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Education Journal No.90 (2005-9)
Editorial |
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The White Paper and Every Child Matters Our Children's Services Editor, Chris Waterman, struggles to find any reference to the Every Child Matters agenda in the Education White Paper. Letter from Scotia Scotland editor John Dobie looks at the inspection of education authorities by Her Majesty's Inspectors of Education five years after the Standards in Scotland's Schools etc: Act 2000 reintroduced such HMI inspections. Discipline Legislation Mark Blois, an education specialist from Browne Jacobson solicitors, explains why legislators need to show caution when responding to teachers' calls to strengthen their rights to discipline. Letter From Scotia Our Scotland Editor, John Dobie OBE, examines the Scottish Executive's reaction to the first draft of the Bill providing for the establishment of parent forums for schools and the abolition of School Boards. Wales Our Wales Editor, Professor Ken Reid, discusses the Welsh education landscape this Autumn, as well as the case of Dylan Thomas Community School, where a parents' group formed to fight the proposed closure of the school has proved surprisingly successful. The Diploma in Digital Applications Zia Mehmet, from the Highwire City Learning Centre in Hackney, writes about the advantages of a new twoyear ICT qualification from Edexcel, currently being trialled in 50 schools, which promises to train young people in the most up to date multi-media applications now in demand in industry. People Professor David Scott has been promoted to director of the University of Lincoln's International Institute of Educational Leadership; Liz Smith OBE has been appointed chief executive of the proposed union academy; Marion Davis has been appointed as new Director of Children, Young People and Families in Warwickshire; and we record with regret the death of Professor Ted Wragg. Short articles The unveiling of the Joint Inspection of Children's Services and Inspection of Social Work Services (Scotland) Bill and the failure of Welsh primary schools to take advantage of free school breakfasts. Media Report Media reaction around the publication of the Education White Paper and the Childcare Bill, and the naked 'truth' about David Cameron. General section Conferences We report on the annual BERA conference, held this year at the University of Glamorgan; the national Skills for Life conference in York; the NUT's celebration of World Teacher Day at its London headquarters; Minister for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education, Bill Rammell's address to a meeting of FE college principals in London and the meeting of the pressure group, Comprehensive Future, in November. Obituary The president of BELMAS, David Cracknell, pays tribute to the life and work of Professor Harry Tomlinson, who died this September. Opinion John Izbicki explains why history isn't repeating itself, it's just the Blair government repeating all the old Tory ploys. Fun Jokes and quotes. Reference section Document Reviews The documents reviewed this month are Higher Standards, Better Choice for All and The Report of the Practitioners' Group on School Behaviour and Discipline from the DfES; Survey of Adults with Learning Difficulties in England: 2003-04 from the Department of Health; Removing Barriers: a 'can-do' attitude - a report on developing good practice for children with special needs in early years childcare and education in the private and voluntary sectors from Ofsted; and Working Together: Cross-Sectoral Provision of Vocational Education for Scotland's School Pupils and Improving Achievement in Mathematics in Primary and Secondary Schools from HMIE. Document Digest Documents covered this month include Improving the Higher Education Applications Process, The Protection of Children Act 1999: a practical guide, A Review of the Regulations Governing the Registration of Pupils in Schools, Schools and Pupils in England: January 2005, Schoolteachers' Pay and Conditions Document 2005 and Guidance on Schoolteachers' Pay and Conditions, from the DfES; Monitoring the Implementation of Hungry for Success from HMIE; Postcards from Research-engaged schools from NFER; English 2000-05: a review of inspection evidence, Informing Practice in English: a review of recent research in literacy and the teaching of English, and Removing Barriers: a 'can-do' attitude from Ofsted; Low Pay Estimates, Spring 2005 from the Office for National Statistics and A Study into the Experience of Teaching from the TDA. Reports Digest Reports include those from Hampshire LEA on a strategy for developing 14-19 education and training as a single phase and other reports on an extended schools pilot project and a sustainable food strategy. Research section Research Digest Research papers from the latest academic journals. Research notes Our Research Editor, Michael Marshall, takes a further look at the current and growing emphasis on evidence-informed policy and practice. Do Truancy Sweeps Work? Our Wales Editor, Professor Ken Reid, examines two conflicting reports, published in September, which cast doubts on the effectiveness of the Government's campaign to reduce truancy and improve school attendance. Re-engaging Disaffected Pupils in Learning Professor Kathryn Riley, of the London University Institute of Education, writes about her work on student disaffection and disengagement. She details her work from 2002 to the present, focusing on the London research and development project, Re-engaging Disaffected Pupils in Learning. Sure Start Language Measure We report on a language study aiming to standardise the Sure Start Language Measure. Short Research Reports Teachers' reluctance to use IT in the classroom; falling university admissions; teaching food preparation and school dinners. Parliamentary section Reaction to the Education White Paper Nick Kent, editor of Education Parliamentary Monitor, reports on the sceptical response to the Government's White Paper from both Tory and Labour MPs. The Childcare Bill Chris Waterman reports on the new Childcare Bill Scotland Arabella Hargreaves, editor of EPM Scotland, reports on a debate on children with special needs. Wales Helen Grimmett, editor of EPM Wales, reports on the role of small schools and school milk at key stage 2. Parliamentary Questions Subjects covered include those on pupil numbers in FE colleges and sixth forms in England and English and maths class sizes in Scotland. Phoenix Giving, colour and Basher. |