Tag Archives: accountability pressures

Phonics test – Nick Gibb fails again

Schools minister Nick Gibb is crowing, once again, that thousands more children are ‘on track to become fluent readers’. Improved pass rates in the Phonics test show no such thing. “163,000 more 6-year-olds are on track to become fluent readers … Continue reading

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SATs tests are still a shocking failure

Despite intensive test preparation and enormous stress for children and teachers, Key Stage 2 SATs tests for 2018 are a disaster once again. Figures published today show that only 64% of children passed Reading, Writing and Maths. That means 1 … Continue reading

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“Pull yourself together, child!”

England is in the middle of a mental health crisis for young people, and a major cause is the way in which they are being put under pressure to achieve. It happens at university: 146 students killed themselves in 2016 … Continue reading

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Progress 8 and the North East

Schools in North East England are under attack again. According to Progress 8 scores, its schools are the least effective in the country, with the highest percentage coming ‘below the floor’. But Progress 8 is a flawed and misleading measure. … Continue reading

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Teach like Finland – take your time

Most of our knowledge of Finnish schools comes from Pasi Sahlberg’s book Finnish Lessons. Accounts of the day to day life of teachers are hard to find, partly because of the difficulties of learning the Finnish language. Now at last … Continue reading

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Will anything but a boycott stop the tests?

The Reclaiming Schools network has played a significant role in exposing the damage caused by high-stakes testing, including our pamphlet ‘The Mismeasurement of Learning‘, widely circulated in the NUT and elsewhere, various series of blogposts carrying detailed analysis from specialist … Continue reading

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Tower block tenants – the people who didn’t matter

The possibility of a tower block catching fire and burning out within the hour was a nightmare never to be contemplated. And now it has happened. Words cannot describe the experience of Grenfell Tower residents, living and dead, as they … Continue reading

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A lesson from Sergeant Pepper

A comment on creativity and the curriculum by Dr Pam Jarvis, Reader in Childhood, Youth and Education, Leeds Trinity University A few nights ago whilst nodding on the sofa, I was abruptly awoken by the BBC documentary Sgt Pepper’s Musical … Continue reading

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The crisis in secondary schools: where is it leading?

All kinds of schools in England are facing damaging budget cuts. Large meetings are being held all over the country where parents and teachers together are showing their opposition to Government cuts. Every concerned teacher or parent should join the … Continue reading

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Yorkshire conference – More Than A Score

Park Inn, North St, York YO1 6JF This conference will bring together parents and teachers across the region to discuss the crisis facing our schools and how this is affecting children and young people. It will provide an opportunity to … Continue reading

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