Teachers in schools across the globe are turning to a new philosophy to help improve the behaviour and well-being of students. Mindfulness, a form of meditation, has been shown to help with a wide range of mental health conditions and improve well-being in adults. However, few trials have evaluated its effectiveness in children.
Professor Willem Kuyken from the Mood Disorders Centre at the University of Exeter is presenting new research findings from a feasibility trial which show how the mindfulness technique is also effective in improving well-being in young people. Speaking at...
Honiton Primary School has been given the highest possible accolade by education inspectors who have classed it as outstanding.
Not only do they rate the school’s overall effectiveness as outstanding. Every key area of school life also wins the top judgement.
The inspectors say the achievement of pupils, the quality of teaching, the behaviour and safety of pupils and the leadership and management are all outstanding too.
The three inspectors from the school standards agency, Ofsted, delivered their verdict after a two-day visit to Honiton last month. And lead...
Pupils at an Exeter primary are helped to learn by the collaborative ‘can do’ atmosphere throughout the school, according to education inspectors.
And they rate Pinhoe Church of England Primary as a good school on all five key aspects of school life.
They say Pinhoe’s overall effectiveness is good and so is the achievement of pupils, the quality of teaching, the leadership and management and the behaviour and safety of the pupils.
The rating is much improved from the satisfactory grade the school received less than three years ago and since then the school standards...
The Guardian newspaper reports today (Tuesday 19 March) that the new draft guidelines for the Geography national curriculum for children under 14 years old does not mention ‘debate about climate change’. If this happens, it will be left to teachers to choose whether to teach it, apart from a single mention of the human part in CO2 emissions in the chemistry section. With the pressure of time, or personal opinion, many may not do so.
People and Planet , a student network that campaigns on the environment as well as global poverty and human rights, has launched a campaign to lobby...
Teachers and pupils from Topsham School have been learning vital lifesaving skills.
The school has signed up to the free ‘Heartstart’ programme, which teaches simple skills that can be used in a life-threatening emergency in order to help save lives.
Staff and Year 6 pupils have been taught skills such as assessing an unconscious patient, performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), dealing with choking, serious bleeding, and helping someone that may be having a heart attack.
The course is designed for pupils aged 10 and upwards, but some emergency lifesaving...
East Devon District Council (EDDC) is about to launch a new teaching and learning pack for schools, which focuses on the River Axe.
EDDC Education Ranger Meg Knowles and Primary Curriculum Advisor David Weatherly are leading a teacher training day on the Axe Estuary Wetlands on Monday 15 April.
The government has made it clear that the new slimmed-down national curriculum will only identify ‘’the essentials of human knowledge and understanding’’, providing more professional space for schools to design their own (broad and balanced) curriculum using their local environment...
Devon County Council is calling on small and medium-sized businesses to think about the benefits of offering an apprenticeship.
The Council is organising a special event at Sandy Park in Exeter on Tuesday 12 March to bring young people and potential employers together.
Businesses are being encouraged to sign up to the event to see how they could get involved and maybe find a suitable apprentice for their organisation.
The day starts with a Business Breakfast between 8-9am for those considering taking on apprentices to find out more information.
Cranbrook’s new primary school will be officially opened today (26 February). The £3.6 million St Martin’s C of E Primary , which serves the new Cranbrook community in East Devon, will be officially opened by the Bishop of Exeter, the Rt Rev Michael Langrish, and the Chairman of Devon County Council, Jerry Brook at 9am this morning.
St Martin’s will grow with the new community and will eventually accommodate 420 children with a 26-place nursery.
Every classroom is equipped with the latest Apple technology and has its own outside space. There is a purpose-built Foundation...
When Martyn Lufkin graduated with a degree in statistics, he had no idea that some 13 years later he would return to education - this time to train as an electrician.
The 33-year-old father of two who lives in Exeter is one of a growing number of people who retrain and switch to a completely different career after years, even decades, of doing the same thing....
Martyn had studied statistics because he was good at it, rather than because he had a specific career in mind, graduating in 2001. In fact he was so unsure what career he was suited to that he signed up with a...
A GP‘s innovative measures to support patients with diabetes has been recognised by a prize set up in memory of one of the pioneers of health education in Devon.
Dr Alice Harney received the MacLeod Post Graduate Prize at the University of Exeter Medical School, after she designed a care plan card which allows nurses and GPs to easily review the needs of the patient. The cards have been adopted at College Surgery in Cullompton, Mid Devon, where Dr Harney has also set up a diabetes support group.
Dr Harney received £300 because judges deemed her achievement to be an...
