The retiring principal of the BRIT School for performing arts has accused the Department for Education of "living in a state of fear" and denying children the vocational teaching they need for future careers in the creative industries.

Several children have been injured after a school bus crashed into a low railway bridge in Chesterfield.

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From anti-smell sports bags to indestructible lunchboxes, Kate Watson-Smyth presents the coolest kit for surviving the year ahead

Behaviour in a fifth of schools is not good enough, official figures suggest. Some 21.3 per cent of schools were judged to be just "satisfactory" or "inadequate" in terms of pupil behaviour by Ofsted inspectors last year, according to statistics published by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

From designer notebooks to lovable lunchbags, Clare Dwyer Hogg packs a satchel with everything your children need for a new term

Stephen Sellers, 16, suffered from bullying when he was younger. Read his story here…

Sir: Rupert Thorne says he is grateful for the ban on the "aggressive promotion" of homosexuality in schools. As this never took place in any school in the United Kingdom, I wonder why it had to be banned.

I can understand the misgivings arising about the likelihood of beacon schools becoming elitist and selective, if they are not these already. However, it would be a mistake for heads and staff at other schools to shun the idea completely. Consider the advantages of two-way movement between beacon and non-beacon schools.

Letter: Inspecting Ofsted

The Government yesterday announced a boost of pounds 11m to help mainstream schools become more accessible to special needs children. Estelle Morris, the schools minister, told MPs that the almost three-fold increase on the pounds 4m set aside by the previous administration for the Schools Access Initiative was the most that had ever been spent on the initiative in any year.

Sir: I am a single parent from the "not so deserving" category outlined by Lynne Reid Banks (letter, 27 November). Thankfully I am in work, and supporting myself and my son.

Sir: Regarding David Blunkett's enthusiasm for school uniforms: at my old school, Maes Garmon in Yr Wyddgrug (Mold), we wore blazers emblazoned with the school motto Ni Lwyddir Heb Lafur - "There Is No Success Without Labour". Perhaps Mr Blunkett might like to adopt that as a countrywide motto.