Academies

Research by the London School of Economics has found that the conversion of primary schools into academies has not improved pupils' results. The results of primary schools converted to academies, were studied by the authors who saw no improvement compared with similar schools that converted later. This comes in the wake of the Government's U-turn on their Bill to force all state schools in England to become academies. 

Recent Stories...

Here's a round-up of research and news:

A new report, 'Supporting the attainment of disadvantaged pupils' was published in November. Written by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), it is based on national research, gathered through surveys and interviews from 1,329 primary, secondary and special schools across the country.

There has been an amendment to the DfE's ‘Getting the simple things right: Charlie Taylor’s behaviour checklists’: from January 2016, schools will no longer have an obligation to use home-school agreements and it explains the powers members of staff have to discipline pupils. A supporting guide, 'Behaviour and discipline in schools', has also been produced for headteachers and school governing bodies.

The BBC reported that super-size schools, accommodating upto 3000 children will need to be created over the next ten years to cope with the rapid rise in England's birth rate. This coincides rather neatly with another recent story about the world's largest school - City Montessori school in Lucknow, India, which accommodates about 52,000 students in 1,050 classrooms. Meanwhile, head teachers in England say schools are facing increasing difficulties in recruiting new teachers and are having to spend a growing share of their budget on supply staff.

Finally, the Royal Society of Edinburgh says having Stampy Cat, one of the world's most popular YouTube stars, deliver its Christmas lecture, was the "biggest event" in the organisation's history. Joseph Garrett's lecture offered an insight into how he makes the videos, showing children how careers could be forged in industries that did not exist three or four years ago.

Crisis: Primary School places

Concerns are being raised regarding a looming shortage of primary school places across the country, with half of councils warning that demand for places will outstrip supply by 2017-18. Already, numbers of parents this year did not get their first choice of primary school; this means many will have a long trek to schools based further away and often, the added pressure of trying to cope with the logistics of siblings studying at different schools.

Britain's Biggest Primary School

'Britain's Biggest Primary School' is an observed documentary series, following pupils, parents, teachers and support staff at Gascoigne Primary School in Barking, London. Over the course of a year, we are given a glimpse of life inside the school as staff go about their task of teaching, feeding and managing the welfare of over 1,000 primary school pupils.

If you missed last night's episode, it is available along with previous episodes, at the Channel 5 website.