Delivering subject content through nine life themes
Ofsted has announced changes to the inspection process for schools in England. Pressure has been mounting on England’s schools inspectorate since the suicide of a headteacher in January this year following an ‘inadequate’ judgement arising from safeguarding concerns. Her school had previously been rated… Continue Reading “Ofsted requires improvement”
‘Apparently the arts and humanities aren’t important’ – so tweeted architectural historian and broadcaster Jonathan Foyle at the weekend alongside a photo like the one above of the vast Glastonbury crowd. His ironic tweet hints at widespread concern about the downgrading of creative subjects… Continue Reading “Creativity and the arts”
Attack lines for political opponents of the UK government have all but written themselves in the last couple of weeks, with phrases like ‘the roof falling in’ and ‘the crumbling public realm’ shifting from the metaphorical to the literal. The immediate issue dominating the… Continue Reading “Fixing the school roof”
Discussing the so-called crumbly concrete crisis in UK schools and other public buildings, we asked in last week’s blog Fixing the roof asked about the level of sacrifice society was prepared to accept to provide a world-class education system for our children and young… Continue Reading “Investing in the future”
A new study on attitudes to raising children suggests that present-day parents in the UK place a high value on their children displaying good manners and being tolerant and respectful, just like parents did a generation ago. However, it also indicates that UK parents… Continue Reading “What matters to parents”
Post-16 education in England is about to be transformed by a much-needed reform package or thrown into chaos by “unworkable gimmicks” introduced for short-term political gain. Delete according to taste. Or – a third alternative – nothing fundamental will end up changing at all.… Continue Reading “Transforming post-16 education”
The UK government has now published details about its proposed new 16–19 qualification, and if we are to believe the spin, it is going to be fantastic. The Advanced British Standard – a new single qualification to replace existing A levels and T levels… Continue Reading “Advanced British Standard”
After the Conservative Party’s recent proposals to shake up the 16–19 curriculum with the Advanced British Standard qualification, the Labour Party countered with its own headline-grabbing initiative at its recent conference in Liverpool. Labour’s big idea is to “bring maths to life for the… Continue Reading “Real-world maths”
A new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has called for a “transformative shift” in school inspections, moving away from high-stakes, top-down accountability and “punitive control” to a system that “combines high standards with an approach that empowers schools and teachers… Continue Reading “Empowering teachers and schools”
Ofsted has lost the trust of the teaching profession and increasingly of parents, and there needs to be “an immediate pause of routine inspections” to allow time to reset and regain the trust of the profession. This is the damning conclusion of Beyond Ofsted,… Continue Reading “Thinking beyond Ofsted”