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6 | NEWS


LONDON SCHOOL PLACES SHORTAGE RISES


The capital needs an additional 133,000 school places by 2018 to address future demand, according to a London Councils’ report. In its analysis, Do the Maths 2014, London Councils warns that London’s new baby boom is puting pressure on schools as pupils move from primary to secondary school. Despite successful efforts


by councils to build new schools and classrooms – 46,000 places were created in 2012/13 – the challenge continues as London has the UK’s highest predicted pupil growth and subsequent shortage of secondary places. A baby boom from 2001, rising construction costs and a shortage of land are all adding to the costs of building new schools and expanding existing ones. The cost of creating one school place in inner London is £15,000. Cllr Peter John, executive


member for children and young people at London Councils, said: “Councils have been digging deep to fund places for every child, but rising land and building costs, limited council budgets and growing numbers make this option unsustainable in the long term. Councils retain a legal duty to provide places for all pupils, despite government restricting new schools to free schools and academies.” The report calls on the


Department for Education to tackle the school places challenge by removing the ‘75 per cent adjustment’ that assumes funding has been sufficient to provide 75 per cent of school places, ‘frontloading’ funding so that boroughs can start building secondary schools straightaway, and addressing London’s rising need for special schools through more appropriate funding.


Report: private education boosts wa


Children who atend private school will earn almost £200,000 more on average in their early careers than their state-educated peers, according to a report by the Social Market Foundation (SMF). Open Access: an independent evaluation assesses how to widen access to high-performing independent schools on a needs-blind basis, and calculates the ‘wage premium’ experienced by those atending independent schools. The analysis uses data to estimate


that, between the ages of 26 and 42, an independent school alumnus will earn a total of £193,700 more than his state school contemporary. Even when factors such as family background and early educational achievement are accounted for, the wage premium persists at £57,653. The report assesses The Suton Trust’s


‘Open Access’ scheme, which seeks to open independent schools up to pupils from all backgrounds based on academic ability. The proposal is that participating


schools receive the same funding per pupil as local state-funded schools currently receive, but also charge fees on a means-tested basis, with the poorest families paying no fees. Researchers estimate that applying the scheme across 100 leading independent schools, covering 62,000 pupils, would cost the


ABOVE: Private schools such as Eltham College provide their pupils with huge advantages


government around £215 million per year. An analysis of the social backgrounds


of children who score highly in standardised tests shows that selection based on merit rather than fee-paying ability would significantly alter the social composition of the UK’s independent schools. The number of children coming from the top 10 per cent of household incomes would halve, while the proportion of children from the botom 40 per cent of household incomes would


Anti-Bullying Week announces 2014 theme and w


of children remain significantly more likely to experience bullying in schools and the wider community. For example, London University’s Institute of Education reports that children with special educational needs are twice as likely


The Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA), based at the National Children’s Bureau, have announced the theme for this year’s national Anti-Bullying Week (17-21 November) as “Let’s stop bullying for all”. There have been vast improvements


in the way schools, parents and young people tackle bullying. Nonetheless, evidence suggests that some groups


to suffer from persistent bullying. ABA Acting National Coordinator


Martha Evans said: “In the previous year 83 per cent of young people with learning difficulties have suffered bullying, while over 90 per cent of parents of children with Asperger Syndrome have reported the bullying of their child. Ultimately, bullying is a


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