Education
Your child’s move from junior to senior school can be exciting and daunting. As they leave their small, nurturing environment to join a much larger one, they encounter many new teachers and have to navigate around a more extensive site. Thankfully, senior schools are experienced in making this transition an easy one…
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. . .GCSE courses in England are going to change. The iGCSE qualifications continue to grow in popularity though, confusingly, only some will be counted in the forthcoming league tables. Ofqual’s consultation about how to make A levels more rigorous and discriminating at the top end of the ability range has also just begun.
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One year after taking up the helm as Headmaster of The King’s School in Macclesfield, Dr Simon Hyde reflects on his first year and discusses the future.
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When I started working as a teacher all the schools in the area had been comprehensives. It quickly became clear that several schools were more popular. A little research disclosed that those schools usually occupied buildings which previously had been grammar schools… their reputations as good schools had survived, even when some of them were mediocre.
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To succeed in the entrance examinations for the majority of Grammar and Independent schools a child has to demonstrate a clear understanding of basic Maths, and an ability to handle an English paper which demands skills in both verbal and non-verbal reasoning. Currently most primary schools do not teach with the specific aim of preparing a child for such an examination and “top-up” is essential.
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We call it a ‘Ping’. It is that special moment when a child realises how it works; suddenly it all makes sense! A burst of joy and understanding that is beamed across a child’s face! We love pings!
At SciTech, Our hands-on science summer school that is being run in Altrincham, we aim for every child to have at least five pings a day and that’s a lot more fun than five vegetables a day!
A child’s life is a complicated social and educational phenomenon. Like we have problems at work, our sons and daughters have theirs at school. Normally, children are quite capable of sorting out these problems themselves or with the help of their teachers and we, as parents, don’t need to worry or do anything about it. Sometimes though – our involvement is crucial
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Bird watch was a great event for Terra Nova School, which is lucky enough to enjoy wonderful surroundings with wildlife on the school’s doorstep.
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… Why should we expect that our children are fulfilled at every level, for every hour of the day, sometimes at the expense of family happiness and our own personal lives?
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Two years ago, the first applications to open Free Schools were submitted to DfE amidst much suspicion, avid scrutiny and sensationalist publicity. Local authorities were hostile and pundits were convinced the concept wouldn’t work. What a difference twenty-four months make!
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The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development which conducts regular comparisons of pupil achievement among 65 developed countries, recently announced that between 2000 and 2011, the UK had slipped from eighth to 28th place in maths, from seventh to 25th in reading and from fourth to 16th in science. That study also found that a fifth of UK 15-year-olds are functionally illiterate.
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