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Latest Blog Posts
- What curriculum do young people need? July 23, 2020
- School reopening? top scientists say not yet May 25, 2020
- Sending England back to work and back to school? May 11, 2020
- Too early to reopen schools : look at Europe April 30, 2020
- Ofsted : unreliable, destructive, beyond repair December 5, 2019
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Tag Archives: grammar schools
Ofsted: notoriously unreliable
Ofsted judgments have never been trustworthy. There have been problems from the start. It should come as no surprise that none of the 46 schools wearing an Outstanding label which were inspected this January retained that label: 37 became Good, … Continue reading
Grammar schools and “ordinary working families” again
In our last blog post, we looked into a new and deeply flawed ‘research report’ by former Department of Education official Iain Mansfield. It was written in support of the Prime Minister’s argument that expanding grammar schools across England would … Continue reading
Posted in Social Justice
Tagged comprehensive schools, disadvantage, grammar schools, politicians
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Grammar schools helping “ordinary working families”?
On becoming prime minister Theresa May decided to expand grammar schools in order to benefit ‘ordinary working families’. There is no evidence that this is what grammar schools do. This week a former Department of Education official Iain Mansfield tried … Continue reading
Posted in Social Justice, Uncategorized
Tagged comprehensive schools, disadvantage, grammar schools, politicians, universities
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Grammar schools do not overcome disadvantage
New research has further undermined the Government’s case for expanding grammar schools. Stephen Gorard and Nadia Siddiqui (Durham University) have taken a closer look at the Department for Education’s data, revealing some neglected factors. It was already beyond doubt that children … Continue reading
Back to the 1970s? I’ll vote for that
A personal comment by Dr Terry Wrigley, Visiting Professor, Northumbria University A few days ago the Daily Mail threatened that a Labour victory in the General Election would mean a return to the 1970s. That set me thinking. I started … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged comprehensive schools, grammar schools, politicians, teacher education
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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
Who will vote for secondary moderns?
The elephant in the room of Theresa May’s plan to open more grammar schools is – secondary modern schools. Selecting a minority of children at age 11 for grammar schools means an inferior kind of school for those who failed. This is what … Continue reading
Posted in Social Justice
Tagged comprehensive schools, grammar schools, secondary moderns
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Progress 8 – another attack on working-class schools
Progress 8 was supposed to be fair. It has become just another way of hammering schools with the most disadvantaged students. Its designers clearly took care to avoid some of the problems with counting 5 A*-Cs, which often led to a concentration … Continue reading
A curriculum for all? GCSEs, EBacc and Progress 8
We are pleased to announce a new survey, commissioned by the NUT and carried out by a research team from King’s College London. A curriculum for all? The effects of recent Key Stage 4 curriculum, assessment and accountability reforms on … Continue reading
How Britain treats its children – a UN perspective
by Dr Pam Jarvis, Leeds Trinity University In June 2016, national news headlines were dominated by Britain’s referendum on whether to remain within or leave the European Union. Other news disappeared beneath this maelstrom, including a story which lays bare some … Continue reading
Posted in Social Justice
Tagged British values, childhood, community, grammar schools, mental health, poverty, wellbeing
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