All posts tagged: inclusive

Ofsted ‘more likely to downgrade inclusive schools’ – NAHT

Ofsted ‘more likely to downgrade inclusive schools’ – NAHT

Ofsted is more likely to downgrade schools with poorer intakes or more pupils with SEND for their achievement, attendance and behaviour, new union analysis suggests. The use of national averages to grade achievement and attendance in the new Ofsted framework has caused criticism from leaders since it launched in December. They argue it is unfair on more inclusive schools and could penalise those serving disadvantaged communities. New analysis of 650 Ofsted inspections by school leaders’ union NAHT has renewed these concerns. To achieve the middle ‘expected standard’ grade for attendance and behaviour, overall attendance must be “broadly in line with national averages or shows an improving trend over time”, according to Ofsted’s inspection toolkit. Meanwhile the ‘expected standard’ for achievement requires pupils’ attainment and progress in national tests and exams “are broadly in line with national averages”. Schools with higher disadvantage graded down NAHT’s analysis shows one-third of schools with above-average pupil eligibility for free school meals – a proxy measure of deprivation – received a ‘needs attention’ judgment for achievement. Meanwhile, less than one-fifth (18 …

ASEAN countries won’t take sides in US-China rivalry, want region kept open and inclusive: PM Wong

ASEAN countries won’t take sides in US-China rivalry, want region kept open and inclusive: PM Wong

FRIENDS WITH ALL Touching on Japan-China ties and the back-to-back timing of his visits to Tokyo last week and Hainan and Hong Kong this week, Mr Wong acknowledged that the two countries “are going through a difficult phase in their relations”. “But from Singapore’s point of view, we are friends with both China and Japan. For that matter, with America and other major partners,” he said. While major powers may have difficulties in their relations with one another, Singapore’s goal is to remain friends with all of them – and Mr Wong said he believes that this is possible. “That is our approach, has always been our approach consistently, and we will continue to find ways to engage all these major powers, deepen our cooperation further and look for win-win outcomes,” he said. On the timing of his China visit, Mr Wong said it was not pre-planned. His Japan trip had originally been set for last year but was delayed due to scheduling difficulties. Once dates were eventually agreed upon – after Japan’s elections earlier …

Efforts to make AI inclusive accidentally create bizarre new gender biases, new research suggests

Efforts to make AI inclusive accidentally create bizarre new gender biases, new research suggests

New research published in Computers in Human Behavior Reports suggests that efforts to make artificial intelligence more inclusive can sometimes create unexpected new biases. The scientists found that popular artificial intelligence models tend to overattribute stereotypically masculine behaviors to female characters and judge violence against women as significantly more objectionable than violence against men. These findings provide evidence that programming models to be sensitive to gender equity might accidentally introduce extreme ethical inconsistencies. Scientists initiated this research to better understand how artificial intelligence systems handle gender and morality after their initial training. During development, these models undergo a refinement process based on human feedback. This process involves human reviewers grading the system’s answers to teach it preferred behaviors, like avoiding offensive language or promoting inclusivity. The scientists suspected that this human feedback phase might teach the models to be highly sensitive to specific cultural priorities. Specifically, they thought the models might focus heavily on including women in traditionally male spaces and protecting women from harm. “There has been a growing public debate about whether AI …

Medieval chess was more inclusive than the world around it

Medieval chess was more inclusive than the world around it

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Chess is widely seen as a great equalizer. Players from every social, racial, and economic class have squared off across the board for nearly 1,500 years, with victories determined solely by skill and strategy. Unfortunately, the egalitarian foundations of chess are rarely reflected beyond the game itself. During the Middle Ages, for example, many contemporary accounts from both Christian and Muslim societies depicted their opposing side as barbaric, blasphemous, and inferior. However, recent reexaminations of medieval artwork are complicating these assumptions. After reviewing a range of artwork from Europe and the Middle East, Cambridge University historian Krisztina Ilko believes that chess players on either side of the board were well aware of the game’s capacity to humanize and humble. As she explained in a study recently awarded the Medieval Academy of America’s Article Prize in Critical Race Studies, chess has bridged cultural divides and subverted stereotypes at least as far back as the 13th century. Abu’l Qasim Firdausi, ‘Buzurgmihr …

Gay Muslim influencer hosts inclusive Ramadan meal and calls for acceptance across faiths

Gay Muslim influencer hosts inclusive Ramadan meal and calls for acceptance across faiths

BERLIN (AP) — Ali Darwich, a gay Muslim influencer in Berlin, picks up a date from his plate, takes a sip of water, and addresses the 15 friends sitting around the table and breaking the Ramadan fast with him. The 33-year-old German with Palestinian and Lebanese roots — who goes by @alifragt or “Ali asks” on Instagram — has a quickly growing following on Instagram, where he draws attention to the difficulties of living as a young, queer Muslim and calls for more tolerance and inclusiveness. “Tonight we want to send a message that no matter where a person comes from, no matter who that person loves, no matter how queer that person is, they cannot be too queer … because they are exactly as they should be,” Darwich says, smiling at the diverse group of Muslims and Christians, Germans and immigrants, gay and straight people sharing this meal with him as the sun sets over Berlin. “I am a believer, I believe in God, and I find Islam beautiful, just like Christianity or Judaism and many …

Give heads what they need to make inclusive mainstream work

Give heads what they need to make inclusive mainstream work

SEND reforms must allow heads to address the needs of children they know best, without having to wait for someone who doesn’t know them to tell them what to do, writes Cathie Paine. For years, parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities have been frustrated and anxious. At the same time, staff in schools have been going above and beyond to cope with the growing challenges. Rising need, increasing complexity, stretched specialist resources, and an unsustainable system that’s struggling to keep pace with what’s best for children. So it’s absolutely right that the government wrestles with all of this and that everyone involved in education gets to reimagine what truly inclusive practice looks like. We don’t know all the detail yet but based on what we do know from the media briefings so far, it looks really encouraging. The outcomes aren’t good When a child is struggling, we currently have to wait to prove that child has failed before we can access funding for them. Even when the system does support the children …

Inside Tokyo’s growing movement toward inclusive Para sports

Inside Tokyo’s growing movement toward inclusive Para sports

Along the edge of a polished court, wheelchairs sit side by side while office workers wait to take turns throwing balls. Similar scenes can now be found throughout the city of Tokyo as Para sports grow in popularity and acceptance throughout everyday life. Local government officials established an ambitious goal: to increase the percentage of Tokyo residents with disabilities who participate in sports to 50% by the year 2030. Recent statistics show that there is increasing momentum behind this goal. As of 2021, approximately 35.4% of residents with disabilities in Tokyo were participating in weekly sports activities, compared to 32.4% of that same population in 2018. In addition, there has been a positive increase in interest by other residents of Tokyo toward Para sports. The percentage of Tokyo residents who have expressed a desire to learn about Para sports increased from 43.6% in 2020 to 53% in 2021. The positive progress toward achieving these goals is not due to random chance, but rather is the result of multiple coordinated efforts to enhance accessibility and visibility …

Manchester United call themselves an ‘inclusive and welcoming’ club day after co-owner says UK ‘colonised’ by immigrants | UK News

Manchester United call themselves an ‘inclusive and welcoming’ club day after co-owner says UK ‘colonised’ by immigrants | UK News

Manchester United have said they “pride” themselves “on being an inclusive and welcoming club” hours after their co-owner described the UK as being “colonised” by immigrants. The club released a statement emphasising the club’s inclusiveness and diversity on a day during which politicians continued to criticise Sir Jim Ratcliffe for his comments. The founder of the INEOS chemicals group, who is also one of the club’s owners, today said he was “sorry” for his words, after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer last night called on him to apologise. Follow the latest from the Politics Hub You need javascript enabled to view this content Enable javascript to share Share Ratcliffe: UK ‘colonised’ by immigrants The club’s statement didn’t refer directly to Sir Jim’s words, or the prime minister’s criticism, but said: “Manchester United prides itself on being an inclusive and welcoming club. “Our diverse group of players, staff and global community of supporters, reflect the history and heritage of Manchester; a city that anyone can call home. “Since launching All Red All Equal in 2016, we …

Bad Bunny review, Super Bowl 2026 halftime show: This wild, inclusive fiesta was an inherently political stand

Bad Bunny review, Super Bowl 2026 halftime show: This wild, inclusive fiesta was an inherently political stand

Get the inside track from Roisin O’Connor with our free weekly music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This In six minutes flat, Puerto Rico itself blooms out of the sour heart of America. As the number-based fighting of Super Bowl LX stops and the ICE agents start scanning the stands, an entire Salinas sugar cane field grows out of the grass of Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium, populated by coconut sellers, dice players, boxers and twerkers. And one man in white wandering through this colourful maelstrom on a mission to show the world the vivacious worth of his people. This is the real battle underway at Super Bowl 2026: pride versus intolerance. Last year’s Halftime Show marked the point where this 16 minutes of maximal A-list cash-in – historically a major sales and streaming boost for the likes of Usher, Beyonce and Maroon 5 – became not just the biggest show on earth but the planet’s highest-profile platform for protest against Trump’s …

Changes to guidance won’t make compulsory Christian worship inclusive – Humanists UK

Changes to guidance won’t make compulsory Christian worship inclusive – Humanists UK

The UK Government has announced plans to replace Circular 1/94, its thirty-two-year-old guidance on collective worship in England, and publish updated advice on its collective worship requirements later this year. Humanists UK, which campaigns for reform of collective worship laws, welcomes the announcement, but says that the move does not go far enough, and only a complete repeal of collective worship would address the issues raised in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling on JR87. Responding to an amendment seeking to replace collective worship with inclusive assemblies in schools of no religious character during a House of Lord debate on the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill on 3 February, Education Minister Baroness Smith told peers that the Government was ‘committed’ to collective worship in schools. However, the Minister also confirmed that the Department for Education planned to publish updated guidance on collective worship in England ‘to make expectations clear, including objective, pluralistic and critical delivery to give schools practical support.’ In November 2025 the Supreme Court, in a case known as JR87, found that …