By JOHN COLES Sun
The kids are encouraged to wear gowns and tuxedos, with some planning to arrive in stretch limos.
Organisers say the bash is inspired by Disney flick High School Musical. But parents’ groups called it “worrying” and say mums and dads will be under pressure to shell out for clothes and transport.
Proms have grown in popularity in the last decade for UK secondary school-leavers.
But the event for pupils at St George’s in Portland, Dorset, is believed to be one of the first for primary school kids.
Margaret Morrissey, founder …

Richard Garner, Education Editor
Jenny Paton from Poole, in Dorset, with her partner Tim Joyce, after the landmark ruling A family has won a landmark legal ruling that council officials acted illegally in spying on them to check they were living in the right school catchment area.Jenny Paton, her partner Tim Joyce, and their three daughters, were placed under surveillance by Poole Borough Council for three weeks in 2008. Now the Investigatory Powers Tribunal – which deals with complaints against surveillance – has ruled the authority acted illegally.The ruling could have …

GraemePaton, Education Editor Telegraph
Summer-born children ‘lag behind at school’. Summer-born children are more likely to struggle at school and face bullying. In an analysis that lays bare the negative effects of an August birthday, researchers said younger children were considerably behind by the age of five and many struggled to catch up throughout compulsory education. The report found that summer-born children were more likely to be bullied and have registered learning difficulties than older classmates. They are also less likely to take academic A-levels in the sixth-form or go to …

Mark Prigg, Tim Ross and Laura Lambert London Evening Standard
14.07.10
London’s first “fortress nursery” is to open within weeks amid rising fears about the safety of children.
Asquith Day Nursery in West Dulwich is installing an £80,000 security system, previously only seen in secure facilities, to ease parents’ fears after a spate of shootings and stabbings in Lambeth.Surrounding the school is a wooden fence more than six feet high and leaves no possibility of peering into the outdoor areas or windows.
In order to collect their children, parents have their fingerprints scanned at …

Tim Ross, Education Correspondent London Evening Standard 13.07.10
Parents are undermining the drive to cut obesity by sending children to school with junk food as packed lunches, the healthy eating czar said today. Chocolates, crisps and sugary fizzy drinks have been banned from school canteens but still feature in lunch boxes, according to School Food Trust chairman Rob Rees. Mr Rees, the leading chef in charge of the government quango, suggested tightening the rules on what parents should be allowed to give their children to take into school. The …

By Katie Clark Dorset Echo 3rd July
DORSET head teachers have enjoyed a two-day stay at a luxury Christchurch hotel paid for out of their school budgets.
Secondary school head teachers from across Dorset attended the conference at the Christchurch Harbour Hotel in Mudeford near Christchurch last week, with more than half of the heads staying overnight despite most either living in Dorset or nearby.
The annual conference was organised by the Dorset Association of Secondary Heads (Dash) and paid for out of their annual subscription costing £250.
Chairman Andy Puttock, head of Queen …

By Sarah Harris mail
3rd July 2010
Teachers have used ‘Big Brother’ tactics to spy on children’s lunchboxes, it has been revealed. They secretly photographed pupils’ packed lunches over six months and analysed the contents. Staff awarded marks to the food and then showed their findings to outraged parents, offering them advice on how to improve nutrition. St Paul’s primary school in Gloucester checked pupils’ packed lunches for nutritional valueEducation bosses have now put a stop to the scheme in Gloucestershire after discovering the extent of the surveillance. Nineteen primary schools …

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…

By Ruki Sayid 1/07/2010 Mirror
Delighted parents celebrated a major victory yesterday in their battle with killjoy schools over taking photos on sports day.
A privacy watchdog warned headteachers that they are in no position to stop mums and dads from using cameras. The Information Commissioner’s Office said schools “can’t hide behind data protection myths” to impose the ban.
Deputy commissioner David Smith said: “A photo of your child at a school production or winning the 100m preserves precious memories.
“Photos for personal use, such as family albums, are not covered by the Data …

Laura Clark Mail
Inspection: Schools should monitor pupils’ packed lunches, officials say. (Posed by model) Schools should pry into every child’s lunchbox and snoop on what they eat in the canteen, inspectors have declared. Warning that too few schools are complying with the Government’s Jamie Oliver-inspired food rules, officials urged them to ensure pupils follow advice on a good diet. In a report out today, the schools inspectorate said many schools have ‘packed lunch policies’ and keep detailed records of children’s purchases from the school canteen. And it urged heads …