Michael Gove makes me want to cry. I know I am always banging on about education, but I am so dreadfully afraid about what will happen to our schools post-general election, whoever ends up getting in. Maybe it comes from being a newly qualified teacher, a friend and seasoned teacher of 15yrs tells me not [...]
Posts Tagged ‘school’
Tory Education Policy: Cry or Laugh?
Posted in Education, Politics, tagged conservatives, Education, politicians, school on March 10, 2010 | 3 Comments »
World Book Day
Posted in Children, Education, tagged school on March 4, 2010 | 9 Comments »
Are you kids dressing up for World Book Day today? Was it a case of picking a costume and shoehorning some kind of literary reference in somehow? Are you strict about it, or do you think a Toy Story Colouring Book is enough justification for a Buzz Lightyear costume? My daughter’s school seems to have [...]
A liberal education
Posted in Children, Education, Politics, tagged Education, election, libdems, school on February 24, 2010 | 8 Comments »
We had announcements on labours education policy this week, their big idea being parental ability to sack heads. We’ve heard lots about the Tories plans for swedish schools. But what are the big ideas of the lib dems? Although they’re less effective at dominating the headlines, there are actually some really interesting ideas in the [...]
Parent Power
Posted in Education, Parents, Politics, tagged Education, Labour, parenting, school on February 23, 2010 | 8 Comments »
Have you ever been involved with your children’s school PTA? Have you experienced cliques of parents in the school playground? Have you felt marginalised or even…dare I say it?…bullied by other parents?? I bet the answer in many cases is ‘yes’. We often experience political machinations amongst parents concerning many issues ranging from whether the [...]
Rubbish at Maths? So are teachers…
Posted in Education, tagged Education, school on February 14, 2010 | 10 Comments »
My son is really really good at maths. He likes us to set maths questions while we’re eating. He notices numbers everywhere. He understands fractions, percentages, division multiplication. And he’s only year 2 (that’s 7 years old to you and me). So I was alarmed by the article in the Guardian showing how poor the [...]
The Lost Generation
Posted in Children, Education, tagged Education, school, teenagers on February 12, 2010 | 8 Comments »
“Being unemployed is a very emotional time. You lose your confidence, you don’t think anyone wants you….” Hearing this kind of thing said about unemployment is not uncommon, but it somehow sounds worse coming from the mouth of Leah who is aged just 19. Leah was part of a Woman’s Hour Special yesterday that looked [...]
Online safety for children – knowledge is power
Posted in Children, Education, tagged Education, internet, school on February 11, 2010 | 3 Comments »
On Internet Safety day this week we read that children as young as 5 are to be targeted in a new government backed campaign designed to raise children’s awareness of the risks of the internet. The emphasis in this new initiative is firmly on empowering children to be aware of the risks and use [...]
Teacher phone home
Posted in Children, Education, Parents, tagged school on February 10, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Would you appreciate a phone call from your child’s teacher to report good behaviour? A good idea to keep parents in the loop or a waste of the teacher’s time? The Times Educational Supplement suggests that it might be a good idea. I did a statistically insignificant poll of 20 laptopmums and here are the [...]
Are teachers too thick?
Posted in Education, tagged Education, school on February 9, 2010 | 14 Comments »
All very laudable upping the bar on qualifications to become a teacher, and I follow the logic for secondary level as how can you enthuse/ have authority on your subject if you haven’t studied it to the highest and most effective level? Kids would suss that and unpick you sharpish. But at primary level (and [...]
