Way back in the early 1990’s, in a Politics seminar that formed part of my degree course, I asked my tutor what was the most effective form of electoral system. “What result do you want it to give you?” was his reply. Ever since then I have viewed surveys and interest group “research” with great […] Continue reading
The extent to which the Department for Education (DfE) is prepared to put political imperative ahead of effective and fair distribution of funding for the good of the many has been demonstrated again this week. The Independent carried a front page story on Friday 19th September on the Trinity Academy in Brixton, a new “free […] Continue reading
In May this year we were contacted by a local parent, who is very active within education in Brentwood, who was concerned that changed admission arrangements at one of our local schools made it more selective than a new state funded school was entitled to be. The admissions policy of Becket Keys free school for […] Continue reading
If you live in Brentwood, Ongar or Harlow you will have been forgiven for missing the front page story in last week’s Observer. Due to distribution issues, the paper was unavailable to purchase here last Sunday which may have come as a relief to prominent free school supporter and local MP, Eric Pickles. It was […] Continue reading
Earlier this month I wrote about my astonishment that schools are still being established using an unaccountable process that shuts out the majority of the community but still expects them to pay for it (Why are we still allowing parents to be school commissioners? http://wp.me/p2dr6s-i2). I never dreamt that within weeks we would be presented […] Continue reading
So, following my blog from just over a week ago (“Business failure rates should not be the model for education” http://wp.me/p2dr6s-hW) , the Ofsted report for IES Breckland free school in Brandon, Suffolk has finally been released. It does not make happy reading for anyone who cares about the education of young people and the primary […] Continue reading
Those of us who have been wondering why it has taken five weeks to release the report into the first Ofsted inspection of Suffolk free school IES Breckland may have had their answer this morning. The first “for profit” state school was used to illustrate a piece in the Daily Telegraph by editor of The […] Continue reading
There has been much celebration in the local press this week about the newly published Ofsted report of one of our local secondary schools, Brentwood County High School (BCHS). The school has received an across the board “Good” rating having been judged as “Satisfactory” since 2001. Much of the coverage centres on the acknowledgement within […] Continue reading
