Press Release
Date: 26 July 2010
First Schools Group to Offer Nationally Accredited Gifted & Talented Courses in England
The Dorchester Area Schools Partnership (DASP) is breaking new ground in the provision for Gifted and Talented students.
The partnership, led by the Thomas Hardye School and Sunninghill Prep School, have been working together with the National Association for Gifted Children to offer fully accredited Gifted and Talented courses, which is a national first. The courses begin next week at 10.00am on Monday 26th July.
The DASP pupils have been offered the courses to give them …

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 …

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Angel Harrison BBC News education correspondent
Head teachers have voted for a boycott of this year’s Sats tests due to be taken by 11-year-olds in England in a few weeks’ time. In ballots of the National Association of Head Teachers and some members of the National Union of Teachers, 64% of those voting backed the action. Union leaders say they are pleased but will take a final decision on whether the action goes ahead next week. These national tests, in maths and English, are only taken in England. The union balloted …

By Laura Donnelly, Health Correspondent Telegraph
School pupils are being taken on tours of sexual health clinics in an attempt to highlight the perils of unprotected sex.
A school trip used to mean a day out at a local museum or nature reserve. But now, classes are making visits to NHS sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics. Clinic staff say the tours are an attempt to “demystify” the consequences of unprotected sex, preparing many children for visits in later life. After each visit, students are sharing their findings with other pupils in …

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 …

Published in The TES

By Martin Evans and Nick Collins, Telegraph
Parents across the country were forced to stay at home to look after their children after thousands of schools closed in the face of worsening weather. Concerns over safety as well as transport problems for pupils and staff meant the vast majority of primary and secondary schools in the worst hit areas could not open. But some parents and business leaders expressed concern that head teachers were closing their doors at the first sign of a snowflake. For many youngsters it meant a welcome …

Sunday January 3,2010
By Hilary Douglas

PARENT power in the classroom is under threat from teachers who want to dominate school governors’ boards once again, experts warn.
Their aim is to ban pushy mother and father governors. Local government insiders claim if teachers get their way parents playing an active role in the day-to-day management of their children’s education could come to an end in the next year. In recent years, the balance of power has shifted to give parents more say, but many experts now feel that parental influence has gone …

In Manchester, a quarter of 10 and 11-year-olds are dangerously overweight. Parents face being banned from the school run as part of a controversial attempt to combat childhood obesity. Health chiefs hope introducing residents-only parking areas near schools will encourage pupils to walk or cycle instead. The plans were criticised as ‘absolute nonsense’ by parents’ groups, who claim the Government is at fault for the rise in overweight youngsters. They point to physical exercise classes being cut from the national curriculum and school playing fields being sold off. …