News

The National Literacy Trust and Penguin Random House UK launch a national alliance to address the chronic lack of investment in primary school libraries in the UK. The two organisations are calling for large-scale public and private funding, alongside collaboration from other charities, publishers and ambassadors, to transform and equip 1,000 primary school libraries by 2025. This will support half a million pupils over the next four years. Publisher Penguin Random House UK and the National… Full story

As the world gathers in Glasgow for the COP26 Climate Summit and just in time for Talk Money Week, the Money Heroes programme (created by Young Money and supported by HSBC UK) has just released a series of new books and resources focused on climate action and how this ties into financial education.  Developed for children aged 3 to 11, the two new books – Ed and Bunny Raise some Money and Super Stories for Climate Heroes – bring to life topical issues such as food waste, fast fashion, raising… Full story

Recent research shows that delivering financial education to primary aged children increases their knowledge and understanding of money and financial issues. During Talk Money Week, it is crucial that conversations about finance and money are embedded into all aspects of daily life, including the classroom. This study was funded by the Centre for Financial Capability, in collaboration with the award-winning charity MyBnk and independent evaluators Substance. The research, involving 600 primary… Full story

COP26, Glasgow - world leaders discussed the global response to climate change, an industry reaction from Simon Carter, Director at RM – a leading supplier of technology and resources to the education sector, supporting schools, teachers and pupils across the globe. Simon discusses what actions school staff should consider they can take themselves – for example, the removal of on-site computer server rooms as they consume a lot of energy. Simon Carter, Director at RM: “It’s crucial that… Full story

The Westminster Foundation and Young Enterprise, a national enterprise and financial education charity, are proud to announce a strategic partnership that will empower thousands of young people across key locations in England to develop critical enterprise, work readiness, and financial skills, supporting them to thrive.  From September 2021 and running across academic years until July 2026, state primary and secondary schools, and colleges, will have access to Young Enterprise’s impactful and… Full story

With the chancellor promising to deliver an extra £4.7bn by 2024-25 for schools in the UK – which he claims restores per pupil funding to 2010 levels –  industry response from Simon Carter, Director at RM on what this means for schools. Simon Carter, Director at RM: “With Britain’s national debt significantly higher than pre-COVID, and the country’s ageing population weighing heavy on the NHS, it would have been naïve to expect an optimistic Autumn Budget from the Chancellor this year.… Full story

Academies are increasingly under pressure to generate their own income to overcome a shortfall in grant funding, according to a new study of the Academies sector from Xeinadin, the UK and Ireland-based business advisory and accountancy group.  The group’s Academies Benchmarking Report reveals that as funding and budgets tighten up, on average primary schools are spending just over £5,400 per pupil per year with secondary schools recording a figure of just under £7,800. Multi-Academy Trusts (… Full story

RM, a leading supplier of technology solutions to the education sector, today announced the third phase of a research project with Purdue University and Brigham Young University to better understand and explore the impact of Learning by Evaluating on student attainment. This research, led by Purdue University’s Polytechnic Institute and Brigham Young University’s School of Technology, will be the largest-ever study using Adaptive Comparative Judgement – which harnesses our natural ability to… Full story

Civil-service and public-sector membership club Boundless announces four new benefits for members, their families and friends: Kids Pass, Dine, plus complimentary access to Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) sites, Kew Gardens and Wakehurst It’s only a couple of months until schools break up, so now’s the time to start thinking about exciting and inventive things to do over the Christmas period. Thanks to a new selection of days out and discounts from Boundless, worth up to £245*, it’s easy… Full story

BYJU’S, the world’s leading edtech company, today announced the launch of BYJU’S Lab - an innovation hub based out of the UK in central London, with locations in the US and India. With a vision to shape the future of education, the new venture will incubate new ideas, provide cutting-edge technologies and deliver breakthrough solutions across BYJU’S ecosystem of learning products. Technology plays a key role in empowering students to become lifelong learners, and creators of technology, rather… Full story

Research shows that children with low financial literacy scores tend to come from poorer areas.  In collaboration with the award-winning charity MyBnk and independent evaluators Substance, The Centre for Financial Capability surveyed over 4,000 children from 50 schools nationwide. The Centre found there is a correlation between young people who are most in need of financial education and financial deprivation. These children also benefit the most from expert-led intervention – their financial… Full story

The head at a local independent day and boarding school has shared some home truths ahead of GCSE and A-level results day this year. The rite of passage of sitting GCSEs or A levels and all of the associated ups and downs, has once again been impacted this year, and students face yet another period of worry this summer as results day looms.  Whilst most schools have been very good at preparing their pupils and teachers for the TAG (Teacher Assessed Grades) process, it has been a year of… Full story

This time of year can be very stressful for students as they await their hotly anticipated exam results. After a much-maligned academic year, this summer, students have the dreaded wait to find out if they have secured their spots at their educational institution of choice. If you’re in this position, the best advice right now is not to forget to have a plan B. If you don’t get the results you expected for your first choice and don’t want to appeal your exams next year, then Clearing is the… Full story

At Johnston & Marsh Training & Consultancy Ltd we pride ourselves on the delivery of educational workshops, produced by academic experts, to combat the issues surrounding sexual harassment, the sending of ‘nudes’ and sexual assault in schools.  There is a growing number of incidences of sexual violence amongst primary and secondary schools. This issue has attracted wide media attention over the course of the last few months with the publication of the Everyone’s Invited website in… Full story

It’s fair to say that day-to-day schooling has been impacted significantly during the past year; not only in terms of pupils’ general learning, but also the extracurricular activities that support broader personal development. One of the key moments for GCSE pupils is the exposure to the world of work, through placements and career development events. At Aldermore Group, we’ve been keen to explore ways in which we can play our part in supporting local education initiatives in areas around our… Full story

The Reading Agency’s Summer Reading Challenge, in partnership with WWF, is delighted to announce that teenage naturalist, award-winning writer and broadcaster Dara McAnulty and award-winning explorer, presenter, and writer Steve Backshall, are ambassadors for the Summer Reading Challenge 2021, as the full plans for the campaign are unveiled. The Summer Reading Challenge, delivered in partnership with public libraries, encourages reading for pleasure for children aged 4 to 11 over the summer… Full story

As the academic year comes to a close and the learnings of the past 18 months are taken into account, new research from Lenovo reveals that seven in 10 (70%) parents and teachers in the UK believe digital skills gained during the pandemic will set children up for life beyond school.   The survey, made up of 500 teachers and 2,000 parents in the UK with children aged four to sixteen years old, outlines the changes parents and teachers want made to the school curriculum as a result of the… Full story

Schools across the UK will be taking part in My Money Week 2021 from 14th June to 18th June! My Money Week is a national activity week run by financial education charity Young Money and supported by Santander, which provides primary and secondary pupils with an excellent opportunity to gain the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to manage money well now, and in the future. The theme for this year’s My Money Week is money and the future. In response to the pandemic, this year’s … Full story

Whizz Education, provider of the award-winning virtual tutor Maths-Whizz, has launched an exciting summer learning challenge for all 5–13-year-olds.  This new initiative is open to all schools and parents, designed to encourage students to continue ‘doing’ maths whilst having fun over the six-week summer holiday period (mid-July to the end August).  The aim of the challenge is to ensure measurable learning gains are made, helping students get ‘back on track’ by September and have fun doing so… Full story

Dan Snow, Simon Schama and Danielle de Niese will join the PTI’s Subject Enrichment Series The PTI has announced a series of online professional development lectures for teachers in June and July 2021 to support teachers to deepen knowledge of their subject areas.  The PTI Subject Enrichment Series gives teachers an opportunity to attend lectures by the finest minds in their subject fields including Simon Schama, Lord Martin Rees, Dan Snow, Tracy Borman, Marcus du Sautoy and Danielle de Niese… Full story

A competition for secondary schools, created to help combat severe disruption to learning and isolation that students faced over Covid-19 school closures, saw more than 1500 pupils across the UK submit their written work.  Four UK secondary school pupils have been announced as the first-ever winners of a new creative writing competition backed by the world’s youngest Nobel winner, Malala Yousafzai, and the National Literacy Trust. The inaugural 500 Word Malala Yousafzai Competition was… Full story

With just over two months until the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Aldi is running a nationwide competition with Team GB, calling on budding child artists to submit a design for its latest lorry.    The UK’s fifth-largest supermarket is inviting school children aged between five and 14 to enter a hand-drawn design by Friday 25th June that celebrates fresh, healthy food.   The competition is the next step in Aldi’s longstanding partnership with Team GB, and the shortlisted entries will be judged by… Full story

- Morrisons will be donating 50,000 books to help families in need - - Customers can also bring unwanted books to Morrisons Little Libraries where children and families can pick up a book for free - Morrisons has launched a book donation and exchange station for children – the Morrisons Little Library – in its stores across the UK which aims to promote reading and literacy in children, particularly those who come from disadvantaged backgrounds.   The Morrisons Little Library was inspired by… Full story

  Major study from Renaissance Learning reveals reading skills improved over lockdown periods, with many children picking up longer books of greater difficulty Research from the National Literacy Trust shows lockdown reading helped improve wellbeing of children dealing with the pandemic One of Us is Lying by Karen M McManus and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K Rowling were favourite books read during lockdown by secondary and primary pupils respectively David Walliams,… Full story