THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

[ANDREW THE POET]

Is selection by ability better than selection by postcode?? I guess the argument for any kind of selective education is that at least it's a level playing field - if you make the grade, then you're in. Where I used to live, in Peterborough, it was a case of moving to the 'right' postcode or simply developing a very long-term relationship with your vicar in order to have your application rubber-stamped by the 'best' church secondary in the area. Selection is certainly alive and kicking - we just don't call it that and, in its present form, is far more divisive than requesting that children might sit an exam to ascertain suitability for a given school. Grammars work, although secondary modern/comprehensives clearly are the area of concern. All children are different and, rather than raise the argument over '2nd' and '1st' class education, perhaps we should be moving to a much more of a practical and vocational role for secondary pupils. I've worked with many 13/14 year-olds who are frustrated and generally bored by their present regime. A more hands-on approach would be much more up their street. Let's hope the fabulously expensive academies might live up to expectations. Personally, I think that you have to do a lot more than deliver glass houses with fancy-sounding corporate names in order to offer children the start they need in life. First impressions are not good – you only have to listen to the pronouncements of the new head of the academy in Peterborough about how pupils are ‘employees’ and that they don’t need a playground to socialize to understand how far-removed the overall education debate is from the real needs of children

[Grumpy...]

Is this the new place where pupils will be 'able to hydrate during the learning experience'?

'Nuff said...

[Guest]

It's like something out of a science fiction movie: Children are sent to Academies full of hope and optimism for their future. Once there, they have their brains removed and replaced with a microchip controlled by a central computer based somewhere in Whitehall. There are a few rebel pupils who managed to get into grammar schools and are not affected by the microchips. To get to the grammar school kids, they have been instructed that they must help other schools in the local community. Under this disguise, they are trying their best to infiltrate these Academies and rescue their fellow human beings before it's too late.....

[ANDREW THE POET]

I think it was 'too late' some years ago, re last post. Expect more spin and back-tracking by government over the next few months/years.

[Guest]

I think it was 'too late' some years ago, re last post. Expect more spin and back-tracking by government over the next few months/years.

All at the expense of our children's education.