Blog
James Review on School Buildings makes some good points but leaves unanswered questions
The James Review in to capital spending on schools was slipped out to very little fanfare yesterday, on the last day of term. I wonder why? It could be that the whole matter of school buildings is of little real interest to the media, but given the furore over the cancellation of BSF, you would […]
Abolition of the Admissions Forum will make life harder for parents
Parents may find the school admissions system becomes more unfair and difficult to navigate as a result of key proposals in the Coalition’s Education Bill – not just my view, but the view of the people who chair local authority admissions forums. The abolition of the forums, which currently bring together school governors, parents, churches […]
How do we decide if we ‘need’ a new school
Published in Guardian Education today How should we decide what constitutes ‘need’ for a new school? This, I predict, will be one of the most furiously contested issues of the next few years. Giving any willing group the chance to set up a school may sound appealing on paper, but the devil will be in […]
To Miss With Love – fact of fiction?
Katharine Birbalsingh , the teacher who spoke at last year’s Tory Party Conference condemning our state schools, has given her latest interview to the Observer. Several parents, teachers, pupils (including me) and one politician were given the opportunity to respond here. Here is my initial take on the book , To Miss with Love, that […]
Alberta – a high achieving but very different vision for schools
One of the international examples that Michael Gove likes to use in support of his policies is the state of Alberta in Canada – the highest performing English speaking region in the world when it comes to education. However the policies of the state of Alberta aren’t quite as Mr Gove likes to suggest, as […]
Time for the Lib Dems to step up to the plate on schools plan
Link to original article in Guardian Education It is almost exactly five years since the last Labour government introduced its controversial Education and Inspections Bill. It followed a highly contested White Paper which promised to create a system of independent non fee paying schools. Companies, faith groups, charities and parents were going to set up […]
Some free legal advice on academies!
Some months ago I posted a legal opinion about the Academies Bill, written by David Wolfe , a barrister from Matrix Chambers, in London, who has been involved in many cases on behalf of parents concerned about their schools changing status. Following the news that parent campaigners at Tidemill Primary School in South London had […]
The row about BSF has obscured the real story on school capital funding
Much of the attention of the coalition governments funding of English maintained schools has focussed on the cancellation of the Building Schools for the Future programme. Almost no attention has been focussed on another aspect of capital funding that will affect all schools – that of Devolved Capital Funding. This is the annual allocation to […]
