Work-related suicide probe call after death of head teacher Ruth Perry
- In the wake of Ruth Perry’s death, two well-known experts have argued that every work-related suicide should be investigated by the health and Safety Executive.
- Their article in the British Medical Journal states that there needs to be change and health experts need to “demand action to tackle the burden of mental ill health associated with the way it [Ofsted] operates”.
- Co-authors, Professor Martin McKee and Professor Sarah Waters have said that not enough is known about similar teacher deaths and argues teachers face “immense pressure at work.”
- Paul Whiteman, General Secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, has said the article was a “powerful intervention”.
- For more please visit the BBC News website.
Schools bewildered by AI advances
- A group of Head teachers from the UK have warned that schools have been left confused by the rapid rate of change in artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on education.
- In a letter to the Times, educators say developments are “bewildering”.
- As a result, they are launching a body of experts to advise schools on which areas of AI are “beneficial, and which are damaging”.
- AI advancements are moving too fast for government alone to give appropriate advice to schools.
- The Head Teacher of Epsom College, Sir Anthony Seldon has said AI is the “greatest threat but also potentially the greatest benefit to our students, staff and schools”.
- The group have also questioned the role of digital companies behind AI stating that they “have no confidence” in them having the ability to regulate themselves in the interests of students, staff and schools”.
- For more please visit the BBC News website.
Roblox: Ten-year-old spent £2,500 of mum’s money without her knowing
- A 10-year-old girl has spent more than £2,500 on popular gaming site Roblox after changing the password on her family’s iPad tablet without her mum knowing.
- Most of the transactions were around £20 each.
- The parent from Denbighshire has warned other parents to “be vigilant”.
- The 10-year-old, who has autism, had been playing more on her tablet due to being off school after struggling in mainstream school.
- Tesco Bank initially refused the request for a refund but considered and apologised after BBC Radio 4’s ‘You and Yours’ took up the case.
- Roblox has said it had a “robust policy” on unauthorised payments and Apple said pre-purchase alerts could be utilised.
- For more, please visit the BBC News website.
Cashless schools project latest to fall victim to NI education cuts
- A system to allow all schools to transition to cashless payments is the latest announced cut to the education budget.
- The Education Authority (EA) have said that “financial pressures” meant the online payment project was being postponed.
- The EA have issued a message to schools apologising for the “huge disappointment”.
- The communication also recommended that if schools already had a cashless payment system in place, they should renew their contracts for another year.
- One school principal told BBC News NI he could “not believe it is 2023 and this has not been sorted”.
- For more, please visit the BBC News website.
