• Ofsted judged 47% of the schools it inspected between September 2009 to March 2010 to be inadequate or satisfactory - suggesting almost half of schools are not delivering a good education to their pupils. However, a new inspection regime was introduced last autumn, this is seen to be tougher and under-performing schools are inspected more often. Guardian


• Ofsted have warned that the absence of a home education register means that it is 'extremely challenging' for authorities meet their statutory duty and ensure all children children have a 'suitable education'. Currently, parents are not required to inform any public body, including the local authority, that they are educating a child at home. Around 50,000 children are estimated to be home educated. BBC


• The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) wants primary and secondary school children to be taught about sex, relationships and alcohol; it commented that sex education 'is more effective if is introduced before young people first have sex'. It reassures parents that sex education does not increase 'the likelihood of sexual experimentation' but gives young people the confidence to delay sex. BBC

• In a letter to the Daily Telegraph, the senior executives of companies including Shell, Network Rail, GlaxoSmithKline and Centrica have urged caution on the government over their cuts to university funding. They state that the university sector - which generates £59 billion annually - 'can spur the economy on further'. Telegraph


• John Hayes, the skills minister, has said that adult education 'is arguably all the more important in the current economic climate'. Hayes promised a renewed commitment to adult education, saying that while courses had been cut, he would make a bold case for adult education. However, while he would give colleges freedom over their budgets and spare the best colleges visits from inspectors, he could not guarantee that colleges would be spared future budget cuts. Guardian

• Clegg will today announce the creation of a childhood and families taskforce which will resolve coalition differences on family policy. The committee will include Clegg, David Willetts and Iain Duncan Smith and consider issues such as marriage tax breaks, focusing Sure Start centres on the most needy and expanding the role for fathers and grandparents in the case of divorce. Guardian


• Social services and staff from 21 other agencies were cleared of blame over the Shannon Matthews case by an independent serious case review. It described the fake abduction as 'unusual, unexpected and impossible to foresee' but called for national action over families which 'bump along', just about managing to provide adequate childcare. Guardian


• Refugee and Migrant Justice, formerly Refugee Legal Centre and used by around 10,000 asylum seekers, has blamed the harshness of the legal aid funding regime for forcing it to close. Left particularly vulnerable are child asylum seekers, who are given discretionary leave until they are aged 17 and a half; if they don't claim asylum when they turn 18, the Home Office can deport them. Yet many will not be considered for this unless they have a lawyer to force the issue. Guardian


• A Changing Parenting Culture conference next week will explore the emergence of new - and often contradictory - recommendations around pregnancy. There will be discussion about the medicalisation of maternal emotions, the evidence base for advocacy of complete alcohol abstinence and whether the involvement of fathers in the medicalised aspects of pregnancy may not be the best preparation for fatherhood. BBC


• Senior clergy have urged families to spend Fathers Day this weekend together, in the wake of a survey which suggests only 32% of adults will be spending the time with their father; 63% intended to send a card. BBC

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