In his recent call for children to read more books, the Education Secretary Michael Gove has questioned the dominance enjoyed by Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men in many schools. I’m sure that a man of Michael Gove’s sophistication wasn’t for a moment suggesting that Steinbeck’s superbly constructed naturalistic novel Of Mice and Men doesn’t deserve a… Continue reading Why Of Mice and Men?
This morning’s Telegraph is reporting that Michael Gove expects that children aged as young as eleven should be reading fifty books a year. Graeme Paton thinks that Gove’s latest ruminations probably reflect his thinking on the tour he’s just made ‘of high-performing “charter schools” – state-funded institutions that are run free of Government interference –… Continue reading Fifty books a year?
Has Ofsted recovered its nerve? Apparently so. In its recent report ‘The special educational needs and disability review: a statement is not enough’, Ofsted reveals that, while the number of pupils with a statement of special educational needs ‘decreased slightly’ (from 3% to 2.7%), ‘the proportion identified as needing less intensive additional support at School… Continue reading SEN, or just poor teaching?
The Tory plans to publish past exam papers has obviously ruffled the feathers of the government, who, in their ever greater desire for transparency, have so far refused to offer them for public scrutiny.According to this morning’s BBC report, Michael Gove says: “Now the government treats exam papers like state secrets and refuses to publish… Continue reading You may now turn over your papers.