As the chart shows, recent years have seen an increase in the number of children being educated outside of the school system - 48,000 In 2016-17, up from about 34,000 in 2014-15. Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 provides that: “The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to receive … Continue reading What future for ‘home education’? →

Valerie Coultas takes issue with the view that teaching is improved  by extensive supervision and imposed lesson observations. Instead she argues for a return to and enhancement of collaborative teaching approaches to re-establish the principle that teachers and lecturers are able and willing to reflect on their practice without fear of sanctions. She  argues that … Continue reading How teaching can be different →

In a widely reported speech to  the think-tank Centre Forum,  Ofsted chief Michael Wilshaw has slammed the  ‘One-size-fits-all’ emphasis on traditional academic subjects by secondary schools, declaring that this ‘will never deliver the range of success that their youngsters need’ https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/ambitions-for-education-sir-michael-wilshaw   Wilshaw is not promoting a more student friendly type of learning though, far from it … Continue reading Academic education for some. Vocational courses for the others. Wilshaw’s answer to ‘One size fits all’ →

Martin Allen Michael Gove’s new National Curriculum requirements might have been finalised, but the debate about what young people should learn and how; must continue. If there is an area where Gove is both weak and wobbly, then it continues to be on the curriculum, where he has made a series of retreats, if not … Continue reading Curriculum campaigns must go on. →