Tag Archives: local authority

Academies and local authorities: what a Labour government should do

Posted on April 30, 2019 by reclaimschools

by Richard Hatcher, Birmingham City University We know that the policy of academies been a disaster for education. The question is what should be done about them? Angela Rayner’s speech at Labour Party Conference in September was mainly about academies. … Continue reading →

Posted in Governance | Tagged academies, free schools, local authority, local democracy, politicians, privatisation | Leave a comment

Progress 8 – another attack on working-class schools

Posted on January 21, 2017 by reclaimschools

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 →

Posted in Accountability | Tagged academies, accountability pressures, assessment alternatives, disadvantage, grammar schools, local authority, Ofsted, poverty | Leave a comment

The Scottish phonics miracle: myths and evidence

Posted on June 4, 2016 by reclaimschools

A major trigger for politicians insisting that synthetic phonics is the only good way to teach reading came from an experiment in Clackmannanshire, Scotland. The work of Sue Ellis at Strathclyde University reveals serious exaggeration by politicians and the press. Gains in … Continue reading →

Posted in Curriculum | Tagged assessment alternatives, disadvantage, early education, local authority, National Curriculum, phonics, phonics check, politicians | Leave a comment

Primary schools responding to diversity

Posted on May 26, 2016 by reclaimschools

New research by inclusion and SEN experts Mel Ainscow and Alan Dyson, in partnership with Lisa Hopwood and Stephanie Thomson, shows how a fragmented school system is affecting vulnerable children. It raises issues about the way diversity is understood primarily in … Continue reading →

Posted in Governance, Social Justice | Tagged academies, British values, community, disadvantage, diversity, EAL, free schools, inclusion, local authority, local democracy, migration, National Curriculum, poverty, privatisation, pupil premium, special educational needs | Leave a comment

Academies: autonomy or asset stripping?

Posted on April 27, 2016 by reclaimschools

One of the main reasons Nicky Morgan gives for closing local authorities and turning all schools into academies is ‘autonomy’. To quote her recent statement to Parliament: “Test scores are higher when schools manage their budgets and recruit and select … Continue reading →

Posted in Governance, Uncategorized | Tagged academies, free schools, local authority, local democracy, politicians, privatisation | Leave a comment

Comment: A budget of dispossession

Posted on March 23, 2016 by reclaimschools

It’s time we stopped talking about ‘Austerity’. What we are really living through is a ruthless process of dispossession. Behind the pretence of ‘balancing the books’ (endlessly deferred), Osborne’s real project is to boost the wealth of the hyper-rich. Public services have been … Continue reading →

Posted in Governance | Tagged academies, governors, local authority, local democracy, politicians, privatisation | Leave a comment

Chief Inspector condemns academy chain disaster

Posted on March 10, 2016 by reclaimschools

Today’s letter from Chief Inspector Michael Wilshaw to Nicky Morgan is a damning condemnation of the Government’s plan to turn all schools into academies. “Given the government’s clear intention to move to a fully academised system and, in the Prime … Continue reading →

Posted in Governance | Tagged academies, disadvantage, governors, local authority, local democracy, Ofsted, politicians, poverty | Leave a comment

Bullying by numbers – its roots in neoliberalism

Posted on February 4, 2016 by reclaimschools

by Terry Wrigley, Visiting Professor, Northumbria University There is relentless pressure to raise standards – or rather scores – and it’s driving thousands of teachers to quit. The insatiable demands amount to bullying – bullying by numbers, reinforced by a … Continue reading →

Posted in Accountability, GERM | Tagged academies, accountability pressures, free schools, history, inspection, local authority, local democracy, National Curriculum, Ofsted, politicians, privatisation, testing, trust, workload | Leave a comment

What business do universities have in academy schools?

Posted on January 31, 2016 by reclaimschools

by Nadia Edmond, University of Brighton first published in The Conversation (4 Jan 2016) There has been a transformation in English education in the last decade – the academies programme has brought private trusts and corporate sponsors into the schools system. … Continue reading →

Posted in Governance | Tagged academies, free schools, local authority, privatisation, universities | Leave a comment

A future going backwards (part 2)

Posted on December 9, 2015 by reclaimschools

by Professor Sally Tomlinson, University of Oxford What a complex and fragmented collection of schools existed in 19th Century England. Voluntary philanthropic initiatives, struggles between the Anglican church and Dissenters, middle class reformers, business interests, and public schools for the … Continue reading →

Posted in Governance, Uncategorized | Tagged academies, comprehensive schools, history, local authority | Leave a comment