I expressed serious criticisms about Bridgette Phillipson, the recently-sacked Education Secretary, so it was a relief when she lost the brief. But my relief might be short-lived because her replacement, Lucy Powell, could be even worse. Astonishingly, in an interview in 2019, she described the idea of spelling tests for primary school children as ‘draconian’.…
A letter recently sent by Schools Minister Georgia Gould to Ofqual confirmed that GCSE students will no longer have to memorise equations and formulae. It’s been the case since the lockdowns, but now we know the situation has more permanence. You might say, well what does it matter? We don’t memorise all sorts of things…
Labour’s war on private schools is already beginning to backfire and disadvantage all students – rich and poor. Putting ideology above pragmatism is madness and proves that this government does not care about our children’s education. Its hatred of the ‘rich’ has led to it making private school fees taxable at the standard rate of…
Here we go again. A new government has vowed to shake up what is taught in schools. A feminist professor, Becky Francis, has been appointed to ‘breathe new life’ into an ‘outdated’ curriculum and a new education secretary wants to stamp her mark on the system. It is worth noting here that England has been…
The last government in its dying months published guidance for the teaching of Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) in schools. It was prompted by stories of inappropriate materials being used, ‘sexuality’ being taught to youngsters and gender ideology being promoted in the classroom. It set down ages at which children should be taught particular…