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 …

Laura Clark, Daily Mail
David Miliband is facing charges of hypocrisy for sending his son to a sought-after Church of England school despite being an admitted atheist.
The Foreign Secretary rejected a non-faith school 80 yards from his North London home in favour of an ‘exceptional’ Anglican primary more than a mile away.
His five-year-old adopted son secured a place after Mr Miliband’s wife began attending a church linked to the school around two years ago. The family had lived in the area for about five years when American-born Louise Miliband began worshiping …

Sarah Ebner \Times School Gate blog
“I just want to get to school”, one teenager wrote to me yesterday. via email. “I can’t believe that my school’s been closed the week before my GCSEs start, but it needs to be open now so I can take the exams. I’m not very happy. Maybe there shouldn’t be exams at this time of year?”It’s rare that teenagers are keen to get to school, but they’re not stupid. They know they need to take their exams, and they know they need good grades. So …

Rachel Williams, Guardian
Hundreds of thousands of children enjoyed an extra day off school yesterday, as icy conditions prevented pupils and teachers from travelling and damaged school heating systems and pipes.Areas hit hardest included Hampshire, where at least 410 schools out of a total of 536 were closed, and Hertfordshire, where more than 320 of the county’s 520 schools were shut. In Surrey 365 did not open.Business leaders raised fears that head teachers might be closing their doors too swiftly, warning that companies with few staff suffered particularly badly when parents …

Anushka Asthana
The Observer, Sunday 27 December 2009
Sir Steve Redgrave has criticised the organisers of the London Olympic Games for being shortsighted in planning the sporting legacy for the UK.
The record-breaking Olympian, who won five consecutive gold medals for rowing, says those involved in the Games are not looking far enough into the future. “Everything seems to be very short-term at the moment – there has been little talk about what is going to happen in the years after the Olympics. The success of these games will not even be …

By Murray Wardrop Telepragh
Research suggests children who are smacked when young are more successful later in life A study found that youngsters smacked up to the age of six did better at school and were more optimistic about their lives than those never hit by their parents. They were also more likely to undertake voluntary work and keener to attend university, experts discovered.
Generation of grandparents providing free childcareThe research, conducted in the United States, is likely to anger children’s rights campaigners who have unsuccessfully fought to ban smacking in Britain. …

By Laura Clark, Daily Mail
Children’s Secretary Ed Balls is likely to face criticism for the new proposals Ed Balls stands accused of encouraging teenage pregnancy with plans to give 14-year-olds compulsory parenting lessons. Pupils will learn how to raise youngsters under the Children’s Secretary’s proposals from 2011 onwards.But experts warned that this could lead to teenage pregnancy being seen as increasingly acceptable, youngsters giving up education to have a baby – and teachers taking on the role of social workers.The row coincided with figures showing how schoolgirls in England’s …