'Six things kids should learn...'

This article appeared in today's Stuff website; six things that should be taught in schools:

1. Driving

2. Finance

3. Democracy

4. Real computer skills: 

5. First aid

6. Swimming

What do you think?

To read the article in full, click here.

What it takes to be successful with ICT implementation in a school

This video contains a number of interesting points about what it takes to be successful in implementing ICT strategies and policy within a school.  It's only a little over four minutes, certainly well worth a look.  Click here to watch.

Schools divided along wealth lines

This is an interesting article from today's New Zealand Herald re the socio-economic divide in New Zealand schools. The article starts:

New Zealand schools have less of a mix of rich and poor students than in the past, a new report shows.

Principals have reported the growing division, and say some parents are driving their children large distances to avoid local schools.

To read the article in full, click here.

Why students should learn to play chess

I have recently started a chess club in my school.  I am looking to extend this to teaching chess to the new entrant class (five year olds) that I teach in for one day a week.  This article reinforces my belief that a chess in schools programme could be extremely beneficial to students, even as young as five years of age.

Here's a key paragraph from the article:

'What the elite private academy and the inner-city public school both know is that "Chess makes you smart," a slogan of the U.S. Chess Federation (USCF). A growing body of research is showing that chess improves kids' thinking and problem-solving skills as well as their math and reading test scores'. 

To read the article in full, click here.

The pressure to succeed in Chinese education

This is an interesting article on the pressure to succeed in Chinese education. The article starts:

Every year, police road blocks are set up around schools and nearby construction sites are ordered to fall silent as the country is plunged into two days of "Gaokao fever".

This year, 9.15 million Chinese high school students are sitting the notoriously tough university entrance exam.

To read the article in full, click here.