English in the News
Below is a selection of articles which are archived online and may be of interest to NATE members. If you know of others please let us know. Keep up to date with our Twitter feed, too.
- Michael Gove 'should axe A-level modular exams' - Daily Telegraph, Wednesday June 29, 2011
You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. At least that used to be the perceived wisdom until A-level modules entered the exam system over 10 years ago, says the headmaster of Taunton School.
Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Could we replace libraries with book swapping clubs? - The Guardian, Thursday June 30, 2011
Speaking at the LGA conference this week, NESTA's Philip Colligan argues in favour of pooling or swapping resources to augment core council servicesLink broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Worn-out words - The Guardian, Thursday June 30, 2011
Last year Ledbury poetry festival asked poets to name their most hated words. For this year's festival they've asked for the expressions that have become such cliches that they have lost all meaning.
Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Oxford commas? Let common sense prevail - The Guardian, Monday July 4, 2011
So, American fears about the end of civilisation were unfounded. But there's no need to be dogmatic about the Oxford commaLink broken or innaccurate? Please report here - 'It's an abomination' - The Guardian, Tuesday July 5, 2011
Now they want all primary pupils to take a phonics test: Literacy experts have written to the education secretary, pleading with him to do a U-turn on his plan for phonics testing for six-year-olds, Warwick Mansell reports.
Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Head teachers angry over Sats creative writing marks - BBC, Tuesday July 5, 2011
Head teachers fear some pupils in England have been graded incorrectly in a writing test that forms part of their national curriculum tests or Sats.Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Bring chaos theory to English language teaching - The Guardian, Tuesday July 5, 2011
By relying on grammar rules in class, learners are in danger of becoming detached from the dynamism of spoken languageLink broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Pupils 'given wrong marks' in Sats tests, claim heads - Daily Telegraph, Tuesday July 5, 2011
Thousands of pupils may have been given wrong grades in this year’s Sats tests amid claims of widespread marking errors.
Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Pupils 'given wrong marks' in Sats tests, claim heads - Daily Telegraph, Tuesday July 5, 2011
Thousands of pupils may have been given wrong grades in this year’s Sats tests amid claims of widespread marking errors.
Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Hundreds of heads report concerns over Sats marks - BBC, Wednesday July 6, 2011
More than 300 heads in England have lodged concerns with the National Association of Head Teachers over the marking of some of this year's national curriculum tests, known as Sats.... The calls relate largely to a section of the English test, where pupils are asked to produce a piece of creative writing.Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - MPs say phonics will put children off reading for pleasure - The Guardian, Thursday July 7, 2011
Report criticises government's plans to test pupils on their reading ability at the age of sixLink broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Schools 'pushed into phonics by financial incentives' - BBC, Thursday July 7, 2011
Schools in England are being given financial incentives by the government to use certain phonics materials to teach reading, MPs have said.Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Headteachers reject 'appalling' marking of this year's Sats tests - The Guardian, Monday July 11, 2011
Headteachers fear their targets may be missed thanks to what some say is 'appalling' Sats markingLink broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Phonics test sounds phoney - The Guardian, Monday July 11, 2011
There's more to reading than sounding out letters, as Ros Asquith illustrates.
Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Spelling mistakes 'cost millions' in lost online sales - BBC, Thursday July 14, 2011
An online entrepreneur says that poor spelling is costing the UK millions of pounds in lost revenue for internet businesses.Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Thousands got wrong Sats grades, claim angry teachers - Daily Telegraph, Friday July 15, 2011
Most complaints concern a writing exam taken by more than 560,000 pupils in May. Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Sats tests shift more to teacher assessment - BBC, Monday July 18, 2011
Primary school Sats tests in England will use more assessment by teachers, as the government accepts the review carried out by Lord Bew. The review called for the English creative writing test to be replaced by a composition which will be assessed by teachers, rather than outside markers.
Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Booker judge's fears for reading in the age of Twitter - Daily Telegraph, Tuesday July 26, 2011
Children are reading fewer novels because they spend so much time on mobile phones and Twitter, the chair of the Man Booker Prize for Fiction has warned.
Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Gilbey on Film: from bard to verse - New Statesman, Wednesday July 27, 2011
What happens when movies take on poetry?
Link broken or innaccurate? Please report here - Lil Chase's top 10 unwords - The Guardian, Wednesday July 27, 2011
From snozzberry and heffalump to muggle and singleton, the author of Boys for Beginners picks her favourite made-up wordsLink broken or innaccurate? Please report here