Yet more creative reading of official statistics by a UK government minister. More than 79,000 children missed out on a place at their first-choice secondary school for this September, apparently. However, Nick Gibb Minister for Schools seems to think that this means, ” there simply aren’t enough good schools.” No it doesn’t, Nick. The figures [...]
Nearly one in five secondary school children in the UK have been severely abused or neglected during childhood, the NSPCC finds as part of a major study. The finding comes from a survey of 2,275 children aged 11-17 and 1,761 adults aged 18-24 carried out by the charity in 2009. The study follows an earlier [...]
This week we heard that Michael Gove is launching a curriculum review, in order to create a return to more “traditional” teaching. Quite apart from the dubious aim of the review, the enormous irony of launching a review of something and simultaneously declaring its result is obvious; as Chris Keates, the General Secretary of the [...]
We thought we’d look a little closer at exactly how challenging Teach First’s schools really are. That TF teachers are working in schools that need them is made much of in TF’s literature. In the Summary Information Return 2009 Of Aims, Activities and Achievements for Teach First TF declares its “mission is to address educational [...]
…& wins by a KO! Listen to the broadcast here: Gove getting a pasting on live BBC radio Charlie from Lewes, the radio listener, for Education Secretary?! He’ll do a much better job than journo Gove if this is anything to go by. We should say that we’re not supporting Charles’ opinion that headteachers rather [...]
The Beeb tell us that a fifth of of secondary schools are ‘in the red’. How can a school be ‘in the red’? They are publicly-funded. They’re not businesses. Deficits are for companies. Schools should have enough money. The 6th largest economy in the world has enough money. There’s not a bottomless pit, obviously. But [...]
Have Gilbert and OfSTED had an epiphany and seen the light? Or knowing that her days as honcho are numbered is she getting her own back? For an organisation so determined to kowtow to politicians and hold on to power and funds, today’s Successful Science report is quite remarkable. In its report based on the [...]
In Monty Pyhton’s Life of Brian a hapless Brian is caught graffitiing ‘Romans Go Home’ and subjected to an impromptu lesson in the finer points of Latin grammar by a burly centurion played by John Cleese: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbI-fDzUJXI[/youtube] Apart from being very funny, ‘Romans go Home’ very nicely illustrates what Latin meant to the grammar-educated Monty [...]
The BBC Education news desk and the The Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) seem to believe that a recent ICM survey shows teaching is ‘under rated’. This may be the case but the study does not show this. The study actually shows us not that teaching is under-rated but that prospects for career [...]
EducationState are interested, if not surprised, that the ‘elite’ are out in force ramping up the ‘crisis’ level in much the same way the ‘fear’ level is ramped up by NuLab. We all know the drill. Some self-appointed ‘expert’ speaks out in public about some perceived problem, statistics at the ready, and either one of [...]
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