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Recent Posts
- Zola : a political reading. August 13, 2023
- Hotter than July? August 5, 2023
- Rethinking work July 30, 2023
- Educating for political literacy in an age of crisis. July 21, 2023
- Savoirs et valeurs : pratiquer et conjuguer July 21, 2023
- ‘Transformative Teaching and Learning in Further Education – Pedagogies of Hope and Social Justice’ July 18, 2023
- Dilemmas of Growth June 14, 2023
- A broader view of skills? June 7, 2023
- In praise of ‘low value’ subjects. February 27, 2023
- Frigga Haug and the mystery of learning December 6, 2022
- Debating Growth. November 29, 2022
- Code red for human survival November 8, 2022
- The politics of silence. September 4, 2022
- Posts on Corsican themes. August 10, 2022
- When Corsica welcomed thousands of Serb refugees (1916) August 9, 2022
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Category Archives: Education
Scale and efficiency in upper secondary education
In which country has the national audit agency investigated the cost of upper secondary education and found it to be costly and inefficient? The figures have only recently been calculated and it seems that this phase is more expensive than … Continue reading
Posted in Education policy
Tagged Colleges, Education, efficiency, England, France, lycee, Post-16 funding, Sixth form, Sixth form college
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London’s engines of mobility
If we use the proportion of students eligible for free school meals (FSM) progressing to university as a measure of social mobility, it’s clear that the ‘London effect’ is very marked. London’s FSM progression rate in 2012 was 58% compared to … Continue reading
Posted in Education, NewVIc
Tagged Colleges, Education, England, free school meals, London, Newham Sixth Form College, NewVIc, Social mobility, university progression
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Tamsin Oglesby’s ‘Future Conditional’
When a play is dismissed by the Daily Mail as ‘lefty tosh’ it’s probably going to be worth seeing. I enjoyed Tamsin Oglesby’s polemical ‘Future Conditional’ which was full of debate and far from one-sided. This pacey ensemble piece which … Continue reading
The problem with England’s post-16 area reviews
There is a contradiction at the heart of the government’s post-16 area reviews for England and it was clearly exposed the other day by the very civil servants tasked with implementing them. Sixth form college principals and chairs of governors … Continue reading
Posted in Education policy
Tagged Area-based Reviews, Colleges, Education, efficiency, England, marketisation, Post-16 funding, Sixth form, Sixth form college
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NewVIc breaks all its university progression records.
Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc) has always had high rates of university progression, both in terms of numbers and the proportion of leavers progressing. These have consistently been well above the national and London averages. We are also very proud … Continue reading
Posted in Education, NewVIc
Tagged aspiration, Education, Newham Sixth Form College, NewVIc, Russell group, Social mobility, university progression
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Developing Labour’s vision for education
The heady summer campaign is over and a new leader has been elected. It’s time for the party to turn its attention to policy development as well as effective opposition. Across the whole spectrum of public policy, the party needs … Continue reading
Starting to think about a National Education Service
The hysterical reaction from some quarters to the election of a new Labour leader has been quite extraordinary. In his first week in post after an overwhelming victory, Jeremy Corbyn has been portrayed as ‘the most dangerous man in Britain’ … Continue reading
The post-16 retake challenge
I think it is a reasonable aspiration that 16-18 year olds who haven’t achieved a threshold standard in English and Maths should continue to study both subjects in some form as part of their programme of study post-16. If possible, students should … Continue reading
Posted in Education policy
Tagged achievement, collaboration, criterion referencing, Education, English, GCSE, marketisation, Maths, partnership, Policy Exchange, Post-16 funding, Sixth form, success
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A parent’s guide to sixth form enrolment
Welcome to enrolment. As parents or guardians your role is vital. You can help your daughter or son to understand their options and you know them better than anyone so your insights can be really useful. So how can you … Continue reading
Posted in Education, NewVIc, Parents
Tagged Colleges, Education, enrolment, information advice and guidance, Newham Sixth Form College, NewVIc, parents, Sixth form, young people
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Enrolment: where aspiration meets reality
It’s a crazy way to start the year; enrolling all our students over a few days in late August before we can start teaching them. Enrolment is a major cross-college team effort which requires every member of staff to do something different … Continue reading
Russell group numbers soar in Newham
This year, more students than ever before are progressing from Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc) to Russell group universities. Once again the college has the highest number of Russell group progressors of any Newham sixth form. 90 NewVIc students have … Continue reading
Imagining a better future is the first step
My article on the post-16 area-based reviews from this week’s Times Education Supplement. Think of all the 16-18 year olds in your area. What do you see? Talented and ambitious young people keen to improve their knowledge and skills? Students … Continue reading
What is powerful knowledge?
In Knowledge and the Future School (2014) the sociologist of education Michael Young proposes a ‘return to knowledge’ following what he regards as the ‘turn away from knowledge’ taken by some progressives including Young himself in his earlier work. This … Continue reading
Results Day: best of days, worst of days.
It’s a love / hate thing. On the one hand results day is a wonderful moment of celebration when all the hard work put in by students and staff is publicly celebrated, a moment when young people can reflect on … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Learning resources
Tagged A levels, achievement, Colleges, information advice and guidance, NewVIc, pass rates, results day, Sixth form, value added
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Reducing culture to memes
The economy of ideas #2 Human culture is such a complex and fluid assemblage of shared knowledge, ideas, beliefs, attitudes, perspectives and practices. How can we even begin to analyse and usefully study it? One way is to break it down into … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Philosophy
Tagged cultural education, culture, emergence, ideas, Mary Midgley, memes, reductionism, Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene
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Eddie Playfair 