Arthur De Caux writes around education http://www.naht.org.uk/arthur-de-caux.rss In May 2009 I wrote “Readers, or who knows, reader, of my regular backpage column in Leadership Now, will be aware from the last copy that we must keep up with the times and adopt a fresh approach. In short, I have been asked to forsake my little satirical offerings accompanied by cartoon drawings and.. to write a blog instead. Never before has a blank page seemed so blank. What on earth is a blog? Is it something we currently call something else? Is it simply an expression of opinion or is it something specifically written for the internet so that people can reply to it.” I am confronted with a blank page again as I write my twentieth and final blog because the times have moved on once more. It is best that I should blog out before I am forced to twitter or paste my face in a book. Have I added something meaningful to the world of bloggery I ask myself? I have striven, not a word I have used in print before- to find the amusing, the bizarre and the frankly silly in the antics of government and Secretaries of State in particular. Mr Gove is the thirteenth Secretary of State who has exercised my brain, emotions and pen since I joined the NAHT professional staff in 1982 just as Education World was poised to enter the manic phase from which it has yet to recover. I have, en passant, tackled the following themes: SATs and the National Curriculum, the hysteria over results, academies and free schools, appeals against results, Prime Ministerial intervention, school mottos, daily headlines in the press, modern foreign languages in the primary school, Alfred the Great, jargon, the effect of General Elections on Educational Policy, the Queen's Speech, the summer holidays, Tim Brighouse, 14-19 education, subject choice and league tables and the recent 2010 White Paper. Where will it all end up? We have a hint in one of the latest speeches by a government Junior Minister in his speech to the Politeia Conference: “We've already begun to take forward a series of reforms to bear down on unnecessary burdens and bureaucracy - granting schools greater freedoms; extending teachers' powers to enforce discipline; more classroom autonomy; rigorous qualifications, valued by universities and employers; and the right targets and measures, which don't create perverse incentives to shy away from academic subjects.” And what do you think he was happy to announce that all these reforms would achieve? “These are the freedoms,” he said “that should assist professionals who wish to reintroduce Latin into the curriculum!” (My exclamation mark) I just hope that he doesn't expect schools to use this new-found freedom to spend their £430 pupil premium for every free school meals pupil to help them master the ablative absolute or ut plus the subjunctive. What has given me great satisfaction through the last 25 years or so was to see the resilience and dedication and improving quality of Heads and teachers. Faced with ever increasing interference and accountability, heads and teachers have kept their enthusiasm and good humour. For anyone to suggest that pupils were better served under their school caps in the fifties when I was at school-latin and all-or in the seventies when I was teaching, need to get real as I believe the saying goes. Nevertheless there are real problems to be tackled not least the number of pupils at age eleven unable to read to the standard which will enable them to succeed in Secondary education and the widening of the gap in attainment between boys and girls at age five. Although I am deblogging I hope not to disappear and will continue to write a column for the NAHT Life Members magazine. Also, over the years I have made 216 after-dinner speeches, mostly to 'educational audiences' and the vast majority to NAHT national, regional or branch dinners. I hope I have left a few chuckles in my wake. If I may be permitted a little plug as I blog out, I am still available and contactable at arthurdecaux@hotmail.com http://www.naht.org.uk/welcome/comment/blogs/arthur-de-caux/?blogpost=413 Fri, 17 Dec 2010 15:24:28 GMT 20101217152428 Fri, 17 Dec 2010 15:24:28 GMT 20101217152428 Fri, 17 Dec 2010 17:03:41 GMT 201012171750341 And so Mr Gove has produced his White Paper to join the almost endless list of Green Papers, White Papers, Bills, Acts, Statutory Instruments, Circulars, Initiatives, Jolly Wheezes and Cunning Plans since the mid nineteen eighties when Secretaries of State started taking an active then statutory interest in what went on in schools. This latest effort almost beggars belief. The Secretary of State has barely finished popping up on our television screens, full of earnestness, to declare that he is putting his trust in teachers and head teachers to get on with the job. Then back he comes, even more earnest, to tell us he is contemplating introducing prefects and houses, blazers and ties. Will he chose the colour schemes for every school, or only free schools? Will he allocate school mottos, preferably in Latin? In this dramatic return to the nineteen fifties, does he not realise that he is putting the cart before the horse? Traditionally academic schools in posh areas often seek to underline those two facts by having distinctive school uniforms. They do well in exams, however, because children in those circumstances do well in exams, not because they are wearing nicely striped blazers. What about all these other countries behind whom, it is claimed, we have slipped down the rankings? I don't know about the Far East, but as far as Europe is concerned pupils generally go to school in normal gear then put on some kind of smock in the classroom. I have never heard of baccalaureat or abitur scores shooting up in a lycée or gymnasium which sneakily puts their pupils into blazers to take the exam. At best, all you need, Mr Gove, is a sweater of a pleasantly neutral colour with the name of the school engraved upon it. Talking of baccalaureats, I have always welcomed the concept but it looks as if it will be introduced in way which smacks of league table contrivance to better berate rather than determined educational policy to better educate. Why should pupils be no more than encouraged to take GCSEs in English, maths, a science, a modern language and a humanities subject? Why don't they all have to take them ? And why on earth stop at GCSE? The crying need is at age 18. Why aren't qualifications at 18 structured into baccalaureat packages designed to ensure that our students have a fully rounded education and are truly world beaters. Mr Gove's other big idea is to make exams less modular - with more emphasis on the results of final papers and a reduction in the number of re-sits allowed. Again there is much merit in this but again I fear he is in danger of going too far and of attacking the wrong problem. It has long been regarded as important - certainly as far as student motivation is concerned-to try to measure what students can do rather than what they can't. One way to achieve this is to divide courses up into reasonably sized and coherent bits, so that students can learn, understand and be examined on a manageable amount. Why is it that every Secretary of State, making the same noises about modularity as Mr Gove is making now, has not seriously tried to introduce a system which combines a modular structure of learning and testing understanding with a bringing together of all the parts in a final exam? It shouldn't be that difficult. So more power to Mr Gove's elbow in that regard but not at the expense of returning us to a two year course just piling up memorized matter until the very end when the academic few with good memories will take the biscuit. So, as we settle down to the White Paper we need to watch the space where improved grammar and spelling, end of course exams, a baccalaureat approach, performance tables and a house point system collide because if the examinations are to be made harder, it is inevitable that pupils will do less well. Is the nation ready for it? http://www.naht.org.uk/welcome/comment/blogs/arthur-de-caux/?blogpost=406 Wed, 01 Dec 2010 15:18:25 GMT 20101201151825 Wed, 01 Dec 2010 15:18:25 GMT 20101201151825 Wed, 01 Dec 2010 18:59:21 GMT 201012011865921 Just as Tottenham Hotspur and fans in general were still celebrating the latest footballing jewel to come out of Wales, so the airwaves were about to upset us with less happy news from the valleys. It appears that research carried out by Bristol University blames the abolition of league tables in Wales for pupils faring worse at GCSE level than their English counterparts. 'The naming and shaming that accompanied the publication of league tables led to more "effective" schools,' says the study. Within a couple of days another story, not directly connected but nevertheless in the same territory, took the headlines in a BBC 5 Live investigation: 'Sleight of hand' used to push up grades' claims expert. “If you are a head teacher,” a former director of QCA claims, “you'd want to get the best results you could and so you seek out the best awarding body offering the best way forward.” Both stories are dispiriting to say the least and serve to remind us of the pernicious effects, intended and unintended, which the whole culture of targets and tables engenders. What is being said, in effect, is that when there are no tables to put pressure on schools, nobody bothers so the results go down-if the research is to be believed-by1.92 GCSE grades per student per year. However where there are tables bringing relentless pressure on schools then they try to buck the system, what Professor Mick Walters calls a professional foul, a sleight of hand-to the tune of raising the A level pass rate in one school from 27 to 63%. Schools, we are told, shop around as one is now expected to do for gas, electricity or mobile phone packages. There are a lot of questions one could ask about the figures, conclusions and headlines of both these reports, but, in a world which annually regards any improvement in results as proof of the lowering of standards, yet more damage is seriously done. To quote that wonderful mixed metaphor 'a can of worms has been unleashed in Pandora's Box.' As one who for many years analysed A level results to give a fair and balanced picture, and battled together with other Professional Association colleagues against performance tables and against the annual denigration of A level results, the thought that there might be even a grain of truth in either or both of these stories, is an unhappy state of affairs. It was bad enough having to live with the fact that all A Levels are not equal in God's sight. It is rarely openly admitted but irrefutable that some subjects like Physics and Modern Foreign Languages are more difficult than others. For years we have simply had to live with this fact. It didn't matter too much because the whole examination system was shrouded in mystery. Now with transparency and openness the order of the day, it is a serious complication in the performance tables/access to higher education scenario. So if the Bristol research and the BBC 5 Live Investigation are to be believed we appear to have evolved to a system whereby 16 year olds making their choices are faced with the following dilemmas. Should they take 'easier subjects' in order to get higher grades? Should their teachers shop around to find the examining board which will deliver 'better' grades than the others? Are head teachers, teachers, governing bodies, Ofsted inspectors, universities and governments really prepared to put league table position above all else? Have we really moved away from the simple idea that students study the subjects they are interested in and wish to pursue in some depth, on courses they and their teachers are comfortable with and enthusiastic about? http://www.naht.org.uk/welcome/comment/blogs/arthur-de-caux/?blogpost=396 Wed, 10 Nov 2010 11:26:55 GMT 20101110112655 Wed, 10 Nov 2010 11:26:55 GMT 20101110112655 Wed, 10 Nov 2010 11:27:57 GMT 2010111011112757 You know that when a French word or phrase is used to describe something, that it might have a tiny negative tinge about it. Thus it is with 'déjà vu' and 'plus ça change.' In my years of beavering away at the NAHT, a good proportion of my time was spent plus ça changing and keeping track with 14-19 education-the constant changes to the qualification system, the examinations, parity of esteem, the academic and vocational divide. Now, the Secretary of State has elevated plus ça change to unprecedented heights. In a speech to the Edge Foundation he has taken us back to the government of Lord John Russell (1846-1852) (Yes 18). It was on his watch Michael Gove tells us that we, as a nation first tried and failed to solve a problem which bedevils us still- our failure to provide young people with a proper technical and practical education of a kind that other nations can boast. It was a problem also identified by Prince Albert, the driving force behind the Great Exhibition of 1851. I remember John Patten talking about Prince Albert when he (John P not Prince A) was Secretary of State for Education. Nobody at the time had any idea what he was talking about. Clearly the Prince seems to impress Conservative Ministers including perhaps the chairman and co-founder of Edge (with the late Lord Dearing) the déjà vu Kenneth, now Lord, Baker. Not satisfied with having a street and five days named after him he is leading the introduction of University Technical Colleges. Like so much in education there are lots of good things happening and this could be one of them, but they happen in a piecemeal way sadly these days, with half an eye on league table success achieved at the expense of others. Why can't we have a National Education System as they do in those other countries we look up to. Instead, we are beating our breast once again about vocational education . We Had CPVE and NVQ and GNVQ and Vocational A Levels. They all went the same way. Why? The answer seems almost too obvious. We still have a system which insists that A levels are the gold standard taking pride of place when the Performance Tables were introduced. They remain the most important currency to university entrance. Little wonder that young people and their parents prefer potentially lower grades at A level than higher grades in the vocational whatever it is in that particular year. What is needed , to quote what has become a cliché, is parity of esteem between the academic and the vocational. Why not a series of baccalaureats with a common rigorous base? Another French word with a negative connotation so far. But Hope is in the air. The Secretary of State in his address to Edge has not only allowed the word baccalaureat to pass his lips but he has done so with enthusiasm, He has taken the example of Holland where core academic subjects are taught and assessed alongside-not in place of technical learning and where children, including those who have moved onto a technical route are assessed in foreign languages, arts, sciences maths and history. Michael Gove's proposal is to float the idea of an English Baccalaureat-a new certificate for all children who achieve a good GCSE in English, maths, a science, a modern or ancient language and a humanity. It is a start so one shouldn't carp but it smacks a little too much of giving out rosettes and league table points after the event rather than of creating packages of learning in which all these subjects are studied as a matter of course. In other countries, however, which have a baccalaureat approach, it is focussed, not at age 16 but at 18/19 None of the 'baccalaureat' countries would dream of reducing the learning at that age to three and a half or even fewer subjects. How can it be that young people with serious educational aspirations can drop any subject they like, not least a foreign language from the age of 16? The challenge for this new review of vocational education is all too evident. Please grab the nettle this time so that we can give Lord John Russell a break. http://www.naht.org.uk/welcome/comment/blogs/arthur-de-caux/?blogpost=377 Thu, 07 Oct 2010 11:58:29 GMT 20101007115829 Thu, 07 Oct 2010 11:58:29 GMT 20101007115829 Thu, 07 Oct 2010 11:58:29 GMT 2010100711115829 At the time when he was in intermittent correspondence with a French youngster of similar age, my son would attempt to write to him in French and the pen friend would attempt to write in English. In one of his letters he said that he was 'on a vacancy in the South of France' and that he would shortly be coming back 'to recapture his school.' And so, as we slip into a sunlit September, after yet another less than wonderful August, pupils, teachers, headteachers and governing bodies are setting about recapturing their schools. But for many Chief Education Officers or their imaginatively named equivalents and their experienced staffs, there will be fewer schools to recapture. If the Secretary of State has his way and continues to bludgeon schools into academies with indecent haste, there will be none left to recapture. Before my time as Education Officer at the NAHT, there had been number of Chief Education Officers who lead their LEAs with vision and strength. In my own time, one in particular stood out because he was at times brilliant, maddening and courageous. He commanded the support of his own staff and that of Heads and teachers in the schools of Oxfordshire and Birmingham. I speak of Tim Brighouse. I'm sure he welcomes the freedom and autonomy given to schools in the new order of things but not the freedom to be cast off and to climb the performance ladder at the expense of fellow schools in the area. The irony is, that had he been a Head, all teachers led by the best, would have wanted to teach in his school. He was sought after as a Conference speaker, bringing with him his Sainsbury's Bag containing the odd overhead or hastily printed had out. He would sit on the corner of desk or table and excite people. Teachers couldn't wait to get back into school to try something he had suggested. His enthusiasm was infectious. His work with the London Challenge helps to demonstrate how schools, particularly those with the biggest challenges can get better. One key action was the sharing of data and visits between schools similar in ethnicity, socio-economic background and ability on intake. Underpinning shared knowledge and excitement he would place at the top of his priorities teacher's professional development and believed teachers should be rewarded if they demonstrated that they were taking it seriously. In an interview a year or two ago it was put to Tim Brighouse that we could learn a lot from him. His reply was typical: 'No, no, no! I don't think people should listen to my ideas. They've got to find their own ideas. Because of the speed of change you may know a lot, but whether you know enough about the climate you are working in-that requires complete immersion in that climate. I write and speculate and encourage ideas, but there's a danger in that.' Where is that encouragement to come from ? Where are we going to find a Tim Brighouse today ? My concern is that the new climate is taking people's energies away from what happens in the classroom, away from motivating young people and encouraging their self-esteem and enthusiasm and focusing instead on division, upheaval and change for its own sake. Why on earth should the valuable recuperative time of the summer holidays have been hijacked by schools desperate for the money which comes with academy status? How dispiriting to find Ministers more interested in whether academies have scored a few more examination points than other schools than in the achievements of all. If this is the way things are going, we won't need just one Tim Brighouse but hundreds. Only then might we recapture our schools in a positive way. http://www.naht.org.uk/welcome/comment/blogs/arthur-de-caux/?blogpost=355 Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:38:09 GMT 20100902103809 Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:38:09 GMT 20100902103809 Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:39:29 GMT 2010090210103929 The French poet Paul Valery wrote of the sea as 'un renouvellement perpetuel' which could be translated in many ways: 'a perpetual renewing? 'an endless renewal?' This could be said of a school as it moves into the summer holidays. The final year (be it A level, GCSE or Year 6, perhaps Year 8) is about to leave to go on to pastures new. A new intake will appear. Everywhere babies are being born ready, in turn, to add themselves to the renewing. Before you know where you are five year groups have all come and gone. Yet, as the teacher faces each new class, be they new to the school or new to him or her, it means a restart of the same old syllabus, knowing that the same old problems and difficulties will resurface. So as the summer break gallops towards you, it is a time of mixed emotions and fraught thoughts. There is always unfinished business lying in piles or pinned up on walls. Then, for many, two 'events' will dominate those few precious weeks of comparative freedom-the exam results bringing joy or misery to two Thursdays in August and the new school timetable which will determine with whom and where the following year's skirmishes will be won or lost. It is a wonder anybody ever comes back. What is needed in order to start again, for head teacher, teacher and pupil alike, as everyone knows, is motivation which in turn stimulates curiosity and the energy to learn, encourages confidence and engenders self-belief. So why is it, one wonders, in the area of life, Education, which knows so well the power of motivation, that the model we have created seems designed to achieve the very opposite: rampant testing bringing the label of failure to so many, performance tables ensuring that most schools will be deemed to be not high enough and punitive style inspections looking for the unsatisfactory rather than the good. Why this piling on of agony? This summer we have seen a lot of sport. There is much to learn there about motivation, confidence and determination alongside misery and failure. The words of Kipling tend to come to mind at this point 'If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two imposters just the same' So as the nation's teachers seek to unwind slowly into the summer, many will muse on the performance of the England football team and, in their darker moments the debacle of the French football team, perhaps, who knows suffering from collective guilt at the handball incident which enable them to make the finals in the first place. They will remember the transformation of the English cricket team sweeping all before them at 20twenty. They will admire the performances of the medal winners in the European Championships and see the motivating force of the Olympics in London in 2012. They will be reminded though, that home 'advantage' if linked to unreasonable expectations can have the opposite effect as we struggle to find that Wimbledon winner. Perhaps, Murray will do it. If not perhaps it will be that little boy who will walk proudly into his nursery class in September. Meanwhile we have a new Secretary of State or let us call him by his proper title, the Motivator in Chief. Surely his job is to lead, unite and inspire. How does he expect to do that by pitting one type of school against another and by pitting self-interest groups against local authorities. In schools, motivation and encouragement cascade down from the head to his or her senior team, from the senior team to the teachers, from the teachers to the pupils. But it does not start high enough in the system. For at least thirty years those at the very top of education, aided and abetted by the press, have carped, criticised and undermined the efforts of thousands of teachers by countless Acts and Orders designed to penalise, frustrate and change for its own sake. Valery's 'renouvellement perpetuelle' was not the calm, creative gentle movement of the tide, but a battering of waves against fragile defences. Speaking to the Select Committee at the end of July, the Secretary of State promised yet another big Bill in the autumn, then he would leave everyone alone. (I abstain from any remark at this point) Suffice it to hope that the Bill will be entitled 'Motivation, Curiosity and Self-belief. Success for all.' http://www.naht.org.uk/welcome/comment/blogs/arthur-de-caux/?blogpost=348 Mon, 02 Aug 2010 10:25:47 GMT 20100802102547 Mon, 02 Aug 2010 10:25:47 GMT 20100802102547 Mon, 02 Aug 2010 10:25:47 GMT 2010080210102547 Even in retirement, if someone important in your former field of work comes up with a particularly dotty or authoritarian plan, you are no less sanguine about it and it makes you as sad and cross as it ever did. Who could forget the skirmishes and battles of the Education Reform Act; the passion engendered as the National Curriculum was centralised and backed up by the most manic and extensive system of testing overkill the world has ever seen; and, just in case that wasn't enough, veritable armies of Ofsted Inspectors were unleashed upon schools. Not only that, the schools themselves and the Local Authorities which ran them were thrown into disarray by the establishment of Grant Maintained Schools and City Technologies which the government either wilfully or through ignorance, likened to the old Direct Grant Schools. How could one comprehend a few years later, when a government of a different hue (and cry!) kept the National Curriculum, kept testing and kept Ofsted and pressed on with pernicious and damaging performance tables. Not only that! This same government created 'academies' whilst still claiming to believe in equality for all and rejecting charges of creating a two-tier system. Obviously these new academies, freed from the stifling bureaucracy and general incompetence of Local Education authorities we were told, would be much improved, bound to be. School has poor Ofsted (the word has now become a neologism) what do we do? Call it an academy and it will transform overnight. At least, however damaging an academy might be to other schools in the area, the intention was to improve the lot of pupils who found themselves in some sort of category of failing school. Not any more! We can't say we weren't warned. What was thought to be a ridiculous bee in Mr Gove's bonnet has actually turned into a policy, apparently with Lib-Dem support. The Free School! Free from local control, free from curriculum shackles, free to pit teacher against teacher in a battle of salaries and conditions. Free for every dictatorial person or group to ride roughshod over the wishes of the community, the same community, presumably flexing its own freedom in the Big Society. But just a moment, are free schools really as free as all that because two bastions of freedom, religious schools and grammar schools have pronounced caution and doubt, ironically because of the freedoms they might lose. One man's freedom and all that..My poor old brain is starting to struggle with the contradictions of it all. So, how are these schools being sold to the nation? They will, apparently, enable excellent teachers to create schools and improve standards for all children, regardless of their background. What, pray, to use an archaic term, are those excellent teachers doing now? The whole thing smacks of an ideological crusade with more than a hint of 'you will have a free school and like it.' You know when something is more than a whim because, at a time when quangoes (sorry non-departmental something or others) are being abolished to save money, a brand new one is being created to help people set up a free school. 'For those interested in having a new school in their area, but without the time or experience to set one up, there will be advice available from the New Schools Network, an independent charity.' For goodness sake, if these people haven't got the time and experience to do it why on earth are they being allowed anywhere near a school! The undemocratic nature of this exercise is quite breathtaking. The draft legislation seeks to dispense with parents' and teachers' legal right to oppose such plans and removes local authorities' powers to veto a school's attempt to switch status. No longer will there be an independent adjudicator. The Secretary of State needs only to make a "discontinuance order," no consultation need take place and a school can be handed over to whoever wants to steal it. Do we take any consolation from the spokesman for the Department for Education who said that, although it was not in the legislation, it was important for schools to discuss their intention to change with parents and pupils? So why, if it is important, isn't it in the legislation? And there remains the biggest question of all, from where will the money be wrested? Oh dear, now I am starting to get sad and cross. http://www.naht.org.uk/welcome/comment/blogs/arthur-de-caux/?blogpost=332 Wed, 30 Jun 2010 10:44:54 GMT 20100630104454 Wed, 30 Jun 2010 10:44:54 GMT 20100630104454 Wed, 30 Jun 2010 10:45:32 GMT 2010063010104532 May 25 2010 and the historic Queen's speech from the first peacetime coalition government since goodness knows when at a time of the greatest financial crisis since goodness knows equally when. The columns of the day were packed with all kinds of educational snippets. So, what have we got? Cuts, naturally but academies and free schools! 'What,' as the person on the Clapham Omnibus said, 'is all that about?' Primary and secondary schools graded outstanding by Ofsted could be fast-tracked into free-standing academies by the autumn. The person on the CO might wonder why, if a school is doing so well without being an academy, does it need to become an academy. Unless it is a wheeze to give good schools more money, taken, one can only surmise from other schools in less privileged circumstances. No wonder this mass opt out proposal has been described as irresponsible and likely to lead to chaos. One does not wish to undermine the harmony breaking out all round but, at some point, it might be worth remembering that the new Lib-Dem Education Minister did actually say during the election campaign that the free school plan was a 'shambles' and that unless you gave local authorities the power to plan and have money available, 'it's just a gimmick.' One-to-one tuition under threat. Cuts are always bad news. Inevitably money is saved from new or experimental activity and transferred to the cautious and traditional. And so it is with the threat to one-to-one tuition. It matters not that new government wishes to help children from deprived backgrounds who are falling behind. The initiatives Every child a Reader or Writer or Counter is reclassified as a bureaucracy cost, as indeed does the monitoring and evaluation just in case they discover that the schemes are working well. Call for 'bounty fund' for poor students. At this very difficult time for public finances, the Sutton Trust which has an excellent record in supporting access to higher education from the more disadvantaged members of society, is putting forward some interesting ideas to the review into University funding. The two main proposals are that universities should be rewarded with extra money for taking pupils from poorer families and that the government should consider giving poorer students a 'free' first year at University. The trust believes that this would alleviate some of the risk and uncertainty that deter non-privileged students from applying. University Places in spending cut Oh dear! Meanwhile cuts to the university budget of £200 million pounds will mean 10000 fewer extra places than had been announced. Toddlers who lie 'will do better.' One rather fears the media has once again, managed to twist, no not lie exactly, the findings of Canadian research. It is not suggesting that parents should encourage their children to tell lies in order to improve their Sat scores. They could do that by lying about their results. No, it is simply observing that in a young child the complex brain processes required in understanding the concept of lying can be one indicator of intelligence. Dare one suggest identifying 'future politicians!' Schools tackle concrete jungles It is always encouraging to read about projects which bring together imaginative thinking with children's natural enthusiasm. The concrete jungle campaign is asking pupils to help protect Britain's wildlife by transforming concrete areas into green spaces. The aim is to create more than 300,000 square metres of wildlife habitats in schools and to log them on its website. The first metre will be dug up in south east London. History lessons strike a new note. Unusually as it is not a quiet time for news, the regular 'bash the history teacher, schools, society, seems to be upon us bewailing pupil ignorance of such things as 'who built Hadrian's wall?' and 'who won the battle of Trafalgar?' All is well. A National campaign 'Sing Up' has been commissioned to come up with songs for pupils to sing on school trips to historical sites. Keep an ear on the charts for the Stonehenge number: Quarry the stones, our poor aching bones, Working together far from our homes. Views sought over no-pupil Borders school Finally, what would the English Department for Education make of the Border's school which by August, will have no pupils. It could be a close run thing between closing it to save money or turning it into an Academy. http://www.naht.org.uk/welcome/comment/blogs/arthur-de-caux/?blogpost=309 Thu, 27 May 2010 09:59:59 GMT 20100527095959 Thu, 27 May 2010 09:59:59 GMT 20100527095959 Thu, 27 May 2010 09:59:59 GMT 201005270995959 Here we are in the run up to the General Election, a case of good news bad news if ever there was one. On the one hand come promises about resources and protecting the front line; on the other hand come merry wheezes and cracking ideas and lots of interference. It is difficult to know whether to wait cheerily for funding and support or brace oneself for a wet sock around the ear. What we can be sure of is that all the parties, in spite of over 25 years of tinkering on a grand scale, are going to claim that they alone can wave the magic wand of standards, fairness and quality. Dare one peep cautiously round the edge of the party manifestos? Having done so can we be permitted the smallest tinge of cynicism and bemusement at what is on offer. First the Labour Party, who, one must not forget, have spent the last 13 years hammering away at the system. It is amazing that they have any ideas left. Their specific school policies include: · An expansion of free nursery places for two-year-olds and 15 hours a week of flexible, free nursery education for three and four-year-olds. That must be good even though it's been a long time a coming. How can it have been overlooked by the other main parties? · Every child leaving primary school secure in the basics. Goodness me, what have schools been trying to do all these years? · Giving parents the power to bring in new school leadership teams, through mergers and takeovers, with up to 1,000 secondary schools part of an accredited schools group by 2015. Oh dear! Get thee behind me gimmick. · Every young person guaranteed education or training until 18, with 75 per cent going on to higher education, or completing an advanced apprenticeship or technician level training, by the age of 30. Under how many guises have we seen this one? · Spending increased on frontline Sure Start and free childcare, schools and 16-19 learning. See first and fourth proposals above. Next the Conservative Party who, when last in office brought in the Education Reform Act and invented the rottweiler wing of Ofsted. Raising the entry requirement for taxpayer-funded primary teacher training Requiring new graduates to have at least a 2:2 in their degree to get state-funded training. This will not prevent some teachers entering the profession who should not be there whilst denying entry to some who should be there? Paying the student loan repayments for top maths and science graduates while they remain teachers. So many questions to ask about what is a fundamentally divisive policy. Giving teachers the strongest possible protection from false accusations. Is this not a self-evident requirement ? Hardly something for a manifesto. Strengthening home-school behaviour contracts. It would be easier to support this idea if one knew what it meant. Establishing a simple reading test at the age of six. It would also be easier to support this idea if one knew what it meant. Reforming the National Curriculum. At last, surely not. Overhauling Key Stage 2 tests and league tables. At last, surely not, again. What does 'overhauling' mean I wonder. There must be a catch here somewhere. Allowing all state schools to offer high quality international examinations. Such as? Extra funding for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Where and How much ? Parents to be encouraged to set up state-funded 'free' schools. One of those priceless proposals which leave you gently shaking your head in disbelief. And the Lib Dems, poised for power!? Providing schools with an extra £2.5bn so they can cut class sizes and offer more one-to-one tuition. Nice one if you can get it. Proving a pupil premium to encourage good schools to take more children from deprived backgrounds. Has this perchance not been tried before? How might it work? Scrap tuition fees for full and part-time students. Can't argue against it if the money is forthcoming from a less worthy alternative. Replace the National Curriculum with the more flexible Minimum Curriculum Entitlement. The idea of a flexible minimum must be covered by a figure of speech. Creating a General Diploma that combines GCSEs, A-levels and vocational qualifications. At long last! As with all General Election promises it is a case of watch this space and don't hold your breath http://www.naht.org.uk/welcome/comment/blogs/arthur-de-caux/?blogpost=287 Wed, 28 Apr 2010 13:40:43 GMT 20100428134043 Wed, 28 Apr 2010 13:40:43 GMT 20100428134043 Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:54:47 GMT 201004281425447 It all began with le weekend. This borrowing from English was generally acceptable because it actually described an English concept. It moved on to (slightly different) le dancing (dance hall) le footing (running) and le parking (car park) then with American films and early computer speak, the language went mad and soon there was attempted legislation to ban franglais - at least from places where government and its agencies had the power, generally in advertisements. The world has now gone madder still. Computer speak is out of control and text messaging, ipod this and facebook that, English itself is under threat. Already there is a generation gulf, to use a phrase, in the area of controversy. Two things are happening. First Councils are feeling the need to ban certain jargon words, whilst at the same time, those very Councils are creating and renaming job titles to spectacular effect. Some of them posted up on websites almost defy the imagination: a bin man: 'waste management and disposal technician,' a librarian: information adviser, an accountant: 'worldwide marine asset financial analyst,' receptionist: 'welcoming agent and telephone intermediary'. Student jobs: counting cars passing through a set of traffic lights: 'surveyorship enumerator,' delivering faxes around a large office:' internal communications communicator, ' taking school groups round a museum: 'coordinator of interpretive teaching,' lifeguard: 'wet leisure assistant If you don't take the bull by the horns then the writing is on the wall because the Tour de France is a totally different ball game. If the British boy wants to win a medal he will have to put his skates on and swim like a greyhound. We must get back to a level playing field by not moving the goal posts. Intro from BBC News The LGA lists includes suggested translations of some terms 'measuring' for 'benchmarking,' 'idea for 'seedbed,' 'delay' for 'slippage,' and 'buy' for 'procure.' Pointless: cascading, core message, direction of travel, empowerment, enabler, evidence base, facilitate, fast track, functionality, funding streams, horizon scanning, incentivising, innovative capacity, joined up, level playing field, mainstreaming, meaningful dialogue, multi-agency, network model, outsourced, overarching, performance network, prioritization, proactive, proportionality, robust, scaled back, , service users, single point of contact, social exclusion, strategic priorities, thinking outside the box, toolkit, top-down, Easily slipped into: across-the-piece, can do culture, Meaningless: blue sky thinking, conditionality, consensual, coterminosity, double devolution, holistic governance, peer challenge, predictors of Beaconicity, rebaselining, stuational slippage, sustainable, systematic, worklessness. Education is not free of this guff. How many efforts have been made to replace the word 'teacher' or 'head teacher' for manager/leader In my time at NAHT we came perilously close http://www.naht.org.uk/welcome/comment/blogs/arthur-de-caux/?blogpost=268 Mon, 22 Mar 2010 09:15:39 GMT 20100322091539 Mon, 22 Mar 2010 09:15:39 GMT 20100322091539 Mon, 22 Mar 2010 09:15:39 GMT 201003220991539 For a French graduate I warm to the phrase 'Plus ça change, plus c'est la meme chose' and certainly teachers as they steadily nudge their way towards retirement, are used to seeing ideas, initiatives, cunning plans and jolly wheezes come round several times in their careers. Since the unleashing of the manic in the 1985 Education Reform Act the gap between such recurring events has become smaller and smaller. So it was comforting the other week at the beginning of February, watching part two of David Dimbleby's Seven Ages of Britain to see a theme which is still causing angst and plus ça changeness after about twelve hundred years. One wonders how headteachers and the NAHT itself would have responded to the lamentations of the then new King of Wessex, Alfred the Great which echo so well those of modern Prime Ministers, heirs to the throne and Secretaries of State. Had there been a Wessex Office of Ofsted, Alfred would certainly have unleashed a plethora of inspectors on an unsuspecting populace. Under Alfred's leadership the Viking threat was contained. But peace could only be preserved if people were prepared to learn from the past. How true, one wonders, is this today? Alfred may have saved his kingdom but he was in despair about the state in which it had fallen. And this is where the plus ça change bit comes in. He was particularly worried that learning had gone into complete decline. And no doubt if any children of Wessex proved to be successful in examinations, it could only be because the questions had got too easy. Alfred said that in the old days people used to read Latin. Which people? Those who went to Wessex College or Wessex Academy or Wessex Grammar School? In the good old days said Alfred, people could understand the important books which, in his words: 'were needful for people to know.' Thankfully not too many books had been written otherwise Alfred might have found himself assailed on all sides with lists and counter lists of hefty 'needful to know' books. Luckily for him he did not need to determine whether Shakespeare ought to feature, and if so, which play? Nevertheless, faced with this decline in standards, Alfred was determined to do something about it and he took radical action. We know all this because one of the artefacts in the Dimbleby programme was the oldest book in the English (Anglo- Saxon) language, a translation by Alfred himself of a book written by Pope Gregory called 'Pastoral Care.' It is a sort of tract about leadership. It explains how, if you are a leader, you should behave, how you should deal with problems, how you shouldn't be arrogant, how you should be humble and all sorts of other important matters. He was very worried that people in the past had had wisdom and somehow it had got lost. This seems to me to be an essential book for School Leader Courses and I am a little surprised that it does not feature more highly, in either the Latin or Anglo-Saxon versions, in the list of essential reading for Head teachers. It starts it with this introduction: 'I want this distributed to all the bishops and I want it read to the people. I want people to learn and understand.' Today, no doubt, Alfred would want it posted on the wwww (Wessex world wide web) complete with targets. Those at the top of the tables would receive one of those beautiful jewelled tokens which he gave to people who were prepared to remain loyal to him. http://www.naht.org.uk/welcome/comment/blogs/arthur-de-caux/?blogpost=257 Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:46:35 GMT 20100217104635 Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:46:35 GMT 20100217104635 Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:46:35 GMT 2010021710104635 It may just be that with half an eye on league tables and icy roads, one or two headteachers may have missed an opportunity to strengthen the teaching of modern languages in their schools. It has been revealed that a collie dog in a RSPCA centre in Oldham was failing to respond to basic commands and staff thought that he might be deaf. When they looked into the dog's history, however, they realised that the cause of the problem was the fact that the dog came from a Polish family and did not understand English, let alone the Oldham accent. Being used to the Polish dog commands of 'said, do mnie, noga, zostan and aport,' the dog could not grasp 'sit, come here, heel, stay and fetch.' The staff at the animal home set about using these few basic commands and the dog soon got the hang of it. This raises all kinds of possibilities for language learning, apart from a lucrative market for dog interpreters. When the plan for full encouragement of the Modern Foreign Languages in Primary Schools was launched a major survey of current provision was carried out: 'The Provision of Foreign Language Learning for pupils at Key Stage 2' Where it was offered PMFL was taught by class teachers in 41% of schools, by peripatetic teachers in 16% of schools, by volunteers or parents in 15%, by secondary school teachers in 13%, by having a languages teacher on the staff (who was often also a class teacher,) by foreign language assistants in 5% and by teaching assistants in 4%. No mention was made of dogs (unless they make up the missing 6%) Not a word about French poodles or German dachshunds let alone British born Polish collies who have learnt to fetch. What an opportunity missed! Foreign dogs could be brought into schools to act as canine assistants, rounding up small groups of pupils into pens and not letting them out until they had learnt the French for 'It's snowing, we must make a big effort to get into school today' or 'Look out Ofsted's about.' Some dogs indeed could replace struggling children in any modern Language Sats of the future in order to bolster the school's league table performance. Leaving dogs to one side for the moment, we need to keep reminding ourselves what we are trying to achieve with the PMFL policy. Make no mistake, the nation is at crisis point. The disastrous decision was taken a few years ago to remove compulsory foreign language learning in Key Stage 4. The results of this change in policy are plain to see. The numbers taking GCSE has dropped dramatically and sadly, amongst pupils more than capable of high achievement in languages. The knock on effect at A level and beyond is even more marked. Students and unfortunately, schools, trapped in the performance tables bind, are shying away from A level languages because by comparison with many other subjects, it is jolly difficult to get a good grade. The felonies go on being compounded. So the government chips are down on the primary solution. The argument is that by learning a language from an early age youngsters will be excited and motivated to go on studying it when it becomes a bit more like hard work. Let's hope so. The first PMFY cohort must be nearing GCSE option time. I hope there is a proper study waiting to roll to see how the policy is working, whether the teachers have been able to take on this extra responsibility and whether the courses and materials are doing the trick. Otherwise the call might have to go out for German Shepherd Dogs, many of whom are bi-lingual. http://www.naht.org.uk/welcome/comment/blogs/arthur-de-caux/?blogpost=244 Fri, 15 Jan 2010 10:11:34 GMT 20100115101134 Fri, 15 Jan 2010 10:11:34 GMT 20100115101134 Fri, 15 Jan 2010 10:11:34 GMT 2010011510101134 I don't know what gets into Prime Ministers sometimes. As if they haven't got enough to do with wars, the world economy, global warming and the vegetable patch at 10 Downing Street, they have to put in their two pence worth on SATs. (Or, with inflation, their two quids worth.) Major did it, Blair did it and now Brown is at it under the TES heading: 'The Prime Minister sets out his vision for 21st-century education.' with the by- line: 'Writing exclusively for the TES, PM says primary testing is vital to accountability.' Accountability note, not learning! Much of what he says is very laudable. Who can argue with his school motto recited on his first day in Downing Street: 'I will try my utmost'? Funny things mottos. There is a school which used to be divided into a girls' and boys' school. The girl's motto was: In Veritate Victoria (the not terribly illuminating 'Victory lies in the Truth.') The boy's motto was 'I byde my time.' My own school motto was in Latin which put paid to a large selection of the intake. It was 'Indivisa Manent' (Undivided we stand.) At first sight. it seems to have meaning but when you get down to living up to it, so to speak, it is a lot easier for a teacher to admonish a pupil for not doing his or her utmost (What is the opposite of utmost I hear you cry? ) than to harangue form 3B for standing divided. But enough of mottos! If all children are to have the precious gift of 'opportunity,' says the PM there is no more important job than being a teacher? (Not even Prime Minister, Prime Minister!)But you can't just jump from there, to saying 'So we must have SATs and performance tables then.' We are happy to share with you also Ofsted's view that we currently have 'the best generation ever of dedicated professionals.' It is 'to them that we must turn' and 'in them we must place out trust, drawing on their expertise, passion and commitment.' That is all very well Prime Minister but when their expertise, their passion and their commitment are spent and they tell you they could achieve so much more without SATs or performance tables to jolly them along, why don't you listen to them? Indeed have you and your Ministers caught up in your obsession with targets, transparency and accountability, ever paused for a moment to consider the simple arguments against having SATs and performance tables? Do you not realise that all schools cannot all be equal first in a performance table, or the same school be first all the time? Might it not be obvious that if 30 children in a classroom have all just arrived without English as their mother tongue, there is a small possibility that they will score less well in a test than 30 children for whom English is their mother tongue let alone 30 children in an affluent area with supportive parents. But above all, do you not see the contradiction between wanting teachers to perform small miracles every day, to stretch and excite pupils whilst, at the same time having to force feed them to get better SATs scores. Little wonder that that teaching to the test is rife. You urge schools and teachers to do all they can 'to ensure children have mastered the basics by the end of primary school, to transform the prospects of every pupil, particularly those from modest backgrounds by responding to their personal needs.' Of course the profession shares those aspirations with you, so why do you and your Ministers make it so much harder to do their utmost. How about it Mr Brown? http://www.naht.org.uk/welcome/comment/blogs/arthur-de-caux/?blogpost=210 Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:25:41 GMT 20091111102541 Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:25:41 GMT 20091111102541 Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:25:41 GMT 2009111110102541 The NAHT hit the front page of the Times Educational Supplement on 2 October. The main headline screamed as they say in the tabloids 'Heads' Fury at 'injustice' of Rejected KS2 Appeals.' The sub headline read 'Unprecedented level of disquiet in primaries as English written SATs not regraded.' From my observations over twenty years or so, if the level of disquiet is unprecedented then it must be pretty huge or whatever word best describes a high level of disquiet. The upheaval is over the high number of rejections in response to appeals over KS2 marks, which Heads argue, is unfair. Teachers, pupils and parents put a very high premium on 'fairness.' Two specific examples stand out. One school where the teacher who prepared the appeal is actually a marker, asked for a remark of 14 scripts and only one was changed. The other was not awarding a spelling mark to a child for spelling 'enormous' correctly. Perhaps he or she was writing about 'enormous disquiet.' To the outsider it looks very much as if the latest body responsible QCDA (if in doubt change the name and pass the scapegoat ) has decided to flex some sort of muscle, declare that all is well with the system and that appeals will not be tolerated. This attitude is hardly endearing when already there is a major call from the NAHT/NUT to abolish the KS2 SATs and to come up with a better form of assessment. But should all the energy should be channelled into fighting the SATs alone. Certainly the profession has had enough of flawed assessment arrangements sapping pupil confidence and teacher morale but surely the worse evil is for these results to be used as the basis for creating flawed competitive performance tables and, in too many cases, for inviting a team of inspectors to come on a jolly visit. That is why, o powers that be, that people get very angry indeed and get themselves on the front page of the Times Educational Supplement, when unfairness, incompetence and intransigence hold sway. At the very least, if the wretched performance tables or whatever new name they masquerade under, are to continue then the SATs have to do what it says on the tin: The tests and tasks should enable pupils to perform at their best level and the majority of pupils to achieve level 4, the level at which an 11 year old should be able to cope with the demands of the Secondary School curriculum in Year 7. The mark schemes must underpin the tests and have to be fair and valid. The markers have to apply the mark schemes consistently and be properly trained and monitored. An appeals process should be seen to be rigorous but fair. This year, if the strength of colleague comments is anything to go by, the expectations of the above have fallen way short of the mark. Somehow, in its assault on the SATs the Headteacher and Teacher Unions need to persuade the politicians and the media that tests and exams are not an exact science, that the present system is badly flawed and that the first step has to be the abolition of performance tables. A few years ago, just before she resigned unexpectedly as Secretary of State, Estelle Morris, who until then had seemed well-attuned to the views of the profession, declared in a speech that if league tables were acceptable for football then why not for schools. If this is to remain as public policy then schools should be allowed to buy pupils on the open transfer market and SATs should be taken on a squad system whereby specialist mathematicians could be allowed into the exam room in the last few minutes to mop up any remaining damn tricky sums. http://www.naht.org.uk/welcome/comment/blogs/arthur-de-caux/?blogpost=193 Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:13:30 GMT 20091008121330 Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:13:30 GMT 20091008121330 Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:14:06 GMT 2009100812121406