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‘Alarm bells were going off’: parents tell of ordeal at Send school closed down after abuse allegations
Parents Annette and Kevin Maxwell describe the challenges of placing their son Jonah, who has severe autism, epilepsy and behavioral issues, in a residential SEND school. They allege the facility exploited children with special needs for profit and that abuse allegations forced its closure. The couple felt they had little choice because caring for Jonah at home prevented them from working.
The case shows how vulnerable children with special needs can be mistreated and underscores the need for stricter oversight of residential care providers.
‘A huge learning curve’: apprentices on the benefits and pitfalls of vocational training
While many young people have found jobs and built careers, some have struggled to complete their coursesThe crisis in the youth employment market, with almost a million young people not in education, employment or training (Neet) across the UK, has placed fresh emphasis on ways of getting employees into the workforce.The government hopes to increase focus on technical and vocational learning in England from the age of 14. In parallel, there is an ambition to create thousands more apprenticeships...
UK houses near top state secondary schools cost £40,000 more, research reveals
Premium of nearly 10% paid by housebuyers comparable with cost of a cheaper private school over seven yearsA house near a top state secondary school costs an extra £40,000 on average, according to research that reveals education premiums that rank alongside some private school fees.The average property in a postcode district that includes a top 50 state secondary commands a price tag of £415,791, compared with £375,217 across the wider local authority areas in which those schools are located, a...
Smelling test: children need education in sniffing aromas, scientist says
Exclusive: Dr Will Tullett says better understanding of scents can improve wellbeing and perception of the worldChildren need a better education in sniffing aromas, a leading historian of smells has said, noting it may improve their wellbeing and help them understand the world around them.Dr Will Tullett, of the University of York, said pollution had been found to impair people’s olfactory abilities, while many objects and substances today – from margarines to car interiors and even our own home...
French high schools rush to put Macron’s phone ban into force
Unions say ban will take time to enact, while president also wants under-15s social media ban as key legacyFrench high schools are rushing to put in place a ban on mobile phones this week as Emmanuel Macron pushes for children to spend less time in front of screens.Education unions warned that banning mobile phone use in lycées – where children are aged 15 to 18 – would be hard to implement quickly. Continue reading...
More and more undergrads are living at home. That’s a crying shame – here’s why | Rohan Sathyamoorthy
Spiralling rental costs have made living with parents the only option for some students. That fails to prepare them for the realities of adult lifeIf the headlines are to be believed, no one should want to be a student in England any more. And yet this September and October, a record number of school leavers will begin their journey at university, unwilling to let rising costs, a regressive loan system and dimming graduate job prospects blot out the promise of the best years of their lives. The...
Jason Arday accuser given three-month teaching ban but can continue research
Nathan Cofnas told by Ghent University to work remotely as US ambassador claims credit for lifting of suspension Prof Jason Arday’s accuser Nathan Cofnas has been barred from teaching on Ghent University campus for three months but has been allowed to continue his research position.Cofnas, an American academic, was suspended from his postdoctoral research position at the Belgian institution earlier this month pending a “preliminary investigation” launched after Arday’s death. Continue reading...
Meet the gen Zers finding job opportunities teaching English abroad
Some young people are teaching in countries like South Korea as education funding is gutted and recent grads face a tough job market in their own countriesA year ago, Arianna Marie, 25, was struggling to control the students in her Florida elementary school classroom.She was living with her parents to save on rent and quickly feeling her passion for teaching dry up, even though it was her first job since graduation. Continue reading...
Exeter University approves deal with Saudi Arabia to train military officers and officials
In move that could generate millions, Exeter academics to deliver MA at National Defense University in RiyadhThe University of Exeter has approved plans for a “formal partnership” with Saudi Arabia to train senior military officers and government officials, despite long-held concerns about the Saudi government’s human rights record, the Guardian has learned.In a deal that could generate millions of pounds for the Russell Group university, Exeter academics will deliver an MA in applied security a...
‘In walked this big bundle of energy’: the day Dolly Parton came to Rotherham
Country star came to South Yorkshire town in 2007 for UK launch of the Imagination Library, her book donation schemeShane Jarman was up a ladder decorating a Christmas tree at the school where he was deputy headteacher when he got a call asking him to come to Rotherham hospital ASAP. It was December 2007 and Jarman’s wife, Claire, had given birth the previous day to their first child, a girl called Emma, so of course he rushed to the phone. All was well, he was told, but that “everything would b...
Tom Towelling Teaches You to Knit review – quirky yarns and a pop quiz in maths
Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Hopping from a PowerPoint on hairlines to songs about favourite motorways, Towelling’s set is fun but drops a stitch or twoThe route from the classroom to the comedy stage is well travelled, and ex-maths teacher Tom Towelling makes it the thread of his show here, conducting his audience like so many recalcitrant pupils under his charge. In case that sounds triggering, never fear: this debut show is unlike any other schoolroom you’ve been in. Towelling is one of sev...
Russia says it could hit UK military targets over supply of missile technology to Ukraine – as it happened
This blog is now closed. You can find the rest of our UK politics coverage hereSpeaking on the media round this morning, the work and pensions secretary, Pat McFadden, said he expected Meta’s new protections for young people in the US to apply to the UK, but that the government was already taking action on this issue.Meta has agreed to significant changes to its Instagram and Facebook apps in an $18bn (£13.2bn) settlement that ended a landmark lawsuit yesterday. It said it would establish safegu...
Number of young people in UK not in work or education falls below 1 million
Figure is 30,000 higher than a year ago but latest data is a boost to efforts to reverse the rise in economic inactivityBusiness live – latest updatesThe number of young people not in education, employment or training (Neet) across the UK fell below 1 million in the latest three-month period.In a boost to the government’s efforts to reverse years of rising economic inactivity among people aged 16 to 24, the Office for National Statistics said its surveys showed there were an estimated 981,000 Ne...
How can we stop destroying the prospects of a generation? Scrapping compulsory GCSE resits will be a start | Polly Toynbee
Michael Gove calls the axing of his Tory strategy ‘bringing back stupid’. He doesn’t seem to care that it did more harm than good GCSE results day was marked with the usual front pages filled with pictures of beaming students. What you didn’t see was the invisible third of 16-year-olds in England who failed their maths and English GCSEs, the obstacle to their future.That’s 360,000 failed in a system designed by Michael Gove as education minister to mark out winners from losers. It’s a cast of mi...
‘Standard’ velvet hangers? There’s nothing standard about some of the items on John Lewis’s uni essentials list| Emma Beddington
It used to be that dorm rooms were chaotically messy. Does this new generation really need an £80 spice rack and velvet clothes hangers?Of all the questions this year’s freshers may be nervously asking themselves as they prepare for this next phase – did I pick the right course? Will I make friends? Is uni worth 30 grand when my future job prospects may be limited to dusting a datacentre? – one is particularly pressing: “How many clothes hangers do I need to bring?”Fret no longer, enquiring youn...
The Guardian view on GCSE results: much to celebrate, much to reform | Editorial
Another post-pandemic cohort has shown its resilience and talent. But growing inequalities of outcome must be addressedMost pupils who received their GCSE results this week were in the penultimate year of primary school when Covid struck, disrupting their preparation for secondary education. As with other post-pandemic cohorts, their achievements are therefore a testament to their ability, resilience and determination. A strong set of results, particularly in the core subjects of English and mat...
My son is leaving home for university – and my severe denial has surprised me | Zoe Williams
My cherished first-born will soon be off to start a big new phase of his life, shiny saucepans in tow. ‘Empty nesting’ implies this is as nature intended, but it’s knocked me for sixMy son sent me a picture of his university accommodation, which looked perfectly nice, but there was something off about it. It was a little bit too tidy, of course, and had the slightly dystopian atmosphere of a neutral colour palette, but the main problem was that places look weird without people in them. That’s wh...
‘Our children are less cognitively capable,’ says neuroscientist who wants to cut screen use in schools
Jared Cooney Horvath argues that educational technology undermines how children learn and developJared Cooney Horvath is on a mission. In the wake of global campaigns for smartphone bans in schools and social media restrictions for under-16s, the neuroscientist wants to raise the alarm about educational technology in classrooms.A former teacher, Horvath believes the use of screens and digital tools in schools is undermining how children learn and develop. “This might be one of the hardest truths...
‘Cheap travel is not a defence’: the parents facing court for school absences in England
In one court in Kent, most cases relate to term-time holidays, but non-attendance is a complex issue and post-pandemic rates remain highAs the long school summer break approached its mid-point recently, Margate beach was crowded with families enjoying the brief reprieve between the year’s fourth and fifth heatwaves. For most, thoughts of the classroom were probably not at the forefront of their minds.But for the seven mothers and two fathers who were summoned at 10am to a stuffy room in the town...
‘I’m going for a few pints now’: nerves and joy as students collect their A-level results
For sixth formers in Halifax, discovering their grades means a chance to celebrate and plan for the futureThere are few days that teenagers dread more than A-level results day, where students learn how the last two years of their lives will shape their futures, communicated through a few letters in an envelope.The tension of walking into college to learn your fate is enough to keep most people awake the night before. For Hayden Bettson-Day, 18, the best solution was get it over with as early as...
