Daily roundup 16 January: Ofsted inspections, army cadets, and boredom

Ofsted is to pilot double visits to schools as part of efforts to improve the reliability of inspections. The BBC reports that the trial, due to launch this term, will see some schools visited twice on the same day by different inspectors to see if they reach the same conclusions.


Education minister Lord Nash has said he believes that girls from single-parent families who have “never experienced the love of a man” should join army cadet units to protect them from the dangers of “unsuitable relationships and teenage pregnancy”. The Telegraph reports that Lord Nash thinks that army cadet units can provide positive male role models for girls who face “chaotic home lives”.


Education Secretary Nicky Morgan wants children to learn how to be bored and how to entertain themselves without the use of games consoles and tablets. According to the Daily Mail, Morgan told House magazine that boredom is an important skill for children to learn and that parents should limit their children’s access to technology.


The service manager of a youth centre in Brighton and Hove has warned that the areas most disadvantaged young people will be hardest hit the by the local authority’s plans to cut its youth services budget. Writing in the Brighton and Hove Independent, Ben Glazebrook, from the Young People's Centre, said he is concerned about the impact of the plans on the wider community.


Diana Gerald has been named as the new chief executive of the Booktrust. Gerald, currently chief operating officer of Ark Schools, will take over from Viv Bird when she steps down as chief executive of the reading charity in March.


And finally, tributes have been paid to a woman who fostered more than 1,000 children. The Leicester Mercury reports that 55-year-old Pam French, chair of the Leicestershire Foster Carer Association, died on 27 December after she had a brain aneurysm which led to a stroke.