www.sec-ed.com


Schools face new building cash blow


Crumbling secondary schools in Northern Ireland in dire need of new buildings are being told there will be no money next year for their projects. Faced with having to make


savings of £150 million next year, the North’s education min- ister Caitriona Ruane is propos- ing cancelling all new builds. Her proposal is contained


in the newly published draft budget, which sets out how the Department of Education plans to reduce spending over the next four years. To help avoid widespread job


losses next year, Ms Ruane is taking the unusual step of mov- ing £41 million out of her capi- tal budget and using it instead for ‘current’ expenditure such as wages and running costs. It was known that the capital


budget was to be reduced by a further £42 million next year. There are dozens of second-


ary schools that remain waiting for building work to begin years after plans were first approved. They now face further disap- pointment. The schools affected include


Devenish College and Lisnaskea High in Fermanagh. Devenish was approved in 2004 with a promise of occupancy in 2008. To date not a sod has been cut. All money in the capital pot


will now be spent on projects that have already started. Ms Ruane says she is con-


cerned about the front-loading of the savings requirement in 2011/12. “We need to realise savings


of £150 million next year. I am concerned that significant reduc- tions to school budgets at such short notice will have a damag- ing effect on schools and chil- dren,” she said. “To mitigate this and to allow


us to plan properly for ration- alisation, I propose to reclassify some £41 million of my capital budget as resource in 2011/12 to allow a more measured appli- cation of reductions to school budgets from 2012/13 on. “I have lobbied hard for funds


for new schools in particular and have made real progress in recent years. A switch of this order from capital to resource is unheralded but is a measure of the difficul- ties we face.”


Warning over ‘diluted history’


by Sam Phipps


The discipline and skills of his- tory risk being “diluted” under Scotland’s new curriculum, accord- ing to a panel of senior academics who have presented their findings to the government. A report by the Royal Society


of Edinburgh (RSE), Scotland’s National Academy, has welcomed the greater autonomy for schools under Curriculum for Excellence (CfE). But it cites a “pressing need”


among primary and secondary teachers for guidance, exemplars, and discipline-specific expertise for history. Professor Christopher Whatley


– vice-principal of Dundee University – who chaired the RSE


working group, said: “The group is concerned that history is in dan- ger of being diluted under the CfE framework. “While we welcome the active


learning components of CfE, we do fear that this is at the expense of the acquisition of discipline-based knowledge and the skills that the discipline of history imparts. “We wish to ensure that history


remains a prominent and discrete discipline,” Prof Whatley added, citing the subject’s unique value in informing young people about their own society and the wider world. The group has called for a


review of current resources and urged Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS) to ensure the high- est standards when new materials are developed. It also said there had been too


much focus on certain topics, par- ticularly the period leading up to the Second World War and Hitler and the Nazis. It demanded an end to the prac-


tice of introducing a topic in S2 and and studying it through to Standard Grade, Higher and Advanced Higher. “Such an approach is likely to


result in a highly restricted, distort- ed, unbalanced and boring histori- cal learning practice,” it said. Secondary teachers generally


face uncertainty over structure, content and assessment when new qualifications are introduced from 2013/14, the report went on. “It needs to be clearly stated


whether there will be a narrowing of the curriculum in the senior sec- ondary and how the current breadth is to be retained.”


However, the SNP administra-


tion has dismissed the concerns raised in the report, which has been sent to the History Excellence Group that advises government. “This report misunderstands


the exciting changes that are tak- ing place in Scotland’s schools,” a spokesman said. “Far from diluting the impor-


tance of history, Curriculum for Excellence will strengthen history’s place as a discrete and prominent discipline in classrooms.” Tory education spokeswoman


Liz Smith said history’s status had been at risk for some time. “There are worries that the approach to the subject is not sufficiently rigor- ous when it comes to presenting pupils with a wide range of knowl- edge of the chronology of historical events.”


Spot a sparrow and find a finch – thousands sign up for Big Birdwatch


Thrushes, crows, sparrows and finches – these are just some of the birds that youngsters across the country will be keeping an eye out for next week. More than 2,100 schools have


already registered to take part in the RSPB’s 10th Big Schools’ Birdwatch, which takes place from Monday (January 24) to Friday, February 4. The annual event is open to


all schools and youth groups and encourages children to observe and count the birds in their school grounds. The RSPB then uses the data to


build a picture of bird populations around the UK and decide where to target conservation action for declining species. As RSPB Big Schools’


Birdwatch project manager Laura Osborne explained: “For the past 10 years we’ve been asking young people to count the birds in their school grounds. “As well as contributing to


our understanding of the chang- es in bird numbers, Big Schools’ Birdwatch does a fantastic job of inspiring thousands of children about nature.


“All you need to do is watch


and count the birds in your school grounds for one hour, then send one set of results back to the RSPB tell- ing us what you saw. Whether you have seen several exotic species or just a few of the commonest birds, it doesn’t matter. All sightings are useful to us.” Last year, 75,000 children and


teachers from nearly 2,000 schools took part in the survey. More than 83,000 birds were counted, with blackbirds ranked the most com- mon visitors to school grounds, fol- lowed by starlings and then wood pigeons. This year, an initiative for key


stage 3 pupils called the Really Big Schools’ Birdwatch has been intro- duced for the first time. Teachers do not need birdwatch-


ing expertise but the RSPB has produced a free information pack including guidance notes, a colour bird identification poster, counting chart and survey form. Further information about how


schools can register and take part is available from the RSPB. Schools


should tele-


phone 0300 456 8340 or visit www.rspb.org.uk/schoolswatch


Four-year plan to tackle young unemployed


The Welsh Assembly government has unveiled a four-year plan to tackle the number of young people not in education, employment or training. The Youth Engagement and


Employment Action Plan sets out the Assembly government’s approach to supporting young peo- ple into the labour market. Education minister Leighton


Andrews said it aims to make sure fewer youngsters disengage from learning by prioritising skills train- ing to meet the needs of employers. Mr Andrews said stakehold-


ers had to be “creative, innovative and inspirational” in order to help young people progress into sustain- able employment. “As we know, the recession can have an adverse effect on opportu-


SecEd • January 20 2011


nities for these young people,” he said. “We therefore need to provide young people with opportunities to gain suitable skills to progress into sustainable employment.” A funding package of £49 mil-


lion to provide more education and training places for young people was announced at the Assembly government’s first economic sum- mit of 2010. Mr Andrews said: “This


included extra funding for further education, the continuation of the Pathways to Apprenticeships and the Young Recruits Programme and additional funds to keep SkillBuild and ReAct working in Wales. “As a result, we now have more


young people staying in learning or training than ever before which shows the measures are working.


“We are also keeping Education


Maintenance Allowances (EMAs) in Wales, unlike England, to pre- vent young people from disengag- ing.” Dr Philip Dixon, director


of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers Cymru, said the announcement offered some hope to youngsters in Wales. “The Welsh government is quite


right to keep the EMA which is so vital to so many of our deprived young people, especially at a time when the Westminster government is tearing it away from youngsters in England.” But Paul Davies, shadow min-


ister for education, said: “It is con- cerning that the latest figures show the gender gap is growing with 14 per cent of boys and almost 11


per cent of girls not in education, employment or training.” He added that Welsh Conservatives believe the solution


to this problem is to help young people to become entrepreneurs by encouraging schools to set up social enterprises run by pupils.


RSPCA challenge


The RSPCA has launched a Farm Animal Challenge for students in England and Wales. Taking place during National Science and Engineering Week in March, the competition aims to encourage pupils to make a difference to the lives of farm animals using their scientific knowledge and the power of communication to encourage more people to buy Freedom Food-labelled products. There are free resources for teachers and pupils and prizes will be awarded for primary and secondary. Visit: www.rspca.org. uk/nsewchallenge


NEWS In brief BSF legal date


A date has been set for a legal challenge against the government’s plans to scrap the Building Schools for the Future programme in Waltham Forest, London. The programme promised to invest £263 million into 16 of the borough’s schools, but was pulled by the coalition government. A judicial review will now take place at the High Court in London on Monday (January 24). The borough says it had already spent £17 million on planning the building work. Other authorities challenging the government are Luton, Nottingham City Council and Kent.


Free school okay


The first community-led free school has been given the green light to open. Education secretary Michael Gove has approved the plans for the Stour Valley Community School in Clare, Suffolk. The school hopes to have 210 places available for the first three secondary year- groups in September 2011. It is then hoped to accommodate 540 pupils by 2015. The Stour Valley Educational Trust drew up its plans last year. A meeting will take place on Tuesday (January 25) for prospective parents, and a consultation is still to take place with the community before start-up funding can be released. Visit: www.stourvalleyeducation.org


Console findings


More than half of education professionals believe that pupils’ mobile phones, iPods, and Xboxes will become part of the teaching toolkit in the next five years. It comes from a survey into how education professionals view the use and importance of ICT. It was carried out by Naace and Intellect and also showed that 60 per cent of those surveyed said their school had nowhere near enough technology, while more than half said they needed more training in ICT. Visit: www.naace.co.uk


Holiday plea


The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation in Northern Ireland has written to the Education and Library Boards (ELBs) seeking an additional day’s holiday for teachers. This is because Friday, April 29, which has been designated as a special bank holiday to commemorate the royal wedding of Prince William with Kate Middleton falls on the traditional Northern Ireland school holiday week. It is hoped the move will stop schools having to take the time to write individually to their ELBs. Visit: www.into.ie


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