All articles on this site

  • If Gove likes Finland’s schools so much, why doesn’t he imitate them?

    The new results from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are about to be published which compare the achievements of education systems across the globe. The latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is expected to show the achievements of UK and Swedish schools falling behind, while Finnish schools are surging ahead. Michael Gove, […]

  • Is extending the school day the key to raising standards?

    Braving the ice and snow on my bike, I cycled down to the King Solomon Academy (KSA) near Marylebone station today. Behind the black gates of the entrance there’s a huge banner proclaiming  ”Climbing the mountain to university” which told me a lot straight away. This Academy, run by ARK, an education charity, is all about instilling high […]

  • Now the Lib-Dems have got their way over sports funding, can we have more of their education policies please?

    It’s brilliant news to read today that the government is now considering saving specialist sports teaching in our state schools. The general outcry against the axeing of sports’ provision in schools should make the Coalition think again about their policies. It appears that Cameron is now intervening to save the funding, essentially over-ruling Michael Gove, […]

  • Why does Gove believe dead languages and Ancient History are more important to learn than the Arts, R.E, Sports and Technology?

    It’s official. Finally, Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, has proclaimed that Ancient History is more important than a whole raft of subjects that might actually teach our teenagers something of value. If you look at the list of “approved GCSEs” for the English Baccalaureate, you’ll see that Ancient History sits proudly there as an approved […]

  • Is extending the school day the key to raising standards?

    Braving the ice and snow on my bike, I cycled down to the King Solomon Academy (KSA) near Marylebone station today. Behind the black gates of the entrance there’s a huge banner proclaiming  ”Climbing the mountain to university” which told me a lot straight away. This Academy, run by ARK, an education charity, is all about instilling high […]

  • A teacher’s view of the protests

    Children should be in school, however they feel about the tuition fee rises I think it’s highly irresponsible of teachers to condone, tacitly or explicitly, pupils walking out of school. It indicates that they don’t see the primary importance of education in the classroom; if they don’t believe in that, why are they teaching? It’s […]

  • Demobbed soldiers in the classroom: a deeply nostalgic policy

    The education secretary, Michael Gove, is seeking to put more ex-soldiers in the classroom. He has outlined plans in his education white paper for the taxpayer to fund ex-army personnel to be trained as teachers. The subtext of his plans is that our classrooms are so out of control that drastic military action is called […]

  • Training teachers at college is better than on the job

    University training sounds like a luxury, but is actually cheaper and more effective Not many people outside academia will protest about the axing of teacher training in universities — but they should. The new Education White Paper, which is due to be published this week, will stipulate that new teachers should be trained “on the […]

  • Education white paper: an assault on schools

    This week’s education white paper will seriously undermine standards of teaching in our schools On the surface the new education white paper, due to be published next week but widely leaked in the press today, appears to be all about promoting good teachers. Having a good degree and two decades of experience in the classroom, […]

  • Don’t panic about your child’s schooling!

    Help! I’m in a complete panic about schools! I feel that every decision I make about my children’s school is wrong. What should I do? Firstly, be aware that you’re not alone. Being a school teacher for the last twenty years in various state schools, I’ve noticed that a lot of parents panic about their […]

  • The penny has dropped: scrap academic and social selection and opt for an ‘ecological admissions test’

    How many teachers really know how the pupils sitting before them actually got there? If you’re teaching in a grammar school, are you aware of the hours of agonised torture your pupils endured preparing for the 11-plus? If you’re in a school that deals with its own admissions, are you aware of all the hoops […]

  • The Coalition’s Academy Plans backfire

    A new report shows that the Coalition’s education policy of allowing all schools to become Academies has seriously backfired. The stated aim was to raise standards across the board, particularly in our most socially disadvantaged areas. A new report published by the Centre for Economic Performance shows that the majority of schools who have become […]

  • The Local Schools Network: a broad church

    The aim of the LSN is to support and celebrate local schools. I was talking at an Academy, Barnfield South in Luton, yesterday as a guest speaker at their prize-giving. It was very clear to me that this was an excellent local school, with fair admissions and a staff committed to their local community. All […]

  • Vital questions we must insist go on the proposal form for Free Schools NOW!!!

    There are serious problems with the Department for Education’s application form for free schools. These are the questions we MUST insist the DfE must put on free schools application forms, otherwise the process will not be honest, transparent or correct. Take a look at the proposal form yourself! This is the form that applicants have to […]

  • Free school looks set to increase class sizes, cause redundancies and lower standards in Crawley

    The Discovery New School in West Sussex plans to open as a Montessori Primary School in the Crawley area in 2011. It aims specifically to have small class sizes. This is bound to be at the cost to neighbouring schools in this area. There are already 28 primary schools in this area and clearly extra […]

  • Why local schools are the solution to knife crime

    Brooke Kinsella, the Eastenders’ actress, whose relative, Ben Kinsella, was stabbed to death in London recently has produced a report for the government arguing that we must have lessons in school on knife crime. This is an idea I supported in my book,Yob Nation, but since then my thoughts have developed, having examined a great […]

  • Watch out more school selection is on the way…

    England’s chief schools adjudicator, who oversees admissions to schools, is obviously very suspicious about the government’s intention to “slim down” the admissions’ code. He clearly thinks Gove and co are intent upon allowing schools more ways to select pupils by ability and ethnicity. Gove says that he wants to make things “fairer” but as we […]

  • Local schools should be at the heart of the ‘The Big Society’

    The boy smashed a bottle right in front of me and then snarled. I thought for a moment whether I should confront him. Then I recognised him; he attended the local school — the one my son will go to soon — and so I decided that for once I was going to say that […]

  • What secondary school should I choose for my son? The comprehensive, the Academy or the Federated School?

    My son is in Year 6 of primary school in Tower Hamlets; there’s real anxiety amongst the parents at his school about choosing a secondary school. The local comprehensive, within LA control, despite being radically improved, has a “bad” reputation. All sorts of rumours are floating around about it; students being stabbed there, rampant bullying, […]

  • Is class the place for a ‘culture of love’?

    It’s the role of parents, not teachers, to provide emotional nurturing for children Love is in the air. The latest big idea to emerge in schools during these summery months is that teachers like me should be loving their pupils more. The guru espousing this idea is Dr Andrew Curran, a practising paediatric neurologist in […]

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