The seventh series of the Great British Bake Off returns to our screens next Wednesday 24^th August, amongst the 12 contestants are a  and a former Head Teacher all hoping to be the next Nadiya Hussain. The amateur bakers will be put to the test to see if they can take the heat in the kitchen or if they are better off staying in the classroom.    

Candice A 32 year old PE teacher in a Secondary school in Bedfordshire whose baking inspiration comes from her grandmother and aims to be “even half the lady she was.” She bakes in her pj's and has been known to break in a new pair of heels whilst baking too!    

Benjamina A 23 year old teaching assistant, recently gained a first in Economics. Straight A student, she started baking at the age of 14 and is her biggest critic. She lives in South London with brother and twin sister who is her other big critic.    

Val A 66 year old former Primary school head teacher who is a pro at making classic cakes with her eyes closed. Originally from Doncaster, she now lives in Yeovil and works two days a week with the rest of her time doing aerobics in her kitchen whilst baking….an interesting concept!

Judges Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood will oversee the competition with each baker trying to impress them with their skills. Last year's winner Nadiya Hussain was a big success and Hollywood said this year's crop had felt the pressure. "Nadiya went to a whole new level... it put pressure on them more," he said. "I think we felt it in the tents as well. They started quite nervously, but once they settled down they got into it." Berry concurred, saying: "They know the standard that it is, which is now pretty high. And I think they were slower to bond this year than they were in the past."  

Good luck to all the bakers!  

Kate Curtis the head of Wheatley Park School, is astonished with her former student Prime Minister Theresa May’s plan to increase the number of grammar schools reports TES. Final plans are expected to be announced in October however early reports indicate 20 new grammar schools will open with a focus on middle-income families. The plans for grammar schools are unlikely to be nationwide.

Ms Curtis argued that reintroducing selection at 11 was not the answer to promoting social mobility in the current school system and instead there were other more effective ways this could be achieved. "I am astonished that Theresa May, having made some bold and optimistic statements about privilege, is considering selection of children at age 11 as a way of promoting social mobility,” Ms Curtis told TES. "I hope that once she has looked at the evidence she will reconsider."  

The Prime Minister won a place at Holton Park Girls’ Grammar School, which became Wheatley Park comprehensive school during her time there after merging with the local secondary modern. Ms Curtis does not agree with increasing selection. "Of course we all understand that the identification of a high-achieving child at age 11 can be the starting point for a great journey into opportunity, and this is an exciting prospect for anyone in education," she said. "But why do we need to build a wall between that child and the next, who is not…or, crucially, not yet, such a high achiever?”

"The greatest source of inspiration in education is the student who surprises us, defies expectations and races ahead…those surprises may in future be limited to the few who get through to the grammar schools, while others will be less likely to aspire, to dream, to be taken to new horizons." Ms Curtis said that as society needed more skilled workers, the education system must strive to ensure everyone was highly educated. "The best comprehensive schools offer all that a grammar school can provide and more; this is what will help to make our country a place of growth, opportunity and cohesion and avoid the risks of division, privilege and limitations," Ms Curtis added. The suggestion of lifting the ban, introduced in 1997, on new grammar schools has proved controversial with opposition not only from Labour and the Liberal Democrats, but from some Tory backbenchers, too.  

The debate over new grammar schools takes yet another spin. An exclusive report by TES reveals plans being developed by the government to allow the creation of more grammar schools will not amount to a nationwide system of selective education. The proposals are expected to be modest in scale, with a strict focus on providing for “hardworking” middle-income families. Downing Street has not denied reports that the new overturn the ban on new grammar schools as part of her social mobility agenda. An announcement is not expected until October but details of what is being considered are already leaking out.

A Whitehall source for the TES told it is likely that the government will introduce about 20 new grammar schools, targeted in a handful of “typical working-class areas”, such as on the outskirts of Birmingham and other provincial cities. “It is unlikely they will try and bring in thousands of grammar schools,” the source said. “Instead it will be a handful here and there, in normal working-class areas.” The new selective schools are expected to be required to admit a significant proportion of pupils in receipt of free school meals.  

Another suggestion is that the new grammar schools operate strict catchment areas that encompass communities from low- and middle-income backgrounds. With plans still fluid, key players in the schools system have started to pitch their ideas of how the new academic selection might work. Toby Young, chief executive of the West London Free School Trust and an early pioneer of the free-school movement, is putting forward a “third way” proposal that would allow partial selection in academies and free schools. But ministers and their advisers may already have other free-school models in mind. “What they want is to introduce a London Academy of Excellence (LAE), but for 11- to 18-year-olds,” one source said. The LAE is a highly successful selective sixth-form college in Newham, which this year sent eight of its students to Oxbridge. The school has been nicknamed the “Eton of the East End” for its impressive results. “This government will be far less interested in raising the bottom 10 per cent and more concerned about helping low- and middle-income families. In-work families with a reliance on public services,” the source added.  

Too many pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) are not getting the support they need according to a survey of education staff. 2 years ago the new SEND Code of Practice was introduced, which stops children with less complex needs, like dyslexia or dyspraxia, from automatically receiving support.

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) teaching union carried out a survey looking at the impact of the change, it showed 83% of 600 staff, who responded said some pupils were being failed. And 43% of those surveyed said there were pupils with SEND in their school missing out on government funding and support because they were no longer eligible. Of the 585 staff in English state schools who responded to the survey:

1. 71% believed the system was failing to identify all children with special needs quickly enough
2. 58% believed pupils officially identified as having special needs did not receive the help they need to achieve their potential
3. Almost half (48.6%) said they had been unable to access the support and training they needed to meet their pupils' needs.

The survey follows a debate at the union's annual conference in April this year where delegates expressed fears that the identification and support of special needs pupils was being compromised. Prior to the new code of practice, the parents of special needs children had to ask for a local authority assessment, with the most severely affected children receiving "special needs statements."

At the time the government described the change as "a landmark moment," with "a simpler and more joined up system" stretching from birth to the age of 25, allowing education, health and care plans to replace special needs statements. But according to 43% of those surveyed many children with special educational needs or disabilities are now no longer eligible for government funding or support. The union says new criteria mean that while pupils with complex or severe needs are eligible for high needs funding support, those with less complex needs such as dyslexia or dyspraxia do not automatically receive support. As many as 200,000 previously identified as having special needs were not transferred into the new system, says the union.

Too many children "are slipping through the net completely," one primary teacher told the researchers. "It's frustrating and heartbreaking," said another. And a staff member at a secondary school said lack of funding meant they had halved the amount of support for children recognised as needing special support next year. The 2014 changes were "an ambitious and well intentioned reform," said Dr Bousted. But "unless the government provides significant and immediate additional funding the worrying situation we see now is likely to deteriorate further," she added. The Department for Education said the "biggest changes to special needs provision in a generation" meant it had "increased high needs funding by over £90m this year and given councils £35.8m to help implement our changes effectively as well as improving support for families."

"Ensuring teachers are trained to have an understanding of the needs of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities is a key part of our drive to give all children access to the education they deserve," added a spokeswoman, who said this training would in future be a key part of initial teacher training."  

Research by the University of Cambridge suggests children who have a positive relationship with a primary school teacher go on to be much calmer as teenagers.

The results found that students with a more positive relationship with their teacher displayed towards peers, on average, 18% more pro-social behaviour (and 10% more up to two years later), and up to 38% less aggressive behaviour (and 9% less up to four years later), over students who felt ambivalent or negative toward their teacher.

Positivity towards their teacher also resulted in students displaying an average of 56% less “oppositional defiant” behaviour such as argumentativeness and vindictiveness towards authority figures. 3 years later a 22% reduction was still seen. The positive effects on behaviour was as strong and in some cases stronger than that of “intervention programmes” such as counselling.  

Teaching is a tough job; there’s the ongoing primary teacher is one of the most rewarding roles. We already know the importance of good teacher relationships on infant behaviour was already known, and programmes have been designed to help pre-school teachers improve relationships with pupils, which in turn improves pupil behaviour.

“Teachers play an important role in the development of children,” said the study’s lead author Dr Ingrid Obsuth. “Students who feel supported tend to be less aggressive and more pro-social, and we now have evidence that this is the case from pre-school right through to adolescence.”
“Educational and school policies should take this into consideration when supporting teachers in fostering their relationships with students.” Cambridge's Prof Manuel Eisner, senior author on the study, said: "Most adults remember some teachers that they admired and that fit their learning needs, and others that they felt hard done by.”

"This is not necessarily only because they have more or less supportive teachers.”
"Each child will respond differently to a teacher's style and personality.”
"Our study shows that once a child develops an impression of a teacher, one way or the other, it can have significant long-term effects on their behaviour." Dr Obsuth added: "Ideally, building healthy and supportive teacher-student relationships would become part of the curriculum in teacher training and intervention programmes as a way of improving adolescent well-being."  

Theresa May is planning to launch a new generation of grammar schools by scrapping the ban on them imposed almost 20 years ago, as part of her social mobility agenda The Sunday Telegraph has learnt. Labour have accused her of taking an “incredibly backward step” if she reverses the ban.

The Prime Minister is facing backlash since The Sunday Telegraph reported Mrs May could announce a new wave of selective schools as early as the Conservative party conference in October. The move, which would reverse Tony Blair’s 1998 ban, marks a significant shift from her predecessor and is likely to be greeted warmly by the Tory grassroots who have long campaigned on the issue. David Cameron supported the ban during his time in office but Mrs May is ready to reverse the policy – a change that is believed to need a new law to passed.  

One of the first tasks given to the new education secretary Justine Greening, by Mrs May who herself attended a grammar school is to examine the change in policy. Ms Greening said she was “open-minded” about the possibility of allowing new grammar schools." Mrs May’s plans could face difficulty in the commons as she faces opposition from the Liberal Democrats and Labour who are united to condemn the change. Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat leader said: "The Liberal Democrats are the party of education and I am utterly opposed to any plan that will bring back grammar schools.” "I am prepared to work with people in all parties from modernising Tories to the opposition parties to stop this plan. The government's majority is so small - they need to see the danger signs.”

"I am committed to making sure this issue is Theresa May's first U-turn as Prime Minister. I will use everything at my disposal to stop this happening.” Angela Rayner, Labour’s shadow education secretary, said: "Selection belongs in the dustbin of history and has no place in modern society. There must be no going back."
“Rather than harking back to a mythical ‘golden age’ of grammar schools, the Tories must work tirelessly to improve every school in the country, to work with teachers to drive up standards, and to give our schools the investment they need in the 21st century,” she said. Former shadow education secretary Lucy Powell said: “All the evidence tells us that, far from giving working-class kids chances, [grammar schools] entrench advantage and have become the preserve of the privately tutored.” “If this is the new direction of Theresa May’s education policy, it’s a bad move and shows us, yet again, why we need a Labour government.”  

What are grammar schools and why all the controversy?

Grammar schools are selective state secondary schools that require pupils to pass an exam, known as the 11-plus. Under the old grammar school system, pupils who failed the exam were sent to the local secondary modern school. There are currently about 163 in England - out of some 3,000 state secondaries - and a further 69 in Northern Ireland. But under a law created by the Labour government in 1998, no new grammar schools are allowed to open in England. Education policy is devolved in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The debate over grammar schools goes back to the 1950s and 1960s, when a number of reports found that the system was failing children from working class backgrounds. In 1954 the Gurney-Dixon report found that only a tiny proportion of the working class grammar school intake went on to university. In 1963, the Robbins report highlighted that while the working classes made up 26% of grammar school pupils, as little as 0.3% achieved two A-levels or more. Labour politicians argued that these reports proved that selective education only served to reinforce class division and hampered social mobility. More recently, a study by The Sutton Trust found that just 3% of students at grammar schools were eligible for free school meals.
This is an “important indicator of social deprivation” and the national average stood at 18% in 2013. The report confirmed that children from lower income backgrounds were less likely to gain entry to grammar schools, while that those from wealthier backgrounds could afford private tutoring for the 11-plus test. A government source has claimed grammar schools could be bought back to improve social mobility. "If you’re a really bright kid, you should have the opportunity to excel as far as your talents can take you,” the source told The Sunday Telegraph.” Following the report, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister has been clear that we need to build a country that works for everyone, not just the privileged few.” “Every child should be allowed to rise as far as their talents will take them and birth should never be a barrier. Policies on education will be set out in due course.”

The Campaign For Real Education praised Mrs May's decision, saying: “This country is becoming a basket case educationally and we are failing our children. We must teach youngsters in line with their ability.” The general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, Mary Bousted, said: "A government that is serious about social mobility would not allow the expansion of selective schools. "All children deserve to have a first-class education, not just those whose parents can afford the private tuition to help them pass the 11-plus."  

There are no plans by Theresa May to replace Rachel Wolf as she steps down from her role as Education Advisor at No 10, reports TES. Ms Wolf, who advised David Cameron on education matters, was one of just two of Mr Cameron’s team to stay on after Ms May moved into Downing Street last month.

But sources have told TES that Ms Wolf has announced that she is moving on from her role as education adviser in Number 10’s policy unit, despite initially being kept on following the change in leadership. It is understood she will not be directly replaced as Ms May looks to create policy advisers with much wider briefs, such as “economics and industrial policy” and even “public services”.

The change could mean education will be handled more closely by Ms May’s joint chief of staff Nick Timothy, who moved to Number 10 from the free-schools charity, the New Schools Network (NSN). Mr Timothy’s appointment has led to strong rumours that the ban on new grammar schools could be lifted. Ms Wolf was founding director of NSN, before moving to New York, where she led curriculum development for Rupert Murdoch’s education technology company, Amplify. The Cambridge graduate worked alongside Joel Klein, the former chancellor of New York’s public schools, who had been tipped as a possible candidate for the job of Ofsted’s next chief inspector. She moved to Downing Street last year after Mr Murdoch cut his losses on the computer tablet business, which lost $427 million in the three fiscal years up to 2015.  

The founder of a flagship academy and two members of staff have been found guilty of defrauding the government out of £150,000. Sajid Raza, 43 (founder, pictured left of David Cameron), Shabana Hussain, 40, and Daud Khan, 44, made payments from Department for Education (DfE) grants into their own bank accounts. Following a six-week trial all three were found guilty at Leeds Crown Court. The grants were given to set up Kings Science Academy in Bradford in 2011. It opened in 2012. Granting bail, Judge Christopher Batty told them "I am very much considering custody" for September's sentencing.  

Peter Mann from the Crown Prosecution Service told the court the trio had "treated public money as their own". He said: "Raza treated the Academy like a family business employing his relatives there and, for at least the first 12 months, operating with no proper governance. "Hussain, Raza's sister, received unlawful payments, and Khan helped to falsify documentation," he said. The court heard how fraudulent activity took place from 2010, despite senior civil servants expressing concern about Raza's leadership and financial management. The jury heard a number of meetings took place between Raza and the DfE, at which he was said to be "incredibly rude and dismissive" and appeared to "pluck financial figures out of the air". By the time Sajid Raza applied in 2010 to open a free school under a new flagship government policy he was a man with growing financial problems. There was already one court judgement against him for a small debt, the first of ten for missed payments of various kinds.  

'mortgage repayments'

Raza had already made false claims on mortgage applications for rental properties. But within two months in 2010 his initial proposal to open a free school had been approved by the Department for Education and the first grants were paid into the company account. Some civil servants raised concerns but the process continued. The court was told that when he was challenged, Raza threatened to call the then Education Secretary, Michael Gove. By later that year Raza was transferring public money into a personal account and using some of that money to pay the mortgage on his rental properties. The school opened in September 2011 in Bradford and the jury heard it was run as a family business. During a high-profile visit in March 2012, David Cameron praised the academy and has since become part of the Dixons Academies Trust and is now called Dixons Kings Academy. Among those employed by the school was his sister in law Shabana Hussein also convicted today of receiving a fraudulent payment.

The finance director, Daud Khaun, helped cover up the misuse of public money. In total £150,000 were misappropriated. The Department for Education says the allegations were investigated as soon as they were raised and the free schools system is designed to deal with such problems faster than local authorities. But while the process of approving free schools has tightened up, this case raises a serious question about the early implementation of the policy. In the rush to approve applications, were short cuts taken and warning signs ignored? The court heard he opened a bank account in 2010, which had a balance of £28,000 by July 2011 after it received three large credits from Kings Science Academy. In the same month, almost half the balance was used to make large mortgage repayments.

Mr Mann said Raza had been motivated by "considerable financial difficulties" and he obtained the money by creating false invoices and submitting fraudulent expenses. He also inflated his salary and on two applications "claimed to be a consultant surgeon", he said. Raza, the founder and principal, was found guilty of four counts of fraud, three counts of false accounting and two counts of obtaining money by deception. Hussain, a teacher at the school and Raza's sister, was convicted of one count of fraud and one count of obtaining property by deception. Khan, the financial director at the school, was found guilty of two counts of fraud and three counts of false accounting. The defendants showed no emotion as they stood in the dock and listened as the jury foreman returned unanimous guilty verdicts on all charges. The defendants have been bailed until their sentencing in September. Kevin Courtney, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), said: "It is disgraceful that these three individuals pocketed public money intended for the education of Bradford children for their own personal gain. They have been convicted unanimously and will have to pay a heavy price for their fraudulent activity."       

In her first article since becoming Education secretary, Justine Greening is urging school staff to inspire the passion for learning that her own teachers provided, reports TES. Standing on the steps of 10 Downing Street, Theresa May set out the new government’s ambition to make Britain a country that works for everyone, not just for the privileged few.

From my own experience, that begins with education. It’s an incredible opportunity to have been appointed by the prime minister to be secretary of state at the Department for Education, which will now also include further education, apprenticeships, universities and skills.

It gives me the chance to help build and improve the very state education system that gave me my start as a young person. I was educated through the state system and was the first person in my family to go to university. Without that education, I’d never have had a career in business or become a Cabinet minister writing this article today. It is education and those at its very heart – – that steadily unlock that potential, day by day, year by year. In lots of ways that I cannot possibly even begin to list, I was shaped so much more by my teachers than by the books that they gave me. I know that there are many, many challenges facing teachers today, and many pressures on our education system.

Thank you to all those educators – and there have been lots of you – who have already been in touch with advice and suggestions on how best to get grips with this huge agenda. Reflecting on it all, my aim is to work steadily and sensibly through all of those issues in as measured a way as possible, and to help us steer the right course. There is a lot to do; there are some big decisions to be taken. But in summary, I want today’s teachers, and today’s schools, to excite – and to instil – as much passion for learning as my teachers and schools did for me. One welcome tweet to me said it was about “trust, competence, and care”. I completely agree. I will do my best. I am looking forward to working with teachers in our country to help ensure that together we give Britain’s children and young people the best possible start in life, wherever they are.

Following on from 100 things to do before leaving primary school TES surveyed 2,500 secondary students to discover the experiences they value most at school. As well as being a place of academic learning, schools are also an environment where young people learn valuable life lessons and gain experiences that will shape them as adults. Teachers and parents alike have strong views on what these lessons and experiences should be, but what do the students themselves value?  

Here are the top 100 things secondary children believe what every child before the age of 16 should have done at school…

Fall asleep in class    
Fall off a chair because you were rocking back on it    
Gain the ability to live on your own    
Have your teacher contact home with positive news
Learn how to be good at interviews
 Learn how to look after someone or something    
Try school dinners    
Be hit in the face by a ball    
Be proud of some work that you’ve done    
Throw an old pen in the bin from across the room – and get it in    
Kick a ball over the fence    
Learn how to save money    
Be told to tuck your shirt in, tuck it in, and then walk around the corner and untuck it    
Forge your parent’s signature in your planner at least once    
Wear PE kit from the lost property bin    
Give a speech to an audience    
Be told how to buy a house    
Look after a fake baby for a week    
Learn how to do CPR    
Get to a cake sale while there are still cakes left    
Win something    
Lose something    
Learn to trust/be trusted    
Learn about taxes    
Lead a group of people    
Take part in community outreach work    
Learn how to cope with anxiety and stress about exams    
Learn how to look after yourself    
Learn what to do if you are in debt    
Spend your dinner money on sweets before school   
Dress up for World Book Day    
Wear uniform on non-uniform day    
Run a charity event    
Learn how to love yourself    
Have your phone go off in a lesson    
Learn the staff wi-fi code    
Experience disappointment    
Learn from your mistakes    
Educate a teacher on new social trends and terms    
Dissect something in science    
Get a part-time paid job    
Draw on your friend's book    
Experience loyalty from a friend    
Take part in a school production    
Visit an old people's home    
Forget to do homework    
Have a school romance    
Experience the need to be resilient    
Listen to music in lessons    
Break something and deny all knowledge    
Go with your parents to parents’ evening    
Talk to someone new    
Find a hobby you are passionate about    
Mix with pupils from other schools    
Push a pull door    
Visit the school nurse    
Rename British Bulldog because it's banned    
Go on work experience    
Have a favourite teacher    
Get a selfie with your favourite teacher    
Know when it’s important to tell a teacher something − and that it isn’t landing your friend in it, but helping them    
Own up to a mistake you’ve made    
Have a water fight    
Try a new look    
Get a detention    
Be in a band    
Experience different cultures    
Call the teacher "mum" or "dad"    
Learn when not to speak    
Put your hand up in class… and get something right    
Get a grade you're proud of    
Be given responsibility    
Try new sports    
Stand up for someone    
Stand up for yourself    
Go to the end-of-year prom    
Go to a national sporting event    
Have an embarrassing school photograph    
Vote in a school election    
Be in a class with none of your friends    
Represent the school in an activity – academic or sporting    
Laugh out loud in a quiet class    
Do a tour around the school for a visitor    
Have a piece of work on display    
Walk into the wrong class    
Have the class go silent just as you say something embarrassing    
Be more confident and talk to those who have different views    
Fall or trip in front of everyone    
Be a role model for younger students    
Make a best friend for life    
Do homework during break or lunch for the next lesson  
Take a risk    
Take part in after-school activities    
Partake in a moment of bravery    
Get annoyed with a friend but remain friends    
Draw a self-portrait    
Watch a film in class    
Fall out with a friend    
Have a mini heartbreak over "the one"    
Say sorry to someone you hurt