A Damaging Report on British Academies

A damaging report on Academies that acts as a further reminder of how lucky I am to be out of the system.  Among other things Ron Glatter comments in his summary that: The report reveals a structure that is fundamentally flawed and that will significantly damage education and worsen inequities.  My disappointment, for what it is worth, is that the government continues to interfere in education, whilst providing schools and the system as a whole with measurements that are self-deceiving.  All students cannot excel academically, and all schools cannot be outstanding, if the measure of outstanding is academic success.  We need to stop fooling ourselves, and to stop rewarding those who allow us to do so.

Outstanding Schools and Outstanding Schools

Secret Teacher resonates as she - I presume it is a she - tells of her experience of moving from an outstanding inner-city school to an outstanding suburban school.  The former is unpredictable and fosters innovation; the latter is predictable and squashes innovation.  An enjoyable read.

Secret Teacher damns Production Line Education

Secret Teacher is always worth a read; and today's offers a wonderful defence of self-confidence over exam grades.  The argument concerns high expectations; what are they, and can we measure them in the manner laid down by Ofsted?  The difficulty, I would suggest, is that the sort of education that breeds self-confidence  is social and cultural, involving, for example, families and communities that care.  Schools cannot compensate for this; and if they keep their bottom line as progress in English and Maths, they are behaving in a sensible, if flawed manner.