Teachers TV News - 11 Jul 08

In this week's Teachers TV News, a look at the row surrounding SATs, plus an exclusive interview with Professor Robin Alexander, director of The Primary Review. As many as one million pupils are expected to receive their key stage two and three results late this year, as schools face delays in receiving back exam papers. Schools Minister Jim Knight has confirmed an independent inquiry is underway as headteachers have reported widespread problems with the quality of the marking. Charlotte Hume reports on the teething problems facing ETS Europe, the private contractor hired to mark the tests, in its first year of a £156m five-year contract. Also in the news, Sheena McDonald meets Professor Robin Alexander, the man directing the Government's Primary Review. Its final report, due in 2009, will give the most comprehensive assessment of primary education in England since the Plowden Report more than 40 years ago. Elsewhere, the credit crunch is impacting on all areas of industry, and the education world is proving no exception. With talk of recession splashed across the media, teaching unions are warning that teachers' living standards will be undermined by lower-than-inflation salary increases. With talk of school budgets being squeezed in the harsh economic climate, John Draper investigates whether it is all doom and gloom, and meets one young teacher under pressure to make ends meet. Other education news: Up to half of children in some areas of Britain are entering school with a lack of communication skills, radically affecting their life chances, claims a new report. Two sexual health charities have called for children as young as four to be given compulsory sex education. The UK's most argumentative teenagers from across the nation meet for a three day debating marathon.

Teachers TV | July 11, 2008

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