News

News update: July / August 2010

I do hope that the Summer Term has gone well and that you are looking forward to a well deserved Summer break.

I am currently writing a follow-up to the best seller Behaviour Solutions – A Guide to Syndromes and Conditions. This book will contain a further range of syndromes and conditions and will outline a whole range of strategies that we can use in the classroom to support students with these syndromes and conditions. Further details on how to pre-order will be given in the September edition of the newsletter.

So here’s wishing you a relaxing Summer break.

Bullying worse in single-sex schools

The National Centre for Social Research surveyed 15 500 children and found that pupils taught in single-sex schools reported more abuse from other pupils than those taught in co-educational schools. Physical bullying is more prevalent in female-only classrooms and is worse in older children. By the age of 16 girls in single-sex schools are more likely to suffer threats of violence and actual violence than girls in mixed schools. Earlier studies had suggested that girls are more likely to psychologically bully other girls, rather than use violence.

The report suggests that there may be a different type of pupil dynamics in single-sex schools that lends itself to a greater risk of bullying overall. It is encouraging to note that over 60% of children in the survey said they felt that their schools dealt well with bullying.

Computer Translator used effectively 

Manor Park Primary School in Aston, West Midlands, which has 384 pupils from 32 different ethnicities where 60% of pupils speak English as a second language, is the first in Britain to use computer translators for all pupils. The Talking Tutor translator enables teachers to type messages to pupils which are then translated. The translator can verbally translate English into 25 languages with a further 25 languages being translated on screen. The software claims to be 95% accurate.

Screen Scene 

Dr Sigman, a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine has warned, in a keynote address at the Early Years Education Coalition Conference, that children’s intellectual development is suffering because they spend too long on computers at too young an age and fail to develop spatial awareness through working with their hands.

Gang report 

Anne Owers, Chief Inspector of Prisons, Andrew Bridges, Chief Inspector of Probation and Sir Denis O’Connor, Chief Inspector of Constabulary have just produced a report on how Gang Culture is being tackled. The report states that young men described their gang associations in terms of friendships or family ties. Some young people felt there was a sense of inevitability in gang membership linked with living in certain localities. Some saw it as necessary for their protection. The report gave a warning about the impact of gangs on girls. In some areas they were used as a conduit for communication. Also there was evidence of girls being subject to sexual exploitation - girls being treated as trophies by male gang members.

Blood test to diagnose Autism 

120 scientists and doctors from 50 universities worldwide, which include Oxford University researchers, have developed a blood test which can be used to decide if a child has autism. It would help to speed up diagnosis and allow treatment to start earlier. The researchers found that in autism large chunks of DNA are likely to be duplicated or erased, damaging genes and interrupting their vital work. 

Autistic children had many different DNA insertions or deletions to each other (copy number variants).

Brains too active in adolescents 

The Journal of Neuroscience reports on research conducted at the University College, London, which looked at the brains of adolescents. It found that adolescents have too much grey matter (the cells that sort information) and a lack of structure which leads them to have wandering minds and a lack of concentration in class.

Brain scans showed that the pre-frontal cortex, the decision making and multi-tasking part of the brain was more active in teenagers than in adults. This shows that there is simply too much going on in the brains of adolescents. The result is that their brain energy and resources are wasted and their decision making process is affected. The chaotic processing of information could make it harder for them to concentrate.

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