Cribsheet 08.02.11

As MPs gear up for the second reading of the education bill in parliament today, the shadow education secretary Andy Burnham, writing for the Guardian , calls the bill "an audacious and unprecedented power grab from pupils, parents and the public". "Michael Gove will ask MPs to give him more than 50 new powers to control almost every single aspect of the school system in England. The education secretary wants to tell children what subjects they should study, teachers what and how they should teach and local communities what kind of schools they must have." Burnham says the plight of children who have special needs is likely to get worse if MPs endorse the reforms. "Such is the government's rush to grab new powers that MPs are being asked to vote on this bill without seeing the long-promised special educational needs green paper. That cannot be right. It sends a clear message to those parents that their kids are an afterthought." Fran Abrams has been to visit the school with the highest proportion of children with special needs in the country and reviews the state of provision. There's a background rumble of suspicion about how many children are being diagnosed with special needs - last year's Ofsted report that said schools were labelling too many children as having special needs when all they needed was better teaching, and the BBC has recently done a story about parents claiming their children have ADHD in order to qualify for disabililty benefits. Philippa Stobbs, principal officer of the Council for Disabled Children, tells Abrams that the current special needs regime does encourage some schools to play the system. By moving poorly performing children into a special needs group, they can improve results on paper overnight. All of which is likely to make it easier for the government to wield its axe, a prospect that depresses those who know that the numbers of special needs children are rising and the costs of helping them reach their potential are high. More education news from the Guardian • Lucy Tobin is following the fortunes of five sixth formers battling to earn themselves a university place in a very tough year. They sound like a plucky bunch - they're going to have to be. • Jan Murray says do an apprenticeship : it saves on fees and promises a surprisingly good income once you have learned your trade. One chap she spoke to made £92,000 last year, having completed apprenticeships in both gas and electrical installation. There's a live Q&A on apprenticeships running on the Guardian site this afternoon. Get your questions in for our experts now. • A teacher has been suspended after a parent complained that she had encouraged pupils to miss school to join the recent demonstrations against education cuts and tuition fee rises. Sue Caldwell, who works at Friern Barnet school in north London, denies the allegation. • Richard Rogers, whose architecture firm designed the award-winning Mossbourne academy, hits back at Michael Gove in a letter to the Guardian . "I am confused by recent statements from Michael Gove. Last week he told a free schools conference that 'we won't be getting Richard Rogers to design your school; we won't be getting any award-winning architects to design it, because no one in this room is here to make architects richer'. "Yet the previous day he had told BBC Radio 4's The World at One that "The truth about free schools is that they will introduce the sort of innovation and dynamism that we've already seen in schools like Mossbourne." Rogers continues: "Good design quality, improved educational performance and value for money go hand in hand; Mossbourne community academy clearly demonstrates how all of these can be achieved." Guardian views Fiona Millar sees old battles about fairness and accountability having to be fought all over again. Any chance of the Lib Dems stepping up to the plate? Alan Smith finds consolations in teaching philosophy in prison - like the guy who imitates lemurs. Jonathan Black , Oxford's director of careers, is concerned that linking education too closely to the world of work will mean less privileged students losing out on a broad-based education. "I believe there is a good chance that the introduction of higher fees will create deep and long-lasting splits in the working population that reinforce rather then break down social divisions. The privileged will continue to gain a broad education, which will given them choice and control over their careers; the less privileged will focus on expedient, short-term options that will give them narrow training, equipping them for fewer roles." Research news Why do cats roll , the Improbable Researchers ask this week. Acting submissive is one possibility. Flirting is another. Maybe it just feels good… Meanwhile Nottingham University researchers have discovered that carrots are good for your sex life , because they give your skin a lovely healthy glow. Education news from around the web • Tuition fee levels at the University of Cambridge should be set at £9,000 from 2012-13, but students from the poorest backgrounds should be given a £3,000 discount, according to a draft report seen by Times Higher Education . • The Telegraph is thoroughly underwhelmed by the idea that universities should have to prove they're widening access to less privileged students in order to charge maximum tuition fees. • Children who have been in pre-school education are likely to be much better readers when they are aged 15, reveals an OECD study based on tests taken by pupils in developed countries. The BBC reports that the study showed 15-year-olds who had attended pre-school were on average a year ahead - and this advantage was particularly strong for pupils in the UK. • The Mail, among others, has the story that " toddlers fed a diet of junk food can suffer lasting damage to their brainpower", according to Bristol University researchers. • It also has the tale of a school in Norfolk that "teaches pupils in classes of SEVENTY and says children are learning more". Manifesto campaign • We launched the School I'd Like campaign last month, to compile a manifesto of student views from around the country. Today we publish a selection of those we've received so far. And because ideas are still pouring in, we've extended the deadline for entries. So you can still email your thoughts to school.i'[email protected] . Insight into journalism seminars for teachers A unique opportunity for teachers to spend a day at the Guardian, find out how a national news media organisation works and get ideas and resources that can be used in the classroom. News 11 March Learn about the 24 news cycle; meet news reporters, feature writers, picture and sub editors; understand the role newspaper advertising; go on a tour of the editorial floors and take part in a workshop creating you own news front page which will be evaluated by an editor. Multimedia 31 March Writing for a news website, web editing, blogging, the use of social media, video production; podcasting. Places are limited and likely to fill up quickly, so book soon. Competition Children aged between seven and 14 can now enter the Young Human Rights reporter of the year competition , run by learnnewsdesk, the Guardian's online news service for schools, and Amnesty International. A winner and two runners-up in the primary and secondary school categories will win a trip to Amnesty International and the Guardian headquarters in London as well as an MP3 recorder. The closing date for entries is 14 February. Find us on the Guardian website EducationGuardian.co.uk All today's EducationGuardian stories Follow us on Twitter and Facebook EducationGuardian on Twitter Judy Friedberg on Twitter Jeevan Vasagar on Twitter Jessica Shepherd on Twitter Claire Phipps on Twitter EducationGuardian on Facebook EducationGuardian resources The Guardian University Guide 2011 School league tables Postgrad tables The world's top 100 universities More education links on the Guardian Online learning and teaching resources from Learn Job vacancies in education More about Cribsheet Sign up to get Cribsheet as a daily email To advertise in the Cribsheet email, contact Sunita Gordon on 0203 353 2447 or email [email protected] Subscribe to get Cribsheet as an RSS feed