Competition

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Francis Gilbert: Watch the Shadow Education Secretary’s impressive speech arguing for collaboration between schools, not competition

Picking up on Janet Down's previous post on Andreas Schleicher arguing for collaboration between schools, it's good to note that the Shadow Education Secretary is now realising the importance of collaboration too. His speech at the Education Innovation conference today was impressive; well-researched, thoughtful, and persuasive. I thought he came across very well; someone who genuinely is interested in listening to ... read more and comment →

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Alison Higgs: Academies do not improve education

Academies are all about undermining trades unions and local authorities. They are unaccountable and because costs come first, create a drain of older, experienced teachers - which our yound people need. I am 100% behind local schools - I believe that if the market and other forms of competition between schools (including league tables) were done away with, schools would have ... read more and comment →

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Janet Downs: Airbrushing state teachers out of sporting achievement is “mean, unjust” and prejudiced

Airbrushing the tens of thousands of state school teachers who spend hours of their time on sports activities out of the national picture is “mean, unjust and reveals a class prejudice that should have died out with the Romanovs,” writes TES editor, Gerard Kelly. Kelly rightly praises all British Olympians whose inspirational success has received adulation but describes as “appalling” that ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "FullFact also looked at school sports by investigating Stephen Twigg’s claims that by the end of Labour’s period in office at least 90% of children spend two hours or more in PE lessons or doing sport outside of school. ......"

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Janet Downs: Academy chain wants to run FE College for profit

Barnfield Federation, which runs a chain of academies, wants to run a further education (FE) college for profit, reports the Guardian. The Education Act 2011 allows FE colleges to be run for profit and this has encouraged Pete Birkett, Barnfield’s chief executive, to investigate “creating a new business model for schools by establishing a private company that would raise funds ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: ""Ricki Tarr has not lied to us, not in any material way. He has simply done what agents the world over do: he has failed to tell us the whole story." – George Smiley, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy."..."

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Janet Downs: Autonomy, adaptability and academies: Gove speaks to the Schools Network

“In countries where schools have greater autonomy over what is taught and how students are assessed, students tend to perform better,” Mr Gove told the Schools Network, the renamed Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT). Mr Gove is quoting correctly from the OECD Pisa in Focus 9 but he should have read further on. Pisa in Focus 9 discusses the relationship ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Samuel Morris: "Well don't worry Janet. Just because international comparisons don't stand up, you can always fall back on the fact Academy Schools will enhance Parental Choice just like Charter Schools are doing all across the USA!!!!!!!!! http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/05/opinion/why-school-choice-fails.html?_r=1&src=tp..."

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Fiona Millar: The dark side of competition

Following on from Francis' interview with the highly articulate Suffolk parent Emma Bishton, who has explained why two new free schools will not help her area where there is no shortage of school places, I came across this excellent post from Loic Menzies of the LKM consultancy. It sets out clearly that there may be a downside for many young ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Allan Beavis: "I did not say most people do no want free schools. What I said to Smithers was to show how he used partial quotes in an attempt to illustrate his feeble arguments. This is what I mean by circular arguments. ......"

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Henry Stewart: OECD: No evidence that competition improves schools

A major focus of the current government is to increase competition in education, with free schools and other proposals. However a report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) indicates that increasing parental choice and competition does not significantly improve schools. Apparently there are no studies indicating that increased competition leads to innovation in the classroom. Indeed the changes ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by David Lewis: "Competition? It certainly works against schools and teachers sharing their methods and ideas after all would you really want to help your competitor?..."

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Simon Bernstein: Let’s shift the debate to fundamental values like ‘fairness for all’

So long as there is 'choice' in education, and schools are subjected to market forces, the system will remain unfair and some schools will be deemed 'failures'. Only when local children attend their local school will this begin to change. To enable such change ultimately requires the abolition of private, grammar, academy and free schools, as well as the creation of ... read more and comment →

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Mike and Pat Cockett: We cannot condone a system which will see the children who have least losing even more.

We have seen many changes in the organisation of schools and teaching and learning in our time. Some changes have been beneficial, some neutral and some detrimental. The most effective changes are those which are allowed to mature and evolve in the long term. The proposed wholesale, sudden, structural changes will benefit the already privileged and be catastrophic for the ... read more and comment →

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Michael Sanderson: Collaboration is fundamental to what we do

Local community schools should be collaborating and cooperating rather than seeking to compete.  It would not surprise me if we see a sudden rise in permanent exclusions from newly formed academies, which the remaining community schools will have to deal with. As the governor of a special school for students with behavioural problems I have similar concerns.  Collaboration is fundamental to ... read more and comment →

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