Tag Archives: Social cohesion

Investing in East London’s future

Posted on December 21, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

Our annual analysis of the university destinations of our students always makes impressive reading. While we can’t guarantee that every former NewVIc student who progresses to a degree level course will get a graduate level job in a few years’ … Continue reading →

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Post-16: education’s wild frontier

Posted on July 21, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

Sixth form education in England has become the wild frontier for selection and marketisation with a plethora of new providers, whether 11-18 academies or 16-18 free schools trying to outdo each other in setting ever more exclusive entry requirements and competing … Continue reading →

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A pale shadow of democracy

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

The government’s new local arrangements for overseeing schools are a pale shadow of what we need. A new regional architecture is being created to oversee England’s schools and we are beginning to see its outlines. Mostly, it’s made up of … Continue reading →

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A tale of two boroughs

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

I want to start by telling the story of 16-18 education in two London boroughs; a story which illustrates some of the things I think we should be concerned about. Borough A was an economically disadvantaged area where most secondary schools … Continue reading →

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Post-16 funding: making the wrong choices

Posted on April 18, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

I agree with quite a lot of what Michael Gove says about the purpose of education and I like his championing of egalitarian aims. I welcome the fact that he has moved the Conservative party away from selection pre-16. I … Continue reading →

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Don’t be young!

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

It’s a tough time to be young. Since 2010, young people have taken quite a battering from policies and cuts which have narrowed their opportunities and limited their prospects of becoming active, fulfilled members of society. All this in a context of … Continue reading →

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The comprehensive college

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

Why do we persist in describing our sixth form college as comprehensive when the term has been unfashionable for some time and there is no requirement to have an inclusive admissions policy? We’re proud to be comprehensive and, for us, … Continue reading →

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10 proposals to improve education

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Eddie Playfair

Following my previous post: 10 principles to shape education, I would like to suggest 10 measures to start putting those principles into practice: 1. Aim for a comprehensive system: state funded schools, colleges and universities should have a single status … Continue reading →

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Our common values, our common education

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Eddie Playfair

We humans are natural learners. We are born with an insatiable urge to question, understand and master our environment and to communicate with others. Thanks to memory, language, thought and eventually culture and technology we have been able to extend … Continue reading →

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