Summary of Education News April 2008

Ed Balls is trying … but who is backing him?

In something of a volte face for the Labour, Children's Secretary Ed Balls apparently wants state schools to establish branches of the Combined Cadet Forces, possibly by working with the independent sector.

This can be seen as a positive move, not in a militaristic sense, but because discipline, well structured and applied, leads to self discipline – which appears to be much needed within many state schools.

On the other side of the coin, however, up to 50 Labour MPs are believed to be behind a call for academic selection to be scrapped. This could reignite debate over the future of grammar schools, as the 11-plus entrance examination would be abolished, apparently on the basis that it condemns poor children to an inferior education.

While everyone will wish all children to receive a good education, in reality that is not always possible and it is the concern of many interested parents to ensure that their own children are given every advantage. A drive to reduce the amount of money spent on ‘good’ state schools makes it even more important that parents are able to afford the option of an independent education for their children, if they wish.

These costs can be managed through careful planning and can be cut by as much as 50% in some cases. Please click here for details of how much you could save.

Confusion over examinations

Plans to introduce the International Baccalaureate (IB) examination for sixth-formers in state schools have apparently been dropped; thousands of basic-level vocational qualifications could also go, it is reported. Some commentators believe that this is an attempt to divert students onto the new diplomas, although many of London's best state schools will not be running these new qualifications.

Meanwhile, new rules set by the OCR exam board will allow pupils to re-take individual GCSE units to boost their grades; student will now be able to complete 60% of a GCSE course before their final exam.

A report, by the Bow Group, reveals that almost a million teenagers failed to achieve even the lowest grade, a G, in five GCSEs since 1997. It also appears that more than 40,000 children were last year considered to be so poor in basic school subjects that they were not entered for GCSE exams in Maths and English.

However, it appears that an increasing number of independent schools will be offering qualifications outside mainstream A-levels and diplomas over the next two years. This will give pupils an edge when it comes to demonstrating their ability, compared with those tied to an increasingly questionable “A” level system. The number of independent schools opting for the IB is expected to more than double in the next 18 months.

Never has the value of an independent education been so clear.

State school funding

The government has been accused of watering down the £45billion ‘Building Schools for the Future’ programme, which aimed to rebuild every state school in the country by 2020. Apparently the Department for Children, Schools and Families says that the target has been replaced with the 'ambition' that every school should have a plan in place by 2020.

Shortage of funding could be why one-in-six state schools appears to be breaching the admissions code by asking parents to make 'voluntary' contributions as a condition of entry. Many of the schools involved appear to be ‘faith’ schools.

To make life more difficult for parents, a south coast council has admitted spying on a family for more than two weeks to find out if they were really living in a school catchment area. Just as well it has powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) - usually used to track criminals and terrorists - to justify this use of public funds in fighting such behaviour.

And finally … a course in the art of punting at Cambridge

St John's College, Cambridge (well the Punt Society, anyway) has produced a 'Bluffer's Guide to Punting' in an attempt to ensure that undergraduates do not put the college to shame while trying out this ‘ancient’ method of transport on the River Cam. For a copy of this important guide, please click here.

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