Extra curriculum

Trip tips Pupils with a record of disruptive behaviour should be excluded from school trips, says a new pamphlet of advice for teachers from the National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers. The union is also advising teachers not to actas minibus drivers. If they insist on driving, it says, they should follow strict safety standards and should refuse to drive minibuses with bench-type seats facing inwards.

Children should be aware of the behaviour expected of them in a minibus and parents should sign a consent form based on a code of conduct.

The pamphlet also lists seven points for teachers to check, including supervision of pupils by qualified staff and whether trips are justified on educational grounds.

Battle ground Schools and further education colleges are fighting each other for 16-year-old pupils, according to a study from the National Foundation for Educational Research. Colleges criticise schools for failing to distribute information about their courses. Schoo ls protest about colleges' aggressive advertising, which gave schools "a stuffy, fussy image". Local education authorities have found themselves acting as brokers, dealing with disputes and promoting co-operation between schools and colleges.

`Honest Brokers: The Role of local education authorities in post-16 education', by Fiona Johnson and Sandie Schagen, is available from the National Foundation for Educational Research, the Mere, Upton Park, Slough, Berkshire SL1 2DQ. Price £2.

Cost answers The cost of a place in a state nursery or primary school was £1,683 in 1992-93, the last year for which figures are available, according to a parliamentary answer. Robin Squire, the Schools Minister, also told the Commons that the cost of a secondary place is £2,399. The estimated average annual cost of a full-time student in higher education in 1994-95 is £4,500.

Eric Forth, Minister of State for Education, says that special political advisers to ministers employed at the Department for Education are paid on a scale from £19,503 to £67,609.