Month: October 2022

Schools in England are facing bankruptcy – here’s what the government could do to help

Published by skeptic

We have barely reached the autumn half term and school leaders are already beginning to worry about what the academic year beginning in September 2023 will hold. The combined effect of the cost of living crisis with unexpected salary costs have already made it almost impossible for schools to balance budgets in 2022. Headteachers are now warning that worse is to come if urgent action isn’t taken. An open letter, sent jointly by unions and leaders of educational organisations to Conservative MPs, warned of a £2 billion shortfall in school funding by 2024. On average they estimate that secondary schools will face a shortfall equivalent to losing four or five teachers. But of course many schools are far from average: one headteacher simply states that his school will be bankrupt within a year. While things are undoubtedly more difficult for smaller schools, even large academy chains are experiencing the same crisis. Steve Chalke, founder of the Oasis Trust of over 50 academies, said: “No one is in a position to keep going for very long …

what is snail slime – and why is it shiny?

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Why are snails’ trails shiny? – Liliana, aged eight, Dublin, Ireland Snails produce a lot of slime, and it is incredibly useful to them. Snail slime is made of a mixture of substances. It is mostly water mixed with proteins and some carbohydrates and minerals, formed into a sort of jelly. This jelly is called “mucus”. It’s not that different to the snot that comes out of your nose when you have a cold. Snails produce two types of mucus. The bit of the snail that you can see outside of its shell, touching the ground, is called its foot. The snail moves the muscles in its foot in waves to move along the ground. The waves can only go in one direction, so a snail cannot move backwards. It has to slowly turn around if it wants to go back the way it came. Curious Kids is a series by The Conversation that gives children the chance to have their questions about the world answered by experts. If you have a question you’d like …

more vocational courses roll out – but post-16 choices in England are still limited

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The first cohort of students in England taking T-levels – the new vocational equivalent to A-levels – have completed their course, been assessed, and have received their results. Now more course options for T-levels are being rolled out. The initial offerings were in construction, digital production and education and childcare. By 2025, there will be 23 different T-level options. T-levels are intended to offer 16-19-year-olds a skills-focused route into either employment, higher technical apprenticeships, or university. T-levels were designed to improve on previous offers to 16-19 year olds. They are skills-focused, but grades are also partly based on exams – which the government considers the most academically rigorous assessment method. One T-level is the equivalent of three A-levels, meaning that T-level students focus on one specialism. However, the first cycle of T-levels has been beset with issues over exam marking and confusion over whether they are an acceptable route to university. Questions also remain around just how relevant these highly specialised routes are for students finishing their GCSEs. T-levels will replace many BTECs (diplomas provided …

to help toddlers’ language skills, just talk and listen

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Research has found that babies born during lockdown have been later to meet some language and communication milestones. During this time, babies met fewer new people and had fewer chances to socialise with other adults and babies, whether in baby groups or in family and friends’ homes, and parents had work responsibilities while caring for their babies. This may have led to the lag in skills in the 2020 babies. Parents often worry more about their child not talking than they do about their child not meeting other milestones. Parents are also more accurate in telling researchers when their child should meet talking milestones than other milestones, such as play or gesture. Many children who are a bit slow to talk but catch up later, and children who are more likely to carry on having language problems are not necessarily the ones who talk late, but the ones who also don’t understand as many words as their peers. But it’s important to keep a good handle on whether a child is experiencing some delay with …