Evidence. It is something that we teachers encourage our students to find and weigh-up before coming to a conclusion. In science, if the evidence does not back the theory, the theory is wrong. Pretty basic stuff, you’d imagine. But not for our Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson. She came into office with left-wing education theory, having…
The Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, captured the headlines recently when she spoke about ‘white working-class children’. She warned that four-fifths of children from white working-class backgrounds were falling short in the English and maths skills required to get on in life. However, this headline-grabbing warning is slightly misleading because she is referring only to white…
In 1982 the A Level pass rate was 68.2 per cent. By 2001 it was 89.9 per cent. This year it is just shy of 100 per cent. Amazing isn’t it how much cleverer students are today? Or is it due to the sheer brilliance of teachers? Of course, neither is true, it is down…
Imagine a school that takes the poorest and most disadvantaged children and turns them into exam-passing, confident young adults who are fit, ready and motivated for the world of work. Now imagine that the establishment – having failed to stop the school from opening in the first place – tries everything in its power to…