|
|
Education Journal No.103 (2007-4) |
|
Care Matters and the Children in Care Bill Our children’s services editor Chris Waterman looks at the White Paper and Bill setting out the DCSF strategy for children in care. Education for a new generation Julia Dowd, Director of Young People’s Learning at the Learning and Skills Council, on the introduction of the new Diploma and how it aims to give all 14 to 19-yearolds a fully rounded education. The real game of skills With 35 per cent of the population having no or low qualifications, Professor Mike Campbell, Director of Development at the Sector Skills Development Agency, writes about what action must be taken. School rebuilding solutions for local authorities Shaun Tame, of law firm Browne Jacobson, sets the record straight over the perceived failure of the Building Schools for the Future project. Why the headlong rush for choice and diversity? Occupational psychologist Jane Phillips claims that the consequence of extending school ‘choice’ will be to reward and encourage the selfishness of both parents and schools and thus to promote the survival of the fittest. Who’s leaning on the OECD? Demitri Coryton looks at recent OECD reports, including No More Failures, Ten Steps to Equity in Education, and wonders who might be leaning on the OECD to tone down its criticism of academic selection. Media Watch - Substance and Spin Why was there such a difference between the way Ed Balls’ first Commons statement as Secretary of State for DCSF was reported by the specialist education correspondents and the parliamentary sketch writers? Higher Ground John Izbicki casts his eye over recent events in higher education. This month he looks at local councillors under 21, bog-standard vice-chancellors, the incredible vanishing university, robo-massage, Sir Peter Scott and Jonathan Edwards receiving another honorary degree. All change in Wales Our Wales Editor, Professor Ken Reid, on the changes in the Welsh Assembly Government following the inconclusive elections in May and some of the issues that the new Labour/Plaid Cymru coalition education minister, Jane Hutt, will be dealing with. Letter from Scotia Our Scotland editor, John Dobie, comments on a new age of coalitions within national and local government since the election of an SNP Administration in Edinburgh and some of the problems this may cause. General section Conferences and Events Investors in Families makes its first awards. The New Vision Group sends a memo to Gordon Brown. Demitri Coryton reports from the NUT national education conference at Stoke Rochford. Opinion Alan Wells, former director of the Basic Skills Agency on the position of independent national organisations and the important role of critical friend that they play. John Izbicki writes about the founding of the Association Internationale des Universités du TroisièmeAge in France and the subsequent creation of the U3A in Britain, which brought educational opportunities to mature learners. Reference section Document Reviews The documents reviewed this month are Bullying: Government Response to the Committee’s Third Report of Session 2006-07 – third special report of session and 14-19 Diplomas from the Select Committee on Education, and Care Matters: Time for Change from the DfES. Document Digest Documents covered this month include those from the Department for Communities and Local Government, DCSF, DfES, Equal Opportunities Commission, Estyn, HEPI, HMIE, NFER, Ofsted, QCA, Scottish Executive, Select Committee on Education, TDA and Treasury. Reports Digest Reports from LEAs and CSAs, produced by EMIE at NFER, include those covering a multi-agency support initiative in Bexley, strengthening the emotional wellbeing of young people in Cumbria, provision for dyslexic children in the East Riding of Yorkshire, and children’s social care services in Merton. Research section Research Digest Research Notes Our research editor, Michael Marshall, on the final year results of the government-funded national evaluation of the full-service extended schools initiative, which has been found to have a positive impact on the attainment of pupils. Meaningful comparisons for the performance of local authorities’ children’s services Tom Benton, Tamsin Chamberlain and Simon Rutt of NFER report on DfES-commissioned research intended to develop a method of benchmarking the performance of local authorities against the five Every Child Matters outcomes. Family Group Conferencing We report on a review of international research into Family Group Conferencing in Scotland, where a family and professional co-ordinators combine forces to combat any problems with a child. Brief Research Reports The intellectual benefits of bedtime stories, primary school children’s literacy difficulties, a scheme designed to help parents and carers continue to study, Scottish schools’ struggle to meet new working-time limits, a lack of rigorous testing of teaching techniques, and evidence that GCSE results improve when schools collaborate. Parliament section Departmental reorganisation Our parliamentary editor, Nick Kent, reports on the implications of the division of the DfES into the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. Welsh Government in a state of flux Elections to the Welsh Assembly in May have resulted in instability in the Welsh Assembly Government. We report on a changing situation. The WAG acquires the Basic Skills Agency in Wales. The Assembly debates advocacy services for children and young people. Skills and vocational education Arabella Hargreaves, editor of EPM Scotland, reports on a debate on skills and vocational education introduced by the recently-ousted Labour party. Parliamentary Questions Answers to written parliamentary questions include those covering local authority nursery education grants in the House of Commons, the reform programme for child protection services in the Scottish Parliament, and the gender divide in achievement and viability of schools with declining pupil numbers in the Welsh Assembly. Phoenix The Journalist of the Year awards and the TES. |