Category: news

For comedian Tim Key’s latest work he has teamed up with a string quartet to create an album – on vinyl – of his poetry, set to music, recorded on a boat.

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Schools that employ high-flying graduate teachers through a government-backed educational charity see improved exam results, research has suggested.

A study showed schools with Teach First teachers had seen pupils boost their grades by a third of a GCSE in every subject they study.

Researchers also found new Teach First teachers were at least as good as their more experienced colleagues.

The scheme is funded by schools, sponsors and the government.

The findings are particularly interesting because the Teach First scheme is one of the few projects into which the coalition government has invested more since coming into office.

Teach First trains graduates who obtain a 2:1 or higher at degree level – who may not normally consider a career in teaching – and places them in schools in deprived areas.

Ministers have mooted plans to require all teachers to have a 2:2 at degree level.

Researchers from Manchester University were commissioned by the charity to look at how well the programme was doing and how it could be improved.

They analysed data and conducted interviews in 87 Teach First schools and 87 comparable secondary schools, and with 848 teachers across England.

They found a significant correlation between participation in Teach First and improved pupil achievement, one to two years after the teachers start at the school.

They added that the more Teach First teachers in a school, the greater the improvements.

But the impact of the programme is limited by the relatively small number of teachers the charity recruits and trains.

Since 2003 there have been more than 2,000 Teach First teachers placed in schools in challenging circumstances.

This compares to the 37,000 that England’s official recruitment body, the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA), recruits into teacher training each year.

However, the charity is hoping to expand from the 552 teachers it recruited this year to 1,140 per year by 2013.

Teach First chief executive Brett Wigdortz said he commissioned the research to discover what his charity was doing well and how it could improve.

“We are committed to continually improving our programme to ensure our teachers are equipped to transform the life chances of pupils affected by educational disadvantage.

“Teach First’s belief is that with a dedicated and focused classroom leader, all pupils can realise academic success.”

Schools minister Nick Gibb said Teach First did an excellent job bringing academic highfliers with real leadership potential into teaching and that he was committed to expanding it.

“It is teachers and heads who are the most important people in driving school improvement and, as this research shows, Teach First teachers are producing impressive results.”

A TDA spokesman said it shared the same aims as the charity, adding: “Getting the best quality teachers into the classroom is what matters most, and 92% of those people who started training in 2008/09 had a 2:2 or better UK degree.”

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Britain’s biggest banks are in talks about collectively reducing the amount they will award in new year bonuses.

BBC business editor Robert Peston said serious negotiations about the “thorny” issue were ongoing under the umbrella of the British Bankers Association.

One participant suggested total bonuses could be cut from £7bn to £4bn, whilst accepting such a figure would still attract criticism from politicians.

A senior banker stressed there was no guarantee of a “workable agreement”.

The banker said: “We are talking to each other about making some kind of joint statement about bonuses that would demonstrate that we are reducing the amount we are allocating to remuneration this year.”

With the rest of the economy undergoing belt-tightening measures and banks still being accused of not lending money to small businesses, the bonus issue will be monitored closely when it crops up in the new year.

Business Secretary Vince Cable has said banks could face more taxes if they pay out “outrageously large” bonuses.

One participant in the secret talks told our correspondent: “What’s the most we could achieve? Right now the expectation is that banks in the City will pay out around £7bn in bonuses.

“Maybe we can cut that to £4bn. But although that would be a huge reduction, £4bn is still a big number – and we’ll still face attacks.”

Our correspondent says the talks themselves may be counter-productive as the banks could be seen to be colluding on a competitive issue and could therefore be prosecuted by the Office of Fair Trading.

“One of the great paradoxes about all of this is that ministers would love us to agree to cut bonuses, but they’re powerless to stop us being prosecuted under competition law,” one banker said.

A cap on bonuses could also lead to top banking talent relocating to other financial centres where there are fewer concerns about big pay, says our correspondent.

British banks are said to be irked that Wall Street is resistant to the idea of a mutual agreement on restricting bonuses.

“There’s no chance that the big US investment banks will follow our example, which means that business and good people could leave London for New York or elsewhere, if we’re seen to be paying less than the market rate,” one banker said.

The total size of the bonus pool on Wall Street for 2010 performance is expected to be around $20bn (£12.4bn), or about 80% greater than the expected London bonus pool.

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The parents of Madeleine McCann have signed a deal to write a book about the girl’s disappearance, with the proceeds to fund the continuing search for her.

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Internet users are being warned about cold callers, employed by crime gangs, who offer to fix viruses but then install software to steal personal information.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

At least three Canadian tourists and two hotel staff have been killed in an explosion at a luxury hotel on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, officials say.

The blast, believed to have been caused by a build-up of natural gas, blew out windows at the 676-room Grand Riviera Princess hotel in Playa del Carmen.

At least 15 people were injured.

Scores of Canadian visitors are staying at the hotel complex, located in an area known as the Maya Riviera, about 90km (55 miles) from Cancun.

One child is reported to be among the dead.

One of the guests, Pete Travers, told the Canadian Press news agency: “It was chaos. There was blood and injuries from flying glass and debris.”

Quintana Roo state prosecutor Francisco Alor said initial investigations were focusing on the possibility that naturally occurring gas from a nearby swamp had built up under the hotel and somehow ignited, the Associated Press reported.

“Under no circumstances are we talking about an attack,” he said.

Mexican army and police have cordoned off the hotel.

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This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Australia name 17-man squad for the Ashes series against England which begins in Brisbane on 25 November.

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Campaigners working with West African farmers are calling on Europe and the United States to cut the subsidies they pay to their cotton farmers.

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Police in southern California arrest a car driver following a head-on collision with a group of motorcyclists which leaves five people dead.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.