There are 40,560 children eligible for the Looked After Child Pupil Premium in England; £19,791,000 has been allocated to them out of the £625 million pupil premium 2011/12 fund. TLC Education Group asked 30 local authorities how many teachers were specifically employed to fulfil statutory duties under section 52 of the Children Act 2004 which states: “The duty of a local authority under subsection (3)(a) to safeguard and promote the welfare of a child looked after by them includes in particular a duty to promote the child’s educational achievement.”

Simon Barnes, Director of TLC Education Group, comments: “Looked after children often can’t make it to school or have missed large chunks of education because of a tumultuous personal life – this upheaval is tragically reflected by the fact that under half of looked after teenagers get five GCSEs. It is essential local authorities have the resource to provide these children with the individual learning programmes they need and these FoI results suggest it’s not readily available.

“One council informed us that it had only one fully qualified teacher for the 613 looked after children in its local area. It’s not physically possible for this teacher to address the educational needs of these children.”

A number of local authorities provided details of ‘virtual schools’ that the children benefit from. These are online portals designed to support the children and their guardians with resources and schedules that are completed in order to monitor the attendance and punctuality on the school register, until the end of year 11.

Barnes continues: “We feel Michael Gove’s recent comments on ICT adoption should be seriously considered by local authorities looking to provide looked after children with additional education. Unfortunately the virtual schools mentioned don’t offer individual tuition and are instead designed as a repository for educational resources. Online tutoring however works well for the children and their carers as it’s highly flexible and can be tailored to meet specific academic requirements. In addition to this, the council benefits from the pupil premium being allocated to an activity that directly positively effects children’s attainment.”

All local authorities questioned have one teacher per school dedicated to looked after children that attend, in addition to the teachers employed directly by the council. The local authorities questioned were the ones with the highest numbers of looked after children eligible for the pupil premium fund; out of the 30 surveyed, 28 responded.

Knowing exactly what you want to do for the rest of your life at the age of 17 is somewhat of a big ask, which can naturally leave school leavers either unemployed, or making rash decisions which they later regret.

Recently, we have spent time talking to pupils who decided to opt for college enrolment, as well as the others who jumped straight into a work based learning apprenticeship.

The interesting observation we first made, was a large amount of learners expressed the wish to have opted for the other route, although we have not read too much into this. As we all know the grass is not greener on the other side, and the question of ‘what if’ will always stick in the back of a teenagers mind.

The take away information we gained from the research:

Apprenticeships

• Great for hands on learners
• Ideal if you are looking to avoid sitting in a classroom, although supporting work and skills evidence still needs to be completed by the learner
• Speeds up maturity
• First-hand experience in the role
• First-hand experience dealing with your employer
• Enables you to work as a team in a work environment
• You receive a nominal salary

College

• Further education helps you to focus on expanding your knowledge on the subject area without distraction
• Ideal if you are not ready for full time employment
• Aimed for more vocational students
• Allows extra time to increase your knowledge on the subject area
• Usually Monday to Friday
• Term breaks included in your learning

The fact is that both avenues have advantages and disadvantages and choosing wisely at the first time of asking is essential in guiding yourself down the right path. A few questions worth asking before you make your decision:

Are you ready for work?
Do you want to be earning now?
Are you a hands on learner or do prefer assignment based learning?

Answering these questions truthfully will help you to pick the right course first time!

More resources:

Choosing a University or college

Apprenticeships

Direct Gov Teenager Support

Traditionally this is in areas such as sports, music and the arts together with accommodation (for staff and pupils), patronage and future development. But we can no longer ignore IT in this mix.

Whether this is measured by the school’s use of wireless technology, educational delivery, security or control of internet access or simply the visual appearance of large screens displaying the latest sports activities or events for the next two weeks, it doesn’t matter.

The fact is that IT plays a large part in the talks given to prospective parents as they tour your school and an ancient laptop or 15” screen will certainly leave the wrong impression.

Growing parental emphasis on IT should not be a surprise – it now directly affects the way we work, communicate and play and to be competitive in the future, children must be proficient with IT from a young age. It is therefore imperative that not only is the IT provision within a school sufficiently robust to cope with the demands placed on it but that the staff supporting and maintaining it are similarly capable.

So, here are some points to consider when assessing whether onsite personnel or outsourced education IT support would serve your school better:

• Necessity: Nearly every school must have someone responsible for their IT infrastructure. At what point should it be a specialist?
• Recruitment: Hiring IT staff can often be awkward as the interviewers are often at a disadvantage in terms of knowledge or over reliant on simple instincts
• Value for money: Most schools have an IT cost line in their current and strategic budgets. But could it go further?
• Responsibility: The IT buck stops with the Bursar
• Demand: Competitive education today increasingly relies on IT

To the EducationState team!

We are writing to introduce ourselves, The World Literacy Foundation, and a Global summit we are holding in April of this year.

The World Literacy Foundation is an independent not-for-profit charitable body founded in Australia in 2003. The foundation is committed to providing projects and programs to break the cycle of low levels of literacy in the developing world.

The World Literacy Summit 2012 will be held in Oxford this coming April and  will serve as a platform to discuss future action through the Summit’s key theme “From Poverty, to Literacy, to a Future”. We aim to create a unique opportunity for delegates to build a practical and collaborative approach that will work toward a shared goal; enabling the  67 million of  un-schooled children get an education and allow for the hundreds of millions more to have the opportunity to  learn more effectively, starting with literacy.

The Summit will bring together leading educators and leading literacy organisations from around the world to discuss and build sustainable solutions to help those living in social isolation caused by their inability to read or write.

Themes that will be addressed at the Summit include:

• The Millennium Development Goals
• Future strategies toward education for all, including those of GPE and any other possible New technologies in learning
• Recent research in the fields of literacy and education
• Policy changes to improve literacy levels
• Investigation into how NGOs and the Government relate with one another in the literacy sector
• Illiteracy in specific areas of the developing world
• Illiteracy in urban areas of the developed world
• The economic and social impact of illiteracy
• The link between illiteracy and health

As an education news blog, we would greatly appreciate you mentioning us and our up and coming Oxford summit on your page. You can view more information on our event at http://www.worldliteracy2012.org/the-event.html or alternatively ‘Like us’ on on Facebook  (World Literacy Foundation)  or ‘Follow us’ on Twitter @WorldLiteracy.

If you could forward on information to relevant networks that are interested in this global issue we are addressing or can suggest any other key contacts, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Kind regards,

The World Literacy Summit Steering Committee

Dr Tony Cree, CEO of the Aboriginal Literacy Foundation, Australia

Dr Donald Green, Vice President of Ferris University, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

Mr Andrew Kay, CEO of the World Literacy Foundation, Australia
Mr Lachlan Macindoe, Youth Ambassador & Advocate, Australia

Mr Keith Hutchence, broadcaster, author and journalist, UK
Mr Peter Ma, Director, Chi Fat International, Hong Kong

Miss Trish Patel, Event Management, New Zealand

–

Below, and just in case any UK public sector worker needed further motivation to take strike action tomorrow (November 30th 2011), a ‘striking’ Michael Gove. A case of ‘do as I say, not as I do’?

It has been revealed that more than one in four female pupils were awarded an A or A* at GCSE level this summer, expanding the academic bridge between the two sexes considerably.

26% of girls’ entries were awarded these top grades this year compared to 19.8% of boys, creating the broadest gender gap since the introduction of the A* grade in 1994.

FDM Recruitment Manager, Madeleine Field, said, “This latest generation of female GCSE students is clearly extremely gifted. Therefore we would encourage all of these young women to seriously consider studying an IT related subject after high school. There are far too few women who do so at the moment despite the fact that studying the subject could lead these students into high flying positions within an extremely lucrative industry.”

According to the e-skills 2011 report ‘Technology Insights’ only 9% of students studying A-level Computing and 15% of those reading the subject at university are female.

And as the IT industry falls deeper into the crisis of a severe skills shortage, the UK’s largest IT graduate employer, FDM Group, is seeking to encourage more girls to pursue careers in the field by alerting them to the benefits of setting their sights on roles within the field.

The opportunities within the field are certainly impressive and according to IT recruitment website CWJobs, the number of IT jobs increased by 18% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2011.

Average wages within this industry are also on the up and according to research conducted by recruitment firm Greythorn, salaries for IT and telecoms professionals have risen by 7.5% in the past year.

However, despite these promising statistics, just 14.4% of IT professionals in the UK are currently female.

FDM Chief Operating Officer, Sheila Flavell, said, “At this time the IT industry is missing out on a huge talent pool of gifted young women who could help to reduce the threat of an IT skills shortage. As an industry we need to nip this problem in the bud by encouraging more women to opt for IT related A-levels, degrees and ultimately careers.”

FDM is committed to encouraging more women to study and work in IT and has launched a dedicated “Women in IT” campaign.

To view FDM’s “Women in IT” pack please visit here.

 TLC Education Group, the specialist maths and English tutoring provider, today announces five partnerships with schools across East Anglia. The Samuel Ward Academy and Wymondham High School in Suffolk, Coleridge Community College and Parkside Community College in Cambridge, and the Open Academy in Norwich, have invited TLC to set up Learning Centres onsite and offer individual maths and English tuition alongside GCSE preparation, to pupils aged 6-16 from the respective schools, and children in this age range from the surrounding areas.

Qualified CRB-checked teachers provide bespoke tuition based on needs and skills gaps identified in a comprehensive initial assessment. Learning Centres are located onsite at each school, with tutoring sessions taking place in study periods or after school.  

 Pupils work independently on TLC Education’s unique learning software, which provides modules based on the national curriculum. A qualified teacher monitors progress, answers questions and helps them get through difficult material. Each teacher works with an average of four pupils at any given time (with no more than five in a lesson), enabling one-to-one tuition at affordable rates.

Simon Barnes, Director of TLC Education Group, explains: “We are operating in some of the finest and fastest improving schools in East Anglia. Our partnerships mean that we can help improve examination grades and build confidence in students of all ages and abilities. Within these partnerships, we also welcome students from the wider community, from schools other than those in which we are located.”  

Howard Lay, Headmaster at Samuel Ward Academy comments: “I can highly recommend TLC Education’s Learning Centres. They have been assisting us with our GCSE students and have had a significant impact on raising our students’ achievements. We are also working with them on other year groups with equal success. I look forward to our continued partnership.”

Barnes concludes: “We are planning to open Learning Centres throughout the UK and we are in discussions with many schools about starting partnerships.”

TLC Education Group also has an independent Learning Centre based in Bishop’s Stortford offering maths and English tuition, GCSE and common entrance exam preparation. The tuition specialists assess children for free in order to identify the academic challenges they are facing.                                                              

About TLC Education Group

TLC Education Group was founded in July 2010 by managing director Simon Barnes and specialises in maths and English tuition, GCSE and common entrance exam preparation, for children aged between 6 and 16. TLC Education Group is the only tutoring organisation to have Learning Centres in schools all year around, and offers tailored learning programmes in small classroom environments with a maximum teacher to pupil ratio of five to one. TLC Education Group currently has an independent Learning Centre in Bishop’s Stortford and five further Centres housed within the following schools: Samuel Ward Academy, Wymondham High School, Coleridge Community College, Parkside Community College and the Open Academy.

For more information on TLC Education Group, please visit: www.tlceducationgroup.com   

July 28-31, 2011 in Washington, D.C. and around the country

We’re putting the Public back in public schools!

We, a collection of people from all walks of life and every corner of this nation, embody a mixture of ideas and opinions regarding how we can improve educational opportunities for all children. We stand united by one belief – it’s time for teachers and parents to organize and reclaim control of our schools.

As concerned citizens, we demand an end to the destructive policies and rhetoric that have eroded confidence in our public schools, demoralized teachers, and reduced the education of too many of our children to nothing more than test preparation.

A well-educated society is essential to the future of the United States of America. Our students must have access to a fully funded, world-class public education system, and it is our responsibility to hold our government accountable for providing the means to achieve it. Please join us!

July 30: DC Rally & March

The rally will officially begin at noon at the Ellipse, but arrive early to enjoy performances, art, and more!

At noon, Diane Ravitch, Jonathan Kozol, José Vilson, Deborah Meier, Monty Neill, and other speakers, musicians, performance poets, and more will encourage, educate, and support this movement and the Save Our Schools March demands.

At 1:30 p.m., we will march to the White House, where the demands will be read, we’ll demonstrate, and engage in a call for continued action to reclaim schools as places of learning, joy, and democracy.

If you can’t make it to DC, follow the site to find out more about ways to participate in or plan actions in your local area!

* * *

Visit the Events section to learn more about what is being planned. Follow the March on Twitter and causes.com to stay up-to-date; learn, plan and network on our discussion boards; and explore the rest of the site to get informed and GET INVOLVED!

The MP? Our own Education Secretary Michael Gove.

That is, former Times journalist Michael Gove.

That is, the husband of Sarah Vine a fellow Times journalist.

That is, the former Times Leader Writer, Comment Editor, News Editor, Saturday Editor and Assistant Editor Michael Gove.

While Gove wrote for the Times, one of his bête noires was the BBC and their supposed left-wing bias (you can look here at the Times’ website if you wish to contribute to Murdoch’s retirement, or here for free at The New Statesmen).

Seems Gove was happy to peddle the Murdoch-Tory line about that.

Does the former Assistant Times Editor then have anything to tell us about what went on during his time there? Or, were the Goves otherwise engaged?

And, as we have wondered in previous posts (EducationState passim), is Michael Gove a “fit and proper person” for Education Secretary?

Is it right that this man, a man who edited a newspaper for a corporation that it has been alleged hacked into the phones of thousands of celebrities, politicians, policemen and ordinary people including young murder and 9/11 victims, and the families of war dead, be responsible for the lives of the vast majority of young and vulnerable people in the UK?

We think not.

Last week, Ian Duncan Smith urged the recruitment of British workers, a few weeks before that Michael “The Governor” Gove decided to relax the rules regulating the employment of overseas-trained teachers.

So, in other words, the UK should employ British staff and then it shouldn’t.

Or, to put it another way, British companies should recruit British workers or maybe they shouldn’t.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with overseas-trained staff, of course, especially highly-qualified and experienced teachers.

Their recruitment can address subject shortages and is much more preferable than placing undertrained Teach First newbies in the neediest classrooms.

So what on earth is going on in Tory HQ when the arse says one thing and the elbow another? Signs of an internal rift perhaps?