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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: local authority
Are giant secondary schools the answer?
by Terry Wrigley The news that a shortage of school places has led to giant secondary schools provides further evidence of the chaos resulting from the Government’s failure to plan. No one can feign surprise at the growing population, but … Continue reading
Posted in Governance
Tagged comprehensive schools, disadvantage, free schools, local authority, PISA, politicians, Shanghai
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If academies are the answer…?
by Terry Wrigley It takes time to transform a secondary school, so let’s concentrate on academies which had been open at least five years by last June’s GCSE. In other words, long enough for the pupils taking GCSEs to have … Continue reading
Posted in Accountability, Governance
Tagged academies, free schools, local authority, local democracy, privatisation
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Learning from what works
The Centre for Equity in Education (University of Manchester) have just published their pre-election statement Learning from what works. Its authors Mel Ainscow, Alan Dyson, Sue Goldrick and Kirstin Kerr argue that ‘successive governments have failed to deliver an education system … Continue reading
Labour’s education manifesto: academies, local authorities and the rest?
by Professor Richard Hatcher, Birmingham City University On April 13 Labour published its election manifesto on education, A better plan for education. It claims that ‘Over the past four and a half years Labour has worked closely with the education and … Continue reading
Combined Authorities do not rebuild democracy
by Professor Richard Hatcher, City of Birmingham University The policy of both the Tories and Labour is for the spread of Combined Authorities (CAs). The Greater Manchester Combined Authority was established in 2011. Combined authorities were established in the Sheffield … Continue reading
Sponsorship mess threatens children’s future
Academy sponsors were supposed to be the magic key to sort out struggling schools. This began with businessmen who supposedly knew more about education than teachers and local education authorities. There were few takers, and among them some dubious sponsors: … Continue reading
Posted in Governance
Tagged academies, free schools, inspection, local authority, local democracy, politicians, privatisation
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Sponsored academy myth in shreds
The Coalition Government are busy forcing lower-attaining primary schools to become sponsored academies on the grounds that results will improve faster. In recent months this myth has been demolished by research. The comparison between attainment gains in primary academies and … Continue reading
Did the Coalition protect schools spending?
Based on a new report by Ruth Lupton and Stephanie Thomson The Coalition’s Record on Schools (Social Policy in a Cold Climate, working paper 13) Summary The Coalition did protect overall school spending as promised – it rose just 1% … Continue reading
Posted in Governance
Tagged disadvantage, local authority, local democracy, privatisation, school finance
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Former Chief Inspector says ‘Trust the teachers’
Sir David Bell has been chief education officer for Newcastle, head of Ofsted, and permanent secretary at the Department of Education. He is now Vice Chancellor of Reading University. His views are difficult for politicians to shrug off. In a Radio 4 interview … Continue reading
Posted in Teachers
Tagged local authority, local democracy, National Curriculum, politicians, teacher education, trust
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Not for profit?
by Nigel Gann The last 25 years have placed increasing responsibilities on the shoulders of school governors and heads, who for the most part have acted with integrity. Unfortunately, the rapid increase in academies and free schools, along with the … Continue reading
Posted in Governance
Tagged governors, local authority, privatisation, profit, school finance
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Reclaiming Schools 