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x-posted from blog. (lovely idea btw, Sav.)
Excellent article in this week's Education Guardian on the nightmare that is finding a secondary school for your child:
"In short, another brilliant piece of New Labour triangulation - selective and comprehensive education all in one, overseen by a toothless code that proclaims more fairness."
"There are compelling reasons why this debate should be opened up. Can it really be fair that children whose academic ability or home lives make them undesirable to some schools should be rejected at 11?"
Well yes, with all the hoo-hah around increasing university access, it would seem obvious that a system that encourages a polarising of secondary education isn't particularly helpful. And that the obsession with league tables encourages schools to become grade-factories, and doesn't provide any scope for rewarding excellence in other areas of school life, for example sports, art, music, pastoral care etc...
"Let's hope that in the new consultation over policy, more politicians and party activists will ask themselves how they would feel if their local GP or hospital asked prospective patients to take a fitness test and have a "managed discussion" about their commitment and motivation before being offered treatment"
excellent article, and I'm fascinated/appalled by the way secondary education's become a battle-ground/laboratory over the last couple of decades. Think secondary education's vital, yr dealing with people at a very significant/difficult time in their lives, and in academic terms, it leads up to perhaps the most significant exams in the UK system... |
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