The importance of ventilation hygiene is often overlooked, largely because ventilation systems are usually out of sight, which means they can be out of mind as well. Gary Nicholls, MD of ductwork hygiene and legionella risk experts Swiftclean, outlines a few sensible measures we can take to ensure a healthier building.
Lifting the ban on grammars would be a ‘disaster’, says social mobility tsar
The government’s social mobility tsar has criticised expected plans to lift the ban on opening new grammar schools, warning it would be a ‘disaster’ for education in England.
Speaking to the Guardian, Alan Milburn, the former Labour cabinet minister who chairs the government’s social mobility commission, has said that grammars lead to social selection and warned that in England’s current 163 selective state schools pupils were four or five times more likely to come from independent prep schools than from the most disadvantaged backgrounds.
He said: “This is not selection educationally, it is selection socially. If [more of] that is what is being talked about, it will not provide a social mobility dividend, it will be a social mobility disaster.”
Instead of the proposed plans to bring selection back into England’s education system, Milburn recommended a series of policies that would be more effective for improving social mobility. These included: a significant pay premium and discounted housing for teachers who move to disadvantaged areas and remain there for a number of years; a Ucas-style system to shake up the vocational education system, which Milburn said was in ‘chaos’; and intervening to improve parenting skills, which he described as the ‘last taboo in public policy’, by funding a drive through successful websites such as Mumsnet or others.
Prime Minister Theres May is expected to official announce her intentions to lift the ban on grammar schools today in London.
Read moreLatest News
07/02/2023 - 10:15
A new report has been published with perspectives from MAT leaders on the challenges facing trusts and what approaches are working in practice.
06/02/2023 - 10:21
Active Travel England is inviting local authorities in England to apply for funding to encourage active travel, which could include developing safer routes for children to walk to school.
06/02/2023 - 09:21
The Nature Prize will support schools to increase access to nature, improve biodiversity in their school grounds, and kick-start climate action.
03/02/2023 - 09:44
Following news that the government plans to extend sprinklers to care homes, but not in schools, insurer Zurich Municipal has described the move as illogical.
02/02/2023 - 10:00
Ofsted has published a review into how science is taught in England's schools, and is the first in a new series of reports looking at how subjects are taught.
Supplier Focus
Latest Supplier News
Absolute Performance, the Cardiff based gym design and installation business, announce a new management structure as they look to bolster their position as a leading player in the UK education sector.
Originally established in 2008 by husband and wife team Siân and Tony Buchanan, Absolute Performance is now looking to develop further with the appointment of Harry Tafota-Nash as Managing Director and Alistair Rosier as Head of Sales and Marketing.
