I’m a huge advocate of driving up standards in our education system but when it comes to academies I wish the government would put on the brakes. In his 2016 Budget, the Chancellor announced that all schools will become academies by 2022. Don’t get me wrong, there are many advantages to schools having more autonomy…
It’s taken long enough but at last education chiefs are recognising the need for children to get the basics right in maths. A key part of this is learning their times tables. The government has announced that all 11-year-olds will be tested on their times tables before leaving primary school. During the progressive education revolution…
Moving from primary to secondary school can be a daunting time in any child’s life, with the prospect of a completely new routine looming large over the summer holidays. Secondary school poses a whole new set of challenges, which can be exciting but also overwhelming for some children. There are a number of different things…
With China leading the way in academic achievement, it makes sense for us in the UK to observe the Chinese schools’ methods of teaching and see what, if anything, can be learnt from the Chinese education system. The three episodes of BBC2’s programme ‘Are Our Kids Tough Enough? Chinese School’ aimed to do just that…
Reading forms a central part of the English curriculum in schools and the benefits that children receive by encountering a range of different texts in an academic setting are varied and many. Spelling, grammar, creative writing ability and comprehension skills are all improved when children are introduced to challenging literature at an early age. As…