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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: politicians
What curriculum do young people need?
For the last 30 years, the school curriculum in England has been imposed on teachers top-down. Teachers were not regarded as knowledgeable and were simply expected to “deliver” what politicians decided. The current version, launched by Michael Gove in … Continue reading
Posted in Curriculum, Teachers
Tagged Curriculum, National Curriculum, politicians, Teachers
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School reopening? top scientists say not yet
“It is clear from the evidence we have collected that 1 June is simply too early to go back. By going ahead with this dangerous decision, the government is further risking the health of our communities and the likelihood of … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged coronavirus, health, mental health, politicians, school closures
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Sending England back to work and back to school?
England is still in crisis, and its government are in denial. It is very clear from Boris Johnson’s ‘address to the nation‘ last night (Sunday 10 May) that the government are trying to wish their way out of this crisis … Continue reading
Too early to reopen schools : look at Europe
Some European countries have started reopening schools as part of a relaxation of the Coronavirus lockdown. Not surprisingly, there are some calls to do the same here so maybe it’s worth making some comparisons. Firstly, Britain is one of the … Continue reading
Posted in Social Justice, Uncategorized
Tagged coronavirus, home learning, politicians, poverty, school closures
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PISA: no victory for Michael Gove
Michael Gove was Education secretary when the 2012 PISA results came out. He expressed alarm that England seemed to be falling behind Shanghai and Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong. He wanted to make England a future “winner” in the … Continue reading
No joke – a brutal class war
The extreme social divisions in today’s Britain are not just a case of unfair distribution. They are the consequence of a brutal class war conducted by the superrich on the working class. The rhetoric since 2010 has been about Austerity … Continue reading
Child poverty – Conservative rule
Britain is one of the richest countries in the world, but with scandalous levels of poverty. Child poverty has grown massively since the Conservative-led government took over in 2010, and is set to increase even more. According to the … Continue reading
Posted in Social Justice, Uncategorized
Tagged achievement gap, disadvantage, politicians, poverty
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Primary school tests and children’s mental health
One study after another has shown the damage being caused by SATs to children’s mental health. In a survey by the ATL (now part of the National Education Union) in 2016, 89% thought that testing and exams were the biggest cause … Continue reading
Posted in Accountability, Uncategorized
Tagged accountability pressures, Ofsted, politicians, testing
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Academies and local authorities: what a Labour government should do
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
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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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Reclaiming Schools 