News


Apply now for a funded travelling fellowship A


re you a deputy head teacher, with your sights set on a future Headship role? If so, the fully funded travelling fellowship being offered by the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust (WCMT) in partnership with the Farmington Trust might just be for you.


Each year the WCMT awards over 100 travelling fellowships to British citizens from all walks of life and from all over the UK. Applications are now open for four travelling fellowships that will be awarded in the 2013 Education category, to deputy head’s that wish to research educational values and standards, new developments in teaching, and to improve their leadership skills.


The fellowship will involve overseas travel to experience, observe and study best practice in other countries and the opportunity will encourage successful applicants to develop their moral leadership skills, in order to have a positive impact on their pupils.


Applications are judged on project merit and are welcome from any British citizen, aged 18 and over who resides in the UK. The deadline for the 2013 applications is 2nd October 2012.


Successful applicants will receive an average fellowship grant of £6000, covering travel, food, accommodation and insurance for approximately six weeks overseas. For further information visit www.wcmt.org.uk


UK schools compete to win a £10,000 eco-garden


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upils from around the UK are being asked to design a ‘little litterbug’ in a bid to win their school an eco-garden up to the value of £10,000. Viking, the school’s supplies channel of Office Depot, has partnered with the Support Your School recycling scheme and is encouraging children, 11 years of age and under, to take part in the competition by drawing, colouring or painting a Little Litterbug: a creature or a machine that can recycle their classroom’s waste and turn it back into something useful for their school.


The deadline for entries is Friday 20th July and from an initial


shortlist the winning entrant will be chosen by a representative of the Support Your School scheme. The winning school will receive a £10,000 eco-garden, designed specifically for their school.


For further information visit www.vikingschoolscompetition.co.uk


Online tutoring support A


number of academy schools are to receive TLC’s online tutoring service, as multi- academy sponsor AET, aims to support the children eligible for the £1.25bn 2012-2013 Pupil Premium allowance.


The resource is based on the current national curriculum and identifies areas of focus for each student, producing a tailored tutoring plan. Having already trialled the platform, which will now be distributed to academies within the AET network, it is hoped that the personalised learning programmes provided by qualified UK-based teachers will raise pupils’ academic attainment. Recent changes to the Pupil Premium, a measure intended to deter wasted spending and drive performance, include broader eligibility requirements and a rise in allowance to £600 per child. Children registered for free school meals at any time in the past six years are now eligible for the allowance, which includes looked after children and children of British citizens currently serving in the Armed Forces. From September,


Ofqual report prompts positive response to International Baccalaureate


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ualifications, examinations and assessments regulator, Ofqual, has published a report that commends the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IB Diploma) for its emphasis on independent study, as well as praising the course for successfully preparing students for the demands of higher education.


The report considers how A levels compare with the qualifications offered at a similar level elsewhere in the world, including the IB Diploma, and how strengths found in other education systems might be incorporated into A levels, as part of the ongoing review of the qualification. Findings produced by the report suggest that the IB Diploma programme offers a broad education with an international perspective, as well as an emphasis on mathematics and languages.


Ofqual identified the importance placed on independent learning¸ in the form of an extended essay, entitled the ‘Extended Essay and Theory of Knowledge’ as a key strength of the programme,


June 2012


which “can help to build the skills of deep thought, synthesis, research and self-directed learning which are so highly prized by universities.” Also praised was the programme’s focus on practical chemistry as an investigation which “requires higher-order skills to design, conclude and evaluate findings.”


The report also made note of the IB’s approach to Mathematics, citing the programme as “having (the) highest number of options for mathematical study available.” In light of this, the regulatory body questioned whether or not there was a “need for A level Mathematics to have further lower-level options in addition to AS.” It was also found that Mathematics at Higher Level on the IB programme was deemed to be amongst the most demanding of those considered.


Following the release of the report’s findings, Adrian Kearney, regional director for the IB programme, Europe, Middle East and Africa, said he believes the strengths of the programme make students attractive to admissions tutors


schools will be required to publish how they have spent the Pupil Premium.


TLC, a tutoring organisation that specialises in English, Math’s and Science believes the new service is a suitable solution for schools looking to deliver on their Pupil Premium spend. AET CEO David Triggs, said of the service: “Its assessment tool allows us to easily focus on the areas in which children need extra help, and (it) enables our academies to raise academic attainment by providing each student with tailored support and individual attention.”


and graduate employers alike : “Ofqual’s findings demonstrate that the IB Diploma Programme provides students with a breadth of experience and knowledge in languages, mathematics, the experimental sciences, humanities and social sciences, which prepares them well for both university and the world of work.” First year Economics student at Warwick University and IB alumnus, Mark Fromings, agrees with Kearney’s analysis and believes that the skills he has learnt from the IB programme will help him not just at university, but later in life too: “While many of my A level friends (at university) are good at maths and economics, the IB means I have much more than that up my sleeve. The IB doesn’t just arm students with the tools for tackling a defined set of problems; instead it gives them the ability to think in such a way that they can solve almost all problems they are faced with.”


He continued: “A levels just give students subject specific knowledge; the IB takes this further – meaning it is far easier for me to tackle new challenges and come out on top. Some of my friends don’t understand how I can break down and compute problems so quickly, but it’s simply because I’ve been taught how to do exactly that.”


www.education-today.co.uk 5


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