Justine Greening has announced £1.3 billion of additional funding for schools over the next two years – promising to maintain per-pupil funding in real terms until 2019-20.  Apparently much of this is coming from the free schools budget - fair enough.  But the rest is from 'efficiency savings'.  So is there really any 'new' money? I think not.   

http://news.sky.com/story/1099161/gcse-exams-to-be-replaced-with-i-level


In 2000 those of us teaching A levels  found ourselves in the unenviable position of reaching September and being faced with a number of students to reach, but with having no specification to teach, and few clues as to what might be on the new spec or how it would be assessed.  There was a lot of gossip, but not much else.  At the time as well as teaching I was working for one of the major examination boards and even they had no idea what was going on.   I just hope this latest review does not turn into such a fiasco.   

Gove keeps on trying to get rid of GCSEs.  The E-Bacc has come (well, sort of) and gone....  so what next...ah, the I-GCSE.  An Apple sponsored product, one wonders? 

It looks as if teachers themselves haven't been - and aren't to be consulted  and changing the name of the exam (which has to be done as in Wales they are keeping GCSEs) and marking the exam with grades 1-8 instead of giving UMS marks or grades A* to F is hardly innovative. 

Getting rid of coursework from all subject except science really does not tak account of the differeing learning styles of learners.  Nor does it allow for in depth and developmental study of a topic over time. 

 
If there is to be a radical overhaul, surely it should be guided by evidence,  and informed by teachers' experiences  and  by modern educational theory?  


It'll be interesting to see what happens to this proposal.  

I love this quote, and really identify with the sentiment....sometimes it feels as if we are living in a culture of 'if it moves, measure it, and if it doesn't move, measure it in case it moves later'.  And then teachers are judged on the most inappropriate and bizarre criteria.  The new CIF and the way that the new policy has been enacted by inspectors (particularly, I suspect, additional inspectors) has not helped in this regard. 

I was talking to an eminent colleague yesterday who said that they had been in discussions with one of the Tory education team, and that all evidence, academic or expert opinion and so on was ignored in favour of biased bigotry, along the lines of 'well it never did me any harm'.   Tosh. 

End of rant.

On a lighter note, I have had two papers accepted for presentation at BERA this September, so if you are going to be there, please come and chuck tomatoes.  It's in Brighton, at the University of Sussex!  Very excited and happy.  I've also been contacted by a researcher from Estonia who is doing similar work to my own and we have been corresponding. Tallinn is such a wonderful place, some collaboration would be great!  Good day!