Sign in
My account
We are now firmly into Spring. April often injects a spring in everyone’s step as we leave Winter behind for another year. Daffodils and Crocus are making an appearance, lambs are making their presence felt in the fields and the clocks have moved forward, allowing us to enjoy longer, brighter evenings. In schools up and down the country, secondary pupils are in the final throws of completing their GCSE coursework and revising hard for their exams which start next month. And for many primary schools, children are working towards the SATs.
Academy Status
Forcing all schools in England to become academies will not be plain sailing. Teachers are calling for a one-day strike as part of a campaign against plans to force every school in England to become an academy. The National Union of Teachers says there is no evidence to show academy status will improve schools more rapidly than local authority schools. The union’s conference held in Brighton has backed a strike ballot for this summer term.
Education Secretary Nicky Morgan told teachers at the conference she has no intention of backing down, warning another teachers’ union, the NASUWT at their conference in Birmingham, that there is no “reverse gear” on the proposed reforms.
Academies are schools in England that are funded directly by the Department for Education (DfE) and operate independently of the local authority. There are two types of academy, “Converter” academies are those where the school governors apply for academy status and “Sponsored” academies are schools that the Government has labelled as “underperforming” and put under the control of an academy sponsor.
Currently, 2,075 out of 3,381 secondary schools are academies, while 2,440 of 16,766 primary schools have academy status. The plan is for all remaining schools to be academies by 2020 so there is some considerable work to do. How would becoming an academy affect your school? We would be happy to hear your views. Post on our Facebook page.
Are Libraries and Librarians becoming a thing of the past?
Librarians are custodians to a world of information and ideas. Yet almost 8,000 jobs in UK libraries have disappeared in six years, about a quarter of the overall total. The actual number of council run libraries has dropped from 4,290 in 2010 to 3,765 in 2016 with a further 111 closures planned this year. Children’s author Alan Gibbons (Shadow of the Minotaur – Blue Peter Book Award Winner 2000) said the public library service faced the “greatest crisis in its history”.
The aim of the public library began with a desire to keep people out of the pub. The governing classes of the early 19th Century became increasingly alarmed at the moral and physical health of the expanding working class as the Industrial Revolution gathered pace. Social reforms followed and the 1850 Public Libraries Act ushered in the first libraries.
In 1852, a member of the public in Manchester became the first person in the country to borrow a book. The library, in Campfield, close to where the Museum of Science and Industry stands now, became the first to be supported by public rates. Charles Dickens presided over the opening ceremony and said “In this institution, special provision has been made for the working classes, by means of a free lending library … this meeting cherishes the earnest hope that the books thus made available will prove a source of pleasure and improvement in the cottages, the garrets, and the cellars of the poorest of our people.”
With such a legacy it would be a shame if libraries continued to decline. The good news however is that the number of volunteers working in libraries has risen from 15,861 in 2010 to 31,403 now, an increase of 49%. With such a loyal workforce maybe the outlook for our libraries is not so bleak.
Will leaving the EU harm the next generation?
As the referendum on 23rd June for Britain remaining in the EU or leaving it draws ever closer, the Education Secretary Nicky Morgan has stepped into the debate. Her stance is that a vote to leave the European Union could have a devastating impact on the life chances of young people.
She states “As we saw from the recession that we’ve just been through, the people who suffer most are the youngest. Those who are trying to get into jobs and careers will suffer if companies and organisations are not hiring”.
This statement comes on the back of big blue chip organisations such as BT, Shell and BAE Systems putting a halt on significant recruitment until the outcome of the referendum is known.
There are many arguments being put forward for reasons to remain in the EU as well as reasons for leaving it. Until the results are known, it is likely such discussions and debates will rumble on.
Originally written 1 April 2016