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Education News

School lottery 'failed in aim'

A controversial lottery system for secondary school places has failed in one of its key aims - to give poorer children equal access to top schools, academics say.

Researchers looked at Brighton and Hove which introduced England's first city-wide lottery two years ago.

They say pupils in the poorest areas still have little chance of getting into the most popular schools.

Brighton and Hove Council says the system is fairer than the previous one. It uses a lottery on top of a catchment area system.

The city is divided into catchment areas and if a school is over-subscribed with applications from that area, a lottery is used as a tie-breaker to decide who should get a place.

In the past, places went to pupils who lived closest to the schools, leading critics to say pupils were being "selected by mortgage". Now, families living in wealthier areas close to their favoured school might not get a place there.

The new catchment areas are drawn in such a way that families in the poorest neighbourhoods still have little chance of getting into the most popular schools, according to the academics.

The most popular schools are in the centre of the city, while the most deprived areas are to the east and far west.

School meals 'help fussy eaters'

School lunches can tempt fussy eaters to try new foods, a survey for the School Food Trust has suggested.

Researchers found that four out of five children in England who ate school lunches had tried food at school that they had not tried at home.

Half of parents questioned said their children had asked for foods they had eaten at school to be cooked at home.

The survey, of about 1,000 parents, found the most popular vegetables were carrots, sweetcorn and peas.

Aubergine, chickpeas and spinach were among the least popular.

Of the parents questioned, 628 had children who ate school lunches.

England's School Food Trust commissioned the research after a survey by the Mumsnet website suggested some parents gave their children packed lunches because they thought they were too fussy to eat anything else.

First wave of new-style academies open

There will be 32 schools opening this term as new-style academies in England.

The number was labeled a "failure" by teachers' unions - while the Education Secretary Michael Gove said he was "quite encouraged".

These were outstanding schools which have taken up the government's offer to opt out of local authority control and become independent academies.

Among the 32 schools, seven are primary schools, the first academies for this age group.

There are a further 110 schools which will convert to academies later - including about 40 primary schools. This group of schools aiming for academy status also includes a number of grammar schools.

Academies are state-funded independent schools which will receive direct funding, outside of the control or support of local authorities.

Mr Gove said the greater independence would help schools to raise standards.