School

Keith Ervin, 59, was charged with assault after he told a student ‘God – you’re hot’ at a public meeting in AprilAn east Tennessee school board member who told a teenage girl, “God – you’re hot,” on video at a public meeting in April has been charged with assault.State prosecutors on 18 May charged 59-year-old Keith Ervin under a Tennessee statute that outlaws “intentionally or knowingly [causing] physical contact with another [that] a reasonable person would regard … as extremely offensive or provocative”. Continue reading...

When pupils could no longer play outside, St John’s school in Barnet decided to act, enlisting Trees for Cities to help rethink its outside spaceThe play area at St John’s Church of England primary in Barnet, north London, used to flood so severely it was often unusable. “It would get so bad that the children couldn’t be dismissed from the playground,” says Maccie Dobbie, the school’s head teacher. “We had to dismiss them from different parts of the school or, literally, parents were stepping into puddles to lift their children out of the classroom.”Because the school sits in a basin with clay foundations, rain would pool on the grey tarmac and just sit there, often denying the children a proper break for play outside. Continue reading...

Ban social media and reform education to tackle scandal of young people not in work or study, says Peter HymanSchools have become a “pipeline” to worklessness for a large cohort of young people in the UK, according to an influential former Labour adviser who has called for urgent action to help a “lost generation”.Peter Hyman, a former adviser to Tony Blair and Keir Starmer, told the Guardian the government should ban social media and enact radical education reform to tackle the “national scandal” of young people who are not in education, employment or training (Neet). Continue reading...

Union says emphasis on academic goals conflicts with proposed measures on special educational needs provisionChanges to special educational needs provision in England could be thwarted by “academic attainment at all costs” policies that prioritise exam results and punish inclusive schools, headteachers have said in response to a government consultation.The Association of School and College Leaders said the government’s emphasis on academic goals conflicted with its measures designed to help mainstream schools accommodate more children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send). Continue reading...

With third-highest number of books banned, state removes renowned work about slave trade from library shelvesA Tennessee school district has banned Roots, the author Alex Haley’s groundbreaking novel and one of the most renowned and influential works about the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade.Knox county schools (KCS) took that step under a state law that has disappeared hundreds of titles from school libraries and alarmed advocates of free expression. Continue reading...

Students from Reading Blue Coat school, and Highdown secondary school and Sixth Form Centre receiving treatmentTwo schools attended by pupils receiving treatment for meningitis have been named amid an outbreak of the infection in Berkshire which has caused the death of a student.The patients attend Reading Blue Coat school and Highdown secondary school and Sixth Form Centre, according to the UK Health Security Agency. Their close contacts have been offered antibiotics as a precaution. Continue reading...

A 2023 supreme court decision banned the use of affirmative action in college admissionsThe justice department on Thursday accused Yale University of illegally considering race in admissions to its medical school – the second institution to face discrimination allegations by the federal agency this month.In a letter to a lawyer for Yale, Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights, said a justice department investigation found that Black and Hispanic students have a much higher chance of admission to the medical school than white or Asian students, despite having lower grade-point averages and lower test scores. Continue reading...

Nationwide Canvas outage left students and faculty ‘dead in the water’ and rushing to rearrange end of academic yearA system that thousands of schools and universities in the US use was offline on Thursday during a cyberattack, creating chaos as students tried to study for finals and underscoring education’s dependence on technology.Students quickly took to social media to ask if others were unable to access Canvas, with many panicking that they could no longer view course materials housed within the platform to study for their final exams. Continue reading...

Tumbler Ridge secondary school was site of February mass shooting in which nine were killed and dozens were injuredThe school which was the site of one of Canada’s deadliest mass shootings will be torn down, officials have announced.The decision to demolish the Tumbler Ridge secondary school came after meetings between the school board and survivors, family and community members, said British Columbia premier David Eby. Continue reading...

New PEN America report analysed 3,743 unique titles removed from libraries and classrooms and found books about activism and social movements were targetedA new report has found that the number of banned non-fiction books doubled during the 2024-2025 school year in the US.PEN America analysed the 3,743 unique titles removed from school libraries and classrooms in the July to June period and found that over 1,100 or 29% were non-fiction, more than double the year prior. Continue reading...

School said its admission process is ‘based on merit’ and it is committed to complying with state and federal lawsThe US Department of Justice found on Wednesday that the medical school at the University of California, Los Angeles illegally considered race in admissions as the Trump administration ramps up scrutiny of colleges’ processes for selecting students.The finding escalates the Trump administration’s ongoing standoff with UCLA, which has focused mostly on the main campus’s response to allegations of antisemitic harassment. Continue reading...

The third day of hearings of the royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion heard further evidence from Jewish AustraliansFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastViolent antisemitic abuse was allowed to proliferate across a Jewish political candidate’s social media as part of a broader trend designed to intimidate Jewish Australians from public life, a royal commission has heard.Joshua Kirsh launched a campaign as an independent candidate for the New South Wales upper house in late 2025 but found his advertisements online bombarded by antisemitic tropes, abuse and threats. Continue reading...

Under new guidelines caning will only be used in schools for male students aged nine and aboveMale school students who bully others, including through cyberbullying, will face caning as a “last resort” under new guidelines introduced in Singapore.Male students can face up to three strokes of the cane under the new rules, which were discussed in parliament on Tuesday. Continue reading...

Researchers say findings are not reason to shy away from restrictions as MPs consider ban in England’s schoolsStrict bans on mobile phones in schools have “close to zero” impact on student learning and show no evidence of improvements in attendance or online bullying, a study has found.Researchers at US universities including Stanford and Duke looked at nearly 1,800 US schools where students’ phones were kept in locked pouches and found little or no differences in outcomes compared with similar schools without strict bans. Continue reading...

Phase Space pilot programme with NHS mental health trust used to calm anxiety around exams, ADHD and home troublesSchools have begun deploying virtual reality to help pupils cope with stress caused by impending exams, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or difficult home lives.All 15 secondary schools in the London borough of Sutton are using VR headsets made by tech firm Phase Space in a pilot in conjunction with the local NHS mental health trust. Continue reading...

Four students are in critical condition and security guard and suspect also injured after stabbing in TacomaSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxFive people were recovering in the hospital on Friday following a mass stabbing incident at a high school in Washington state.A high school student was charged with multiple counts of first-degree assault after five people were hurt during the stabbing incident on Thursday at a campus in Tacoma. Continue reading...

Walkouts, marches and other gatherings planned for ‘May Day Strong’ demonstrations across the countryThousands are set to join an economic blackout for International Workers’ Day on Friday, as part of 3,500 “May Day Strong” events across the country. Organizers are calling for “no school, no work, no shopping” with walkouts, marches, block parties and other gatherings planned into the evening.May Day has long been an annual day of protest for the labor movement, and this year, many active movements are converging to fight for “a nation that puts workers over billionaires”. Demanding no ICE, no war, and taxing the rich, the May Day Strong coalition includes labor unions, immigrants rights groups, political organizations such as the Democratic Socialists of America, and the organizers behind the No Kings protests. Friday’s economic disruption builds on a similar coordinated effort out of Minnesota in January, when tens of thousands of Twin Cities residents took off from school and work to flood the streets in protest of federal immigration agents storming the city. Continue reading...

Actions expected to exceed 3,000 as unions and groups expand protests inspired by Minnesota ICE crackdownLabor unions, democratic organizations and community groups are organizing an economic blackout this year to commemorate May Day, International Workers Day, inspired by the economic blackout in Minnesota during the massive ICE operation in the state.May Day Strong events are being planned across the US, with organizers calling for “no school, no work, no shopping”, in protest of government policies they say put billionaires’ needs above those of workers. Continue reading...

Teacher at Marist College Ashgrove claims she suffered ‘serious psychiatric injury’ after the schoolyard incidentGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA teacher at one of Brisbane’s top private boys’ schools has claimed she was subject to a “culture of misogyny” after being surrounded by hundreds of Catholic school students and pelted with food in an incident that left her with a “serious psychiatric injury”.A barrister acting for Victoria Sparrow, a teacher at Marist College Ashgrove, told the Brisbane supreme court that the school allowed a culture of misogyny to “develop and exist”. Continue reading...

NAHT survey says widespread disrepair forcing closure of playgrounds and classrooms, with Send facilities also hitHalf of headteachers say parts of their school are either out of use or unfit for purpose due to leaks, damp, mould, asbestos, ageing boilers and malfunctioning fire doors, according to a new survey by the National Association of Head Teachers(NAHT).Among those who say their schools are suffering, almost three-quarters (73%) say they have toilet blocks that are either closed (8%) or not fit for purpose (65%). Continue reading...

Hundreds of senior staff in territory benefit from nearly £30,000-a-year grant per child not available to staff in group’s other hubs HSBC is reportedly reviewing a perk that covers school fees for bankers in Hong Kong as part of a big overhaul of the bank under chief executive Georges Elhedery.Europe’s largest bank is considering whether to scrap the perk for new employees or make changes to total compensation, Bloomberg News reported. No decisions have been made yet. Continue reading...

Students aged 12 to 15 steered bus to safety and called for help after driver lost consciousness from asthma attackMiddle school students in Mississippi acted quickly to halt their school bus from crashing after their driver passed out while on a highway, prompting the operator to declare: “They saved my life.”The bus in question had just left the Hancock middle school in the Mississippi community of Kiln on Wednesday when the driver, Leah Taylor, suffered an asthma attack and lost consciousness. Continue reading...

Relatives of London pupils and German villagers mark anniversary of ‘English misfortune’ that Nazis turned into propaganda coupOn 17 April 1936, the bells of St Laurentius church in the Black Forest rang out to guide to safety a group of London schoolboys trapped in deep snow on a mountain hike gone very wrong. Ninety years on to the day, as the bells sounded again, there was hardly a dry eye in the congregation of British relatives and German villagers remembering the night that had brought together their parents and grandparents.The people of Hofsgrund risked their lives heading out with sledges and lanterns in the deadly weather to rescue the party of 27 and their teacher after two boys, fumbling though fog and frozen to the bone, had reached a farmhouse and told its startled inhabitants there were many more of them strewn over the Schauinsland mountain.The Daily Sketch from 20 and 29 April 1936 Continue reading...

Martha Odom, 16, died from a gunshot wound to the chest according to the local coroner’s statementA high school senior has been identified as the person killed in a mass shooting that also wounded five others when two groups exchanged gunfire inside the food court at a mall in Louisiana’s capital city on Thursday afternoon, according to officials.Martha Odom, 16, died from a gunshot wound to the chest, according to a statement issued Friday by the local coroner’s office. Continue reading...

Trade body warns that changes are likely to drive up costs and push pupils to find somewhere to buy junk food Business live – latest updatesA government push to get schoolchildren eating more lentils, pulses and beans at lunch could have a “devastating effect”, making catering services unviable, school meal providers have warned.Proposals for healthier meals in English schools, which would limit the amount of desserts and reduce “grab-and-go” items such as pizzas and sausage rolls, would pile pressure on an already struggling sector, caterers said. Continue reading...

More than 70% have cut down in past year on teaching assistants, who play key role in helping children with SendTwo-fifths of school leaders in England have been forced to cut back on support for children with special educational needs due to a financial crisis “more than a decade in the making”, according to a poll.Seven out of 10 (71%) leaders say they have cut down on teaching assistants (TAs) in the past year, while 49% have reduced support staff. The crisis could escalate as 81% warn of further cuts in the year ahead. Continue reading...

Measure will also limit device use during passing periods, lunch and recess and block YouTube on district devicesSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxThe Los Angeles unified school district’s board passed a resolution on Tuesday to curb students’ classroom screen time for the upcoming school year, in the latest effort nationwide to address adverse effects from excessive device use.The measure, which passed 6-0 at a Tuesday school board meeting, will set daily and weekly screen time limits for students based on grade level, prohibit elementary and middle school students from using devices during passing periods, lunch and recess, and block use of YouTube on district devices, among other provisions. Continue reading...