BBC TV News 3 July 2010 09:53 UK - Some teachers are comfortable leaving support staff in charge at times
Schools could be breaking the law by asking support staff to teach lessons when qualified teachers are absent, the National Union of Teachers has claimed.
Since September, teachers in England and Wales have only been expected to cover for colleagues on rare occasions.
But some schools are using classroom assistants to fill in, rather than more costly supply teachers, the union says.
Ministers say that if support staff deliver occasional lessons, they …

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…

On the 21st March 2010, Margaret Morrissey from ParentsOutloud was on the The Politics Show South about Bob Howitt from Action4Kids and Cllr John Hartley from Reading Borough Council.
Please click on the video below to see this show.

Published in The TES

Middle-class measures

More than 1,000 lifestyle coaches

Heads will be forced

Anushka Asthana, policy editor
The Observer,
More than one in six pupils are likely to miss out on their first choice of secondary school.
Hundreds of the best-performing comprehensive schools appear to be covertly selecting pupils from more affluent backgrounds and blocking those from more deprived families, it is revealed today. Research commissioned by the Sutton Trust paints a picture of a secondary education system deeply socially segregated and in which large numbers of schools attempt to skew their intake. The study’s early findings have been seen by the Observer in …

By Caroline Gammell Telegraph
More than one in 10 parents are not getting their first choice of primary school, a new study shows. Some parents are not even applying for a place in what they think is the best school because they believe it is so oversubscribed. Campaigners and opposition MPs claimed the figures were proof that the Government was failing to tackle a problem which was only getting worse. The research also showed degree-educated mothers were less likely to get their child into the school of their choice than a …

Telepgraph
EllaOne can be taken up to 48 hours later than the current tablet. It is also potentially more effective, a new study shows, reducing the small risk of pregnancy in women who take the pills by around half. But it has triggered controversy amid fears that the extra safety net it provides could encourage women to be less diligent about using condoms. Critics also claim that a new, improved morning after pill could also give women a “false sense of security” and encourage a more casual attitude to sex. There …