W: www.ie-today.co.uk


to ‘avoid the internet’: “I get bullied because of my disability. [I’m] told to put up with it. They don’t care. It’s like it’s my fault because I’m disabled.” “I don’t think teachers know how to deal with it, what to say or how to deal with the situation.” Martha Evans from


the Anti-Bullying Alliance said: “Our findings show that cyber-bullying, and the frequent use of disablist language,


are serious issues facing children and young people with SEND when using the internet; but that teachers and parents are not always equipped to provide the advice and support that young people need. We would like to see more in-depth research into the issue, but ultimately the solution lies in beter education: not only in the classroom, via formats which ensure the information is accessible by all children and young people, but also beter training for teachers and support for parents.” For more information, visit www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk


The UK’s headteachers are almost unanimous in saying they do not have enough time to implement their vision for schools. Of the 50 headteachers polled by school support services company Judicium Education, 96 percent said that the day-to-day running of their school limits the time they can actually spend ‘taking it forward’. Judicium also asked the headteachers which, of three key areas, most keep them up at night. The majority (60 percent) said HR issues, 11 percent replied that education standards are their biggest worry, while seven percent of heads fret most about the state of the school finances.


Heads: too busy to improve schools Meanwhile, an overwhelming


majority of heads said that certain teachers take far too many days off each year. Underlining their HR concerns, 84 percent responded that they felt some members of staff take an unacceptable amount of sick leave. With D-Day for performance- related pay edging ever closer, the poll also asked heads whether their best- performing teachers


should earn more than their


average- or poor-performing peers. More than three quarters (78 percent) agreed that teachers who outperform should be rewarded in this way. Just 22 percent of heads felt that they should not.


Education sector data loss rises


many young people in the UK are yet to experience. Penning a leter is as good for the sender as it is for the recipient, lifting spirits and inspiring creativity as we take more time out of our day to savour and enjoy communication with friends and loved ones. Technology is fantastic and the ability to get in touch quickly and instantly is allowing us to engage with one another more than ever before. But the power of the writen word cannot be overestimated and we hope that more people will reopen these channels of communication during National Stationery Week.” See www.nationalstationeryweek. com for more information.


Research conducted by iStorage at the recent Bet 2014 education technology conference has revealed that 45 percent of respondents have lost a portable storage device that contained personal or work-related data – a seven percent rise from last year’s survey at the same event. The survey was conducted across approximately 290 education professionals at the conference by the leading specialist in portable data storage and digital encryption. The survey also revealed that


97 percent of all respondents carry data on USB sticks, portable hard drives, CDs or DVDs, but that 73 percent do not encrypt the data on these devices.


Although a high percentage of education professionals are not encrypting data on portable data storage devices, 97 percent consider data loss to be a growing concern and 94 percent agree that an encrypted data storage device is preferable to an unprotected drive for daily use. Under the Data Protection


Act, education professionals are obliged to use encryption to protect all portable devices such as USBs and external hard drives. It is recommended that USB drives should be password protected and fully encrypted to prevent reputational damage and a monetary penalty for losing data.


Image © SXC: Ihys


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  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40