Top graduates to teach in disadvantaged primary schools

Teach First has announced it is to place teachers in primary classrooms for the first time this September.

The charity is known for recruiting and training top graduates to work as teachers in England's most challenging secondary schools.

Up to 80 teachers of the UK's brightest graduates will be placed in primaries this year, Teach First says.

Eventually the charity hopes 5% of all teachers in primary schools in challenging circumstances will be Teach First teachers.

The decision follows a pilot, funded by Proctor & Gamble, which saw 50 teachers placed in 27 London primaries.

Teach First founder and chief executive Brett Wigdortz says: ""We are committed to addressing educational disadvantage, and to do this we need to engage with children as early as possible. That means placing inspirational teachers in primary schools in challenging circumstances.

"We recognise the very specific needs of primary pupils and have taken great care to ensure our teachers will receive the best training available, including a thorough grounding in key skills such as literacy and numeracy teaching, how to engage parents in their children's learning, and encouraging positive behaviour for learning."

Teach First currently operates in six English regions – the East Midlands, London, the North West, the North East, the West Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber – and has placed 2,250 teachers in more than 250 secondary schools.

To qualify as a Teach First primary school, more than half the pupils must live in very deprived areas (the lowest 30% of the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index).

Source: Press Association, The Guardian website, Wednesday 30 March 2011 08.20 BST

Qu: Do Graduates need more 'Commercial Awareness'? Ans: Yes

A frequent comment from construction recruiters is that graduate candidates could do more to showcase their commercial awareness. One of the ways to do this is to demonstrate in your interviews that you understand how construction companies are reacting to the aftermath of the recession.

While some employers are leaving difficult markets to concentrate on more robust ones, others are making acquisitions – aka buying other companies – to strengthen their positions in potential growth markets. Some are doing both.

For example, consultancy engineers Waterman signalled in their latest interim report that their UK public service work has been badly hit by the government cuts and that they are concentrating on building their portfolio of private sector work. Balfour Beatty Workplace and Costain, meanwhile, both announced acquisitions in the energy sector yesterday.

Balfour Beatty Workplace has acquired Power Efficiency, an energy procurement and carbon strategy consultancy, for a cash consideration of up to £18 million. Balfour Beatty has said that ‘the acquisition marks an important development for Balfour Beatty WorkPlace, bringing together a powerful combination of M&E [mechanical and electrical] and energy capabilities to reduce customers’ energy spend and implement carbon reduction targets’. With the energy market becoming a growth area for the construction industry, the acquisition could be a shrewd move.

Costain have acquired 75% of the share capital of ClerkMaxwell, an Aberdeen-based front-end engineering and operations support services provider operating in the upstream oil & gas sector. They also have the option to obtain the remaining 25% of the company between 26 April and 31 May 2011. The senior management team and employees will remain with the business.

Andrew Wyllie, chief executive of Costain, commented: ‘It is absolutely in line with our strategy of broadening our existing front-end consultancy, project delivery and operations and maintenance offering through a combination of organic development and acquisitions. ClerkMaxwell is a fast-growing business and will add complementary capabilities to our existing operations in the oil and gas sector, enhancing the full-service offering we can provide to our blue-chip customers.’

Source: Target Jobs, Built Environment Editor and News Writer, 8th April 2011

Leading barrister comments on diversity within a 'shrinking profession'.

When Peter Lodder QC – chairman of the Bar Council and leading criminal and regulatory QC at 2 Bedford Row – started his career in the early 80s, there were 4,000 barristers at the Bar and various social barriers to graduates entering the profession. Now the profession has grown to 15,500 practitioners and many of those barriers have been brought down.

However, there are signs that the size of the profession is shrinking. The number of registered pupillages has fallen in the past few years from 562 in 2007–08 to 460 in 2009–10 for the first six-months of a pupillage and from 567 in 2005-06 to 495 last year for the final six months, known as the second six.

When asked about changes to the Bar, Peter is keen to set the context: ‘There has always been talk of change at the Bar; we are an anxious profession. What fuels a lot of barristers is a sense of doubt and nervousness. In many ways, a nervous advocate is a good advocate; it’s fair to say that you’re only as good as your last case.’

Government cuts
Now, Peter argues, there’s a real cause for concern – the government’s cuts to public funding, affecting access to legal aid in some family, education, debt, housing and immigration matters. ‘I understand why the cuts are proposed, but the average barrister undertaking publicly funded work is not wealthy. Given the demands that are made of you at the Bar – eg, long, unpredictable hours – it’s difficult to sustain the level of commitment needed when earning an average income while being coupled with hefty student debts of £60, 000.’ He worries that chambers who previously relied exclusively on publicly funded work will find it more and more difficult to accommodate pupils and tenants in their sets, leaving fewer opportunities for the junior Bar.

Diversity and determination
‘An important part of my role at the Bar Council is about encouraging diversity at the Bar, but my advice on entering the profession comes with a substantial caveat: only come to the Bar if you are <i>really<i> good. The profession is shrinking, largely due to the substantial government cuts in public spending, and it’s likely that only those with strong talent, skills and determination will be able to make a decent enough living to justify the long hours and hefty student debts in the future.’

Source: Target Jobs Law Editor, 8th April 2011

Graduate starting salaries set to fall in real terms for third year in a row

Graduate starting salaries are predicted to fall in real terms in 2011, the third consecutive year of decline, according to a report published earlier this week by the employment research organisation Incomes Data Services (IDS).

IDS research indicates that the average starting salary for graduates will rise by 1% this year, reaching an average of £26,045. This increase is well below the rate of inflation, with the retail price index (RPI) reaching 5.5% in February 2011.

The report from IDS, Pay and Progression for graduates 2011, says that the average graduate starting salary increased by just 1% in 2010, while RPI did not dip below 3.7% all year.

Jessica Evans, senior researcher for the report, commented, ‘With employers maintaining a guarded approach to setting starting salaries in 2011, there seems to be no let-up in the squeeze on graduate pay packets as employers continue to keep a lid on costs. Even though the demand for graduate recruits is showing some signs of revival, the competition for places means that employers are under little pressure to increase current rates despite high inflation.’

Overall, IDS predicted a modest 1% increase in graduate recruitment in 2011, with the public and not-for-profit sector’s graduate intake set to fall by 5%. Graduate recruitment soared by 16% in 2010 as companies emerged from recession, with the law and accountancy sectors increasing their intake by 19%.

Analyses of average graduate starting salaries vary. The Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), which includes many large blue-chip companies, published a survey earlier this year that showed the average starting salary paid by its members in 2009-2010 was £25,000, the same as the year before, and this was predicted to remain the same in 2010-2011 – the third consecutive year of stagnation.

However, other research suggests a lower starting salary. The Higher Education Statistics Authority (HESA) found that 2008 graduates who were in full-time employment in the UK six months after graduating earned an average of £20,000.

Source: Target Jobs News Editor, 7th April 2011

Nick Clegg attacks wealthy families for leg up BUT daddy got him bank job

Nick Clegg yesterday admitted he got an internship at a bank through family connections when he left school.

The disclosure came as the Deputy Prime Minister launched a social mobility policy with an attack on the way internships go to "sharp elbowed" wealthy families.

Labour MP John Mann said Mr Clegg was guilty of "total hypocrisy" because he had closed off chances for working class youngsters by agreeing to rises in student fees. The Evening Standard's revelations led to Mr Clegg being heckled in the Commons this afternoon by Labour MPs.

Launching his policy, the Lib-Dem leader said earlier: "Unfair internships can rig the market in favour of those who already have opportunities. It should be about what you know, not who you know." But the Standard can reveal that he secured the first of three internships when his banker father "had a word" with a friend.

Mr Clegg worked at a Finnish bank unpaid for a brief period between leaving £10,000-a-term Westminster School and going to Cambridge. His spokesman said it was through "family connections", Mr Clegg's father Nicholas.

Mr Mann added: "It is total hypocrisy and really desperate for him to attack internships now. His policies are holding down social mobility in this country but he enjoyed all the advantages of family connections himself."

In many professions, a period as an intern, either unpaid, for minimal wages or just expenses, greatly increases an applicant's chances of winning a permanent job.

Speaking to the Standard, Mr Clegg said the disclosure did not change his determination to help people from less fortunate backgrounds. "I was fortunate enough to benefit from internships. I do not deny that I have been lucky but the plans I have set out today will help others from a much wider ranger of backgrounds to get the same opportunities I enjoyed." In the Commons, Labour shadow minister John Spellar asked him to confirm the Standard's disclosure that "his father's influence" helped him get an internship.

Labour MPs heckled when he replied: "I can. As a teenager I did receive it ... as I suspect did many people in this House." When Labour MPs shouted back "no we didn't", Mr Clegg added: "Very good for you if you didn't."

Harriet Harman told him: "I'm afraid you gave up the right to pontificate on social mobility when you abolished Educational Maintenance Allowance, trebled tuition fees and betrayed a generation of young people."

Source: London Evening Standard, Joe Murphy - Political Editor, 5th April 2011

GeeknRolla: Tech start-ups reveal cost-cutting tips

While traditional businesses around the world struggle with their bottom line, hi-tech start-ups are making use of all the latest money-saving tools at their disposal.

At the recent GeeknRolla event in London, in which start-ups and investors from around the world met to wheel-and-deal, there was an almost evangelical desire to spread the word about how new technology can boost efficiency at any type of company.

"Just five years ago, small businesses wouldn't have had access to half the tools that are available now on the internet", says Michael Jackson, an investor from Mangrove Capital.

"Companies that are cottoning on quickly to these tools are doing very well, and they are taking business away from those who are too slow to adapt."

In particular, Mr Jackson emphasises the importance of cloud computing, which allows a business to outsource the storage and processing of its data - such as email, financial accounts, and customer databases.

In fact, when asked to provide a top tip for traditional businesses, cloud computing was the most common answer among GeeknRolla attendees.

"Now you can pretty much get a piece of software online, that you only pay for when you need it," says Wendy Tan White, founder of startup Moonfruit.com, which builds ready-made websites for small businesses.

"For example, people pay for our service on a monthly basis, which lowers start-up costs, but also makes it easier to shop around and find the best product because you are never tied to one piece of software."

In addition to being "pay-as-you-go", cloud computing has the advantage of reducing the number of computers, servers and network connections that a small business needs.

"It's never been cheaper to start a business," says Bindi Karia from Microsoft.

"A decade ago you would have had to spend a lot of money on hardware - all those boxes that go in your office. Now you pay someone else to look after those boxes."

Of course, no business can thrive without computing power, but that power might as well be generated by a smartphone or tablet rather than a desktop, so workers can be untethered from their desks.

"We wouldn't be able to survive without apps", says Josh Williams, founder of start-up Gowalla.Mobile devices run their own software, in the form of apps, many of which make use of cloud computing and are well tailored to the needs of small businesses.

"We use a service called JotNot, which lets you take a photo with your camera phone, of receipts or other documents that you need to email. So I don't have to go to the office to scan something, or waste my assistant's time."

"We also use another app called Square, which lets you take credit card payments on your smartphone. It's really low-cost - around 2.75% per charge - and you don't have to have a merchant account."

Start-up methodology has spread and developed largely through the internet. Many GeeknRolla attendees follow a methodology known as Lean Startup, which espouses a very specific model of a small business - one that updates its key product frequently and in response to constant feedback from customers.

The term was coined by blogger Eric Reis and popularised by other influential bloggers, such as venture capitalist Dave McClure.

"It's about how to cut corners," says Damian Kimmelman, from start-up Duedil.

"If you start living and breathing that methodology, you find your own ways of working and you get rid of the [unnecessary features] in your product.

"You only focus on the things that are most essential and differentiate you from the competition - instead of trying to do things that companies with bigger budgets can do better than you."

Source: Sharif Sakr, Technology of Business Reporter, BBC News

Only a third of London pupils sit history GCSE

Almost seven in 10 London teenagers left school last year without taking history GCSE, new figures show.

About 50,000 pupils in the capital's state schools did not take the exam, while almost 55,000 did not study geography.

The figures come amid fears that schools are entering students for "softer" subjects in a bid to boost their league table rankings.

For the first time the Government has published previously "hidden" exam results so that parents can see exactly which of the subjects are being taken by students in schools.

It lists GCSE results with "equivalent qualifications" such as Btecs stripped out, and reveals the number of pupils who passed five or more good GCSEs was lower than previously thought.

Information about teenagers who passed only "pure" GCSEs will now be published every year as part of a league table of new data. In London there are six state schools where no students took history GCSE, and 21 where no students sat geography. Across the capital 68 per cent of pupils did not study history, and 75 per cent did not take geography.

No pupils took GCSE history at Stockwell Park school in Lambeth, Prendergast-Ladywell Fields college in Lewisham, or Woodside high school in Haringey, Copland community school in Wembley, Eastlea community school in Newham and Norlington school for boys in Waltham Forest.

Russell Hobby of the National Association of Headteachers said: "History is a critical subject. The question is why are students not studying it, and what would help them to?"

Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "Improvements in achievement over the last several years are due to schools and colleges introducing a more appropriate, differentiated curriculum that engages all students, and not because students are pushed toward soft qualifications."

Source: London Evening Standard - Anna Davis, Education Correspondent

Leading City firms review student support ahead of tuition fee hikes

Seven of the UK's 20 largest law firms by revenue are planning to review the financial assistance they offer to future trainees in the wake of planned hikes in university tuition fees.

Clifford Chance, Linklaters, Herbert Smith, Hogan Lovells, Eversheds, Addleshaw Goddard and Bird & Bird are all set to review the financial support packages they offer law students over the coming months.

The firms are considering various funding options including bursaries, sponsorship and scholarships for undergraduates, with some considering donations to university law departments.

The move follows Lord Browne's review of higher education funding, which has paved the way for universities to be able to charge annual fees of up to £9,000 a year from October 2012.

Hogan Lovells associate director for legal resourcing Clare Harris (pictured) said: "Our immediate priority will be to provide any additional support for our future trainees who may require it, both during their time at university and at law school, should funding prove to be a difficulty and where there are genuine cases of hardship. Our aim is to ensure that the careers of our future joiners are not hindered by financial issues."

Herbert Smith graduate recruitment partner Matthew White said: "We are currently meeting universities to discuss how Herbert Smith should respond. Based on our conversations so far we are looking to focus our resources on employability issues and doing more to raise career aspirations both for university and school-age students."

Increasing numbers of universities, from Oxford and Cambridge to Surrey and Aston, have confirmed they plan to charge the maximum £9,000.

Source: AGR and Legal Week, Written by Suzi Ring of Legal Week, published 31/3/2011