Exams are the best and fairest way to judge a child’s progress – so cancelling them in Scotland next year will do major harm. The Higher and Advanced Higher exams – the equivalent of A-Levels – will not go ahead, and neither will the National 5 exams – the equivalent of GCSEs. Instead, results will…
To hear that children attending Edgar Stammers Primary Academy in Walsall were forced to eat meals with their hands made my eyes roll. The school banned knives and forks – and even plates – because of Covid and the fear of spreading the virus. While it seems bizarre that staff couldn’t find a way of…
The decision by the Welsh Assembly to do away with exams next year is foolhardy and will store up major problems. There is a faction in progressive educational circles that want to axe exams, and the pandemic has given them the perfect opportunity to kick-start the process. But exams, while not perfect, are by far…
The majority of organisations involved in the government’s National Tutoring Programme don’t use qualified teachers, we have discovered. Our research looked into the 32 providers on the programme and only six state on their websites that they use teachers to deliver learning. The scheme, in theory, is sound – children have lagged behind in their…
For once both main political parties agree on one thing – that schools shouldn’t be closed. And they are right. Children have spent six months out of school already this year and further time missing classes could see irreversible harm to their education. Those who are affected most are the less able and the disadvantaged…