So it’s July and now we have sight of the new Computing part of the National Curriculum. On taking office, Michael Gove was determined to impose rigour on a curriculum he had argued had become flaccid and unchallenging during the new Labour years and very soon he had his sights on the ICT curriculum. There…
When the TeachMeet is only open to participants from a particular organisation When the TeachMeet is advertised as free to teachers from a particular organisation (implying that at other events teachers have to pay to attend TeachMeets which they never have and never will!). When the TeachMeet does not allow anyone to sign up to deliver a…
Pimlico Primary, a new free school in London, made the news this week for hiring a 27 year old as the head teacher ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-22016045 ). 27 does seem a rather young age to take responsibility for a school, although an outstanding candidate with 5 years of experience in the classroom and as a deputy head…
Osiris Educational is now offering a ‘free directory of TeachMeets’ and also enhanced paid-for packages to help TeachMeet organisers promote their event. Osiris Educational are a for-profit company providing CPD and training to schools and teachers. This is simply a terrible idea. Read on for just some of the reasons why it’s so wrong. Firstly,…
In profit warning part I ( http://bit.ly/WCI8ut ) I argued that neoliberal pressure to allow schools to make profits were absolutely nothing to do with raising standards or improving outcomes for students. The motivation behind allowing companies to cream off profits from running state education is purely about profit and the enrichment of the elite who…
Gove’s education reforms, in particular his expansion of the academies programme and the launch of free schools, are moving inexorably to the moment where companies will be encouraged to run schools for profit. Gove let slip at the Leveson enquiry that he would be happy to see Free Schools make a profit in the second…
According to the Daily Telegraph, Tony Little, the headmaster of Eton is to give advice to state schools on how to build ‘character and resilience’ and share with them insights on how children can make the most of their opportunities. (http://bit.ly/Wo9cM0) Here is a quotation from the article Eton’s headmaster highlighted a range of methods…
