G & T register to be scrapped?
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G & T register to be scrapped?
Apparently there was a newspaper report over the weekend about the Government scrapping the gifted and talented register next month.
Does anyone have any info about this - I can't seem to find any reference to it anywhere.
Does anyone have any info about this - I can't seem to find any reference to it anywhere.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/ed ... ademy.html
I found this but not had a chance to read it yet.
I found this but not had a chance to read it yet.
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Bewildered
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Sassie'sDad
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My take on government's interference in education, irrespective of political colour, is that government blows hot and cold and policy changes with it's perception of what is politic. I have a pretty jaundiced view of state schooling and "professional" teachers taking a sanctimonious view that only they know how or what to teach.
Education is important. For many, perhaps most, it is the single critical factor capable of transforming individual outcomes for the better.
The vacillation according to policy is what has really wrecked public education. Don't misunderstand where I am coming from. Cameron's utterances about degree qualifications are just as crass. What public education needs is stability, coherence and integrity. In a nutshell it needs to have stability and integrity. Give schools and teacher's autonomy but let them be answerable to their "consumers" and when found wanting let them be subject to real, painful sanctions.
Education is important. For many, perhaps most, it is the single critical factor capable of transforming individual outcomes for the better.
The vacillation according to policy is what has really wrecked public education. Don't misunderstand where I am coming from. Cameron's utterances about degree qualifications are just as crass. What public education needs is stability, coherence and integrity. In a nutshell it needs to have stability and integrity. Give schools and teacher's autonomy but let them be answerable to their "consumers" and when found wanting let them be subject to real, painful sanctions.
The Sunday Telegraph article didn't have any links to relevant announcements, so here are a few for those interested to check out:
FAQs on Young Gifted & Talented website http://ygt.dcsf.gov.uk/Community/FAQs.aspx
and here is the link on the inclusion part of the DCSF/National Strategies website http://www.nationalstrategies.standards ... ndtalented
I don't know if either actually throws any light on what provision is available to whom.
I work in an HEI environment and our department had a very interesting talk from a visiting pro-VC. He made the point that the top 5% by IQ in China contains more people than our whole population. Similar scenario in India as well.
Susan
FAQs on Young Gifted & Talented website http://ygt.dcsf.gov.uk/Community/FAQs.aspx
and here is the link on the inclusion part of the DCSF/National Strategies website http://www.nationalstrategies.standards ... ndtalented
I don't know if either actually throws any light on what provision is available to whom.
I work in an HEI environment and our department had a very interesting talk from a visiting pro-VC. He made the point that the top 5% by IQ in China contains more people than our whole population. Similar scenario in India as well.
Susan
Even if that Telegraph article that someone provided the link to is all true, maybe it is not as bad as it looks. It says the national register is to go. I guess all the centrally funded and centrally run stuff is to go. (After all we do have a lot of debt so presumably little bits are going to be chipped away from all public services and a conservative government will have to do the same).
However, maybe there will still be a requirement for schools to identify and stretch their gifted and talented, but within their existing mainstream budgets. I guess this is disappointing if you have experienced some great Saturday workshops, holiday workshops etc etc done by the academy or through extra funding to the school, but how many G and T children really have? None of my relatives or friends' children who are have done so (small sample I know, so I am genuinely asking the question if many have benefitted from these extras).
I would have thought bright children could be stretched at no extra cost - it doesn't cost anything extra to let them get ahead in the textbook, research something different in the library, do some extra stuff on the internet etc. It just requires more planning time for the teachers to differentiate what they are offering to each member of the class according to ability; not easy I know, but not necessarily a problem solved by more money either.
The whole thing was a bit weird anyway wasn't it - the top 10% of a school can vary so much from school to school, if you got those kids together at the weekend you'd have pretty much a mixed ability class anyhow.
However, maybe there will still be a requirement for schools to identify and stretch their gifted and talented, but within their existing mainstream budgets. I guess this is disappointing if you have experienced some great Saturday workshops, holiday workshops etc etc done by the academy or through extra funding to the school, but how many G and T children really have? None of my relatives or friends' children who are have done so (small sample I know, so I am genuinely asking the question if many have benefitted from these extras).
I would have thought bright children could be stretched at no extra cost - it doesn't cost anything extra to let them get ahead in the textbook, research something different in the library, do some extra stuff on the internet etc. It just requires more planning time for the teachers to differentiate what they are offering to each member of the class according to ability; not easy I know, but not necessarily a problem solved by more money either.
The whole thing was a bit weird anyway wasn't it - the top 10% of a school can vary so much from school to school, if you got those kids together at the weekend you'd have pretty much a mixed ability class anyhow.
Very true, especially in areas like Bucks and Kent where the whole system is selective: the difference between the top 10% of a grammar and the top 10% of a secondary modern in a bad area can be enormous.mystery wrote: The whole thing was a bit weird anyway wasn't it - the top 10% of a school can vary so much from school to school, if you got those kids together at the weekend you'd have pretty much a mixed ability class anyhow.
