Trainee lecturers lack knowledge of basics
Trainee college lecturers cannot identify students’ problems with reading and
mathematics because their own literacy and numeracy skills are so weak,
according to Ofsted inspectors (Nicola Woolcock writes).
In a report published today the regulator highlights inadequacies in courses
taken by further education teachers. “Trainees were not confident enough to
systematically identify and address the literacy, numeracy and language
needs of students in their lessons,” it says. “Some are constrained by their
own weaknesses in these skills.” However, more than half showed teaching
skills that were good.
London lorry charge
Lorries weighing more than 12 tonnes will face a £200 daily charge to enter
London from Monday unless they have low-emission exhaust systems.
The city’s clean-air initiative is being introduced in phases; from July 7,
all lorries and buses weighing 3.5 tonnes or more will have to comply with
low-emission rules and by October 2010 all diesel vehicles over 1.2 tonnes
will be included.
Student killer jailed
A 21-year-old history student has been jailed for a minimum of 21 years after
the “ferocious” murder of his former girlfriend in her hall of residence at
the University of Hull. Jason Webster inflicted more than 90 separate
injuries on Rebecca Love, 26, a marine biology student, in May last year,
including forcing a pen down her throat. He pleaded guilty to murder last
October at Hull Crown Court.
Call for flood help
A 90-year-old woman whose home has been flooded four times in the past nine
years delivered a 4,000-name petition yesterday to Phil Woolas, the Floods
Minister. Topsy Clinch, a former nurse, has been unable to return to her
home in Pickering, North Yorkshire, since it was flooded in the summer. She
said: “We just want some help. We want someone to make sure it doesn’t
happen again.”
They went that way
An off-duty diplomatic protection group officer saw an armed robbery at a
Central London jewellery shop and alerted his armed colleagues to arrest six
men as they tried to make off. He gave them the number of the van as it
headed from the Oxford Street area towards Whitehall, where dozens of
officers are on duty. Whitehall was “probably not the best place” for a
getaway, a police source said.
Royal Mint inquiry
The Royal Mint has confirmed that it is co-operating with a Serious Fraud
Office inquiry into alleged corruption in Nigeria. The agency won a contract
last year to provide the African nation with blank metal discs that are
stamped to form coins. In Nigeria coins are little used, since the smallest
banknote has a value of about 2p. The SFO would say only that the Royal Mint
is co-operating.
Hip petition a hit
A petition calling for a further reprieve from home information packs (Hips)
has attracted more than 3,000 signatures since it was posted on the No 10
website on Friday. The petition, which coincided with Caroline Flint’s
appointment as Housing Minister, calls for an extension of first-day
marketing, which allows properties to be put up for sale when a Hip is
commissioned, rather than completed.
Flu virus is immune to stockpiled drug
Winter flu circulating in Europe has developed resistance to the antiviral
drug that is being stockpiled as the first line of defence against a
pandemic, according to researchers (Nigel Hawkes writes).
About 13 per cent of the viruses tested in Denmark, France, Norway and Britain
were found to be resistant to the drug Tamiflu, the European Centre for
Disease Control said. The results in Norway showed higher levels still, with
12 out of 16 samples proving to be resistant. “More extensive surveillance
globally is required to establish the relative prevalence and geographical
distribution of the resistant viruses,” said a spokeswoman for Roche, which
makes Tamiflu.
Satirist cleared
Rory Bremner’s Channel 4 show was cleared by Ofcom over a sketch about how far
Gordon Brown would go to win a snap election. John Bird and John Fortune
mused: “I wouldn’t be surprised if . . . he said, ‘Look what I found . . .’
and held up Madeleine McCann.” Ofcom said the target had been politicians.
Murder trial in camera
A financial trader accused of murdering the author Allan Chappelow has failed
to overturn an order that part of his trial be heard in private on the
grounds of justice and national security. The Court of Appeal rejected an
application by Wang Yam, 46, for permission to appeal against the order by
Mr Justice Ouseley.
Paintings stay in UK
Two PreRaphaelite masterpieces have been saved for the nation. The paintings,
by Burne-Jones and Rossetti, which had been in the Oxford home of the late
Jean Preston, will stay in Britain after negotiations by Duke’s auction
house, Dorchester. It is hoped that they will go on display at the
Ashmolean.
Tesco bomb hoaxer jailed for six years
A former tax inspector who tried to extort more than £1 million from the Tesco
chain by threatening to bomb stores and poison food has been jailed for six
years at St Albans Crown Court (Russell Jenkins writes).
Philip McHugh, 52, lived with his Russian wife and her two children in
Clitheroe, Lancashire. After losing his job, incurring £37,000 gambling
debts online and becoming depressed, he sent bomb warnings and blackmail
threats to 76 superstores, causing 14 to close for one day and costing an
estimated £1.4 million in lost revenue. He was tracked as he tried to take
out money planted by police in an account that allowed withdrawals of only
£200 a day.
Coach driver charged
The driver of a National Express coach that crashed near Newport Pagnell
services on the M1 last September was charged with drink-driving and
dangerous driving. Leslie Weinberg, 35, of West Bromwich, will appear before
magistrates next month.
Services tax rebate
Council tax rebates are to be extended from Service personnel in Iraq and
Afghanistan to all those serving overseas, the Defence Secretary has said.
The scheme will be worth about £140 to servicemen and women on a six-month
tour of duty.
Private eye jailed
A private detective who spied on Tamara Mellon, president of Jimmy Choo shoes,
for her estranged husband, was jailed for 21 months by Southwark Crown
Court. David Carroll, 60, from Highgate, North London, hacked computers and
tapped phones.
Full house wins £1.1m
A mother of two who works part-time at a garage has won £1.1 million at bingo.
Christine Bradfield, 53, from Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, won the prize at
her local bingo venue in a game linking 600 clubs. She intends to keep
working.
