I have always believed that with freedoms there are responsibilities. I am very worried that this new freedom and autonomy will see the abuse of the exclusion sanction. I have already seen signs of this and as I say, it concerns me hugely. It will in the eyes of some headteachers no longer be the last option. read more and comment →
Two weeks ago I had lunch in my local maintained school. The food was very good, excellent even, when you consider that the kitchen prepared hundreds of covers every day, including hot food, salads, sandwiches, wraps and vegetarian options. The queues were a bit long perhaps, the children a little unruly and desperate to quickly eat and get out to ... read more and comment →
Latest comment by Allan Beavis: "And, according to the report, 9 out of 10 Academies are offering unhealthy food to their students. It seems that Gove's trust in Academies to offer nutritious food to their students is misplaced and so his reassurances that Academies can ......"
Comment + Debate
My daughter was repeatedly placed into isolation in error & also for petty reasons on a daily basis, this caused her to become depressed,even though our doctor &myself made the school aware of our concerns about her state of mind they continued to place her into isolation,on one occasion because her shoes were the wrong shade of black they then ... read more and comment →
Latest comment by CharlesFisher: "I myself have found this to be equally as true over here in Leeds where my daughter receives the same treatment [along with many other pupils]. The reply you are giving Adam is the same as all academy teachers give in ......"
Comment + Debate
Both Boris Johnston and the recent report by the Riots Communities and Victims Panel have placed a large measure of blame for last year’s riots on poor schooling. But how far is this a fair or accurate analysis of the causes of the worst civil disturbances for decades. First, the emphasis on schools seems to have led to ... read more and comment →
Latest comment by Leonard James: "I'm by no means an expert on this but I'll try and justify my methods as best I can. Being as the school data is expressed as a percentage I don't think parametric tests are suitable - I think we ......"
Comment + Debate
A year ago we published a post showing that, in the academic year 2008/09, academies excluded 82% more students than state secondary schools as a whole. Following a Freedom of Information request we have now received the 2009/10 figures, showing that the gap has increased. Secondary academies excluded over twice as many as state secondaries as a whole. The level of ... read more and comment →
Below, a piece that appears in today's G2 about possible links between the inequality in our school system, and government policy, and the summer's disturbances. Also, a trail for my book, to be published on September 5th, on the battle for a fairer system of education. The crisis facing Britain's education system The gulf between schools educating the well-off and the disadvantaged ... read more and comment →
Latest comment by stephen: "yeah that was to prepare for the schools to use ...thank you......."
Comment + Debate Michael Gove has claimed that schools are concealing the extent of bad behaviour from Ofsted by ensuring incompetent teachers and poorly behaved children stay at home during inspections. How likely is this? As far as staff are concerned, remember schools only get 48 hours notice before an inspection. During that time the head would have to tell the ... read more and comment →
Latest comment by Samuel Morris: "I must confess I work in a large secondary school and I am a member of the SLT. We have been inspected since January 2012 under the new framework. On the two days OFSTED were in our school ......"
Comment + Debate
Katharine Birbalsingh’s new book, To Miss with Love, is nearly three hundred pages long, but her educational theories can be boiled down to this: private schools good, state schools bad. She expands on the theme now and then: Jamaican schools good, Indian schools good. But our schools are definitely, without doubt, bad. So bad, if ... read more and comment →
Latest comment by Robert Wills: "Calosour is spot on. I also went to one, as did my friends (who went to a different school to me) and they are absolutely rubbish. The Glasgow Herald prints an annual league table of comprehensives in Scotland as well ......"
Comment + Debate
The Local Schools Network has, under the Freedom of Information Act, obtained exclusion figures for each academy in the UK. To see the full list, based on figures for 2008/09, download them here. Comparing these to overall exclusion figures for England (available from the DfE here), reveals far higher figures for academies. On average non-academy state secondary schools permanently exclude 1.7 ... read more and comment →
Latest comment by Rob Morgan: "In Tamworth, the Landau Forte Academy opened it's doors in September 2010 (replacing Woodhouse School - which it had been working with for a year or two beforehand). On it's first day of opening, it sent home 20 pupils for issues ......"
Comment + Debate
The Independent reported on 28 January that Mr Gove proposes to turn Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) into privately sponsored academies. Mr Gove says that one organisation, SkillForce, made up of ex-Army veterans, has already expressed an interest in running pupil referral units – as has Ark. The reason he gives is "Most local authority pupil referral units aren't ... read more and comment →
Latest comment by Kevin Burrell: "I work with the PRUs in Buckinghamshire. Four of the five of them carry Outstanding judgements from Ofsted, the other a Good. The most recently inspected PRU was judged Outstanding for behaviour - this is true of 25% of PRUs ......"
Comment + Debate