Whoever wins the General Election will have a huge inbox. There will be decisions to make on all manner of things including health, defence and the economy. There is one thing, however, that they shouldn’t tinker with too much – at least in England. That is education. Since the new national curriculum was introduced in…
An education expert and former government adviser has blasted a video that has been shown to primary school children. The short, animated CGI 3D film made available by ‘teachers resource’ company The Literacy Shed depicts a frightening, post-apocalyptic world with violent scenes. Dr Stephen Curran said the 8min 30sec film called ‘Ruin’ was inappropriate for…
I have just returned in mid-September from a week-long foreign holiday, and I was surprised to see so many English families with children. According to a recent report from consultancy Public First there has been a ‘seismic shift’ in parents’ attitudes to school attendance. My anecdotal evidence supports the report’s findings that absenteeism is growing,…
Young children in Britain are being exposed to material that is completely inappropriate and unsuitable. We have learned that in Wales, seven-year-olds have been told that they might be a ‘mixed berry gender fluid muffin’. Aside from the sheer absurdity of the notion, these trendy theories have little or no academic evidence to support them.…
When I first started teaching in 1986 the country was in the middle of continual strike action, but I was not in a militant union. At the time, unemployment was high and I was glad and grateful to have a good job. My sense of public service and caring for the children in my charge…