Schools

Signal failure: How to get science back on track

Thursday, 25 September 2008

Children are switching off science after GCSE because they think it's dull and irrelevant, says a new report. Steve McCormack visits one school that's showing how to grab pupils' attention

Auriol Stevens: 'Private schools must change – or we all suffer'

Thursday, 25 September 2008

'There is no more damaging divide in society today than this one in economic and social terms." Thus Anthony Seldon, master of Wellington College, described the state/independent school split this summer.

Education Diary: Are redundant Lehman bankers fit to teach?

Thursday, 25 September 2008

Overheard: a disgruntled teacher commenting on the decision of the Training and Development Agency to set up a stall at Canary Wharf to entice redundant Lehman bankers into teaching: "We don't want these spivs in the classroom or anywhere near our kids. How can they teach our children moral values?" Fair comment.

Leading Article: The NUT's folly stands exposed

Thursday, 25 September 2008

At first sight, the Schools Secretary Ed Balls's decision to force schools by law to implement the workload agreement with the majority of the teachers' unions looks as though it should be unreservedly welcomed. The agreement guarantees teachers at least 10 per cent of their working time away from classroom duties – and there have been complaints, and even one or two threats of industrial action, because individual schools have failed to implement it. It is a national agreement, so schools are required to put it into effect.

Education Quandary: 'Text-message spelling in school? Have we gone mad? Why does everything have to be made so easy for children today?'

Thursday, 25 September 2008

Where silence is on the timetable: Quiet is key at Quaker schools

Thursday, 25 September 2008

There are a number of noises that one associates with school: the cacophony of young voices in a playground; the chatter of a busy dining hall; and the teacher's whistle on the playing field.

Education Letters: Linking my comments to the Fast Forward scheme was entirely unjustified

Thursday, 25 September 2008

Against the Grain: Blind them with golf technique, not science

Thursday, 25 September 2008

Nipan Maniar is senior lecturer in creative technologies at the University of Portsmouth. He argues that a golf computer game can help children learn maths and physics.

Diary Of A Supply Teacher: 'I have to smooth his way in disputes'

Thursday, 25 September 2008

I have a day as a Teaching Assistant, supporting an autistic lad whose regular TA is ill. He is due to move house in two weeks, so is already stressed, but he has seen me around before, and seems disposed to accept me with good grace.

On the road to somewhere: Why the school trip is still a vital educational tool

Thursday, 25 September 2008

The thought of taking 30-plus children further than the playground can bring most teachers out in hives, mainly because the bureaucracy surroundingexcursions can be so prohibitive that it's not worth it, or that the media coverage in the event of an accident is too intense.

Why the Bacc is the way forward

Thursday, 18 September 2008

Admissions tutors and employers like it. But the IB must be right for the pupil too, finds Caroline Haydon

Leading Article: The first Hindu school is just another faith school

Thursday, 18 September 2008

The opening of the country's first ever state-aided Hindu school has inevitably led to claims that the growth in the number of religious schools will lead to greater segregation of children from different communities. However, while it is true that the Hindu children who go to the Krishna-Avanti Primary School in Edgware, north London, would be taught alongside youngsters from other ethnic communities if the school did not exist, it raises the question: why should parents of the Hindu faith not be able to send their children to a school practising their religion when members of so many other faith groups already can?

Education Letters: Dramatic stuff for 2012 games

Thursday, 18 September 2008

Currently there is much media speculation and advice on how the 2012 games should be opened and closed. The cameo presented by the London 2012 team in Beijing, with its disjointed symbols and celebrity culture, should be a warning against involving image consultants and marketing companies. Required is an honest presentation that portrays aspects of British culture and achievement.

Gareth Malone: 'Music raises people up; they find the best of themselves by performing'

Thursday, 18 September 2008

Arriving at Lancaster School in late April 2007, I met a frazzled-looking Helen Collins. As the head of music she was desperate to get the school singing but felt powerless against a tide of disinterest. So, she called me! It was a brave thing to do: asking for help and saying that you would benefit from professional advice takes confidence.

Diary of a Supply Teacher: 'Using a hula hoop is not like riding a bicycle'

Thursday, 18 September 2008

I have passed a day without major mishap, but for the last period of the afternoon I am expected to join a Year 11 PE class. They have a double period, so will presumably already be doing whatever is expected, and I imagine I shall simply be mildly bored. I meet the previous cover teacher in the corridor and note her four-inch heels and pencil skirt. Plainly, she has not been expected to participate.

Down with sin bins: How voluntary groups can put excluded pupils back on track

Thursday, 18 September 2008

Troublesome pupils have recently been sent to referral units – with mixed results. Now ministers are looking to the voluntary sector for help. Steve McCormack reports on a charity that's transforming lives

Education Quandary: 'I believe the experience of parents is undervalued in the workplace. But will Sarah Palin help my cause – or hinder it?'

Thursday, 18 September 2008

John Dunford: Testing can no longer be a secret garden

Thursday, 11 September 2008

The problems over the marking of this year's national tests for 11 and 14-year-olds have brought to public attention the innermost workings of external assessment. They illustrate that testing and examinations can no longer be a secret garden, occupied only by educational experts using arcane terminology.

Education Diary: Largest number of schools opening for three decades

Thursday, 11 September 2008

This academic year is going to be busy, with the largest number of schools opening for three decades. "Record" openings, chirps a press release from the department for curtains and soft furnishings (DCSF). Opponents of academies look away now: 51 of the blighters will open this year. Ditto 24 schools funded by Building Schools for the Future, the organisation set up by Tony Blair that plans to rebuild or renew every secondary school in the country. More than 150 other new schools will also come into being. To celebrate, the DCSF yesterday launched a whistle-stop tour for five of the department's bigwigs, plus four tag-alongs (including Tessa Jowell, above, and Rosie Winterton). The heroic band visited 30 schools during the school day. Ed Balls did five in a morning; Beverley Hughes six in a day. Poor Andrew Adonis only managed two, though he did have to travel between Croydon and Southampton. How did the ministers handle the short time slots? "Sorry, I've got five minutes to tell you how great your school is, then I've got to dash". Still, it's the thought that counts.

Leading Article: We need to look for new tests in 2009

Thursday, 11 September 2008

The Government is caught in a cleft stick over how to solve the chaos surrounding the SATs tests for 11- and 14-year-olds. First, it is becoming blindingly obvious that the present system is overloaded and no one wants to be responsible for delivering it.

Knife crime: Can drama help stop it?

Thursday, 11 September 2008

They were young dropouts on the road to ruin. Then they discovered the theatre – and a whole new sense of self. Angela Neustatter reports on a remarkable programme that's turning lives around

Education Quandary: 'My child has head lice, and his teacher says that he is likely to get re-infected. What's the best way to keep him nit-free?'

Thursday, 11 September 2008

Parents should look beyond the frills of open day and do more research

Thursday, 11 September 2008

Though the new academic year has only just begun, thoughts are already turning to the next crop of boarders and day pupils, as parents turn up at open days to nose around.

Education Diary: Independent Schools Council appoints new chief executive

Thursday, 4 September 2008

The Independent Schools Council has appointed a new chief executive, which is bad news for journalists. David Lyscom, who assumes the position on Monday, is a career diplomat. He was our man in Bratislava, later moving on to represent the UK at the OECD. Why is this bad news? Well, he'll be far too smooth to talk about a "cold war" between state and private schools, as did his predecessor, the former Royal Navy rear admiral Chris Parry, who lasted six weeks at the helm of the ISC. Nor will Lyscom describe state school oiks as "unteachable" or their parents "ignorant" (again, Parry). We also doubt whether he will describe state education as so bad that it is "offensive" to parents (you guessed it: Parry). How we miss Parry and his military metaphors. Still, congrats all the same, David.

Leading Article: A welcome return to one-on-one

Thursday, 4 September 2008

To some, it might seem like the last throw of the dice to get performance in the maths and English national curriculum tests for 11-year-olds resuming an upward trend after several years of stagnation. To others, it is simply an eminently sensible idea. The Government announced this week that – from the start of the new term – the 5 per cent of youngsters struggling hardest would get special one-to-one help from their teachers in reading. This scheme will be stretched to cover writing and maths in the future.