Posts Tagged ‘local authorities’
Who runs our schools – no choice for parents
Almost 40 years ago the then Prime Minister Jim Callaghan made a controversial speech on education. Delivered at Ruskin College in Oxford, it was widely seen as a challenge to the “ secret garden” of the education world; a place inhabited by unaccountable teachers, a nebulous curriculum and most definitely off limits for the political […]
Labour needs a triple shot
Over the past ten years I have got used to various ups and downs in my relationship with the Labour Party over its education policy. I have been a member since I was 16, worked for the last government and even thought of standing for Parliament at one stage. So much of the party’s record […]
Some thoughts on Labour and schools policy
The Observer newspaper carried a couple of articles at the weekend about an alleged mid-term wobble for Labour. This seemed to be largely based on a slight drop in the opinion polls, a few attacks from ageing Blairites and George Osborne’s intervention in the welfare debate using the horrific story of the Derby benefit claimant who set […]
Life After Gove. Is there such a thing?
Life after Gove. Is there such thing? The current education secretary’s ceaseless and frenetic activity sometimes makes this hard to believe. But one day he will be gone and the chances are that a Labour government will have to pick up the pieces. The stand-out issues that must be faced are becoming clearer. How do […]
How to avoid the predictable failures of free schools – give the local authority a role
An interesting little booklet has just been published. Called ‘The Six Predictable Failures of Free Schools and how to avoid them’. It is written by teacher Laura McInerney, who occasionally comments on this site, and published by LKMco, a consultancy run by McInerney and fellow teacher Loic Menzies. It injects a note of realism into […]
Schools should have less freedom on admissions, not more
One area in which the Coalition government has been suspiciously quiet is school admissions. There has been talk of a ‘simplified’ Code of Practice but earlier plans to allow ‘first come first served’ waiting lists, or to give priority access to parents who start free schools have either been deemed unworkable, or are being carefully […]
