Cuts in adult FE for the ‘nearly poor’
Ian Nash claims that the Government’s policies for further education are penalising the “nearly poor” due to lack of entitlement to welfare benefits or support with college fees.

Realising the vision for Skills for Life
Muriel Green of the Quality Improvement Agency writes about the progress that has been made in the organisation’s Skills for Life Improvement Programme, as well as its imminent merger with the Centre of Excellence in Leadership.

Satisfying the demands of employers, but...
John O’Leary asks whether higher education should place more emphasis on making graduates employable, as a recent Institute of Directors survey suggests.

Higher ground
John Izbicki looks at graduate recruitment, graduates’ lack of skills, The Entring Book, a topless wedding, the University of Ulster and female football commentators.

A roller coaster of a year this way comes
Mike Baker writes about the numerous school reforms taking place in 2008, focusing on the recently announced review of the primary curriculum and the continuation of the Making Good Progress pilot.

Foundation Stage principles could be extended through the infant years
Diane Hofkins on the Government’s announcement that former chief primary HMI Sir Jim Rose will be heading a review of the five to 11 curriculum.

Steve Marshall to leave Wales – why was his tenure so short-lived?
Our Wales editor, Professor Ken Reid, on Steve Marshall’s surprise departure from his position as Head of the Education Department within the Welsh Assembly Government.

Short reports
Technology in the classroom, plans to improve provision for runaway children, state school pupils dissuaded from applying to Oxbridge, the Tories’ failure to stop cuts to
degree funding, and school reports online.

Wales could do better
Our Wales editor, Professor Ken Reid, suggests some possible reasons why Wales appeared to have performed so poorly in the PISA performance league tables.

Education and the US elections: another Messiah from Hope
Demitri Coryton writes the first of a series of articles on education and the American elections, focusing in this issue on presidential candidate Mike Huckabee.

Letter from Scotia
Our Scotland editor, John Dobie, on the Scottish education minister’s speech at the 2007 ADES Conference on the concordat between the Scottish Government and COSLA.

Children’s Health
Children’s fears about poverty, stay-at-home fathers’ influence on boys, young girls’  sexuality, junk food, the importance of human contact and ADHD.

Media Watch
Sex education, the poverty gap and church schools.

General Section

Of guns and sex
John izbicki in Early Years guidance that encourages the use of guns and the proposal for sex education to be compulsory in schools.

Fun Page

Book review
John Izbicki reviews Binge Britainby Martin Plant and Moira Plant.

A good local school for every child and for every community
A four-page supplement reviewing A Good Local School for Every Child and for Every Community, the National Union of Teachers’ latest policy document.

Reference Section

Conferences
Our Scotland editor, John Dobie, reports on the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland conference in Aviemore. We also report on the North of England Conference in Cardiff.

Conference round-up

Document Reviews
Reviewed this month is Partnering for Success: Preparing to deliver the 14-19 education reforms in England from the National Audit Office.

Document Digest

Reports Digest
Reports from LEAs and CSAs, produced by EMIE at NFER, include those covering racial harrassment and the inclusion of pupils with additional needs in Bristol, Haringey’s children and young people’s plan, Newcastle’s young carers strategy, workforce reform and development in Northamptonshire, and an action plan for children with a disability from Walsall.

Research Section

Research Notes
Our research editor, Michael Marshall, on the publication of NFER’s 2007 Annual Survey of Trends on behalf of the Local Government Association.

Personalised learning and e-assessment
Jon Williamson and Marian Sainsbury of NFER write about the launch of i-nfer plan, which helps a teacher to determine the level a pupil has reached within a particular area of the curriculum.
NFER ongoing research

Unlocking hidden feelings in schoolchildren who have speech and language difficulties
Chris Markham of Portsmouth University argues that children’s speech, language and communication needs have a definite impact on their quality of life, much of which is related to their experiences within school.

Research Digest

Research Abstracts

Parliament Section

New select committees start work
Our parliamentary editor, Nick Kent, reports on the work of the new select committees for children, schools and families, and innovation, universities and skills.

Risk-averse culture, woodland and green spaces
Arabella Hargreaves reports on a debate in the Scottish Parliament on risk, woodland and green spaces.

Graduate Endowment Abolition Bill scrapes through
We report on the Stage 1 debate on the Graduate Endowment Abolition (Scotland) Bill.

Developing child advocacy services
Helen Grimmett, editor of EPM Wales, reports on the WAG’s development of its child advocacy services.

The closure of small schools
The Welsh Assembly debates keeping small schools.

Parliamentary Questions
The cost effectiveness of local authorities in the House of Commons, residential child care staff in the Scottish Parliament and Cardiff County Council’s schools reorganization proposals in the Welsh Assembly.

Phoenix
The NUT, the NEEC and the IiF in Wales.