Schools

All nine, 10 and 11-year-olds at Marshgate Primary school in Richmond upon Thames have to learn to type, some achieving 80 words a minute

Why it's cool to touch type

Parents are so keen to give their children keyboard skills that they are paying tutors to do it. Liz Lightfoot taps into a new trend

Inside Schools

Education Quandary: Now the national literacy and numeracy strategies have been abolished, won't we just return to the old free-for-all that harmed so many children?

Thursday, 9 July 2009

Hilary's adviceThose of us with long memories can remember just how bad things were before these centralised teaching directives came in. A lot of children, mine included, had no decent grounding in the basics of literacy and numeracy, and many with learning difficulties were left to flounder and sink.

Leading Article: Academic doubts

Thursday, 9 July 2009

The clear message to emerge from last week's Commons select committee hearing on academies is that the staff in these new independently-run schools have growing doubts about the Government's commitment to them.

Brandon Robshaw: The burqa should not be worn in class

Thursday, 9 July 2009

As a teacher, what would you do if a student turned up to class wearing a mask? You'd ask them to remove it. And if they refused? Then you'd refuse to have them in the class. Simple as that.

Professor Alan Smithers: We are heartily fed up with being spun to

Thursday, 2 July 2009

We need yet another education White Paper like a hole in the head. At this stage of parliament it smacks of shameless electioneering. It also comes after 12 years of continual upheaval. The relentless push for change stems in part from the Government wanting to be seen to be making a difference. But, more importantly, it is because the big ideas and sweeping narratives do not always fit reality and so have disappointing outcomes.

Box clever: Singapore's magic formula for maths success

Thursday, 2 July 2009

It sounds crazy but Singapore has shot up the league tables by dropping traditional methods from its maths lessons and getting children to be creative. By Liz Lightfoot

Leading Article: Jewish question

Thursday, 2 July 2009

It was unfair that the Jewish Free School in north London refused to admit a 12-year-old boy on the grounds that his mother was not Jewish by descent and that she had not converted to Judaism in a way in which the Chief Rabbi approved. The Appeal Court saidthis was racially discriminatory because it was based on whether his mother was Jewish. That ruling is now presumably the end of the matter.

Education Quandary: Should we set up a parents' council at my daughter's secondary school? How do they work? What do they do?

Thursday, 2 July 2009

Conor Ryan: In a crisis, you still can't reach a social worker

Thursday, 25 June 2009

Since Lord Laming's 2003 report into the tragic death of Victoria Climbi�, there has been a big drive to bring together services for children, from police and schools to hospitals and social services. Local authorities have merged departments. The government split universities and skills from the old education department, most recently adding them to Lord Mandelson's growing empire, merging schools and social services issues with the new children, schools and and families department under Ed Balls. Similar changes have taken place at Ofsted.