Given the importance of education in any effort to create a more equal society, it may seem strange that the Labour Party has always found education a difficult issue to handle. The Party has within its ranks many well-informed campaigners for a truly comprehensive and high-quality school system for all (which includes parents, teachers, researchers […]
Posts Tagged ‘Stephen Twigg’
Labour Conference 2013: Education roundup
Sep 23rd, 2013 by David Pavett.The debate on the education section of the NPF report, on the first day of Conference, was opened by Peter Wheeler (NEC). Six delegates spoke: three prospective parliamentary candidates and three union delegates (GMB, Unison, Unite). Stephen Twigg replied to ‘discussion’. No teachers, local authority councillors, educational campaigners or university educationalists took part. This session […]
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Preparing for Labour’s conference: schools policy
Sep 16th, 2013 by David Pavett.Labour’s national policy forum (NPF) report 2013 for this year’s party conference is now available for all to read. Education is dealt with in the section devoted to the annual report of the Education and Child Care Commission on pages 70 to 76 and in a policy paper on childcare on pages 78 to 80. The […]
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Who’s in charge in Twigg’s vision for free schools?
Jul 3rd, 2013 by David Pavett.Interviewed by Jeremy Vine last Sunday, Stephen Twigg repeated the proposal made in his recent RSA speech that Labour will support “parent-led academies”. He said that these will not be free schools because: (1) they will not be allowed to use unqualified staff; (2) not all free schools are parent-led; (3) they will be overseen […]
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A new direction for education under Labour?
Jun 18th, 2013 by David Pavett.The transformation of the English education system by Michael Gove has been one of the most far-reaching of the the changes made by the Coalition government. The majority of secondary schools have been removed from the framework of local democracy. Many have been absorbed into academy chains some of which have more schools than some […]
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Stephen Twigg: a policy of non policy?
Sep 21st, 2012 by Lucy Reese.If you wanted any more evidence that the Tories wanted to turn the clock back to about 1930, look no further than this week’s announcement of the Ebacc (the Gove level). Just as my dad (who’s in his 80s) had to complete a school certificate – a bundle of different subjects – 21st century school […]
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Book Review: Progress in Education from New Labour’s Action Man
Sep 19th, 2012 by David Pavett.A long-term campaign has been conducted against comprehensive education through the mass media. It’s themes are well known: “failing comprehensives”, “falling standards”, “left-wing teachers”, “teachers’ unions”, “local authority bureaucracy” and many other negative tropes. These are all found in abundance in Andrew Adonis’s book Education, Education, Education – Reforming England’s Schools.
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Making the grade
Aug 24th, 2012 by Darrell Goodliffe.Today was a day when many, justifiably, were celebrating outstanding academic achievement. However, for different reasons, both the government and opposition failed to make the grade. Exam result days have become somewhat ritualistic, there are winners and losers but no matter what the outcome it has become typical for the political classes, usually accompanied by […]
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NEETs need jobs, not a “military ethos”
Jul 13th, 2012 by David Pavett.Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary has declared his support for a proposal for Academies sponsored by the armed forces. The original proposal came in a paper Military Academies: Tackling disadvantage, improving ethos and changing outcome by Phillip Blond and Patricia Kaszynska and published by ResPublica. The paper starts by declaring that the problem to be solved […]
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Guess what Stephen Twigg is up to on Academy Schools
May 10th, 2012 by Jon Lansman.The GMB has drawn our attention to what Stephen Twigg is up to on Education policy. And you won’t like it. Remember Liam Byrne? Now that he’s got no job to go to in Birmingham, we’re stuck with him “running” the policy review until the next reshuffle. Buried on Liam’s Fresh Ideas website is an education […]
