News
Gratnells consolidates STEM packaging expertise with international partnership
Gratnells, the global leader in educational storage solutions, based in Harlow, has continued its commitment to enhancing worldwide classrooms by redesigning a CoDrone STEM education kit for a robotics company in the USA.
Established 7 years ago in San Diego, California, Robolink make STEM education accessible, engaging and fun for American children and hobbyists. The company encourages students to learn about science, technology, engineering and mathematics through hands-on robotics kits, the… Full story
Modular school buildings mythbuster
by QA Education editor Victoria Galligan
With a rising number of pupils and an ever-increasing demand for schools in the most populated areas of the country, the need for more classrooms continues to grow – and fast. Many schools find themselves stuck in older buildings which now cost a lot to maintain or, worse still, are no longer fit for purpose.
Here, we look at the modern methods of construction (MMC) which are changing the landscape of the building trade and ask: is modular right for… Full story
How Twinkl Parents has progressed in the last 10 months
In August 2018, Twinkl Parents was launched, a service designed to meet the needs of an increasing number of parents accessing and subscribing to the Twinkl website.
The service provides resources ranging from flash-cards and activity sheets to online educational games and apps.
Jay Wynn, who manages the Parents service at Twinkl, said: “We wanted to create a service to address the universal challenges parents and guardians face raising children. The team's mantra is “made by teachers,… Full story
Schoolworks Celebrates SATS Progress
Dave Ayers, Head of School at River Beach Primary in Littlehampton, which is celebrating its best ever SATs results
Schoolsworks has announced its unverified Key Stage 2 SATs results for 2019, which show that the multi-academy trust is having a positive impact on school improvement. For schools which have been in the Trust for more than 3 years this year's combined RWM is 67% against a national average for combined RWM this year of 65%.
Schoolsworks is a growing multi-academy trust, based on… Full story
More competition for education roles, as pay increases by 3.7%
According to the latest job market data from the UK’s leading independent job board, CV-Library, the amount of education professionals applying for new jobs increased by 14.5% last month, while average salaries also grew by a comfortable 3.7%.
The findings, which compared job market data from June 2019 with the same period last year, comes as welcome news to employers that are hiring right now, as the amount of education professionals looking for work online grew by 50.4%.
A key driving… Full story
Parents in the UK prefer science-based careers for their children
Over three quarters (76%) of UK parents would like their children to choose careers in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), according to a survey commissioned by Shell’s national schools’ competition, The Bright Ideas Challenge[1]. This is despite more than a third of parents (36%) saying they lack the knowledge and confidence to give STEM careers advice to their children.
The survey findings come as the regional winners of the Bright Ideas Challenge gather at Imperial College… Full story
Majority Of Education Professionals Want To Move Jobs
Majority of professionals working in education want to move jobs, but won’t because of low salaries
A new study from the UK’s leading independent job board, CV-Library, reveals that despite the fact that 86% of professionals working in the education industry are considering moving jobs right now, 62% aren’t doing so jobs because they believe the salaries on offer aren’t high enough. Indeed, according to further analysis* from CV-Library, pay for new education jobs is currently 8.9% lower than… Full story
Birmingham Teachers Unite to Make Schools More Active
Nike, Youth Sport Trust & Discovery Education host event for Birmingham Primary Schools as part of nationwide Active Kids Do Better programme
Teachers from across Birmingham came together at a special event last week to help the region’s primary schools.
Hosted by Nike, The Youth Sport Trust and Discovery Education, “The Power of an Active School” saw 22 teachers from around the city gather at Greet Primary School in Sparkhill on Thursday 20th June, where they shared ideas and heard from… Full story
Road safety highlighted by primary children's march
Schoolchildren took to the streets today in a national day of action to raise awareness of road safety, as horrifying statistics surrounding traffic deaths and injuries were highlighted.
More than 63,000 children of primary age took part in Brake’s Kids Walk with Shaun the Sheep, as 45 children are killed or injured every day on roads across the UK.
The national project, in partnership with the Ocado Foundation, saw Shaun and his flock help youngsters learn key road safety messages and call… Full story
What to expect in an inspection, from an Ofsted leader
An interview with Ofsted’s Deputy Director for Schools, Matthew Purves, has revealed that school leaders and teachers believe Ofsted has the right focus for the new Education Inspection Framework (EIF) which will be launched in September. The interview, conducted by primary school curriculum provider Cornerstones Education, is the third in a series with Ofsted, as part of their commitment to help schools understand what to expect from the new framework.
Mr Purves has been a leading force in… Full story
Teacher resilience: workload and management support
Research shows workplace conditions play greater role than personal characteristics
Workload and management support are more strongly associated with teachers’ ability to cope with the demands of the profession than their personal characteristics, new research suggests.
Academics at Manchester Metropolitan University found that the resilience of teachers was influenced more by external factors – such as how a school is run and its culture – than internal and personal factors, such as lack of… Full story
NetSupport School launches Google Classroom integration at ISTE 2019
NetSupport is delighted to announce the launch of Google Classroom integration in its award-winning classroom management solution, NetSupport School, at ISTE 2019!
As schools continue to heavily invest in edtech, NetSupport remains focused on ensuring schools maximise its use and benefits by keeping it simple. According to research by PwC, only 10 per cent of 2,000 teachers surveyed reported feeling secure in their abilities to incorporate “higher-level” technology into their classroom, while … Full story
Future First helps budding lawyers with careers insight
Young people interested in a career in law have the chance to gain careers insight and work experience at a leading legal firm under a programme designed to improve social mobility. The national education charity Future First has partnered with Taylor Wessing to offer a programme for 80 sixth form students from London schools which will improve their aspiration and confidence and boost their job readiness and employability.
The students joined Taylor Wessing staff for insight days designed to… Full story
Education Mutual Becomes AFM's 50th Member
Education Mutual is the latest firm to join the Association of Financial Mutuals (AFM), becoming the organisation’s 50th member.
Education Mutual, a national mutual, launched in July 2018 to provide cover for schools for staff absences and other health services. The mutual’s core purpose is to be ‘By Schools, for Schools’, which means schools and academies that sign up to its services automatically become members.
The mutual insurance industry has doubled its market share in the 10 years… Full story
New research highlights schools’ lack of confidence in handling online abuse
RM Education has today released key findings from its latest research - conducted in association with the NSPCC - into online safety policy and practice in UK schools.
The survey asked 1,158 senior leaders, designated safeguarding leads and network managers from primary and secondary schools for their views and experiences in creating safe web environments for pupils.
Results revealed that only 37 per cent felt very confident in identifying and handling online abuse incidents involving… Full story
GroupBC To Support University Of Birmingham's One Estate Initiative
GroupBC, one of the world’s leading digital project and asset information management platforms, is pleased to announce a new contract with the prestigious University of Birmingham.
The University of Birmingham is in the midst of one of the most transformational campus redevelopments since the first phase of building was completed in 1909. The development programme, worth £1 billion as part of a 10 year investment starting in 2016, is creating outstanding new facilities for students, staff and… Full story
Cash-strapped education professionals work longer hours but struggle to make ends meet
Brand new research from CV-Library, the UK’s leading independent job board, reveals that despite 62.5% of professionals in the education sector working more hours than they’re contracted to, over half (61.1%) struggle to make ends meet at the end of each month.
The study surveyed 1,200 working professionals and found that one in four (44.2%) work 1-3 hours extra per week, amounting to 96 hours per year and meaning education professionals are missing out on £1,467.84* unpaid overtime.
Lee… Full story
Moulton School & Science College wins Redway Networks “Win Big” competition
Moulton School & Science College wins Redway Networks “Win Big” competition with a £20,000 Aerohive new WiFi 6 802.11ax solution!
Redway Networks popular “Win Big” competition returned at the end of last year with a bigger than ever prize for the education sector. The competition was supported by Aerohive Networks to offer a school, college or university the opportunity to win a wireless solution with their new 802.11ax WiFi 6 wireless technology worth over £20,000, providing the very best… Full story
Over Half of UK School Parents Don't Know Their Times Tables
A new survey by YouGov, on behalf of educational app Edplus, reveals that 52% of parents and guardians of school aged children (under 18 years old) across Britain don't know all of their times tables perfectly. Furthermore, the survey found that:
The easiest times table to recall perfectly was the 2 times table, with 76% of the British population being able to do so.
The hardest was the 8 times table, with only 59% of British population being able to recall it perfectly.
The age group who… Full story
What does the Timpson Review on school exclusions mean for your school?
The Timpson Review on school exclusions has been published, with 30 recommendations for change. Recommendations include making settings more accountable for school exclusions in an “effective and fair way” and offering more guidance and tools to teachers, writes QA Education editor Victoria Galligan.
A £10million crackdown on poor behaviour also formed part of the key measures which are being taken by the Government in a bid to reduce exclusions.
The review, carried out by Edward Timpson CBE… Full story
Open University secures £50M investment in social learning platform FutureLearn
Open University secures £50M investment in social learning platform FutureLearn
SEEK Group investment takes FutureLearn from start-up to a £100m value company in just six years
SEEK Group (ASX: SEK) will invest £50m to become a joint, 50% owner of The Open University’s FutureLearn social learning platform, it was announced today in a deal thought to be the largest ever private-sector EdTech investment in Europe.
The Open University launched FutureLearn, which is based in London, in… Full story
New grading framework to be launched to independent schools
The Institute of Groundsmanship (IOG) has announced plans to launch its new Pitch Grading Framework to independent schools.
This will allow a new way for schools to showcase quality sports turf facilities and recognise the skills and expertise of its grounds teams while adding a new dimension to attract potential students and their parents.
A nationwide pilot scheme is planned with a selection of independent schools set to take part. The involvement of these schools will help inform the Pitch… Full story
Hertfordshire School Programme Asks "Healthy Only Please!"
Registered Health Coach, Joanna Shurety from Shurety Coaching is collaborating with the team at ELSA to help bolster their “Healthy Only Please!” campaign and share her expertise on how to live a healthier lifestyle.
Created to teach secondary school aged children how to understand, embrace and implement a healthy lifestyle, the Healthy Only Please! campaign covers everything from mental and physical health and the positive effect it can have.
The campaign feeds into the government’s ‘5 Ways… Full story
Open University partners with online learning provider SEEK Group in £50m deal
A £50million deal thought to be the largest ever private-sector EdTech investment in Europe will see the Open University partner with international online learning provider SEEK Group.
SEEK Group (ASX: SEK) will make the investment to become a joint, 50% owner of The Open University’s FutureLearn social learning platform, it was announced today.
The Open University launched FutureLearn, which is based in London, in December 2012 with a dozen UK university partners to test opportunities… Full story