Tag Archives: education

Opinion: Three flaws in the Government’s education reforms

By George Potter | Wed 20th March 2013 - 8:55 am

One of the things that seems to characterise Tory ministers in this government is a remarkable attraction to putting ideology and an assumption that they know best ahead of little details like “facts” and “evidence based policy”.

A good example of this comes in the form of Michael Gove’s education reforms which have been characterised by a breathtaking disregard for decades of research into what works and an aversion to listening to anything or anyone who disagrees with the reforms.

Nevertheless, I’d like to highlight the following facts about education. It would be nice if he paid attention:

Starting maths early damages educational

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged michael gove | 45 Comments

On Budget day: What Lib Dem members think of the Coalition’s economic policy and ring-fencing of spending

By Stephen Tall | Wed 20th March 2013 - 8:10 am

Lib Dem Voice polled our members-only forum recently to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. Some 650 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

Just 26% of Lib Dem members support Osborne’s ‘Plan A’

Thinking of the current state of the economy and the Coalition’s approach, which of the following statements is closest to your own view?

20%

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Posted in LDV Members poll and News | Also tagged economy, featured, foreign aid, NHS and schools | 8 Comments

Nick Clegg’s son to go to state secondary school

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 4th March 2013 - 2:08 pm

It’s just been announced that Nick Clegg and Miriam Gonzalez Durantez have decided to send their son Antonio to a state Catholic secondary school. He’s been attending a Catholic Primary near his home.

Antonio will attend the London Oratory school. Nick and Miriam expressed the wish that now their decision has been made public, the privacy of their son will be respected.

Nick has previously said that he doesn’t believe in God, but his wife Miriam is a practising Catholic. He recently said:

I’ve never made my kids an issue in politics. My kids are more precious to me than anything else in

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Posted in News | Also tagged miriam gonzalez durantez, nick clegg and private life | 280 Comments

How Ofsted outperforms the Department for Education in the email stakes

By Mark Pack | Wed 20th February 2013 - 5:55 pm

Yesterday I blogged about how only a third of emailed newsletters and circulars sent out by the Department for Education to schools and teachers are read by the recipients.

I also mentioned that you could choose who to blame for the low readership rate:

Who is to blame for this? If nothing else I suspect these figures are a good test of your political instincts: are you already thinking the blame lies with Michael Gove and the Department for Education for not making their messages more compelling or with the teachers who aren’t reading them in greater numbers?

One way of helping …

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Posted in News | Also tagged michael gove, ofsted and schools | 8 Comments

LibLink: David Laws – Incentive for UK schools to promote talent

By Nick Thornsby | Thu 7th February 2013 - 2:51 pm

Writing in today’s Financial Times, Lib Dem schools minister David Laws has the following to say about the Government’s announcements on reforms to the systems of examination:

We need all schools to teach all children well in all subjects. For that reason, we propose judging schools by the progress their pupils make in eight subjects. Two of those subjects will be English and maths; a further three will be any combination of sciences, history, geography and languages. The remaining three are open – they could be further sciences or languages, subjects such as art or music,

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Posted in LibLink | Also tagged david laws | 3 Comments

Gove forced into GCSE U-turn ‘under Lib Dem pressure’

By The Voice | Thu 7th February 2013 - 7:35 am

The morning’s big news is that Conservative education secretary Michael Gove is set to announce a U-turn today on his plans to scrap the current GCSE exams and replace them with a new EBacc qualification in 2015. Here‘s how the Independent reports it:

The Education Secretary bowed to overwhelming pressure for a rethink from Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, the exams regulator Ofqual and MPs from all parties. It is understood that he decided to act after being warned by civil servants that one key plank of his reforms – handing each of the core subjects over to just

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Posted in News | Also tagged david laws, EBacc, gcses, michael gove and schools | 27 Comments

Opinion: Michael Gove’s plans are a disaster for schools

By Helen Tedcastle | Tue 5th February 2013 - 9:01 am

The publication last week of the All-Party Parliamentary Select Committee’s damning report into changes in qualifications at 16, signals a step-change in attitudes towards Michael Gove’s so-called ‘Education Revolution.’

The report makes for unsettling reading from a Liberal Democrat point of view. And even Tory MP Graham Stuart, Chair of the Education Committee warns:

We have serious concerns about the Government’s proposed timetable for change. Ministers want to introduce a new qualification, require a step-change in standards, and alter the way exams are administered, all at the same time. We believe

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged EBacc, english baccalaureate, gcse and michael gove | 60 Comments

Opinion: Gove’s A Level reforms risk pushing many universities out of reach

By Chris White | Wed 30th January 2013 - 12:30 pm

I am not from the educational establishment and, having seen two daughters through state schools, I have plenty of zeal for major reform.

But that reform does not encompass sending a copy of the King James Bible to every school nor yet banishing the Arts from the nation’s principal academic qualification.

In so many ways Michael Gove uses the same techniques as his colleague Eric Pickles: pander to the right wing press, eschew evidence based thinking, make a splash.

The AS level announcement this week is just one more example. I didn’t have the option of AS levels. I sat O-levels in a …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged A levels | 32 Comments

Progress for the poorest pupils

By Paul Walter | Mon 28th January 2013 - 12:53 pm

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Posted in News | Also tagged poorest pupils and schools | 9 Comments

Lynne Featherstone writes… Education, education, education

By Lynne Featherstone MP | Sun 13th January 2013 - 9:50 am

International Development minister Lynne Featherstone writes a monthly column for one of her local newspapers. Here is the latest one…..

My mother and father were not that enthused about education. Going out to work as soon as possible and earning a living came higher up on their agenda. When you had known poverty as they had – earning took precedence over learning. I went to my local school – Highgate Primary. (We are talking over fifty years ago). Luckily for me …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged haringey council and schools | 5 Comments

How to damage rural communities in several easy stages…

By Mark Valladares | Fri 30th November 2012 - 10:22 am

Yesterday, I waxed unlyrical about the effects of government on rural life, and today, I want to look at some of those effects…

The Department for Education, under Michael Gove, has changed the funding arrangements for schools, with unfortunate side effects for rural schools. This means that schools such as the one I visited recently in Norfolk will lose grant funding, and be forced to lay off staff as a result. Given that rural counties already receive less grant per pupil than …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged defra, post offices and pubs | Leave a comment

Cable voices concern over faith school intake

By Nick Thornsby | Thu 29th November 2012 - 12:53 pm

The Guardian reports on what it (somewhat exaggeratedly) terms a “furious row” between business secretary Vince Cable and Michael Gove, the education secretary:

A row has broken out within the coalition over the expansion of faith-based schools, with the business secretary, Vince Cable, writing a furious letter to Michael Gove‘s education department accusing him of flouting the 2010 coalition deal.

Department for Education officials, acting on Gove’s direct orders, had undermined the Liberal Democrat/Conservative deal by intervening to ensure a pair of proposed Catholic schools

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Posted in News | Also tagged michael gove and vince cable | 12 Comments

Opinion: Pity Gove’s 400?

By Helen Flynn | Tue 27th November 2012 - 12:38 pm

You may have seen the list of the 400 “worst primaries in England”, according to M. Gove. If not, you can download it here: Primaries.

I am not about to re-visit the bone of contention that is academy status among Lib Dem colleagues, but I do think we have to look very carefully at the whole issue of forcing schools to become academies–and look at it as Liberal Democrats, who value both devolution of powers and liberalism.

I know that those to the right of the party will say that there is …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged academies and michael gove | 15 Comments

The Independent View: What do we do when children are taught racism at home?

By Chris Meredith | Thu 22nd November 2012 - 8:45 am

Racism is an uncomfortable and emotive subject to discuss. To its victims it is absolutely devastating and can affect entire communities. In Britain it is considered socially unacceptable but despite this, and the numerous laws designed to prevent discrimination, racism is still worryingly commonplace. I’ve witnessed it myself on duty more times than I can count; the culprits are usually adults, which is shocking and unpleasant enough, but for me, the truly worrying cases are those involving children.

Last month I spoke to an officer who specialises in groups with extremist views. He told me about a child living in the …

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Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Also tagged police and racism | 7 Comments

Attacking child poverty – David Laws wants your views…

By David Laws | Fri 16th November 2012 - 8:51 am

Child poverty in the UK is way too high. It is at unacceptable levels and has been for too long. The government is united in taking child poverty seriously and we are determined – even in difficult times – to reduce child poverty and increase opportunities.

Traditionally we have defined poverty simply by relative income. We know now that this is not sufficient. A child’s experience of poverty is about more than whether their family income this week is low.

That is why we are consulting on a new measure of poverty. The new measure is not about abandoning the past. Nor is it about massaging

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Posted in News | Also tagged child poverty and david laws | 9 Comments

Opinion: Champions for London’s Children

By James Kempton | Wed 14th November 2012 - 8:52 am

The Liberal Democrat education policy, written before the General Election, detailed a strong strategic role for councils, including commissioning new schools and holding all schools to account whatever their status.

The question now is whether this is more than just a change in the mood music, and whether the Coalition is genuinely up for endorsing local authorities who seek to hold academies to account as part of a strong ‘champion for children’ role. And moreover, whether they will give councils the teeth they need to do it properly.

Who better to rise to this challenge and make the case persuasively to government …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged london and london councils | 3 Comments

Opinion: we must act to make sure all girls have access to education

By Sophie Bridger | Wed 10th October 2012 - 10:58 am

Yesterday, in the Swat region of Pakistan, a 14 year old girl was shot. Her name is Malala Yousafzai, and she was walking home from school with her friend when she was shot in the side of the head. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the shooting.

The question on all our minds is ‘Why would anyone try and kill a 14 year old girl?’.

Because Malala Yousafzai stood up for something that scares and horrifies the Taliban – she dared to speak out for girls’ right to an education.

Malala was 11 years old when she started writing about life under the …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged international day of the girl, malala yousafzai, pakistan, plan and women and girls | 6 Comments

Michael Gove declares war on curves (square corners are OK though)

By Mark Pack | Thu 4th October 2012 - 12:25 pm

Bizarre micro-management at its worst, courtesy of Michael Gove.

Now, it’s easy to see why he’s keen to seen if schools can be built at lower costs. It’s also easy to see how a bit more standardisation between different new school designs could reduce costs.

So looking for more standardisation in design? No problem.

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Posted in News | Also tagged featured and michael gove | 17 Comments

How progressive is the new tuition fees system?

By Mark Pack | Wed 3rd October 2012 - 12:25 pm

The Institute For Fiscal Studies (IFS) has been running its calculators and slide-rulers over the new system, and here are some of the key points that it has concluded:

“The new system eventually saves the taxpayer around £760 million per year, driven by a dramatic cut in direct public funding to universities.”
“But for universities, this cut is more than offset by almost £15,000 in additional fee income per graduate – a 140 per cent rise over the old system. Thus the total amount spent – from both private and public sources – on higher education is expected to increase as a result of these reforms.”

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Posted in News | Also tagged IFS, nick clegg and tuition fees | 38 Comments

What Lib Dem members think about EBacc, academies and free schools

By Stephen Tall | Wed 3rd October 2012 - 7:55 am

Lib Dem Voice polled our members-only forum before conference to discover what Lib Dem members think of various political issues, the Coalition, and the performance of key party figures. More than 550 party members have responded, and we’re publishing the full results.

Narrow backing for replacing GCSEs with EBacc

LDV asked: Nick Clegg and Michael Gove this week announced that the GCSE exams in England will be replaced by a new qualification in core subjects called the English Baccalaureate Certificate from 2017. This will mean a single end-of-course exam sat by almost all pupils and one exam board for core subjects. From …

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Posted in LDV Members poll | Also tagged academies, EBacc, free schools, gcses and schools | 9 Comments

A graph, a dip, a policy: why the nursery premium is so important

By Mark Pack | Tue 2nd October 2012 - 2:25 pm

Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton saw the a motion passed calling for the party to investigate the practicalities of introducing a ‘nursery premium’. At first glance this sounds like an obvious extension of the party’s existing pupil premium policy. Delving more closely into the data, however, shows that it is more than simply an obvious extension; it’s necessary to remove what is a bizarre anomaly arising from how other policies fit together.

Here is the extra assistance which is given for the education of children from the most deprived backgrounds in England for each age band from 1 year-old to 18 years-old:

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged barnardo's and nursery premium | 4 Comments

A longer watch for the weekend: Martin Lewis on tuition fees

By Mark Pack | Sat 29th September 2012 - 9:25 am

24 minutes and 1 second of the financial advisor and consumer champion Martin Lewis talking about the tuition fees system, how it works and what people get wrong about it:

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Posted in News and YouTube | Also tagged martin lewis and tuition fees | 78 Comments

Another day at conference, another education policy launched

By Mark Pack | Wed 26th September 2012 - 10:34 am

Tax, tax and a bit more about tax: that’s been the main theme of the Liberal Democrat conference, from the slogan on badges and the banner outside the building through to the content of speeches and the main policy focus of the media coverage.

When it comes to new policy announcements, however, it is education that has had a strong showing.

First there was the news on summer schools:

Lib Dems announce further £100m for summer schools to help children catch-up
Mr Laws said: “All too often pupils who have made big progress

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Posted in Conference and News | Also tagged 2012 Brighton Conference, david laws, featured, nick clegg and nursery premium | Leave a comment

Is this how we get the most out of our schools?

By Mary Reid | Sat 22nd September 2012 - 6:20 pm

With somewhat ironic timing Gove’s controversial announcement on the replacement of GCSEs by the English Baccalaureat was too late for it to be reflected in the conference programme. The deadline for amendments to motions has passed a week earlier.

But a version of the EBacc (not exactly the same as the one that was finally announced) had been trailed for some months, so it got a small mention in motion F6 this afternoon: “Getting the most out of our schools”.

This reference was grasped by some conference reps as an opportunity to open the debate into a wider discussion about the new …

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Posted in Conference | Also tagged 2012 Brighton Conference, EBacc and schools | 3 Comments

David Laws’ speech to conference: no soaring rhetoric but a clear determination to deliver

By Nick Thornsby | Sat 22nd September 2012 - 3:42 pm

David Laws is no Tim Farron. It’s hard to imagine him rousing the passions of the party faithful as the party president does.

But what he lacks in crowd-pleasing rhetoric he makes up for in two things: first, a clear passion for education and secondly a seemingly effortless grasp of his brief.

There was little in the way of new announcements in his speech to conference, though he did confirm that the pupil premium would rise to £900 per pupil in 2013 and that by 2015 the Lib Dem pledge to dedicate a total of £2.5bn a year to the policy will …

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Posted in Conference and News | Also tagged 2012 Brighton Conference and david laws | 2 Comments

Dan Rogerson MP writes…How we reformed GCSEs

By Dan Rogerson MP | Wed 19th September 2012 - 8:55 am

I suspect there are precious few people out there who are not aware that Michael Gove wasn’t entirely happy with the current state of the GCSE system.

You’re probably also aware that when he first suggested he wasn’t happy with the current system, Nick Clegg, Joan Walmsley and I wasted no time in telling him that Liberal Democrats, a party who believe in social mobility, would not tolerate a return to a two tier education system.

What you may not be aware of is just how the two parties have been working since then to find a compromise that combines the shared …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged EBacc, gcses, Joan Walmsley, nick clegg and schools | 11 Comments

Opinion: How do Gove’s plans match up to Lib Dem policy?

By Alisdair Calder McGregor | Tue 18th September 2012 - 5:36 pm

Three months ago I penned my debut submission to LibDemVoice - There is much for the Lib Dems to support in Gove’s embryonic exam proposals - in the wake of the early leaks of Gove’s plans for the replacement of GCSEs. In that, I set out how Michael Gove’s policies matched up with Liberal Democrat Party Policy, and came to some conclusions on how Gove’s proposals would need to be altered to be in line with our policies;

The four criteria were:

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged EBacc, gcses and schools | 62 Comments

Opinion: How GCSEs made me envy my son

By Helen Flynn | Tue 18th September 2012 - 4:03 pm

The heady waft of future and assured pupil disengagement is already pungent only one day after the announcement of the new exam system. The wrong-headedness of the “reform” is enough to actually make you gasp.

Don’t get me wrong, I really do hate the personal anecdote–beloved of many politicians and responsible in my view for so much political damage (and used to the usual effect yesterday in that disturbing article in the Evening Standard).

But here’s one. My elder son recently gained 11 A stars in his GSCEs. He is a very academic child, as I was. But as he did …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged EBacc, gcses and schools | 48 Comments

Opinion: Beyond the Ebacc

By Jon Hunt | Tue 18th September 2012 - 1:12 pm

Two years ago theWest Midlands Region embarked on a project which we called “Beyond the Ebacc.” We chose the title because we recognised then that the Coalition government was intent on embedding the Ebacc as the gold standard qualification at 16 and wanted our party, the Liberal Democrats, to emerge from coalition with our own radical policies in this critical area.

We were able to draw on a wide range of experience, including that of overseeing education in large municipal authorities.

Our concern was the stark evidence that our school system is failing many young people. Every government that has sought to …

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged EBacc, gcses and schools | 13 Comments