Stories + Views: School Buildings

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Janet Downs: DfE releases final capital costs for 18 free schools. What do the figures show?

Final capital costs for 18 free schools have recently been released. Contracts have been signed so the Government says these figures are no longer “commercially sensitive”. So what do the figures show? Free schools which grew from existing schools received little capital funding. Batley Grammar School received just £177,567 for refurbishment. Sandbach Free School, however, received half-a-million for a new building. This ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Thanks, Tubby, I hadn't realised there was a built-in incentive to keep free school primaries small. Does this apply to secondaries, I wonder? Many of the secondary free schools use small size as a marketing ploy. But ......"

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Jess: The future of primary education

Those of you in the primary sector may well be aware that there is now a growing crisis in primary education. There is a need for 500,000 extra primary places to be created by 2015 (90,000 of which will be needed in London by 2014). Gove's solution is free schools and academies instead of democratically accountable Local Authorities that can ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Alan Bowles: "The Autumn statement has provided more money for education so it says. No!. It has provided more money for the building of Academies and Free schools. One version I read added 'and well run' schools which lets in local ......"

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Henry Stewart: Where is the evidence of private sector delivery?

It is becoming clear that a key part of the right-wing agenda for our schools is privatisation. Proponents argue that the profit taken from schools would be more than made up for in greater efficiency. However where is the evidence that public services can be delivered well by the private sector? There are plenty of examples of the failures of the ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Gove’s Selective Truth. | Think Left: "[...] Local Schools Network: Where is the evidence of Private Sector Delivery? this:FacebookRedditTwitterPrintGoogle +1EmailMoreDiggStumbleUponLinkedInTumblrLike this:LikeBe the first to like this. This entry was posted in Economics, Education, Topical News and tagged academies, Baccalaureate, Education, Finnish Schools, Gove ......"

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Allan Beavis: Coventry: What happens when a Local Authority is prevented from opening and running new schools

The madness of divorcing local authorities from local schools is once again thrown into sharp relief by this report in The Guardian, which describes how Coventry City Council, having secured funding and land for two new primary schools, is now scrapping the plans after apparently discovering that new schools have to be opened as Academies or Free Schools and ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Ricky - you are correct about John Major securing the greatest number of popular votes than any other premier before or since. Surprising, then, that he should have received so much poisonous vitriol from the right-wing (Murodch) press. This is ......"

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Janet Downs: Protect play areas of future Olympians – 38 degrees petition

From 38 degrees: “It’s just emerged that over a million children could lose the fields where they play.  The Education Secretary, Michael Gove, has quietly relaxed the rules protecting school playing fields. Many people are worried that this could open the door for them to be sold off to developers.” “Without playing fields it’s hard to imagine the children of today - ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Mr Gove has form when it comes to ignoring evidence despite his oft-repeated mantra that his policies are underpinned by evidence. Within months of his coming to power morale at the DfE had fallen - much of this crisis ......"

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emma kay: An outstanding education in Islington

Our school, Highbury Grove, is in one of the four most deprived boroughs in London, in terms of education and family income levels, with 44% child poverty (in London only Tower Hamlets has a higher percentage, figures from HMRC 2009). Islington has been known in recent decades for its poorly performing secondaries, which are traditionally shunned by its most affluent ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Melissa Benn: "Emma - Your post is incredibly inspiring. The breadth of activities and learning offered by the school, its refusal to expect anything but the best from its inner city intake and the individual stories that you give are all ......"

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sarah: Audit investigation into pupil place planning and capital

I understand that the National Audit Office have just been given authority to undertake a value for money audit on the planning of pupil places and allocation of capital to meet basic need. One of the things that the audit will focus on is the value for money implications of establishing free schools in areas where there is already adequate ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Rebecca Hanson: "Thank you for letting us know about this Sarah...."

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Sarah Dodds: Reflections on the Priory…

Having campaigned for over a year against the raise of academies in Lincolnshire, I am surprised not to be getting more of a kick from the Priory scandal (the details of which are outlined by Fiona in an earlier post.) The reasons for the deflation are varied. But as a Labour councillor, much of the bad taste is because this scandal ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Sheila: "Temper temper!!..."

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Jane Eades: Is money diverted from classrooms to a black hole?

In the last couple of weeks at least 3 'free' school projects have floundered because of lack of premises. So far the DfE have failed to respond to an FoI request for the cost of the aborted Michaela Community School project. More worrying is the amount of money being spent on public relations exercises to convince the public that academies ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "In November 2011, TES reported how the United Church Schools Trust and its subsidiary United Learning Trust (ULT) were advertising for a PR firm to take over a contract worth £1 million over five years. As schools become more and more ......"

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Allan Beavis: How effective can Gove’s school reforms be if the government fails to tackle child poverty?

There has been much fighting talk from Education Secretary Michael Gove in recent weeks, perhaps to quash increasing criticism of his education policies and to give some much needed spin to the ideologies that he is convinced will raise standards in our schools. According to him, anyone who opposes his reforms are happy with failure and this attitude is typical ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Even minor differences between children’s home lives can have a significant impact on pre-school development, says a report from the Resolution Foundation which featured in TES (13 Jan 2012). The analysts rated households by their before-tax household income* as follows: low ......"

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