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SCHOOL HOSTS BRAINCANDO CONFERENCE
Queen Anne’s School in Caversham is hosting a BrainCanDo conference for students, teachers and parents on March 6-7. Friday’s theme will be ‘Inspiring Women’, with guest speakers discussing a ‘no limits’ approach to life, while on Saturday guests including neuroscientist Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore (pictured) will discuss ‘Education for the 21st century’. “We believe that learning is far more than just gathering information,” says headmistress Julia Harrington. “Our BrainCanDo conference aims to fuel innovation and creativity and support, encourage and inspire our students and peers.” More details at
www.braincando.com.
LITERACY GAP REVEALED
New research from the National Literacy Trust reveals that almost a third of boys never or rarely write for fun outside class (31 percent), while almost a third of girls write daily (32 percent). Six out of ten boys say they don’t like writing at all. This trend could be having a negative impact on their atainment at school, warns the charity. Their findings show that young people who write for fun outside school daily are four times more likely to be writing above the expected level for their age compared with young people who never write outside school (27 percent vs. 7 percent). The charity now offers a CPD programme to help teachers address this literacy gender gap. Visit
www.literacytrust.
org.uk ffi.
Independent Schools Council manifest
It is time to reset the relationship between private and state schools in the UK, says a new manifesto from the Independent Schools Council (ISC). “The mission of all schools, whether state or independent, is to educate children to achieve their full potential,” states the 2015 ISC manifesto. “Any barriers, real or perceived, between the two sectors are counterproductive.” Barnaby Lenon, ISC chairman, added:
“The use of ‘school type’ as a proxy for wealth is endemic within government and in other organisations. It is meaningless, a lazy stereotype that helps no one. There are disadvantaged children at our schools and there are advantaged children in the state sector. We should focus on the individual not the institution and use contextual information about each child.” According to the manifesto,
independent schools have much to offer the education sector and their ideas, culture and ethos are continually being adopted to benefit all children in this country: ✥ Independent schools have been at the forefront of the development of curricula and exams ✥ Independent schools have been actively involved in the consultations about the reforms to A-levels and consistently
ABOVE: Charlotte Vere, ISC acting general secretary
press for higher quality exam marking ✥ Independent schools have included ‘character education’ for decades, believing that educating the whole child is as important as exam results ✥ Independent schools have always offered extensive extracurricular activities in music, drama, sport, Duke of Edinburgh awards, Combined Cadet Force etc.
Making more of mobile learning
With mobile learning high on the agenda, the Education Show 2015 is collaborating with the Tablet Academy to provide educators with free, hands-on advice at the NEC, Birmingham from 19-21 March. As an education consultancy and teacher training organisation focusing on the use of tablets in schools, the Tablet Academy will host a tablet advice hub devoted to mobile learning in the ‘Learning through Technology’ zone. Whether a school is looking to go
down the 1:1 route or is considering implementing ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD), the Tablet Academy is inviting visitors to see and test a range of devices in an educational context. Its team of teachers will be on hand to offer educators the chance to ask questions or gather advice on mobile learning. Anita Pal, from show organisers i2i Events Group, says: “We are dedicated to
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