This week's UK news: 5 June 2015
5 June 2015


Schools should ban erasers says scientists

We've all used erasers to rub out wrong answers written in pencil. But now an academic has said they are "the work of the devil" and should be banned from classrooms.

Guy Claxton says erasers are bad because they make children feel ashamed of mistakes. He says schools should encourage children to look at their mistakes and learn from them. He says this is the way the world works. Children should not be simply trying to get the right answer quickly and look smart, but constantly learn from what they have done. 

 

Oxford University's first woman in charge

Professor Louise Richardson has been appointed the first female vice chancellor of Oxford University in 800 years.  She is currently vice chancellor of St Andrews University in Scotland, and is an expert on terrorism.

Professor Richardson has also held several major jobs at Harvard in the US. She says that while she has been at St Andrews the university has increased the proportion of poor students it accepted, and she hoped to make similar changes at Oxford. 

 

Crowd lifts bus off injured man

A road accident in London ended up with a crowd of local people lifting a bus off an injured man. The man had been riding a bicycle with only one wheel (a unicycle) when he was knocked down and trapped under the bus. 

Around 100 people came out from local shops and cafes to lift the bus. The man was badly injured and is now recovering in hospital. 

 

Anger over talent show result

Britain's Got Talent is one of the UK's most popular TV programmes. It is a competition to find a performer for a live show watched by the Royal Family. Acts taking part include dancers, choirs, magicians and many others. 

The final was held this week, and the winner was a dog called Matisse which walked on a tightrope as part of an act. But later the owner of Matisse said a different dog called Chase had walked on the tightrope. Lots of people went on Twitter to complain and say it was not clear that there were two different dogs.

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