Cribsheet of the week 16.11.10

At 27, Charlie Carroll was a deputy head of English at a prestigious secondary school. With a career path mapped out in front of him, he suddenly bolted. He spent the next year travelling round the country in a campervan, working as a supply teacher in challenging schools . Then he wrote a book about it, called On The Edge: "Saeed faced down his bully, Alex, in my classroom by producing a knife and waving it in front of his enemy's face. I froze along with the rest of the class, and with Alex, as Saeed slowly raised his other hand, extended the forefinger and lightly placed it on the tip of the blade. "He gave a slight pull, and the knife bent, twanging back into place when released. It was plastic. "The class dissolved into laughter, Saeed was escorted from the room, Alex slapped the table and hooted. I went back to my van that night and got so drunk on cheap red wine that I was sick." And while teachers are coping with that sort of thing, Michael Gove has chosen to help them along by publishing details of their qualifications, pay levels and absence rates. Mike Baker comments : "I am not convinced parents will learn much from lists of teachers' qualifications, when what they really want to know is whether they are effective, which is not the same thing." Gove came in for a grilling in the Commons yesterday. Shadow education secretary, Andy Burnham, told him: "The pupil premium is not what it seems. It will create winners and losers - and, scandalously, the biggest losers are predicted to be schools in the most deprived areas of England." Big thanks to SchoolDuggery for posting the full Hansard transcript of oral answers to education questions from Gove and his ministers. Report card Here's the question: When the parliamentary vote on tuition fees comes, is there any chance the government could be defeated? Professor Philip Cowley unpicks the maths - and the politics. Assuming, though, that the inevitable happens sooner or later, what will be the effects on Scotland ? Its students may feel they can no longer afford to expand their horizons by migrating south to an English university, while its universities might have to introduce a quota system to cope with the huge numbers of English students likely to apply. Those who haven't booked their places at American colleges . Quote of the week Nick Clegg told ITV's Daybreak he'd watch what he did with his pen in future. Yes, it was the admission we'd all been waiting for: "I should have been more careful, perhaps, in signing that pledge." Having outwitted Mr Clegg the last time round, the NUS is now calling for the Lib Dems to honour another pre-election promise - to bring in the "right to recall" MPs who don't keep their word. And who do the students want the right to recall? You don't need me to tell you that, do you? On the margins Beware flying coconuts ! Indian officials were quite right to have the pesky fruit removed from trees ahead of President Obama's visit, the Improbable Researchers inform us this week. "An average unhusked, mature dry coconut may weigh 1-2kgs. A green coconut can weigh as much as 4kgs. When such a mass is accelerated by gravity after falling, and then comes to rest by being suddenly decelerated on to someone's head, it is not surprising that severe head injuries sometimes occur." Stories from the Guardian Police have closed down Fitwatch , a website that offered advice to students involved in last week's rioting. Rich schools will get richer under government spending plans, writes Jeevan Vasagar. Slashing £162m from school sport will be harmful to children, writes health correspondent Denis Campbell. As we await the publication of a new skills strategy, minister John Hayes says prepare for an image makeover . James Vernon on the history of history in schools – and the lessons we can learn from it. 4,000-year-old stonemasons' marks could hold the key to assembling flatpack furniture , say Warwick researchers. Stories from around the web Bristol Universty's vice-chancellor Eric Thomas has been elected Universities UK president , to some acclaim on Twitter. He succeeds Exeter's Steve Smith and will hold the post for the two academic years. Many universities are broke and won't be bailed out while top universities may go private, Vince Cable tells the Mail . BIS makes it clear that there is no point in applying for uni now, and deferring to 2012, a wheeze many A-levellers and their parents were looking into. If you start in 2012, you pay 2012 fees . UK higher education has become the main destination for million-pound donations , reports the Times Higher. The Coutts Million Pound Donors Report 2010 shows that universities have overtaken charitable trusts and foundations as the main destination for major donations for the first time. The Telegraph says universities spend millions on websites that students find inadequate , and has produced a whizzy map to make their "investigation" more thrilling. Changes are planned to link teachers' pay to performance , says the Independent. Campaigns Not only is it anti-bullying week (did your avatar march on the Beatbullying site ? And have you made an online poster with BullyingUK?) it's also international education week . Here's the British Council's photo gallery of their projects around the world. Competition Do you have a clever way of using technology to teach children at your school? Enter the Classroom Innovation awards by sending us a short video of what you can do. There is a primary and secondary category and each winner will get £7,500 of Asus computing kit. 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