Stories + Views: Admissions

Page 1 of 1112345...10...Last »
Avatar Image

Fiona Millar: Stephen Twigg’s speech .More detail needed but the direction is promising.

Stephen Twigg, the Shadow Education Secretary, made an important speech yesterday. Twigg has been on the receiving end of some criticism over the last year, not least from me, for failing to make a clear and robust argument against what the Coalition government is doing. But I have read the speech carefully and think it shows that he has been listening ... read more and comment →

15 comments

Latest comment by John Mountford: "I am at a loss to know where and how to respond to this post! If any adult in this country cannot understand that the importance of Steven Tewigg's speech yesterday had everything to do with the Labour party winning ......"

Comment + Debate
Avatar Image

sarah: An end to religious discrimination in schools?

There has been coverage in the press this week about a new campaign to end religious discrimination in schools admissions in order to make it fairer and promote religious, social and cultural integration. Details can be found here. I think it's a really good piece of work and I hope it is successful. Their report makes many good points in favour of ... read more and comment →

9 comments

Latest comment by Rosie Fergusson: "Let us hope the campaign is successful..however I am pessimistic.. After all what will the quasi-catholics of our government do if they can no longer leap-frog over their local 40 % FSM school straight into the London Oratory ( ......"

Comment + Debate
Avatar Image

Henry Stewart: Time to Allow True “Fair Banding”

In response to this morning's Sutton Trust report this post calls for two key changes in school admissions: 1) Banding should be encouraged and be truly fair, in that it should be able to be based on the distribution of ability in the local area (which is not allowed at the moment) 2) Whatever the nature of the school, admissions should be ... read more and comment →

45 comments

Latest comment by Milos Jankovic: "The first key finding of the reference is: 'Schools were choosing to belong to a range of middle tier bod(ies) which between them provide strategic and operational functions, and a local and national perspective.' So middle tier bodies selected by schools, de ......"

Comment + Debate
Avatar Image

Janet Downs: Oversubscription is touted as a sign of popularity, but is it?

I’ve already pointed out the absurdity of counting every mention of a school in parental orders of preference. If a school is listed last then counting it as a positive choice is deceptive. But there are other factors – number of choices allowed, number of pupils wanting school places and number of easily-accessible schools available – which affect the number of ... read more and comment →

8 comments

Latest comment by Rebecca Hanson: "If you don't know Dr Sue Pope here she is trying to talk positively about the NC review in its early stages. I admired her for her positive attitude. I was at the same consultation (which I seem ......"

Comment + Debate
Avatar Image

Fiona Millar: Labour and schools

The Observer newspaper carried a couple of  articles at the weekend about an alleged mid-term wobble  for Labour. This seemed to be largely based on a slight drop in the opinion polls, a few attacks from  ageing Blairites and George Osborne's intervention in the welfare debate using the horrific story of the Derby benefit claimant who set fire to his ... read more and comment →

39 comments

Latest comment by Where are the dangerous ideas in education? Go to the Dangerous Ideas Festival to find out… | talesbehindtheclassroomdoor: "[...] be a place where good practice could be modelled. Or perhaps if they’re not keen on this, as Fiona Millar has suggested, a blueprint for co-operative schools could be established and put forward as a proper alternative. [...]..."

Comment + Debate
Avatar Image

Janet Downs: LAs can’t direct academies to accept pupils: this could have negative effect on hard-to-place pupils, Academies Commission warns

The Academies Commission reported that several researchers had found that when market forces enter education systems this “provides incentives for schools to avoid particular, vulnerable pupils who might be seen as detrimental to the school’s attainment profile.” Academies are their own admissions authority. Some Local Authorities (LAs) s told the Commission that they feared an increased number of academies could lead ... read more and comment →

One comment

Latest comment by John Mountford: "At no time has it been so abundantly clear that the direction of reform of our education service is so dangerously poised to consign a generation of the most needy youngsters to a lower than second-class status. If we fail ......"

Comment + Debate
Avatar Image

Janet Downs: Collaboration is key to success, says OECD’s deputy education director, but has he been misled into believing academy programme will increase school autonomy?

Andreas Schleicher* (TES 8 March 2013) is correct - children benefit when schools collaborate and share best practice. This was the lesson of the London Challenge which, contrary to Gove's rhetoric, had little to do with sponsored academies and everything to do with support and co-operation. However, Schleicher has been misled if he thinks the academies programme is required to bring ... read more and comment →

5 comments

Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Thanks, Rosie, for the link to the Schleicher lecture. I've summarised the PISA findings on the factors which are shared by high-performing school systems and posted them here: http://www.localschoolsnetwork.org.uk/2013/03/what-do-high-performing-school-systems-have-in-common-oecd-guru-summarises-pisa-findings/..."

Comment + Debate
Avatar Image

Janet Downs: What did the Academies Commission discover about social inclusion and accountability?

Many academies were committed to social inclusion, but many were not, the Academies Commission found. Some academies were manipulating admissions in their favour (see here). In order to avoid a negative impact on social inclusion as more schools become academies, the Commission recommended: 1 That an independent appeals service should be set up. 2 That academies publish comprehensive data, including the socio-economic ... read more and comment →

No comments

Be the first to comment!

Comment + Debate
Avatar Image

Fiona Millar: Life after Gove

Life after Gove. Is there such thing? The current education secretary’s ceaseless and frenetic activity sometimes makes this hard to believe. But one day he will be gone and the chances are that a Labour government will have to pick up the pieces. The stand-out issues that must be faced are becoming clearer. How do we get excellent local schools, given ... read more and comment →

29 comments

Latest comment by FJM: "Excellent, but LSN won't like this...."

Comment + Debate
Avatar Image

Fiona Millar: Academies, free schools and admissions. The Academies Commission is right to highlight concerns.

There has been much coverage of the RSA/Pearson Academies Commission final report today. Henry Stewart and I both gave evidence to this enquiry and were pleased to see serious consideration given to some of the points we raised, which included the admissions freedoms  given to academies and free schools and the LSN evidence showing that many maintained schools have improved at ... read more and comment →

38 comments

Latest comment by ifemkpa nnamdi: "i love your school its fresh..."

Comment + Debate
Page 1 of 1112345...10...Last »