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Biometric lunch systems branded ‘one step too far’


Secondary schools in Northern Ireland are being accused of “wast- ing” money on costly fingerprint identity technology. A total of 28 post-primary schools


across the North now use biometric systems during lunch breaks. Students’ fingerprints are


scanned, stored in encrypted form and then checked when they place their thumb on a scanner, allowing them to buy lunch in the canteen. While such technology has


already sparked outcry from some parents, it is now becoming more of a financial concern. A member of the Northern


St Jude’s Church, Dulwich Road Herne Hill, London SE24 0PB www.markallengroup.com


Ireland Assembly’s cross-party edu- cation committee says use of finger- printing technology in the current


economic climate is “questionable”. The schools say that compared to the card cashless system it speeds up service and eradicates the iden- tification of free meal takers in the dining hall. They also claim it reduces cash


handling which can ultimately reduce bullying in the school. It has emerged, however, that


the total cost of implementing the fingerprint identification system in Northern Ireland is approximately £425,000. The North’s Department of


Education is facing savage cuts. The overall budget for the next financial year is £65 million less than 2010/11 meaning many tough decisions will have to be made.


Jonathan Craig of the


Democratic Unionist Party says the cost of the technology is too much and money would be much bet- ter spent on school maintenance given the large number of buildings awaiting repairs. “This to me seems one step too


far, especially given the cost, which stands at £425,000 for 28 schools in Northern Ireland. On average £15,000 has been spent on each of the 28 schools,” he said. “I also believe that this scheme


flies in the face of civil liberties. Holding the data of a child’s finger- print to me seems to be risky. “The only other people I know


of who provide the authorities with their fingerprints are criminals.”


Send your news in to: news@sec-ed.com or call 020 7501 6771


Access to smaller classes now a ‘postcode lottery’


by Sam Phipps


Almost half of Scotland’s local authorities have scrapped targets on secondary class sizes so that they can focus instead on primary class maximums. As budget cuts bite, more and


more councils are ignoring guide- lines issued by the former Scottish executive to limit pupil numbers to 20 in English and maths for the first two years of secondary.


Instead they are pursuing the


Scottish government’s recommend- ed cap of 18 pupils in the first three years of primary. Last March, at least four coun-


cils out of Scotland’s 32 had ditched the S1 and S2 target and several others were considering doing so, a survey by the Herald newspaper found. By last week, a total of 13 authorities had given up the target, according to a further survey pub- lished in another newspaper last week.


Ken Cunningham, general sec-


retary of School Leaders Scotland, a union for secondary headteachers, said a “postcode lottery” was now determining whether pupils had access to smaller class sizes. “The scrapping of this target


is not universal, emphasising once more the inequality of education provision that exists across the country,” he said. “Where you are will determine


whether you get access to smaller class sizes – that’s simply not fair.”


Des McNulty, Scottish Labour’s


shadow education secretary, said: “We have had three years of cuts in education and now we’re getting to the point where real damage is being done. Moving away from this policy is a retrograde step.” Larry Flanagan, education con-


vener of the Educational Institute of Scotland, said smaller S1 and S2 classes had already significant- ly raised performance in English across Glasgow, where he teaches. “Most of my teaching career has


been spent in class sizes of 30 – the dynamic in the classroom changes quite dramatically,” he said. A Scottish government spokes-


man admitted class sizes of 20 in English and maths were desirable but it was up to local authorities to attain them. “Research consistently shows


that class size limits have the big- gest impact on the early years of primary school and that is where we are concentrating our efforts,” he said.


Welsh exam results a cause for concern


One of Wales’s top education- alists has delivered a stark new year message about the task fac- ing schools following the nation’s performance in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa). The results, which came out just


before Christmas, showed Wales slipping further behind other coun- tries in reading, maths and science. Wales again ranked lowest of


the UK countries and, out of 67 countries taking part, was ranked 38th for reading, 40th for maths and 30th for the tests for science. Wales is now below average


on all three measures and has scored worse than before in every category. Gary Brace, chief executive


of the General Teaching Council for Wales, said the results would “undoubtedly set the tone for the year ahead”. “While no-one is suggesting


that the performance of teachers in Wales is the main cause of these uncomfortable results, it must cer- tainly be a key part of the effort to put things right,” he said. The new generation of teachers


in Wales is “probably the best pre- pared we’ve ever had”, he added. “However, once newly quali-


fied teachers have completed their induction year, there is still no set path for continued skills devel- opment as they advance through their careers. “What is needed in Wales is a


genuine continuum, applying to all teachers, which builds year- by-year on their skills and experi- ence, and consistently improves their classroom competence and wider capability.”


Mr Brace said the results would


precipitate new developments to boost the skills and performance of teachers at all stages in their careers, with focus on bolstering key areas of teaching such as liter- acy and numeracy, boosting results in science subjects and looking at leadership skills throughout the whole teaching workforce. He said there would be con-


tinued emphasis on Professional Learning Communities, net- works of teachers who meet regularly to share experiences and ideas with the aim of ensur- ing that best practice is spread as widely as possible. The success of the Foundation


Phase among youngest pupils was providing hope for the future but that would take time to feed through to teenagers, he added. When the results were


announced last month Wales’s education minister Leighton Andrews said they were “unacceptable”. “Schools, local authorities, and


ourselves as government need to look honestly at these results and accept responsibility for them,” he said. “This can only be described as a systemic failure; we all share responsibility for this and we must equally share in the difficult task of turning things around.” The Pisa tests are designed to


measure whether students nearing the end of secondary school are well prepared to meet the challeng- es they will encounter in future life. Up to 10,000 15-year-olds


are tested by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in reading, maths and science.


Outdoor initiatives scoop school top award


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ISSN 1479-7704


An inspiring and exciting approach to get children learning out of the classroom has clinched a national award for one school. Newall Green High School


in Manchester won the Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) award for best provision for 11-19-year-olds because of the way they enriched pupils’ education with outdoor activities. Initiatives at the school include


2


a learning away project, a rural studies programme, and residen- tial trips. The learning away project aims


to break cycles of poverty and deprivation and improve the self- esteem of underachieving students and their families. Through residen- tial trips, children learn life-skills and the scheme has had a positive impact on attendance at the school. The project works across the school


as well as its cluster of three pri- mary schools. In the rural studies programme,


students are given the responsibility of acting as leaders on a farm visit for groups of year 5 students from the primary cluster schools. The aim is to develop responsibility and leadership skills, but the scheme also helps the primary students with their transition to Newall Green. The school also runs an annu-


al activities week, during which as many students as possible are encouraged to go out on residen- tials. For the last three years, as many as 500 children have been involved. The residentials are all themed


with last year’s trip to Dorset chal- lenging year 10 students to work outside their comfort zones. Kim King, assistant headteacher at Newall Green, said: “We are


hugely excited to win this award, it is not just about us, it is about all the people who work for the Federation and Trust that Newall Green is a part of and it is about making a dif- ference to the children and families we work with.” The award is organised by the


Council for Learning Outside the Classroom, which was launched in 2009. For more information, visit www.lotc.org.uk


SecEd • January 13 2011


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