Tuesday, September 16, 2008
News in brief for September 2008
Summaries of educational news items this month.
The first Hindu school in Britain opened in .......................September 2008. There are 6,850 faith schools in the UK but not a single one teaching in the Hindu faith and tradition, until now. Krisha-Avanti Primary School opened in West London in September with 32 children in reception. It will cater for 236 children when full with subsequent year groups.
A new qualification for entrance to University was introduced in September after being recognised by the Qualification Standards Agency. The Pre-U is designed as an alternative to A Levels for academic students with a focus on a wide range of learning and teaching. It has been more popular with Independent Schools with 2/3 of the schools using it from this sector.
Scottish school sees Podcasts and Vodcasts as key to supporting learning. The Alva Academy in Scotland has launched a new service for students returning to school this term. Teachers of maths, science and home economics will record videos of key points from lessons and homework and revision advice which will be posted onto the school’s website. This service will support student’s learning outside of school and engage parents in their child’s school experience. The school envisages parents could use the videos to refresh their own understanding when helping with homework. The Scottish school is trialing the "vodcasting system" over the coming academic year, with plans to extend across all subjects if successful.
The Slave Trade will be part of the History curriculum in all secondary schools. All secondary school children in England will learn about the slave trade and the involvement of Britain in it from September 2008 as part of the revised secondary curriculum.
180 new GCSE courses have been accredited for the new school year. Ofqual has accredited these new courses which are a mixture of revised courses and sixty brand new subjects. The revised courses have been changed to include a wider variety of tasks and question types and to include more controlled assessment and modular assessment. Brand new courses include new short courses in languages and the first full course in citizenship. The revision of GCSE courses brings them in line with the new requirements from the QCA and also makes them closer in structure to the recently revised AS and A2 courses. There will be a move away from coursework options in many subjects responding to the considerable debate in recent times over the reliability of coursework as an accurate assessment.
English state school moves to the International Baccalaureate. Many Independent schools have moved over to the International Baccalaureate instead of GCSEs and now Bexley Grammar School in Kent has become the first state school to join tem by opting to use the Igcse in Science from this September. One reason suggested why more schools in England do not follow the Igscse courses is because the qualification is not recognised by the government’s qualifications authority, QCA and therefore results do not register in the league table results for schools.
This situation is recognised by examination bodies. University of Cambridge International Examinations, which is linked to the Oxford and Cambridge and Royal Society of Arts (OCR) exam board has put forward proposals for a new qualification based on the Igcse to the QCA for approval in an attempt to remove any hurdle to offering an alternative to the GCSE in state schools.
A new education centre and service launched. The Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children’s Services is funded by the DCSF with partners from across the education and children’s sector. Its key role is to work with a consortium of leading national organisations to ensure the plans and outcomes of the Every Child Matters agenda reach all children in all areas. Focusing on six national themes identified in Every Child Matters C4EO will look at local and regional evidence to create a clear national picture of best practice which they will then use to support local authorities to improve outcomes for children and young people. The six national themes are Early Years; Disability; Vulnerable Children; Youth; Parents, Carers and Families; and Schools and Communities.
The Teacher Resource Exchange A new website has been launched which supports teachers sharing resources and ideas. The website encourages teachers to submit ideas as well as fully worked resources on to the free access website. The emphasis is on dialogue between teachers to develop an initial idea in a collaborative way. The DCSF funded site has areas for all ages and stages of education. For more details: http://tre.ngfl.gov.uk/server.php
30 new Secondary schools opened across England at the start of September. This is the biggest phase of the BSF programme so far and the largest number of new schools opening at the same time for 70 years. The new schools are part of the government commitment to Build Schools for the Future by rebuilding or refurbishing every secondary school in England managed by Partnership for Schools.
Major changes to educational provision for 3-7 year olds come into effect in England and Wales this September. In England the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum is now in place in all early years settings including childminders and playgroups. A EYFS Profile must be completed for each child at the end of the year in which they are five, recording their development in 69 key learning goals. The new curriculum requires assessment to be based on observation by teachers and other adults from snapshots of classroom activities. There is also an emphasis on children understanding their own learning goals and achievements.
Cambridge Education has developed a new EYFS PbyP webtool and site which provides an profile for each child, storing evidence in each of the learning goals. Each EYFS statement is displayed as written in the Profile and also in language understandable by young children. It also provides video clips of a child describing each goal, for those not yet reading. Foundations PbyP also has the added benefit of introducing children to the skills of self and peer assessment through a system where class teachers can send work to each other’s classes for whole class discussion. The class can then send a comment back through the site. PbyP Foundations will be launched later this term; we will announce the date in our October newsletter and on our website. www.camb-ed.net
There is also a new curriculum for children starting school in Wales this month, with some radical changes from the old school experience. The new Foundation Phase for ages 3-7 with a specific curriculum focused on experiential learning, active involvement and play. There is a requirement for all children in the Foundation Phase to experience outdoor play and learning at all times of the year. The new curriculum is described by the Education Minister, Jane Hutt as " a radical new way of learning" and is facilitated by a maximum teacher pupil ratio of 1:8 for classes of 3-7 year olds.2,000 new Teaching Assistant jobs have been created across Welsh Primary Schools to support the system.
Children who started secondary school this month will be the first to stay in compulsory education and training until they are 17. The 11 year olds will be the first to remain in compulsory schooling or training until they are 17 following the first change in the school leaving age since it was raised to 16 in 1972. The curriculum will be different for them too. Following the secondary review wider choice is to be made from age 14 onwards with revised GCSEs and new Diplomas with an emphasis on a range of skills alongside academic knowledge and understanding. They will also be the first students for many decades to formally learn what it means to be British, as part of the revised citizenship curriculum. ( Recommended by Sir Keith Ajegbo’s review of Citizenship in the curriculum.)