Peace will come to earth when the people
have more to do with each other
and governments less.

David Willetts writes in the Telegraph: Our university revolution has only just begun:

Despite some dire warnings about the Coalition’s student finance reforms, we’ve already had more applications to university than in any year under the previous government. Once the decline in the total number of 18 year olds has been accounted for, their application rate is down only 1 per cent on last year, when a record number of people applied to get in. We’ve sent recent graduates into 2,000 schools and colleges to explain that maintenance grants are being increased and monthly repayments after graduation are being reduced.

I recommend the whole article. We previously commented on the funding reforms here.

NB: This post is by Tim Hewish, Steve’s researcher.

I was delighted to learn that the Durand Academy has been successful in its request to set up a free boarding school for acutely underprivileged children in Stockwell, South London.

When Steve and I visited back in January, we were greatly encouraged by the transformational work all the teachers and staff were doing at Durand. Their passion was rooted in traditional principles of hard work, meritocracy and discipline. They were not afraid to simply teach, unencumbered from red tape and a burdensome and constricting national curriculum.

Although their journey has been far from smooth, courtesy of vested interests in the educational status quo that provides a substandard schooling, we are encouraged that Durand has been able to triumph against such resistance. One only has to witness the confrontation Toby Young has had to face with his own Free School to highlight how reactionary and out-dated Left-wing thinking is failing poorer students.

What we now have is a joint venture between the Government and the Durand Academy for the boarding school with the Department of Education committing up to £17.34 million over four years to contribute towards the capital costs while Durand investing the rest.

It is a testament to Michael Gove’s radical vision for school provision free from local authority control, parent-led, and needs-based.

Under the proposals, the children will leave Durand Primary School, at the age of 13, and board for four nights a week, free of charge to the parents. The first pupils will start to arrive from September 2012.

It will provide 375 boarding places for years 9 – 11, a proposed 250 places for post-16 pupils and they will be fed from the existing Durand Primary school, where almost half receive Free School Meals and more than 95 per cent are from ethnic minority backgrounds. Again, it shows how untrue is the utterance that Academies are white middle class ivory towers of elitism.

Even sections of New Labour are starting to get it. In certain quarters, the Free School idea is gaining traction and may well present itself as the best way to break the Left’s dominance of education. Just look at Peter Hyman, Tony Blair’s former director of strategy, who is setting up a Free School in East London with Lord Adonis’s backing.

The Left once thought the comprehensive system would create equality, but instead many of them have left children being taught to the lowest common denominator. What Academies provide is greater choice matched with the freedom for parents and teachers to decide what works best for pupils.

We wish the Durand Academy the very best of success with its project.

This month, I had the opportunity to speak on a panel at the Buckinghamshire Academy for School Leadership (BASL) conference. This event was attended by almost all of the Heads and Deputy Heads from both primary and secondary schools in Bucks.

A recurring theme throughout the morning was concern over the English Baccalaureate and the choice of core subjects. I would like to see the E-Bac expanded to permit a larger number of humanities and creative subjects.

If we believe in a devolved education system based around Free Schools, then both teachers and pupils should be able to forge a core that most suits their strengths.

Therefore, I have asked Parliamentary Questions of the Education Department enquiring whether or not the scope of the E-Bac will be opened up. One answer can be found below.

Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will assess the merits of broadening the scope of the English Baccalaureate to include (a) philosophy, (b) economics, (c) religious studies and (d) other humanities subjects.

Mr Gibb: We are concerned that the number of pupils, especially those in disadvantaged areas, who receive a broad education in core academic subjects is far too small. Through the introduction of the English Baccalaureate, we want to encourage more pupils to take these core subjects and to bring about greater fairness of opportunity.

The English Baccalaureate is not intended to include all the subjects worthy of study. We recognise that study in other subjects will be just as valuable to pupils and we will encourage all pupils to study non-English Baccalaureate subjects alongside the English Baccalaureate in order to benefit from a well-rounded education. This is why we have kept the number of core subjects in the English Baccalaureate small enough to allow wider study. Subjects, such as religious studies, philosophy, and economics, which do not count towards the English Baccalaureate, can and will play a part in a well rounded, rigorous education. Achievement in these subjects will continue to be recognised in the performance tables as part of the A*-C measure and the teaching of religious education remains compulsory throughout a pupil’s schooling. However we remain open to arguments about how we can further improve every measure in the performance tables—including the English Baccalaureate.

I have most recently submitted a question on how the creative arts will be protected and incorporated into the E-Bac system. I will post the Minister’s response when I receive the reply…

N.B. The author is Tim Hewish – my Parliamentary Researcher — Steve

My attention was recently drawn to the reduced £13 million funding for State initiatives to provide books to pre-schoolers in the form of Bookstart, Booktime and Booked Up.

I can sense the reactionary response: Why would any Government withdraw money for children’s books?

However, as a first principle, that accepts the premise that it is the State’s obligation to offer a selection of books to infants. We should be allowed to question whether the Government has a right to be prescriptive about the books to which our children are exposed.

Ed Miliband said:

The abolition of Bookstart will deprive children of an early opportunity to discover the joy of reading.

The rhetoric is worrying as it implies that without government intervention families do not have the inclination to seek out books and resources for themselves. Rather, one can discover the ‘joy of reading’ without a Government crutch. Read more

N.B. The author is Tim Hewish – my Parliamentary Researcher.

We have just returned this afternoon having visited the Durand Academy in South London.

Researchers spend much of their time reading and studying policy, some policies better than others, but we often do not get to see the practical implementations.Therefore, it was a privilege to see firsthand how the Academy system is flourishing under the stewardship of Director, Greg Martin.

I was struck initially by the neighbourhood. Let’s not try to get away from the fact that the kids who attend are from deprived black communities south of the river that have previously had low educational achievement. The State has failed them in providing these children with a decent education. Therefore, it was time for someone else to attempt to help alleviate some of the plight and hardship many young people face today.

Regarding the school layout, call me old fashioned, but it was the discipline that was clear to see. The word utilitarian sprang to mind. The classrooms were all laid out in the same formation and the blackboard had objectives that were given a set time in which to complete and these were then graded accordingly out of 10 to how the task was performed. This policy was not deviated from one iota. Each classroom mirrored the next.

The classroom sizes were small, all under 20, with the lowest achievers in class sizes less than double figures. The fixed school uniforms, along with the basic mantra of speak only when asked, helped keep the classroom environment ordered and structured.

However, it’s not just the approach the children take, more how the Academy directs the teacher which is unique. The Director is not an advocate of the current teacher training system; instead his alternative is to directly immerse the new teacher into the heart of the school. All new teachers are shadowed by more established teachers from the outset. Their lesson plans are submitted and then scrutinised the Monday before, and the children’s work is sampled to see if the teachers marking and feedback standards remain consistent.

Durand’s educational reforms aren’t just intended for pupils alone. They want to address the misconception that failure is solely the result of rebellious children. Poor teachers also fail children.

This even went as far as headteachers. Greg explained that in every other profession you wouldn’t place a weak and failing person in a position of full control. A poor pilot, for example, wouldn’t be allowed to fly on their own; a co-pilot would assist. The same goes for headship. His idea of weaker heads being paired with stronger ones isn’t an admission of failure; rather it is about raising the standards of teaching and leadership as the focal point of the school.

These ideas were very refreshing. Durand is traditional, yet at the same time radical. It taught the basics thoroughly with discipline and rigor, while also providing a framework that was liberated from national curriculum oversight and over bearing Educational Authorities, trade unions and rigid bureaucracy.
Although, despite all the resistance to change from the Left, Durand’s results have been transformative, not just in terms of examination, but in outlook and horizons.

This is due in part to the business angle provided from Durand’s other ventures. Their innovative use of playground space which is (when you think about it) under-utilised 22hrs of the day; the building of a gym, swimming pool and football pitch for local residents to use generates wealth that is ploughed back into the school. This wealth is not just financial, but social. All the pupils get to use the facilities and this helps to breed healthy competition and sporting co-operation.

This synergy between private business and schooling may ideologically ignite vitriolic consternation from the Left, but when seeing the unparalleled success it is difficult to hold onto those reactionary assumptions.
Education is all about outcomes, not in a financial sense, but a personal journey. The worn out way of teaching is dead. We now have almost three generations of deteriorating standards. The time for lasting change has come. Parents should not put up with State failure. Education shouldn’t be exempt from being reprimanded when failure occurs.

The aim isn’t to standardise like old ideology has dictated to us at present. We should seek to first instruct in the early school years, then to set free. Choices, be they the English Baccalaureate or Academy status, shouldn’t be denied just because they go up against vested educational interests.
Durand wants to naturally progress and expand so they can create a secondary school to provide a smooth continuation of their efforts and cultivate their pupils. I expect an uphill struggle against the unions et al, however I can say without hesitation that Steve will be championing the Academy’s cause.

As for my reflections on my experiences today, I am drawn to my school days, recalling this Shakespearean line:

These strong Egyptian fetters I must break,
Or lose myself in dotage

–Anthony in Anthony and Cleopatra.

Apt for the educational malaise in which this nation finds itself bound.