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I think class sizes are a red herring. Smaller is not necessarily better or even easier to teach. |
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By Fusive on
Friday, September 29, 2006
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When I started teaching (a long time ago) my first few infant classes varied in size from 42 to 53 (with three intakes a year it could get a bit packed from Easter to Summer). Typically we started the year with 36ish and then took in another 12 or so at Christmas and shoe-horned a couple of others in after Easter. I had a teaching assistant with me one half day a week. Every day was formal teaching Literacy and Numeracy in the mornings (who thought that idea was new eh?) and each child was expected to read every day (the Headteacher helped out twice a week). Standards were amazingly high compared with today. Why ? Read my comments at the end.
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Should the Education Budget be used to pay for daycare for adults with learning difficulties / |
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By Fusive on
Friday, September 22, 2006
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Last week cuts in FE College budgets were said to be threatening key vocational training programmes – but there was a report that, at Salisbury College the “cuts” in courses included the closure of a course for adults with severe learning difficulties. It transpired, however, that most of the individuals has been on the programme for some time, - up to 12 years in some cases. For those of us who have been around for a while, we recognise that this “problem” has happened again and again.
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Important thinkers believe current culture is taking away children’s childhood. But I don’t necessarily agree. |
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By Fusive on
Sunday, September 17, 2006
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British children are being "poisoned" by a culture of processed food, computer games and over-competitive education, a group of academics and authors claimed today. The Guardian quotes a letter to the Daily Telegraph, in which 110 teachers, psychologists and children's authors have called on the government to prevent the death of childhood. But they don’t really analyse why children’s lives have changed like this and whether turning back the clock is any kind of possibility.
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Its about time A levels were sorted out, isn’t it. |
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By Fusive on
Friday, September 08, 2006
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All the stuff in the press and on the TV about the exam system must have impinged itself on the government as a key issue to resolve (if all the hype about Tony going has made everybody forget there’s a job to do.) No one can fail to see that the A-level results - which saw the second biggest rise in the number of A grades awarded in the history of the exam - added urgency to the review of the qualification that is being undertaken by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), the exams watchdog.
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Poor literacy and numeracy of recent graduates. My heart sinks. |
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By Fusive on
Saturday, September 02, 2006
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More and more information is available to show that young people with GCSE English grades at C or above are functionally illiterate. A family member has just had to let an apprentice go because even though she has a Grade A in English (Language AND Literature no less. Her spelling was appalling, and her grammar worse. Even left with a letter to copy she would manage to misspell three or four words and forget the punctuation. I cannot begin to tell you how deficient her skills were in answering the telephone.
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Perhaps “high flyers” in maths and science should consider doing apprenticeships in engineering ? I think so. |
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By Fusive on
Monday, August 28, 2006
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Students who earned good grades in maths and science at GCSE should consider taking apprenticeships rather than traditional academic career paths, a leading scientist has advised. Rather than following the traditional route to A-levels then university, students could join an apprenticeship program straight after their GCSEs, train to become an engineer, for example, and then study for a degree or a diploma while working. And they would have a job and be earning money – seems like a really good idea.
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Limits should be made on the number of GCSEs taken by students |
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By Fusive on
Thursday, August 24, 2006
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A headteacher of one of the major independent schools asks for schools to cut the number of GCSEs taken by pupils – he wants education to benefit students and not league tables. At a time when top grades are increasing many people fear that this is because schools sit pupils for “easy” subjects where students can get high grades and thus boost the school’s tables. This is backed up by news that results of grades C+ in Maths and English and other key major academic subjects are not particularly good.
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Major universities advises students to not study “soft option” A level subjects and concentrate on academic subjects |
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By Fusive on
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
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As many astute “A” level tutors would already have known, major universities are not willing to accept high grades in “soft option” A levels as entry requirements to their courses, but prefer lower grades in academic subjects. Cambridge, the London School of Economics and Manchester are advising students to concentrate of academic A levels and Cambridge has gone so far as to post a notice on its website advising young people of acceptable and unacceptable combinations of subjects for entry to its courses.
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Schools choose “easier” GCSEs than Maths and English to boost exam pass rate |
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By Fusive on
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
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It appears that there is a gap in performance of 16 year olds in Maths and English at GCSE as compared with other GCSEs, prompting critics to say that schools are putting young people into programmes of subjects where it is easier for them to get higher grades, so as to boost the school’s performance in the tables. New % 5 Grade A-C passes standards will have to include Maths and English by 2008 – so the results will fall unless socks are pulled up smartly.
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“A” Levels results are up but University student numbers likely to go down. |
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By Fusive on
Sunday, August 20, 2006
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Fewer students are likely to go to university this autumn despite a record year for A-level results, prompting fears that new "top-up" fees have put young people off higher education. Although critics of fees predicted poorer students would be hit hardest, the UCAS figures say the decrease was similar across the different social groups. Perhaps “A” level students are also looking at entering the job market whilst they can, earning money and work experience whilst the job market is buoyant enough for them to do so. If they’re worried about the money then this would be a really wise move instead of looking forward to increasing loans or bankrupting their parents.
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