Tag Archives: local democracy

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 →

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Academy law jettisoned but pressure still on

Posted on November 2, 2016 by reclaimschools

A few days ago the Government formally dropped legislation that would have forced all schools to become academies. This is clearly still the ongoing aim of this Government, but the overt pursuit of this strategy has become untenable given one … Continue reading →

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Grammar schools: increasing inequality

Posted on September 11, 2016 by reclaimschools

Schools were only just back after the summer when Theresa May announced her intention to increase the number of grammar schools. Will this Government stop at nothing to undermine the principle of a good education for every child? This announcement … Continue reading →

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Remove the figurehead… and change direction

Posted on July 9, 2016 by reclaimschools

The NUT has called for the resignation of Nicky Morgan as Secretary of State for Education. We expect that other organisations of teachers and parents will soon follow. Morgan’s position is now untenable. She was appointed to calm the storms … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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Children deserve more than slums in the sky

Posted on October 30, 2015 by reclaimschools

by Terry Wrigley School provision now in England is built on the dreams of Conservative thinkers of the 1970s and 1980s, but the dream is fast becoming a nightmare. Neoliberal ideologists in the Conservative Party thought they could dispense with … Continue reading →

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