This study explores the impacts of popular music education in classroom practices from different aspects such as learning by ear, motivation, musicianship, peer learning and creativity. The Sing by Ear approach was created based on the concepts of informal learning in singing a cappella. A total of 323 participants aged 11-14 were invited to…

This study investigates from their perspectives, the educational experiences of twelve autistic young people (aged 11-17 years) for whom mainstream was, or is, challenging. This paper focuses on one theme from this study and presents how these young people experience, define and conceptualise inclusion. A flexible qualitative participatory…

Background: Public health professionals advocate school-based and community physical activity (PA) interventions as an effective method to increase PA levels and improve physical fitness. Purpose: This evaluation independently assessed a school-community linked PA intervention by exploring the provision, process, and impact of the program and its…

This report evaluates the impact of the first year of NewsWise -- a free, cross-curricular news literacy programme for 9- to 11-year-olds across the UK, developed by the Guardian Foundation, the National Literacy Trust and the PSHE Association, and funded by Google. NewsWise aims to empower children from disadvantaged communities with the skills…

This study explores the views of children and young people who have experienced school exclusion and placement in alternative educational provision regarding which factors supported their reintegration into mainstream schools. Nine primary and secondary pupils participated, aged between 10-16 years. The study uses Q methodology and is emancipatory…

As a way to raise attainment, schools are encouraged to form ability groups across classes for particular subjects. There is limited evidence however about the relationship between setting and primary school children's characteristics and how teachers perceive them. The aim of this study was to investigate associations between set positioning for…

There is growing evidence that children in the UK are suffering from a lack of engagement with nature and the outdoor environment. This paper investigates the attitudes of children towards the natural environment and focuses on Forest School programmes as a mechanism to promote a "pro-environmental" attitude. The study identified that…

Children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be vulnerable to social isolation and bullying. We measured the friendship, fighting/bullying and victimization experiences of 10-12-year-old children with an ASD (N = 100) using parent, teacher and child self-report. Parent and teacher reports were compared to an IQ-matched group of children…

At the end of 2009 the National Literacy Trust surveyed 17,000 children and young people online in the United Kingdom's largest ever study of young people's attitudes to literacy and literate behaviour. This survey was of special interest as it repeated questions asked by the National Literacy Trust in a survey of attitudes and reading behaviour…

This paper reports on findings derived as part of a two-year project funded by the European Union's Daphne III scheme, involving collaboration between seven partner organisations across six European countries. The project involved an evaluation, using questionnaires and focus groups, of domestic abuse prevention education programmes delivered in…

There is little information about, and understanding of, how children from families living in poverty experience school, as opposed to children from better-off families. This paper is based on the views of children aged 5-11 in schools across Northern Ireland, UK. It argues that family poverty impacts on every aspect of a child's experience of…

The research reported in this article was carried out in four secondary schools, two with a peer support system (PS) and two without (NPS) and involved a total of 931 pupils, (49.5 per cent males, and 50.5 per cent females). Participants were aged between 11 and 15 years of age, mean age 12.8 years. The aim was to compare the perceptions of safety…

In this paper, we report on survey and focus group data relating to the activities and perceptions of learning with Web 2.0 technologies of students aged between 11 and 16 years in 27 UK secondary schools. The study confirms that these learners had high levels of access to Web 2.0 technologies and that Web 2.0 activities were prolific. However,…

Whilst the association of risk with schools is predominately a negative one, fostering images of potential dangers, this paper draws upon a socio-cultural counter-discourse to explore the perceived benefits of certain risk taking activities within educational establishments. Using research data on school Internet "misuse" it is argued…

Reports on first stage of a planned prospective study of self-esteem and risk for eating disorders in 594 schoolgirls aged 11-12. Results indicated low self-esteem was associated with increased fatness concern, but also with problems in general. Girls will be followed up in detail at age 15-16. (Author/ABL)