival of Children's Literature 

Clockwise: Malorie Blackman, the Very Hungry Caterpillar, Festival Director David Almond and Judith Kerr will all be part of the 2013 Telegraph Bath Festival of Children's Literature

The 10-day Telegraph Bath Festival of Children's Literature 2013 is the UK's top festival for children and features brilliant events for children of all ages. Here are our 10 highlights:

The best family shows to catch this summer

Dominic Cavendish chooses the shows to beat school holiday boredom this summer.

The cast of We're going on a Bear Hunt at the Lyric Theatre

 It used to be said that "the family that prays together stays together". Today much the same could be said of sharing cultural activities. Taking your kids to live entertainment over the holidays isn’t just to strike a blow against potential boredom – it’s to create an invaluable bonding experience. The selection of highlights below isn’t a comprehensive list, more of a reminder to check what's happening in your area. Whether or not it’s a long hot summer, don’t let the chance to get your family act together pass you by.

Private schools 'can step in to ease primary places crisis'

Children should be given subsidised places at private preparatory schools to ease the crisis in primary education, according to a leading headmaster. 

A leading private school head insisted that the fee-paying sector could ease the pressure on places being faced by the state education system.

The state should provide independent schools with direct funding to enable them to create some of the 250,000 extra places needed for five- to 11-year-olds by September, it was claimed.

Nicholas Allen, chairman of the Independent Association of Prep Schools, said many fee-paying schools would be “pleased to squeeze in a few more pupils”.

Vantage Power's hybrid engines find niche

Young inventors Alex Schey and Toby Schulz explain why a stroke of "sheer luck" saved them when their student venture failed and how their new hybrid engine business, Vantage Power, cuts vehicle emissions.

Alex Schey and Toby Schulz, of Vantage Power, have developed a self-contained system of engine and battery pack that can be fitted into vehicles already on the road

Even the most accomplished graduates can find themselves hitting the ground with a bump in their first jobs after university, making tea and opening mail instead of changing the world.

Not so Alex Schey and Toby Schulz, who left Imperial College with mechanical engineering degrees in 2009. The pair raised £700,000 in sponsorship to build a fully-electric supercar, drove it the length of the Pan-American Highway, from Alaska to Argentina, and were filmed for a BBC documentary.

2013 Bath Festival of Children's Literature programme unveiled

New Children's Laureate Malorie Blackman will be part of 2013 Telegraph Bath Festival of Children's Literature, which has David Almond as Guest Artistic Director. 

Emily Gravett has done the cover illustration for the brochure for the 2013 Telegraph Bath Festival of Children's Literature

The new Children's Laureate, Malorie Blackman, will be one of the stars of the 2013 Telegraph Bath Festival of Children's Literature.
 

The event, now in its seventh year, is the largest dedicated children’s book festival in the UK and has award-winning author David Almond as its Guest Artistic Director. He said: "This great festival celebrates the fact that children’s literature sits right at the heart of our culture.”

Fears over the use of Ritalin leads to major inquiry

Children as young as three are being prescribed Ritalin, the British Psychological Society has warned as they launch a major inquiry into the use of the drug. 

Ritalin

Pressure on councils and medical budgets is leading to overprescription of psychotropic drugs to treat conditions such as attention deficit disorder (ADHD), it is said.

Over the past decade there has been a boom in the use of Ritalin, and experts are calling for tougher controls and a reduction in the number of prescriptions handed out.

Why grammar really is child’s play

Babies "babble" grammatically, according to new research. It just shows that young children can be excellent grammarians, says Sara Wernham. 

Very young children copy speech patterns and grammatical nuances which they then incorporate in their baby babble.

For the uninitiated, the word ‘grammarian’ conjures up a picture of an elitist scholar or geeky pedant who is overly involved with the minutiae of language. However, research published last week by Newcastle University, which shows that babies ‘babble’ grammatically, underlines what good teachers already know: young children can be excellent grammarians.

The research by Dr Christina Dye, a lecturer in child development, showed that very young children copy speech patterns and grammatical nuances which they then incorporate in their baby babble.