Tag Archives: education

LibLink: Nick Clegg: Why we must reduce teachers’ workloads

By NewsHound | Tue 14th October 2014 - 4:34 pm

Nick Clegg has been writing for the Times Educational Supplement on the need to make sure teachers’ workloads were more manageable. He recognised that most teachers put in much more effort than they get credit for:

There’s an outdated preconception, which hasn’t quite died out, that a teacher’s working day starts at 9am and finishes at 3pm, with 12 weeks off a year to recuperate. Yet, ask anyone who actually spends their days trying to inspire and educate a classroom of children and they’ll tell you a very different story.

They’ll talk about 50 hour working weeks, the unnecessary bureaucracy they have to deal with every day, the challenges of helping children, from all different backgrounds, get the skills they need and also the rewards, like that moment when you see a young boy or girl in your care thrive.

Posted in News | Also tagged nick clegg, schools, teachers and times educational supplement | 15 Comments

Opinion: Education issues at conference?

By Rebecca Hanson | Mon 29th September 2014 - 12:09 pm

What are your current concerns about education policy? Please do raise them in the comments to this post. I’ll be meeting with the Liberal Democrats Education Association (LDEA) committee on Sunday and will be able to quote them in discussions where appropriate.

Personally I’ll be focusing on two issues at conference. I’m very disappointed to see that my policy for reform to public sector regulation and in particular to Ofsted is not in the pre-manifesto. I’ll be attempting to ensure that is addressed at the public sector reform debate on Sunday afternoon.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged autumn conference 2014 | 20 Comments

The Independent View: Free school meals is universalism at its best – all children benefit, but low-income children benefit most

By Alison Garnham | Wed 3rd September 2014 - 11:15 am

So the summer is over and it’s back to school time. But there is a silver lining to the autumnal clouds: free school meals. On their first day back at school, all infants school pupils (4 to 7 year olds) should be able to sit down to enjoy a free, nutritious meal.

This is one of the rare occasions when politics visibly touches normal family life, saving harassed parents the need to make a packed lunch and saving them money at the same time. Families will save almost £10 a week on average for every child benefiting from the policy.

Families up and down the country for years to come will benefit from the leadership of local and national politicians of all parties in helping to make this happen. From the previous government and local authorities for piloting and taking it forward at a local level, to Michael Gove for backing the idea in principle, to Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats for getting the Coalition to implement it. And now the Liberal Democrats have gone even further pledging to extend it to all primary school children if they are in government post-election.

Posted in The Independent View | Also tagged free school meals, school food plan and schools | 12 Comments

Clegg on schools, post-Gove: “We need to reset the relationship”

By The Voice | Fri 1st August 2014 - 10:40 am

Nick Clegg has used a major interview in the TES magazine to signal a turning of the page in the Coalition Government’s relationship with teachers following the removal of Michael Gove from the Department for Education.

Clegg on Gove’s departure:

“It’s an open secret that Michael Gove and I did not agree on a number of important substantive issues … It’s an opportunity to turn a page on the somewhat acrimonious relationship that existed between the government – and the Department for Education in particular – and a number of teachers,” he said. “We need to reset the relationship. Not, I should stress, by summarily abandoning all government policy or reforms, but first and foremost by ensuring that, where there is debate and discussion between the teaching profession and government, it is conducted in a spirit and tone of mutual respect. And that we seek out every opportunity to celebrate, and not always seek to denigrate, the fantastic work that teachers do.”

Clegg on the teachers’ strikes:

Posted in News | Also tagged free school meals, michael gove, nick clegg, pupil premium and teachers | 16 Comments

The Independent View: The pupil premium may be starting to deliver – but beware false dawns of the past

By Helen Barnard | Wed 16th July 2014 - 2:24 pm

Today Ofsted deliver their verdict on the Liberal Democrats’ pupil premium policy, four years into its existence – a pledge which was on the front page of the party’s manifesto. In straitened times, this was a welcome commitment to focus limited resources on poorer children, and an explicit attempt to break the cycle of poverty.

There are positive signs that the additional resources being put in through pupil premium are being used better to improve the education of children from low income backgrounds, but not yet evidence that they are …

Posted in Op-eds and The Independent View | Also tagged david laws and pupil premium | 11 Comments

Opinion: Post 16 transport: It’s time to change the law to enable everyone to get on in life

By Julie Pörksen | Mon 14th July 2014 - 3:30 pm

For many 16 year olds across the country the post-exam, pre-result time in the summer should be a time of freedom, working a summer job to save some money or hanging out with friends and family, sure in the knowledge that come September they will be on track to take the next steps in life.

Northumberland’s young people are facing uncertainty this summer. The previous Liberal Democrat administration at County Hall had guaranteed the right of free post-16 transport to the most suitable accessible course. This has been taken …

Posted in News | Also tagged school transport and young people | 9 Comments

Opinion: An end to OFSTED

By Barry Holliday | Tue 8th July 2014 - 12:41 pm

The dissolution of OFSTED is a policy we as Liberal Democrats need to support and implement to ensure our young students are being offered the best education possible.

I am not saying that schools shouldn’t be inspected and checked.The public needs to have confidence in the school system. Parents have the right to be informed about teachers abilities and performance. Most of all we must be able to ensure that teaching meets the needs of our children.

OFSTED for too long has been nothing but a political football. School inspections should be …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged ofsted | 39 Comments

Opinion: New school curriculum

By Barry Holliday | Tue 1st July 2014 - 10:49 am

I have recently written a couple of articles on Liberal Democrat Voice around changes to schools (here and here). Please read them, as they go with this one. To follow on from them I believe we also need Lib Dems to get behind changes to the curriculum in secondary schools.

The National Curriculum in England gives standards for each subject, but not which subjects (beyond the core subjects of Maths, English and Science) must be taught. If a mainstream school offers History they must follow the History national curriculum standards, but if they don’t have a History teacher then they don’t have to offer it, that needs to change. We need a balanced curriculum for all students, irrespective of which school or local authority are students attend.

The changes we should bring are that all secondary schools (including academies or free schools) to offer the following GCSE options (options being subjects that are not core subjects):

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged national curriculum and schools | 16 Comments

For-profit schools: some evidence of why I’m far from convinced

By Stephen Tall | Sun 29th June 2014 - 10:15 am

Labour’s shadow education secretary, Tristram Hunt, this week called on Michael Gove to rule out profit-making schools, arguing “Beyond 2015, whether it admits it or not, the Conservative Party intends to introduce the profit motive into English education”.

The Tories have sidestepped the issue and instead invited Labour to turn its fire on the Lib Dems: they claim that Nick Clegg’s advisers Julian Astle and Richard Reeves were behind-the-scenes cheerleaders for profit-making schools. The mercurial Dominic Cummings, Gove’s former special adviser, has made the same allegation. This may very …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged dominic cummings, featured, for-profit schools, jeremy browne, michael gve, nuffield foundation, oxford university, schools and tristram hunt | 26 Comments

Poll of school leaders and governors: Don’t like Coalition’s education policies – BUT do like Lib Dem Pupil Premium and infant free school meals

By Stephen Tall | Fri 27th June 2014 - 2:00 pm

A couple of findings worth highlighting from a major survey of more than 2,000 school leaders and governors, commissioned by The Key, and carried out by polling firm Ipsos Mori.

It probably won’t come as a surprise to discover that the Coalition’s performance on education is viewed unfavourably: three-quarters of school leaders (75%) are dissatisfied with almost half (46%) saying they are very dissatisfied. However, drill down a level and it’s clear there are some policies which are popular – two of three most …

Posted in News and Polls | Also tagged free school meals, ipsos-mori, pupil premium and the key | 13 Comments

Opinion: How the “extras” of school life can raise attainment

By Barry Holliday | Thu 26th June 2014 - 2:22 pm

I recently wrote this article about staffing in our schools. To follow on from that I’m moving on to some elements of school ‘life’. These ‘extras’ to the daily job of educating our children are all too often seen as not important, but in my experience they have a HUGE impact on the achievements and wellbeing of our children. (For info – I personally work in a secondary Academy, years 7-11).

Liberal Democrats need to strive to improve the life chances of our most vulnerable children, this can be done by:

Free …

Posted in Op-eds | 10 Comments

Nick Clegg’s Twitter Q & A on education

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 26th June 2014 - 1:05 pm

After this morning’s Call Clegg, Nick Clegg took to Twitter to answer questions on education. He digressed a little, into decarbonisation, housing and and Luis Suarez. It’s been a very engaging 24 hours for Nick Clegg because last night he took part in a conference call with key party campaigners from around the country to discuss the party’s Summer campaign. He has been told in no uncertain terms in a variety of formats that it was very important that he was more visible about reaching out to members and it’s good to see him doing so. To be clear, he’s always done a lot of behind the scenes contact with members and elected representatives. Some get called, some surprised by hand-written notes at important times in their lives. I suspect last night’s call will be the first of many such initiatives from him. You have to give him credit, though, for being far more involved with his activists than either Cameron or Miliband. When was the last time they actually a) had meaningful interaction with any of their members or b) actually listened to their advice? Sometimes we feel far removed from the Westminster Bubble, but ours is a lot more penetrable than theirs. It needs to be, though, because Nick needs his activists much more than the others do.

Posted in News | Also tagged nick clegg and twitter q & a | 6 Comments

Mike Storey writes: Qualified teachers and a national curriculum

By Mike Storey | Tue 17th June 2014 - 3:08 pm

“We are, and always will, be the party of education”. So Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, said in his speech at Bloomberg last Monday. This is indeed what the Liberal Democrats stand for, and it’s not just an empty sound bite. The policies we pledge to adopt will be to ensure that school pupils will have the right to be taught by qualified teachers and taught a core curriculum – a truly national curriculum.

The recent ‘Trojan Horse’ controversy has shocked the national conscience. It highlighted that some schools ran a risk of depriving children of an all-rounded and fair education. Academies and free schools are based on the concept of autonomy, but this should not mean that children should suffer because of particular interests. Some schools that did have discretion over their curriculum were abusing that by stripping back the curriculum and narrowing the experience of schooling for every young child. Action needs to be taken to ensure children’s futures are not put at risk.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged national curriculum, parental guarantee, schools and teachers | 48 Comments

Nick Clegg’s press conference: A new policy, looking ahead to an “independent, liberal” manifesto, Iraq, leadership and Smarties

By Caron Lindsay | Mon 16th June 2014 - 8:05 pm

I promised you a bit more from Nick Clegg’s monthly press conference this morning. Overnight, he had released his opening statement, but there was a surprise to come – a shiny new policy. Now, obviously, that has to come to Conference so it’s not set in stone, but I suspect it will get a favourable hearing.

From cradle to college

Basically, all early years and school education funding, including the Pupil Premium, will be ring-fenced.

Posted in News | Also tagged housing, iraq, liberal democrat manifesto 2015, lords reform, nick clegg and press conference | 54 Comments

Clegg’s “Parental Guarantee”: calls for all schools to employ qualified teachers and teach ‘core curriculum’

By Stephen Tall | Fri 13th June 2014 - 2:10 pm

“We are and always will be the party of education and I’ll be saying more about that in the near future,” promised Nick Clegg in his Bloomburg speech on Monday. Today we saw the start, with the Lib Dem leader setting out the party’s Parental Guarantee that “every parent can be confident that their child will be taught a core curriculum by a properly qualified teacher”.

This isn’t actually a new policy. The ‘parental guarantee’ was first announced last October. And the policy it’s based on was …

Posted in News | Also tagged nick clegg, parental guarantee, russell hobby, schools and teachers | 29 Comments

“What should the political parties promise on education in 2015?” – What I told Policy Exchange…

By Stephen Tall | Wed 11th June 2014 - 8:15 am

I was one of the speakers at this weekend’s Policy Exchange conference which posed the question, ‘What should the political parties promise on education in 2015?’

Though I work in the education sector, I was there in a personal capacity to offer a Lib Dem perspective; very kindly Policy Exchange had invited Michael Gove and Tristram Hunt as warm-up acts for my seven minutes. You can watch what I had to say in the video at the foot of this post, starting at 2 mins in, or just read on… (If you check against delivery you’ll see I’ve tidied up some of my sentences, such as self-censoring my request to the

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged michael gove, policy exchange and tristram hunt | 12 Comments

Gove and Laws write for Times: We are committed to free school meals policy because evidence shows it helps kids achieve more

By Caron Lindsay | Thu 15th May 2014 - 10:55 am

On his various media appearances this morning, Nick Clegg has been asked whether he ordered Michael Gove and David Laws to write an article setting out the background to the free school meals policy. He said on Call Clegg that he had suggested it to them that they clarify the situation to reassure parents that the policy will be delivered on time.

This comes after a febrile few days when Dominic Cummings, Gove’s former Special Adviser, has been telling everyone who will listen that this was a policy drawn up pretty much …

Posted in News | Also tagged david laws, fairer society, free school meals, michael gove and the times | 19 Comments

Opinion: Support teachers’ right to strike, but not the NUT strikes in June

By Patrick McAuley | Fri 25th April 2014 - 10:46 am

It’s no secret to readers of Liberal Democrat Voice that when I write an article, education professionals tend to get it in the neck. At least I’m consistent.

So why should the June strike bother me? Jerry Glazier highlights the issue of teachers’ workload that it is now up to 55 to 60 hours a week on average. This angered me because while youth unemployment stands at just under 1 million a qualified teacher in primary or secondary will start on £21,000 and on average …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged nut, strike action and teachers | 114 Comments

LibLink: Tim Farron – In 2010, we promised to deliver the Pupil Premium. In 2015, I want us to promise to deliver the Student Premium

By NewsHound | Wed 16th April 2014 - 3:01 pm

Lib Dem party president Tim Farron has given his personal backing to the Lib Dems promising a Student Premium – modelled on the well-received Pupil Premium – at the next election. First proposed by his colleague Stephen Williams, Tim writes the Student Premium “could potentially change the game in terms of student uptake, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds”. Here’s an excerpt of his article for the April issue of the magazine, Politics First:

The Pupil Premium is being delivered only because the Liberal

…

Posted in LibLink | Also tagged higher education, liberal reform, pupil premium, stephen williams, student premium, tim farron and universities | 53 Comments

Opinion: Don’t like the exam question? Just cross it out…

By Ed Wilson | Mon 3rd March 2014 - 11:30 am

The place of religious schools in a secular society is always a subject for debate, but it comes to a head when you discover that some schools are redacting questions in GCSE exam papers because they wouldn’t approve of the answers.

All schools are required to teach the national science curriculum, and are inspected on that basis by Ofsted. We are told that to present creationism as science is not allowed. Yet one school – a Jewish girls’ secondary in this case, but the same question may arise elsewhere – has chosen to cross out questions which offend their sensibilities. …

Posted in News | Also tagged lord avebury, religion and secularism | 23 Comments

Opinion: Extending participation in education must mean extension of free school transport – support motion to Spring Conference NOW

By Julie Pörksen | Sun 2nd March 2014 - 3:00 pm

The age of participation in education is rising to 18, so soon every student will have to enter school, college, an apprenticeship or work with training when they finish their GCSEs.

I believe that every young person has the right to access free state education up to year 13. Accessing free education should include the provision of free transport to the most local educational establishment that is right for them.

Last week Nick Clegg was reported on on this site as saying that he would promise young people “ an equal shot” by helping them to make the right choice after taking their …

Posted in News | Also tagged liberal democrats spring conference 2014 and school transport | 4 Comments

Tim Farron MP writes…No politician should be able to sleep at night while children don’t have access to primary school

By Tim Farron MP | Mon 3rd February 2014 - 10:58 am

Fifty years ago, Lyndon Johnson stood before a joint session of Congress and declared war. “It will not be a short or easy struggle,” he warned the lawmakers. “No single weapon nor strategy will suffice, but we shall not rest until that war is won.” He was talking about a war on poverty – he was saying that a politician can change the world. That through their words and deeds, they can make a difference and make the world a better place.

President Obama (Number 44 – LBJ was 36) stood up last Wednesday night and gave his annual State of …

Posted in News | Also tagged tim farron | 1 Comment

Opinion: Campaign against school attendance policy update

By Karen Wilkinson | Sat 18th January 2014 - 9:30 am

With the fining of Stewart & Natasha Sutherland this week, an update on the campaign to reverse the changes to the attendance policy (see my previous article).

Emma Whiting’s e-petition to 10 Downing St gained almost 50,000 signatures and closed before most parents were aware of the forthcoming changes. Craig Langman, finding himself unable to sign it in September, put up a members’ petition on 38 degrees and it went viral, gaining 127,000 signatures within a few weeks without any media coverage or promotion by 38 degrees. It now has 190,000 signatures. We delivered it to a nervous …

Posted in News | Also tagged attendance policy | 41 Comments

Opinion: A letter to Michael Gove

By Anonymous Liberal | Fri 17th January 2014 - 11:30 am

Dear Michael,

I hope this finds you well.

A confession.

Unlike Paxman, I’m a fan.

You’re an unusual Tory with unusual origins. And your passion to change education is laudable.

The 1960s Crosland reforms, implemented by your mentor Mrs Thatcher, were supposed to promote social mobility. The reality is mixed. Overall literacy and numeracy have improved. Higher education has become more accessible across class, gender and race.

But this has come at a cost. Some think general mediocrity is better than a few attaining excellence while the majority attain little. I think it’s still mediocrity. Employers lament school-leavers’ inadequate skills. Our performance in the Pisa education …

Posted in News | Also tagged history, michael gove and world war 1 | 23 Comments

Opinion: UKIP – let’s have a debate about low skills

By Helen Flynn | Tue 14th January 2014 - 5:04 pm

There has been an inconsistency between two highly prominent policy areas that has been niggling away at the back of my mind for quite some time now. UKIP needs to take note.

So, take two policy areas and also take into account the temperature (at least according to the Daily Mail, etc) of the voters.

The first area is education. Schools that do not match up to the floor levels at Key Stage 2 and at GCSE are pounced upon by Ofsted. They require improvement or are put into special measures. All children must get 5 good GCSEs. They must progress and they must aspire. Think of the slogans that populate the UK and US education policy discourse: “no child must be left behind; “every child matters”; and social mobility is regarded and upheld as a kind of rebalancing panacea to address all social ills and help narrow the gap.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged featured, immigration and ukip | 26 Comments

In Full: Nick Clegg’s speech on education – enabling every child to achieve a happy and fulfilling life

By The Voice | Thu 24th October 2013 - 1:52 pm

Nick Clegg finally gave his much trailed speech on education today. The full version is below. Stephen Tall will give some more detailed commentary later, but for now, here’s a quick summary. There were six main themes

Schools should be free from too much Whitehall micromanagement but must meet core standards
Positioning Liberal Democrats in centre between Labour who want to interfere in everything and Tories who would be quite happy to have no core standards at all.
Parents need reassurance about quality of curriculum, that teachers are qualified and that healthy food is provided whatever type of state funded school their kids

…

Posted in News | Also tagged nick clegg and speeches | 12 Comments

David Laws writes… Nick Clegg and I have always been clear that Free Schools must also be fair schools

By David Laws | Tue 22nd October 2013 - 8:51 pm

On Thursday this week, Nick Clegg will set out the Liberal Democrat approach to improving standards in schools.

He will set out what parents and pupils should expect from schools. This is an issue we have worked on together for some time, and which was debated and agreed at our party’s conference this Spring.

The Liberal Democrats are instinctive supporters of freedom, diversity and choice. We believe in giving schools more autonomy and teachers more freedom.

That’s why we have supported extra powers to innovate for free schools and academies and have taken steps in government to extend autonomy for all schools. We …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged david laws, featured, free schools, michael gove, nick clegg and schools | 31 Comments

Two questions journalists aren’t asking about Nick Clegg’s free schools speech

By Stephen Tall | Tue 22nd October 2013 - 10:15 am

Nick Clegg’s speech on free schools – setting out the policy approved by the Lib Dem conference last March – has ruffled feathers. Apparently he and David Cameron even had lunch yesterday to discuss this ‘bombshell’ announcement (which in fact won’t be made until a speech this Thursday).

My view (as I set out here on Sunday) is that schools should have the freedom to appoint teachers who lack formal qualifications, though I’d expect these to be the exceptions not the rule in the vast majority of state-funded schools. But I don’t think it’s at all surprising that Nick …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged david laws, free schools, iain martin, nicholas watt, nick clegg and schools | 40 Comments

Clegg on free schools and National Curriculum: no more, no less than party policy. And that’s for better and worse.

By Stephen Tall | Sun 20th October 2013 - 11:05 am

No-one should be that surprised by Nick Clegg’s decision to distance the Lib Dems from Michael Gove’s schools policies — specifically that every teacher should be qualified and that every school should teach the national curriculum. After all, what Nick is due to set out in a speech this week is the policy that was voted for overwhelmingly by the party’s conference in March this year.

Here’s what the adopted policy – Every Child Taught by an Excellent Teacher – says about teachers in all schools having qualifications:

All classroom teachers, including in academies and free schools and Further Education

…

Posted in News and Op-eds | Also tagged al-madinah, david laws, featured, free schools, national curriculum, nick clegg, peter hyman, school21 and schools | 31 Comments

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Josh Babarinde writes…The Lib Dem Summer of Strategy (Josh Babarinde)
Mathew on Monday: “We need to be bold” (Mathew Hulbert)
As a party we must be better defined for the 2029 general election (Chris Bowers)
From national averages to local realities: inequality in our communities (Tom Walker)
We do have a two tier system, Part 2 (Neil Hickman)

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Josh Babarinde writes…The Lib Dem Summer of Strategy

Alison Suttie writes: Thank you to our volunteers

What’s going on with party strategy?

A strange but welcome feeling

Tag Archives: education

LibLink: Nick Clegg: Why we must reduce teachers’ workloads

Opinion: Education issues at conference?

The Independent View: Free school meals is universalism at its best – all children benefit, but low-income children benefit most

Clegg on schools, post-Gove: “We need to reset the relationship”

The Independent View: The pupil premium may be starting to deliver – but beware false dawns of the past

Opinion: Post 16 transport: It’s time to change the law to enable everyone to get on in life

Opinion: An end to OFSTED

Opinion: New school curriculum

For-profit schools: some evidence of why I’m far from convinced

Poll of school leaders and governors: Don’t like Coalition’s education policies – BUT do like Lib Dem Pupil Premium and infant free school meals

Opinion: How the “extras” of school life can raise attainment

Nick Clegg’s Twitter Q & A on education

Mike Storey writes: Qualified teachers and a national curriculum

Nick Clegg’s press conference: A new policy, looking ahead to an “independent, liberal” manifesto, Iraq, leadership and Smarties

From cradle to college

Clegg’s “Parental Guarantee”: calls for all schools to employ qualified teachers and teach ‘core curriculum’

“What should the political parties promise on education in 2015?” – What I told Policy Exchange…

Gove and Laws write for Times: We are committed to free school meals policy because evidence shows it helps kids achieve more

Opinion: Support teachers’ right to strike, but not the NUT strikes in June

LibLink: Tim Farron – In 2010, we promised to deliver the Pupil Premium. In 2015, I want us to promise to deliver the Student Premium

Opinion: Don’t like the exam question? Just cross it out…

Opinion: Extending participation in education must mean extension of free school transport – support motion to Spring Conference NOW

Tim Farron MP writes…No politician should be able to sleep at night while children don’t have access to primary school

Opinion: Campaign against school attendance policy update

Opinion: A letter to Michael Gove

Opinion: UKIP – let’s have a debate about low skills

In Full: Nick Clegg’s speech on education – enabling every child to achieve a happy and fulfilling life

David Laws writes… Nick Clegg and I have always been clear that Free Schools must also be fair schools

Two questions journalists aren’t asking about Nick Clegg’s free schools speech

Clegg on free schools and National Curriculum: no more, no less than party policy. And that’s for better and worse.

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Josh Babarinde writes…The Lib Dem Summer of Strategy

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What’s going on with party strategy?

A strange but welcome feeling

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From cradle to college

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