“Programmers will be able to write third-party apps that hook into search engine’s new social service, just as outside study suggests rapid fall in usage over part month

Google+ has launched an API that should allow developers to write third-party apps that will be able to post and read directly to the service – a move that may be sorely needed, after an independent study suggested that the number of posts to the service has fallen by over 40% in the past two months.

However Dave Winer, a strong advocate of systems that interoperate, was dismissive about the API: “Google doesn’t get it“, he wrote:

They need an API with one call, one that posts a tweet to their service. So people can hook up Twitter clients to Google-Plus, so the hundred million active Twitter users can post to Google-Plus from the comfort of whatever tools they depend on.

Of course it isn’t the hundred million that they need, it’s the hundred thousand who do all the work on Twitter. The ones that can’t be bothered with a service that doesn’t have basic rudimentary API support.”

Read the Guardian article in full -> here

“Michael Gove may have to rewrite legislation for his education flagship policy after 16 schools have their plans put on hold

The government’s flagship programme to convert hundreds of schools to academies has been delayed after banks refused to sign private finance contracts.

At least 16 schools that were due to leave local authority control at the start of this term have been put on hold after banks questioned whether councils would still be liable for PFI repayments.

Councils have been forced to step in to run the schools while the problems are resolved. Teachers have been transferred back to local authority payrolls and the disbanded governing bodies reformed.

The delay could hit dozens more schools that were rebuilt under PFI schemes, and the government is calling in lawyers to reassure the banks. Ministers could be forced to rewrite legislation, which was fast-tracked in the weeks after the coalition was formed, to clarify the situation.”

Read the article by Polly Curtis and Jeevan Vasagar -> here

“Research shows apprentices over 25 up from 36,000 to 121,000, but Labour says coalition is failing to focus on key skills

The analysis reveals a 10% increase in teenage apprentices this year, compared with the academic year which started in September 2009. Teenage apprentices rose from 93,700 to 102,900. There was a 21% rise in apprentices aged 19-24, from 85,100 to 102,800. But the number of apprentices aged over 25 nearly quadrupled, from 36,300 to 121,100. Youth unemployment hit record levels earlier this year, and latest figures show around 917,000 people aged 16-24 are out of work. The research, commissioned by Labour, shows that the biggest increases in apprenticeships are in health and social care and retail.

Gordon Marsden, shadow further education and skills minister, said: “For all the government’s warm words on apprenticeships, these statistics show they haven’t got to grips with the task of supporting business and creating an environment in which quality, long-term apprenticeships can flourish and support economic growth.”

The latest statistics, from the National Apprenticeship Service, show almost 90,000 employers offer apprenticeships to 491,300 workers in England. Companies hiring the most include BT, Capita Group, Tesco and McDonald’s.”

Read the article in full by Jeevan Vasagar & Jessica Shepherd by clicking here

Our View: While it is always good to see opportunities increased for people to gain qualifications whilst they are earning,  it is disappointing to see that apprenticeships lasting more than a year are decreasing. We wonder about the quality (and level) of any qualifications which last less than a year and the potential impact they will have on the apprentices’ future. Are businesses being provided with the appropriate support and guidance to ensure that apprentices actually have the real chance to future their chosen career and not just be used as ‘cheap labour’? What’s your view / experience of apprenticeships? Good, bad or indifferent – we’re interested in what you have to say…..

Higher fees for additional university places could boost the charitable sector – a cartoon by Ros Asquith highlighting potential manipulation that could take place with the introduction of additional places at university being available ‘for sale’ at a higher price.

What are your views? Is this a step too far?

“The boss of McDonald’s in the UK is urging more businesses to recruit school leavers and end decades of snobbery that favoured graduates.

Jill McDonald said it was time to drop hackneyed clichés that put all teenagers in hoodies and belittled their qualifications by calling them “dumbed down”. She said thousands of teenagers who joined the burger chain each year were bright and desperate to learn.

More than half the executive team at the US-owned business started in one of its 1,200 restaurants and 90% of restaurant managers joined as trainees.”

Read the article by Phillip Inman in full here

This article highlights the impact of the McDonald’s NVQ qualifications which are overseen by the schools regulator Ofsted. It appears that McDonalds currently has around 15 applicants for every one of their vacancies, which can be estimated at between 6,000 and 7,000 at any one period of time.

Jill McDonald said: “We now see the equivalent of six full classes gain adult certificates in maths and English every week and we’ve now awarded 3,000 Level 2 Apprenticeships in hospitality.”

She told the conference, also attended by the chancellor George Osborne and his shadow Ed Balls, that “we need to acknowledge the road many young people take today may not be the one we took in the past.

Our View

It can surely only be a good thing if young people have the opportunity to gain qualifications whilst earning money at a time where the Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures put youth unemployment as  1 in 5 and education opportunities are decreasing as a result of the introduction of increased university fees, etc. Although it’s a shame that these young people haven’t necessarily achieved the Maths & English qualifications they need at school, to have an employer who is prepared to invest time and money in your personal development can only increase your sense of worth.

The importance of developing ‘life skills’ such as communication, teamwork, time management, etc in the hospitality sector shouldn’t be underestimated either and can be hugely beneficial to these workers in future careers.

What’s your view?

“Healthy meals mean better grades, insists television’s top chef Jamie Oliver, but price rises put progress at risk

Parents across Britain will be asked to pay significantly more for their children‘s school dinners from Monday, in a move that experts say will lead to thousands of poorer pupils missing out on healthy meals. Prices will rise by up to 17% in some schools, with charges set to exceed £2.60 in the most extreme cases.

The higher charges come amid soaring food costs and in response to the government’s decision to remove protection for a subsidy that has kept prices low in recent years.

Writing in today’s Observer, chef and food campaigner Jamie Oliver says he hopes the government will continue to invest in “quality school food, and the integral support and training of kitchen staff”. He writes: “I believe that any compromise on a child’s right to a healthy school lunch… is child abuse on an unimaginable scale.” “

To read the article by Daniel Boffey in full please click here

Our View

The article includes some interesting key points such as “Children eating healthy school dinners promoted by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver six years ago enjoyed dramatically improved test results, according to research undertaken by academics at Oxford and Essex universities.” and “The chef’s nutritious meals were more effective than the government’s daily literacy hour at raising standards of English in primary schools. Where healthy meals were eaten there was a rise of 4.5% in English Sats results in the first schools where the scheme was tried. This compared with a 3.2% rise linked to the introduction of structured daily literacy lessons. Pupils took less time off sick.” Surely data like this should be considered when making decisions which potentially affect the development of students?

“Michael Gove’s measures to enforce school discipline will include giving heads power to press criminal charges. As well as having the power to press criminal charges, headteachers will be able to temporarily or permanently exclude pupils who make false allegations.

Teachers will also get added protection through an assumption that they have behaved reasonably until the contrary is proved, and confirmation that they can use reasonable force to control children. At present, they can be suspended on the word of a pupil.

Nearly 30% of school staff have been the subject of a false allegation of misconduct by a pupil, according to a 2009 survey by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, which said that false claims blighted careers and damaged private lives.”

To read the full article by Ben Quinn click here

Our View

Any changes which protect staff from allegations whilst investigations are taking place is surely a good thing, obviously not at the expense of students’ welfare though. We await the details in anticipation….

What is your view on this change – good, bad or indifferent? Post your thoughts here.

“Parents will be able to direct inspectors to failing schools via a new website to be set up by the education watchdog.

Positive or negative feedback from parents in response to a set of 10 multiple choice questions will help Ofsted decide which schools to inspect.

The new website, to be launched in September, will be linked to schools’ homepages and could publish some of the feedback by showing parents’ overall rates of satisfaction for individual schools.

Exact details on how the website will work have not been decided, but it is likely parents will be able to give feedback using only an email address as identification.

It comes as part of a new inspection framework that puts failing schools under greater scrutiny and aims to speed up the rate of improvement where it is needed.

In contrast there will be no more routine inspections of outstanding schools, with inspectors only to be called in if serious concerns are raised.”

Read the article by Nick Collins in full here

Our View

This is an interesting concept and when we first read the article there were several questions that came to mind;

1) Who decides on the 10 questions? Will schools be involved in the decision-making process?

2) Why can parents appear to ‘hide’ behind an email address as the only form of identification? Surely if parents are leaving feedback that could trigger a potential inspection, then schools should be given the opportunity to know exactly who the parent is?

3) As the article highlights, schools will also be able to request parents to ‘go online and give them positive feedback’ – so how will this be monitored and fairness assured?

The first pilot will be taking place in 10 schools before Easter, with a wider pilot to take place during the Summer Term. What are your views?