“Three Girls” and a System that Perpetuated their Abuse

This gallery contains 5 photos.

If you ever wanted an illustration of a well-intended policy that’s tragically flawed and horrifically neglectful you’ll find it in the Rochdale sexual abuse cases. You’ll find similar cases in other parts of the country – historical and sadly, some … Continue reading →

Testing and Re-testing . . . and forgetting the individual child

This gallery contains 5 photos.

The news today that an incoming Conservative government would re-test children who “fail” their Year 6 SATs has shocked educators who may not have believed politicians could conjure up yet more preposterous and inappropriate policies. http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/apr/07/tories-resits-pupils-fail-end-primary-school-exams-key-stage-2 Sadly experience tells us … Continue reading →

“The simultaneous development of physical and mental powers in harmonious interplay”

This gallery contains 5 photos.

The is the fourth post in our series of extracts from the conclusions of the Hadow Report of 1931. We’re considering the impact of Hadow on the history of Primary education.We’ll add some thoughts and comments of our own in … Continue reading →

The Hadow Report – Chapter 1 – The Needs of Primary Children

This gallery contains 2 photos.

Chapter 1 of the Hadow Report describes the fragmented nature of the English education system in 1931, and is very clear in its conclusion that we need to treat Primary education as a distinct phase that requires specific approaches and … Continue reading →

Education and the Hadow Report – Learning from the History of Education

This gallery contains 3 photos.

It’s a pleasure to be working again with Professor Yoko Yamasaki at Mukogawa University. The focus of our current collaboration (on the history of education and on contemporary issues in education) is the Hadow Report of 1931, and its impact … Continue reading →

Narrowing the Gap and Cultural Entitlement

This gallery contains 8 photos.

In his most recent article, Will Hutton, has drawn attention to the significant problem of narrowing the gap between affluent and financially disadvantaged young people being accepted into university. Needless to say, the figures are startling yet unsurprising. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/17/university-access-unfair-poor-students-inequality-fees?CMP=twt_gu “From … Continue reading →

Outnumbered, Outranked and Outwitted: Pupil Voice.

This gallery contains 8 photos.

The wonderful BBC programme on family life – “Outnumbered” – this week gave us a particularly brilliant set of scenes featuring the head teacher of the secondary school that daughter Karen attends, and the young girl herself. If you’ve missed … Continue reading →

A Festival of Education – Some Initial Observations

This gallery contains 11 photos.

It’s hard know where to begin with this post on the Festival of Education at Wellington College. Since I’m still feeling riled by Toby Young’s comment about child centred education being “balls”, that would seem an appropriate place to kick … Continue reading →

Primary Schools – Does Size Matter?

This gallery contains 6 photos.

There were two important education-related news stories in the press last Saturday, alongside the news about Michael Gove’s grilling at the NAHT conference (following the vote of no confidence in him) and Sir Ken Robinson’s scathing article in the Guardian … Continue reading →