TonyGosling
Editor
Joined: 25 Jul 2005
Posts: 18335
Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
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 Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 10:20 pm Post subject: New Labour Education Reform Is A Disaster - OECD |
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Britain slumps in world league table for maths and reading
Will Woodward, chief political correspondent
Wednesday December 5, 2007 - Guardian
Britain is sliding down the world league table in reading and maths, according to the findings of the most authoritative international study, published yesterday.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development downgraded the UK from seventh to 17th in reading, and eighth to 24th in maths.
The scale of the research - the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) study involved independent tests last year on 400,000 teenagers from 57 countries - adds weight to the embarrassment for ministers. Last week Gordon Brown promised to make Britain "a beacon to the world" in upgrading skills and said the country "cannot compete on low skills but only on high skills".
Tables released last week for science showed the UK at 14th place, down from 4th when the last comparable UK results were published, in 2001.
Michael Reiss, director of education at the Royal Society, said: "How can the UK hope to compete economically in the future if our young people are not as well educated as those in other countries."
The thinktank Civitas said the findings exposed rising GCSE and A-level scores as a "charade". And Richard Lambert, the CBI's director general, said: "At a time of increasing global competition, the UK cannot afford to be 'average'."
South Korea and Finland remain the world leaders.
South Korea came top in reading, with New Zealand, Ireland, Australia and Estonia among those beating Britain. Finland was best for science and second in reading and maths. Taiwan came top in maths.
The OECD said Poland was one of the countries most improved in reading, and Mexico and Greece made significant improvements in maths.
The study found that streaming at an early age made socio-economic background more likely to affect results.
The prime minister's spokesman said many of the scores were "bunched", with differences slight. "We can always do more, and certainly there is no room for complacency, but our own national curriculum tests and GCSE results tell us that standards are continuing to rise."
Jim Knight, the schools minister, said: "We are putting a relentless focus on the progress of every individual through programmes such as Every Child Counts and personalised learning so that we know exactly where progress is made and where children are falling behind."
Michael Gove, the shadow children's secretary, said: "Every year the government boasts about the improvements it has made to education but every external audit tells us we're falling further behind."
David Laws, for the Liberal Democrats, called for a fundamental review of education policy in light of the results. "British children's attainment has gone down in almost every league table despite a massive investment programme," he said.
http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2222077,00.html
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"The maintenance of secrets acts like a psychic poison which alienates the possessor from the community" Carl Jung
https://37.220.108.147/members/www.bilderberg.org/phpBB2/ |
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Caz
Last Chance Saloon
Joined: 23 Apr 2006
Posts: 836
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| Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:46 pm Post subject: |
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We have the situation where Mansell plc, a construction company owned by Balfour Beatty with about 75 'education customers' including Eton and Gordonstoun, http://www.mansell.plc.uk/cms/layouts/xq/asp/idocid.1021/qx/default.ht m is now closely involved in the schools' curriculum. Another construction group, Mouchell Parkman, have also taken a close interest in our children:
http://www.mansell.plc.uk/cms/layouts/xq/asp/idocid.1542/qx/upload.htm [quote] | Quote: | Norfolk Schools Mansell
East Anglia Business Unit
Building skills, as well as schools
Project Brief
• To provide construction learning for 3 – 19 yr olds
• To help create career opportunities for 14 – 19 yr old students
• To support the development of vocational learning
• To support and develop positive, accessible and costeffective
vocational links
• To develop strong relationships with
Norfolk County Council, and Schools and
Education providers in Norfolk
School Liaison Officers – Mansell recruited two school liaison officers who organise
various activities for 3-19 year olds - namely Mick Simmons, a teacher with 32 years
experience, and Dawn Tye, a former Road Safety Officer. The activities include trade
taster tents (held at our Swaffham office), where children can try joinery, bricklaying
and plumbing, and school- based construction activity days, where Lego, Knex,
and other materials are used in construction simulations. Not only do these activities
make the construction process more interesting, fun and safe for the school children,
but they are linked to the curriculum, providing a learning tool as well.
Taster Tents – begun in 2003, our biannual “Taster Tent” allows our own tradesmen
(supported by our supply chain) to provide practical tuition to year 10 students in bricklaying,
carpentry, plumbing and electrical work. Students spend approximately four hours on site,
and are rotated between activities to allow them to try their hand at each. The students are also
given careers advice highlighting the other professions in the industry, such as architecture,
quantity surveying and engineering.
Our Supply Chain – through our close relationship with supply chain partners, such as Castle Cement,
we can now give, not just an insight into construction, but into the wider industry as a whole...
Vocational Centre – through the lessons learned during our involvement in work related learning placements,
we are now involved in the creation of a rural vocational centre.
Built and managed by students, this centre will be multi-functional to attract both weaker and stronger
individuals and will support vocational learning.
14 - 19 Pathfinder Director – working closely with the Norfolk’s four Pathfinder Schools,
Norfolk County Council and the LEA, we have collectively appointed a 14 - 19
Pathfinder Director, who, funded by the four schools, will be based at our Swaffham office
to provide a link with the schools and the business.
Not just construction – As a contractor to the health sector also, we are looking to bring a
‘healthy’ element to our schools liaison activities. Our intention is to recruit a
Health Liaison Officer, whose task would be to promote healthy living, and to provide work related
learning in support of vocational GCSE’s such as Health and Social Care, in lieu of construction.
Like the Construction Industry, there is a skills shortage within the NHS. We believe that with support
from our customers and supply chain we can show students from 3 - 19 that the NHS is not just about
“Doctors and Nurses”, and that patient care requires a multidisciplinary team. |
Presumably therefore the TDA (Training and Development Agency for Schools) is working hand in hand with Balfour Beatty and Mansell: http://www.tda.gov.uk/partners/education_reforms.aspx
| Quote: | 14–19 education reforms
From September 2008, new Diplomas for 14-19 year-olds will be introduced. The TDA is working with Lifelong Learning UK (LLUK) to produce a framework of professional development for school and college staff who will deliver the qualifications.
Diplomas
The Diplomas are part of the programme of reforms set out in the 14-19 Education and Skills white paper, and will be available in 17 lines of learning. Diplomas will provide flexibility and choice for all learners through a unique mix of traditional and work-relevant learning. They have been developed in collaboration with employers to ensure their relevance, and are valued by employers and higher education institutions, as their combination of essential skills, relevant experience and applied learning provides an excellent grounding for careers.
Professional development for the workforce
The DCSF has asked a range of national partners to develop the capacity of the workforce who will be teaching, supporting or managing delivery of the Diplomas. The TDA is working with Lifelong Learning UK (LLUK) to produce a framework of professional development for the school and college staff who will deliver the Diplomas. To date, the TDA and LLUK have jointly published the following documents:
Excellence in Supporting Applied Learning – building the evidence base to underpin the development of the new and existing workforce that will deliver specialised Diplomas. This report draws on evidence from the Increased Flexibility and Pathfinder programmes; interviews with senior managers, 14-19 advisers and other key respondents; and literature from the Nuffield Review of 14-19 and other relevant research. |
Mansell and Mouchel Parkman amongst others contribute to the Kids programme in Hackney, and Mouchell Parkman works alongside the government in the Every Child Matters programme, and has been involved in education in Nottingham, Salford and Bolton.
Apart from being involved in the Dubai waterfront development, amongst very many other things, Mouchel also organize the ‘Walking Bus’ programme. The following is included in this:
| Quote: | When a route is agreed, a road safety officer will probably assess it's suitability and give basic road safety training to its volunteers. The high visibility jackets may be available through your local council. Through the school, the Education department will then carry out a background check on volunteers. Each walking bus had an adult 'driver' at the front and and an adult 'conductor' bringing up the rear. The children walk to school in a group along a set route picking up additional 'passengers' at specific 'bus-stops' along the way.
Each driver should have a register of students who use their bus on each day. The driver keeps track of attendance and children can be rewarded with stickers or house points, where appropriate.The walking bus route is set up according to where the volunteers live. Children join the bus at set 'bus stops' along the route and the walking bus will leave these at a set time.
Parents are expected to wait with their children for the bus to arrive. |
An American told me about her experience as a mother and ‘windowless schools’. She didn’t believe her daughter when she said the school had no windows (none). She checked and her daughter was correct; her mother removed her from the school. Out walking with their young cousin once, he pointed to neat rows of children standing silent and motionless by school buses, and yelled out: ‘What’s wrong with those kids?’ Her daughter, a few years older, replied dryly: ‘They’ve been assimilated’.
FEMA cares for our kids as well!
From: http://www.fema.gov/txt/plan/prevent/rms/424/fema424.txt
| Quote: | | Welcome to FEMA for Kids! I'm Herman, the spokescrab for the site. This site teaches you how to be prepared for disasters and prevent disaster damage. You can also learn what causes disasters, play games, read stories and become a Disaster Action Kid. And don't forget to learn about FEMA. A story about my search for a disaster-proof shell is great reading, too! |
I bet it is!    |
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