Blog posts for tag:schools

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Respect and tolerance vital in schools

By , Wednesday 10 December 2014

The government have reinforced the promotion of tolerance and respect in British schools recently, stating these are key British values. The guidance document released by the government at the end of November, entitled ‘Promoting fundamental British values as part of SMSC in schools,’ comes after a number of statements made by members of the government, following concerns around an Islamist takeover in Birmingham schools earlier this year.

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NCFE V Certs and the 2017 Performance tables

By David Grailey, Chief Executive, Wednesday 10 December 2014

David Grailey

Christmas is here and we have a new performance table list from the DfE. This means we’ve now received confirmation from the Department for Education (DfE) on which qualifications will feature in the 2017 Key Stage 4 performance tables.

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Call for career advice on apprenticeships

By Lindsay Plumpton, Communications Leader, Wednesday 10 December 2014

Lindsay Plumpton

As we approach 2015’s General Election, ‘Apprenticeships’ is the hot topic that binds all 3 of the big political parties. However, Ofsted FE and Skills Director Lorna Fitzjohn has recently spoken out about young people not being well advised on the benefits of apprenticeships when at school, resulting in the number of apprenticeship starts among young people ‘flatlining’.  She claims that careers advice in schools mainly focuses on A-Levels as the preferred option for teenagers due to a lack of understanding in schools about work-based training.

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It’s all in the balance

By David Grailey, Chief Executive, Wednesday 12 November 2014

David Grailey

It was great to read earlier this year that parents want to see more practical teaching in schools. To mark its 10th anniversary, the Edge Foundation surveyed over 1,000 parents of secondary aged children to get their views about vocational education. I am pleased to say that there was majority support from the sample with most agreeing that technical degrees combining academic and vocational study are of equal value to traditional academic subjects.

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A tipping point for vocational education

By David Grailey, Chief Executive, Tuesday 11 November 2014

David Grailey

Throughout our lives, career decisions can be amongst the most defining and important choices we have to make. These can feel especially daunting for those about to make their initial steps onto the career ladder from Further Education or school. It’s therefore not surprising that when making these important decisions, many young people turn to their parents as the first port of call for advice and guidance.

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Policy Corner - 3 November 2014

By Andrew Gladstone-Heighton, Policy Leader, Monday 03 November 2014

Andrew Gladstone-Heighton

‘Dramatic changes’ lie ahead with Progress 8 (p6) – The forthcoming changes to school performance tables could lead to ‘hundreds’ of schools facing government intervention. Research by the Fischer Family Trust has measured schools performance in 2013 against the new ‘Progress 8’ target (which measures schools students’ progress across a broader range of 8 subjects); under this regime 325 schools would fail to meet the new minimum standards.

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Information Advice and Guidance in Schools

By Kevin Gill, Marketing Projects Leader, Monday 20 October 2014

Kev Blog

At some point in their employment, most teachers have been asked by pupils for a degree of careers guidance – what qualifications they need to get where they want to be, what training they should undertake and what skills are required. Now, the Government’s Information Advice and Guidance (IAG) strategy places schools at the heart of this process.

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Changing perceptions of vocational education

By David Grailey, Chief Executive, Monday 20 October 2014

David Grailey

Over the last few weeks there has been a number of news stories linked to vocational qualifications. Whether it’s been the growing recognition that vocational qualifications offer a valid alternative to GCSEs, or the increasing acceptance of a number of higher level vocational qualifications as valid entry into university. The debate goes on about the merit of both of these elements and within this is the long running discussion about careers advice and guidance within schools

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Policy Corner - 9 October 2014

By Andrew Gladstone-Heighton, Policy Leader, Tuesday 07 October 2014

Andrew Gladstone-Heighton

More than one angle on GCSE grading (p7) Last week saw the announcement of the new GCSE grading system, which will support the introduction of new qualifications starting in 2015. The current A to G scale will be replaced with a 9-1 numerical system, with grade 4 being equivalent to a grade C, grade 7 to a grade A and the new ‘uber-grade’ 9 given to strictly controlled group of top performers.

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GCSE changes: What impact will this have?

By David Grailey, Chief Executive, Monday 15 September 2014

David Grailey

Last month, thousands of UK teens received their GCSE results. Pupils, parents and teachers interrupted their summer holidays and congregated at schools across the country to open that all-important envelope! Overall, the 2014 results show a 98.5% pass rate, down 0.3 percentage points (but with a rise in students receiving A*s). Significantly, the number of English entries dropped by more than 215,000 while the number of maths entries dropped by 76 per cent, from 170,357 down to 39,292.

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