Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.....

Sarah Dobbs's picture
 6
I thought we had it bad in Lincolnshire, but look what is happening here in Kent. What the hell gives Gove the right to think that he can act as an admissions authority in the way a locally accountable LA can do?

I am getting sick to death of reminding heads and governors that while they should be thinking about the kids in schools now, they also have a responsibility to shape the education of generations to come. Too many are not looking beyond the end of the next financial year; and too few are looking at what our education system will shape up to in decade when it has been fragmented and privatised.
Rather than talking to parents of kids at school now, maybe I should change tactics and go and talk to parents at toddler groups, because they are ones who will take the brunt of this shameful madness .
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Comments

Francis Gilbert's picture
Tue, 22/03/2011 - 08:36

2000 spare places! This is truly chaos!

The Kent newspaper says:

"According to figures compiled by independent education adviser Peter Read, there are just under 2,000 empty spaces spread across 37 schools – including 568 in nine of the old-style academies he claims are "clearly unpopular" with parents."

Francis Gilbert's picture
Tue, 22/03/2011 - 10:55

This chaos will only deepen the social segregation that's in the system. There's an interesting article in the Independent which highlights the dangers of social segregation while talking about Jamie's Dream School.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-har...

Margaret Tulloch's picture
Tue, 22/03/2011 - 11:04

And look at today's Education Guardian where Warwick Mansell identifies how, unless there are changes, the Education Bill will remove ways in which school admissions can be monitored to ensure fairness.


Francis Gilbert's picture
Tue, 22/03/2011 - 12:34

The Guardian article by Warwick Mansell is very persuasive: more social segregation and unfairness is on its way. http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/mar/22/schools-admissions-reform-select-pupils?commentpage=last#end-of-comments


allan beavis's picture
Tue, 22/03/2011 - 12:49

bithttp://www.ly/dEgJ1E

So, the education bill will abolish the right of parents and students to complain to the local government ombudsman and instead replace it with a procedure via Michael Gove, the education secretary. Even worse, The chief school’s adjudicator’s powers to investigate and order changes to school admissions policies are being greatly reduced (despite the fact that that 92% of the 387 cases considered by Ian Craig last year were from parents) and compulsory admissions forums are to be scrapped, giving academies, faith schools and free schools the right to operate their own admission policies rather than those set by the local education authority across an area. On top of this, the government has still not published the new version of the admissions code.

I wonder whether this is just another example of Michael Gove’s “shambolic and chaotic department”? Or is it actually a deliberate attempt by the Education Secretary to encourage the government’s preferred schools – academies and free schools – towards a policy of covert selection to choose pupils who will conform to the school’s mission, whether that be faith, academic or otherwise. What is certain is that this bill will shift power away from parents in choosing school towards schools choosing pupils and parents.

The upshot will be that the most vocal and advantaged parents and children could get the exactly the type of education they want at the expense of the most vulnerable who will need the most help and support. The application and school system for the vast majority of parents is confusing enough as it is, without the government now creating more confusion by it’s lack of transparency over the admissions code and unable to persuade us how the vast number of academies and free schools are, in fact, really inclusive to all.

allan beavis's picture
Tue, 22/03/2011 - 12:50

http://www.bit.ly/dEgJ1E


So, the education bill will abolish the right of parents and students to complain to the local government ombudsman and instead replace it with a procedure via Michael Gove, the education secretary. Even worse, The chief school’s adjudicator’s powers to investigate and order changes to school admissions policies are being greatly reduced (despite the fact that that 92% of the 387 cases considered by Ian Craig last year were from parents) and compulsory admissions forums are to be scrapped, giving academies, faith schools and free schools the right to operate their own admission policies rather than those set by the local education authority across an area. On top of this, the government has still not published the new version of the admissions code.

I wonder whether this is just another example of Michael Gove’s “shambolic and chaotic department”? Or is it actually a deliberate attempt by the Education Secretary to encourage the government’s preferred schools – academies and free schools – towards a policy of covert selection to choose pupils who will conform to the school’s mission, whether that be faith, academic or otherwise. What is certain is that this bill will shift power away from parents in choosing school towards schools choosing pupils and parents.

The upshot will be that the most vocal and advantaged parents and children could get the exactly the type of education they want at the expense of the most vulnerable who will need the most help and support. The application and school system for the vast majority of parents is confusing enough as it is, without the government now creating more confusion by it’s lack of transparency over the admissions code and unable to persuade us how the vast number of academies and free schools are, in fact, really inclusive to all.

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