Stories + Views: Comprehensives & Grammars

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Janet Downs: Inclusion is the key to successful school systems, says OECD

What affects pupil outcomes?    The major paper, “Education at a Glance 2011”, from the globally-respected Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), found that the factors which encouraged high pupil achievement included “positive teacher-student relations, high expectations for students’ success, and a safe school environment.”  OECD is clear: these qualities are “more easily achieved in inclusive school systems.” What, then, is an ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Jim C - please read the TES article above re Andreas Schleicher. Then the following about his being honoured in Germany. http://www.oecd.org/document/17/0,3746,en_2649_39263238_2507025_1_1_1_1,00.html And there's this from the Goethe Institute: http://www.goethe.de/wis/fut/dos/gdw/sla/en2528036.htm A potted biography at the World Bank (Mr Gove doesn't seem to get ......"

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Henry Stewart: The East London Education Miracle Continues

I have written here before about the remarkable transformation of Hackney education, over the nine years of the Learning Trust (responsible for Hackney's schools). August’s GCSE results confirmed a rising trend, with rise in of 3% (to 58%) in those achieving 5 GCSEs including English and Maths. Mossbourne again led the way, with 82% achieving the benchmark. Mossbourne has attracted a ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by David Carpenter: "Champagne Tory is so deluded. Indulge a proper debate about the results from academies. Mossbourne IS a comprehensive that judges itself on purely an elitist tradition, but evidence suggests that it is becoming more selective. Any extra cash and good ......"

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Alan Gurbutt: Some thoughts on school admissions and the Eleven Plus examination

Concerns over school admissions could have been pre-empted by scrutinising pre-existing education inequalities in surrounding political and social context that have formed the fabric of subliminal acceptance of discrimination by Eleven Plus examination. Current issues can be viewed as a legacy left over from the 1944 Education Act that tried to establish a tripartite education system based on the work ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Nigel Ford: "I'm not sure how academy status impinges on grammar schools except for financial gains. My brother and his wife (who had a mixture of private and state education) live in Tonbridge and are parents to twin girls at Primary school who's ......"

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Henry Stewart: A Levels: State schools close the gap again

The percentage of A levels in state schools that are A* or A rose last year from 22.2% to 22.7%. This year it has risen again, to 23.4%. This appears not to have been due to 'grade inflation' as the proportion in private schools stayed the same at 50.8%. The figures are given in documents for 2010 and 2011 on the ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Nigel Ford: "I see that quite a few public school students who took the International Baccalaureate exam which is meant to be a superior and broader syllabus than A'levels have fallen short in attaining the required standards to access their chosen universities, ......"

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Henry Stewart: A Level Results – Guardian in First with Nonsense Articles

It is A level results day again and we brace ourselves for another set of spurious articles based on press releases from the Independent sector. The Guardian is in first year with possible the most spurious use of data yet seen: "There are some indications that private schools may have widened the gap with state schools, my colleagues Jeevan Vasagar and Jessica Shepherd write. The Girls' School ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by David Lewis: "I doubt if Wellington College would have admitted pupils who attained level 2 or 3 at KS2...."

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Melissa Benn: School wars

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 →

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Latest comment by stephen: "yeah that was to prepare for the schools to use ...thank you......."

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Nigel Ford: Class Divide

An article in the Mail on Sunday which is to be televised on BBC 3 emphasises the divide between two groups of young women. I can't help concluding that if everyone attended comprehensive schools then naivety, social barriers, prejudice and misconceptions would be broken down a lot earlier. read more and comment →

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Fiona Millar: Liberal Dems and Tories sound warnings over academy funding

This is a good piece by Lib Dem councillor Peter Downes, published on a prominent grass roots Liberal Democrat website, on the reality of academy funding. Peter has been crunching numbers on the extra resources being channeled towards convertor schools for the past year and I would recommend also looking at this briefing note he has done on how the ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Although the recent LSE report concluded there was an "academy effect" on the performance of neighbouring schools, they warned that this was only noticeable when academies had been there for a long time, and more time would be needed to ......"

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Sarah Dodds: Music to my ears!!!

This is an excerpt from a letter home to parents of children at a local Louth grammar school. It is not one of the ones that we have been campaigning about, but I would like to think that a strong campaign in the town has made a difference to the decision. Academy Status The Governing Body, Leadership Team and I have carried ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Sarah Dodds: "hence the Louth campaign!..."

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Janet Downs: Disadvantaged pupils do worse in schools containing a large number of disadvantaged children, new research reveals

Research by the Education Endowment Fund (EEF) published this month seems to confirm what the OECD revealed: that disadvantaged pupils do worse in schools which contain a large number of similarly disadvantaged children. The research looked at children eligible for free schools meals (FSM) in schools that failed to reach the floor standard (EEF target schools). The report ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Alan Gurbutt: "Causation, no, but a positive linear relationship should infer that there’s scope for further investigation, a multi-factorial analysis of issues associated with educational pathways, for example. There should be a focus EYFS, health, income and parent’s ability to raise expectations ......"

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