NEWS

SecEd

The ONLY weekly voice for secondary education

To subscribe, call 01722 716997

SecEd

Tel: 020 7738 5454 Fax: 020 7978 8319 www.sec-ed.com info@sec-ed.com editorial@sec-ed.com sales@sec-ed.com

Managing director

Matt Govett

Publisher and editor

Pete Henshaw, 020 7501 6771 editor@sec-ed.co.uk

Deputy editor

David Taylor, 020 7501 6772 david.taylor@markallengroup.com

Chief reporter

Chris Parr, 020 7501 6750 chris.parr@markallengroup.com

Reporter

Bea Yeatman-Biggs

Illustrator

Christos Mais

Editorial advisory panel

Paul Ainsworth, Deputy

headteacher, Belvoir High School, Leicestershire. Mark

Blois, Browne Jacobson. Hilary

Moriarty, National director, Boarding Schools’ Association.

Neill Morton, Headteacher,

Portora Royal School, Enniskillen. Jo Smith, Deputy headteacher, Long Field School, Melton Mowbray.

Tina Stockman, Teacher, Harlaw Academy, Aberdeen. Ray Tarleton,

Headteacher, South Dartmoor Community College, Devon. Dr

Bernard Trafford, Headteacher,

The Royal Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne. Simon Viccars, Headteacher, Leon School and Sports College, Milton Keynes.

Alex Wood, Headteacher, Wester

Hailes Education Centre, Edinburgh

Sales department

Associate publisher and advertising manager

Abdul Hayee, 020 7501 6767 abdul.hayee@markallengroup.com

Classified sales

Rachel McElhinney, 020 7501 6728 rachel.mcelhinney@ markallengroup.com

Circulation department

Tel: 01722 716997 Fax: 01722 716926 email: subscriptions@ markallengroup.com

Subscription manager

Chris Hoskins

Circulation director

Sally Boettcher

UK annual rates:

Personal £50 Institutional (libraries,

companies etc) £110

Europe annual rates: Personal £92 Institutional £165 Rest of world annual rates: Personal £113 Institutional £209

Printed by

Pensord Press, Wales

Published by

Send your news in to: news@sec-ed.com or call 020 7501 6771

Welsh announce plans for Science Academy

by Greg Lewis

A £2 million National Science Academy (NSA) is to be established in Wales to promote the take up of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The Welsh Assembly govern-

ment plan is to strengthen the so- called STEM subjects and help deliver a stronger, more sustainable economy for the future. The creation of the NSA was

a commitment under the Labour- Plaid Cymru power-sharing agree- ment, but the details have only just been announced. Lesley Griffiths, deputy min-

ister for science, innovation and skills, said the NSA would pro- mote the four subjects at all levels to ensure Wales had a continu- ous pipeline of people graduat- ing from colleges and universities with the appropriate qualifications and skills. “The importance of innovation

and the role it can play in help- ing economic growth should not be underestimated,” she said. “The NSA will have a key role to play in ensuring we have the appropriate skills at the appropriate level to sup- port the development of a vibrant and sustainable knowledge-based economy.

Charity aims to raise awareness of dyslexia training

A campaign urging schools to apply for government-funded dyslexia training has been launched by a national charity. The See the Difference cam-

paign, run by the Dyslexia and Special Learning Difficulties Trust, aims to raise awareness with posters and press advertisements directed specifically at schools and teachers about how best to deal with dys- lexic children. It also alerts parents, teachers

and local authorities to a £10 mil- lion government training scheme for 4,000 teachers, designed to ena- ble them to better identify dyslexia and related learning problems. The campaign comes after

research undertaken by the Trust revealed that at least 10 per cent of children have dyslexia or associ- ated learning difficulties. Of this number, schools fail to identify two thirds. The findings also claim that with

early recognition and action, young people are more likely to succeed. The research said that more than

half of the children who failed their SATs had features of dyslexia. In areas of deprivation, all the dyslexic or associated special learning diffi- culty children failed the tests.

St Jude’s Church, Dulwich Road Herne Hill, London SE24 0PB www.markallengroup.com

According to other statistics,

fewer than one in 10 teachers feel secure about teaching a dyslexic child, with four out of five wanting more training. Dr John Rack, director of the

Dyslexia and Special Learning Difficulties Trust, said: “The ground-

breaking report, Identifying Children and Young People with Dyslexia and Literacy Difficulties, written by

Sir Jim Rose and published in June 2009 made many excellent recom- mendations on how best to support pupils struggling to learn. “We would like to see every

school make the most of this opportunity and, together with the Training and Development Agency for Schools, we want to encourage and support teachers coming for- ward for training through our See the Difference campaign.” Teachers wanting to access

the government-funded training must have QTS and be working in England, and need to apply and enrol by March 2011. For more on the campaign, visit

www.thedyslexia-spldtrust.org. uk and for more on the funding, visit www.tda.gov.uk/teachers/sen/ specialist_skills/register_your_ details.aspx

“High level skills will play an

increasingly important role in the economic renewal programme and none more so than in science and technology-based subjects. We are investing in skills for our future prosperity and growth.” A study into the current take-up of STEM subjects concluded it was

necessary to work on the attitudes and STEM-related skills of children from key stage 2 or 3, in order to bring about a measurable increase in the number of undergraduates in this field. The NSA, said the Assembly

government, will therefore focus on education in STEM subjects from

early years education through to further and higher education. The academy will cover all of

Wales, with four regional hubs and one central hub based at the Wales Institute of Mathematics and Computational Science in Swansea University. Regional hubs will be based at

Techniquest Cardiff and Wrexham, and the location of the remaining two hubs will be confirmed at a later date. The primary method of com-

munication will be via a com- prehensive website with content appropriate for different user groups ranging from key stages 1 to 3, to directors of Research Institutes. Its role will be to co-ordi-

nate current and future initiatives designed to promote the uptake of STEM subjects; influence the STEM agenda in the school cur- riculum; and actively undertake and promote initiatives that span the STEM “supply chain”.

Creative writing club inspires students to take to the stage

A 14-year-old student who wrote, co-produced and co-directed her own school musical witnessed its success as it was performed to a full house for three nights in succession. Olivia Sung, from The Blue

Coat School in Liverpool, wrote the first draft ofNow Playing after a discussion in her English class about a suitable subject for the annual school show, agreeing on an 80s music theme. Within four weeks, the fully

written script arrived on the desk of Tim Kershaw, head of English and Olivia’s form tutor, and was eventually performed at the school’s theatre in February. “It was an amazing experi-

ence,” said Olivia of the musical, “and I received brilliant guidance from my teachers.” Mr Kershaw, who co-direct-

ed Now Playing, believes that Olivia had a mature approach. He explained that she was open- minded about changes that were made to the story and was happy with a cameo role, rather than choosing the lead. He added: “She was great to

work with – very enthusiastic and supportive of the cast.” The Blue Coat School runs a

creative writing club, which has helped to inspire Olivia’s success.

Treading the boards: Students perform Now Playing, written and co-directed by pupil Olivia Sung

As well as her involvement with the show, Olivia has had work pub- lished in the Wordsworth magazine for young writers, written novels, and won competitions, such as the CEO of the Royal Liver Group’s personal choice of poem in the annual Poetry of Place contest. “Attending the club has given

me a lot of confidence,” Olivia said. “I struggled to write when I first started at the school but now I love writing.” Belinda Ludlow, English teacher

and head of the creative writing club, believes that students benefit hugely from exerting their energies into writing – and gain essential practice for external exams.

Teenagers use secret online language

MA Education Ltd is an independent publishing company also responsible for education titles Delivering

Diplomas, Headteacher Update, Fundraising for Schools, Early Years Educator and 5to7 Educator.

© All rights reserved. No part of SecEd may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written permission of MA Education The publisher accepts no responsibility for any views or opinions expressed in SecEd.

ISSN 1479-7704

Teenagers using social networking sites have created a secret online language to keep their messages private. New research has found that one

of the reasons youngsters invent slang words is to conceal under-age drinking and smoking from adults or future employers. The study was carried out by Lisa

Whittaker, a postgraduate student in Stirling University’s psychology department. She interviewed 16 to 18-year-olds in Scotland as part of

2

a thesis she is writing on adolescent identities. “The language used on Bebo

seems to go beyond abbreviations that are commonly used in text messaging, such as removing all the vowels,” said Ms Whittaker. “This is not just bad spelling,

which would suggest literacy issues, but a deliberate attempt to creative- ly misspell words. The creation and use of their own social language may be a deliberate attempt to keep adults from understanding what is

written on the page. By doing this they are able to communicate with their in-group and conceal the con- tent from the out-group. This further adds to their online identity.” Ms Whittaker’s research also

revealed that many youngsters see sites like Bebo and Facebook as a way to boost their self-esteem and feel more positive about themselves. “Social networking sites like

Bebo provide young people with an opportunity to gain informal positive recognition from their

peer group,” added Ms Whittaker. “The total number of friends you are connected with indicates your popularity. “However, in terms of self-

presentation and recognition, this is not a straightforward process. For young people, a low number of friends, for example less than 500, is a sign that you are not very popular or well-liked. By contrast, having too many friends can also be detrimental to your self-image as you appear desperate.”

“It is also great fun and infor-

mal, away from the constraints of the curriculum where there is not much scope for going your own way,” she added. Ms Ludlow also stresses her

belief in the physicality of putting pen to paper, which she fears is “a dying art”. Mr Kershaw added: “In this

fast-paced world in which we live, it is very important not to lose sight of the importance of litera- ture. I am very sorry to see school libraries disappearing. There is a vibrant library at our school – you cannot underestimate the importance of students physically reading something.”

The secret language

• Getting MWI (getting mad with it) or

steaming – getting very drunk

• Ppl – people • Kwl – cool • Lyk – like

• Taken or Ownageeee

– strongly attached to someone

• Legal – used by girls to make it clear that they are of the legal age to have sex

SecEd • May 6 2010 Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16