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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 democracy
Choking on their own eloquence
The news broadcasts are overflowing with the eloquence of Government ministers at their party conference. What kind of education has enabled them to twist logic and pose as the friends of low-paid workers and Syrian refugees, the “true party of … Continue reading
Posted in Accountability
Tagged local democracy, migration, politicians, spoken language
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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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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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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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Remaking school governance
by Stewart Ranson School governance in England since the 1988 Education Reform Act has been remade following neoliberal principles. It has moved from local council control to a competitive market among schools which are autonomously managed but subject to increasing … Continue reading
Posted in Governance
Tagged community, governors, local authority, local democracy, privatisation
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Ofsted: a briefing paper
by T Wrigley Origins School inspection in England dates back to 1839, but changed fundamentally when Ofsted was established in 1991. The Government decided to inspect schools every four years, and, to increase capacity at minimal cost, inspection was privatised, … Continue reading
Posted in Accountability, GERM
Tagged accountability pressures, inspection, local democracy, self-evaluation
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For a democratic local school system
For an empowered, democratised and properly resourced local school system by Richard Hatcher and Ken Jones The policy document approved at Labour’s annual policy conference in September is called Education and Children. The policy states that ‘We will […] put … Continue reading
Reclaiming Schools 