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.