Schools should not ban parents from taking photos of their children at sports day, a privacy watchdog has said.
Parents are not breaking the law by snapping their own children at school events, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said…

Children as young as five should be taught about sex, the Government’s controversial health watchdog said last night. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence…

ship Governors have to remember, especially parent governors they represent parents not themselves and have no right to vote down academy status unless they have balloted parents. Also governors are there to support the head teacher not tell them what to do surely if the school management want to go for academy status then so be it they are the professionals. At the risk of upsetting many governors and I have been governors of every kind of school, including nursery and Tertiary College since 1975 and a governor …

The list of public servants earning more than the £150,000 a year includes several working in education — with Ofsted staff doing particularly well.
At the Department for Education, however, there is just one person earning above that level. He is David Bell the Permanent Secretary of the DfE who earns between £180,000 and £184,999.
Over at the Department for Business Innovation & Skills, which is responsible for FE and universities, there are 11 civil servants earning above the £150,000 threshold. However most of these are not in the education part of …

Sarah Harris Mail
Thousands of ‘outstanding’ schools will never have to face an Ofsted inspection again, it has been revealed. Education Secretary Michael Gove says all schools with the top judgement from the education watchdog will be exempt from check-ups.The shake-up means that the top primary and secondary schools that are fast-tracked to become academies will be immediately cut loose from local authority control as well as Ofsted visits. Parent groups are likely to fear there could be a lack of accountability, with outstanding schools left to coast or deteriorate. …

By Alison Kershaw, Press Association
Teachers overwhelmingly backed a boycott of Sats tests today, setting them on a collision course with a new Government. The National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) have been balloting members involved in the administration of the tests – including headteachers, deputies and assistant heads – for the past month. According to today’s results, 74.9% of NUT members who voted were in favour of a boycott, as were 61.3% of NAHT members who voted. Turnout for the NUT’s ballot was …

Kirsty Walker and Sarah Harris Mail
Schools secretary Ed Balls was forced to drop his plans to start sex lessons as young as five
Ed Balls yesterday dropped controversial plans to make sex education compulsory for children as young as five.
The Schools Secretary abandoned another ten flagship policies from the Children, Schools and Families Bill under pressure from the Tories in the final days of Parliament.
Parenting and religious campaigners had strongly opposed the plans to introduce sex into the curriculum in ‘personal, social and health education’ classes for pupils aged five …

By Richard Garner, Education Editor
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Saturday morning classes for children from disadvantaged homes will be set up if the Conservatives win the general election. Michael Gove, the shadow Education Secretary, said he wanted schools to open for longer during the week and on Saturday mornings to help close the achievement gap between poorer pupils and those who are better off. Speaking at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) annual conference in Manchester yesterday, Mr Gove said the extra classes would help provide a similar cultural experience to …

Tim Ross London Evening Standard
One in three London families failed to win a place at their first choice of secondary school this year, figures showed today.
More than 27,300 children missed out on their preferred school, including 5,000 who were left with no offers from any of their six choices.
The success rate for parents applying to secondary schools fell slightly this year amid increased competition for places.
Sue Fieldman, regional editor of the Good Schools Guide, said more parents were choosing a free state education as a result of the …

The Chief Medical Officer wants…