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Education Journal No.96 (2006-6) |
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DfES Needs ‘More Coherent Strategy’ We report on the DfES’s first capability review, which highlighted the department’s incoherent strategy, ineffective relationships with non-departmental public bodies and poor people management. 1996-2006: ‘Suffer Little Children...’ In the second of our decade retrospectives marking the 10th anniversary and 100th issue of Education Journal, our children’s services editor, Chris Waterman, traces the development of the children agenda. Learning Country 2 Now that the consultation period is over, our Wales Editor, Professor Ken Reid, writes about the Welsh Assembly Government’s vision for the future of education, as laid out in its publication, The Learning Country 2. Health Arabella Hargreaves provides an overview of current news and research in the field of children’s health, covering such issues as divorce, happiness lessons, whooping cough and death rates for poorer children. Media Report Press reports on the possible removal of private schools’ charitable status, Alan Johnson’s own headline-grabbing private school foray, and the critical report on academies from PricewaterhouseCoopers. Letter from Scotia Our Scotland editor, John Dobie OBE, writes about the final stages of the Scottish Schools (Parental Involvement) Bill’s passage through the Scottish Parliament. Brief Reports A critical report on academies, an Ofsted report on the extended schools programme, the success of the Welsh Assembly Government’s Physical Education and School Sports initiative and weapons checks in schools. People FE principal Stephen Grix wins the Prince Philip medal. General section Fun page Jokes and quotes Obituary We record with regret the death of Gordon Cunningham, former director of education for Cambridgeshire and at the Association of County Councils, and Dr Clare Burstall, former director of NFER. Opinion John Izbicki on the amalgamation of the AUT and NATFHE into the UCU and why school teacher unions should consider following suit. Conferences We report on the NUT’s national education conference, and ConfEd’s summer conference on the Every Child Matters agenda, both of which were held in early July. Reference section Document Reviews The documents reviewed this month are The Cost of Inclusion, by MacBeath and Galton et al, commissioned by the NUT; Special Educational Needs: Third Report of Session 2005-06 from the Education and Skills Select Committee; and Public Expenditure on Education and Skills: Government Response to the Committee’s Second Report of Session 2005-06 – Fourth Special Report of Session 2005–06 from the DfES. Reports Digest Reports from LEAs in this issue include those covering a review of special education in children's services in Derbyshire; a hard to place children’s admission scheme in Dorset; a strategy for improving services for children, young people and families through extended schools in Newcastle; pyramid clubs and extended schools in North Somerset; guidance on the use of physical interventions in Gloucestershire; and a practical guide to managing behaviour in schools in Peterborough. Document Digest Documents covered this month include DfES: Know-How Booklet - Parenting Support, GCSE and Equivalent Results and Associated Value Added Measures in England 2004/05 (Revised) , and National Curriculum Assessment, GCSE and Equivalent Attainment and Post-16 Attainment by Pupil Characteristics, in England 2005, and National Curriculum Assessments at Key Stage 2, and Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2 Value Added Measures for England 2004-05 (Final) from the DfES; Vision for Services for Young People Affected By Domestic Violence from the LGA; E-ffective Teaching from the LSN; A Research Study of 14 to 35-year-olds for the Future Development of Public Libraries: Final report from the MLA; Best Practice in Self-evaluation: A survey of schools, colleges and local authorities, and Inclusion: Does it matter where pupils are taught? Provision and outcomes in different settings for pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities from Ofsted; and Staff of Scottish Local Authority Social Work Services, 2005 from the Scottish Executive. Research section Research Digest Research Notes Our research editor, Michael Marshall, is worried about the Government’s ignorance of international research evidence when producing its education proposals. Waiting for a Miracle - Autism Research We report on the latest autism research, which, despite medical and scientific advances, is no nearer to finding out what causes this controversial and much misunderstood disability. Don’t Judge Schools Purely on Raw Examination Data or Examination Results NFER’s Ian Schagen and Tom Benton write about their analysis of school absence rates for the National Audit Office, in which they looked at national authorised and unauthorised absence data for schools in England for 2000/1 to 2002/3 to identify truancy’s relationship to other factors, such as behaviour and school leadership. Parliament section The Education Bill Debated in the Lords Our parliamentary editor, Nick Kent, reports on the consideration of the Education and Inspections Bill in the House of Lords. Student Fees, but not for Scots Arabella Hargreaves, editor of EPM Scotland, reports on the controversial proposal by the Scottish Executive to introduce top-up fees for students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Referral of Vulnerable Children Increases We report on the increase in referrals to the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration on non-offence grounds. School Funding in Wales Helen Grimmett, Editor of EPM Wales/Cymru, on a debate on the report of the committee on school funding. Special Educational Needs Review We report on a debate in the Welsh Assembly on the recommendations of a review into special educational needs, which criticised the statementing process. Parliamentary Questions Subjects covered include the number of pupil exclusions, school finance, educational maintenance allowances and probationary teachers. Phoenix Grads reunited, quangos galore, monolingual employees and our Children’s Services editor takes a trip but doesn’t send us a postcard. |