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Rallying cry issued to citizenship supporters


by Daniel White


Campaigners fighting to ensure citizenship remains a key part of the national curriculum are urging teachers to have their say in the final weeks of the consultation. They say that citizenship is an


“essential” part of a young person’s education and should be at least a statutory requirement within the new curriculum. It comes after the curriculum


review announced by education minister Michael Gove made no specific reference to the future of the subject. Campaigners fear that


with Mr Gove’s focus on tradition- al subject knowledge, citizenship could be pushed out. Mr Gove has already said


the national curriculum is to be reviewed subject-by-subject. A call for evidence in the ongoing curricu- lum review was issued in January and the deadline for submissions is April 14. The campaign is being head-


ed by Democratic Life, a coali- tion of organisations including the Citizenship Foundation, Amnesty International and the Association for Citizenship Teaching which is pushing to safeguard the subject within the national curriculum.


Gambians’ spirit of community inspires students


Students and teachers have been inspired on a trip to promote sus- tainable agriculture and tourism in one of Africa’s poorest countries. Six students from Queen


Elizabeth II High School on the Isle of Man visited Gambia this month after winning the Citizenship Foundation’s Giving Nation Award. The students received their award for their efforts in, and commitment to, charity and community action in their local area. During their trip, they saw first-


hand and reported on the work of Concern Universal, which aims to improve the quality of life of people in areas severely affected by poverty. They also learnt about the challenges faced by people in


Gambia including food shortages and climate change and looked at how they can fight the worldwide problem of poverty when returning to the UK. On the trip, farmers, all women,


showed how they accessed water for their families and helped feed their families. During the visit, the students held a cross-cultural discussion on the importance of volunteering and charitable giving, sharing their experiences on issues such as migration, education and tourism. They also visited a family communal living area in Gunjar, and a school run by the community in Njwara which is free for students. Tom Anderson, 15, a student from Queen Elizabeth II, said: “I


Sharing experiences: The Queen Elizabeth students visit a family cummunal living area in Gunjar, Gambia. They also saw a school in Njwara which is run by the local community


think we are very lucky to have won a trip to Gambia and have been able to see the variety of challenges trou- bling the country, however, I think the work we have put into Giving Nation has shown us what we can do in our local community too.”


Marking errors mean 13 students miss out on first choice universities


Thirteen A level students were unable to attend their first choice university because of marking errors by an examination board. The results of an inquiry by


exams regulator Ofqual detail management failings at a number of different stages of the on- screen marking system used by AQA. Ofqual found that 3,353


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GCSE, AS and A level candi- dates received the wrong marks, resulting in 662 students getting lower grades than they should have done. The inquiry found that not all


the students’ material was marked and judged that there was inad- equate piloting of the new on- screen marking system by AQA. It also revealed there were


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deficiencies in the way examin- ers were trained in the on-screen marking system, and there was a lack of effective risk-manage- ment and project management arrangements. Of the 13 students who missed


out on first-choice university places because of the error, four got a place at their second choice, seven got other places through


clearing and two were unplaced. Ofqual said if the error had been identified earlier this could have been avoided. Isabel Nisbet, chief executive of


Ofqual, said: “The failings by AQA are very disappointing, especially as they led to some candidates miss- ing out on their first choice of uni- versity or course. “Factors that contributed to the


marking error included limited piloting of the new on-screen mark- ing system, a lack of effective risk assessments, and deficiencies in the role and training of examiners on the new system.” Ms Nisbet also expressed disap-


pointment in the time it took AQA to notify the Ofqual. AQA became aware of a possible marking problem on September 17, but did not notify the regulator until September 30. The report said: “The delay


in notifying Ofqual, and notify- ing UCAS after the clearing proc- ess had closed on September 20, prevented these organisations from considering possible actions which could have been taken to help miti- gate the impact of the failure on candidates and public confidence more generally.”


AQA marked 1.5 million stu-


dents’ work last year, with 3.3 mil- lion scripts being marked online. AQA released the results of their own internal inquiry in December, which recommended “strength- ening the process to include a four-stage check of scripts during marking”. Ofqual’s report has called for


AQA to review the use of on- screen marking for scripts with separate answer booklets and to introduce more rigour into its testing processes. Mr Hall said there was much common ground between the recommendations from the two inquiries. He added: “I deeply regret this


failure and the impact it had on students, including the 13 who missed out on their first choice of course or university last sum- mer. I want to reassure the public that all the affected students were notified and issued correct grades in October last year. “I am reassured by the con-


firmation we have received from Ofqual that, even if we had notified the regulators earlier, it would not have had any beneficial impact on the affected students.”


Teacher Lesley Sleight added:


“This trip taught students the importance and the positive effects of intercultural communication to develop important skills, which are indispensable in today’s intercon- nected world society.”


The Giving Nation programme


aims to promote the work of more than 100 000 young people who give their time, energy and voice to help others. For more informa- tion, visit www.g-nation.org.uk and www.concernuniversal.org


Wanted urgently: 2,500 maths teachers


Maths graduates and career chang- ers are being targeted in a major campaign to recruit more maths teachers. The Training and Development


Agency for Schools (TDA) is high- lighting maths as a shortage sub- ject, with more than 2,500 training places across the country needing to be filled. The body, which has organised


Train to Teach events in London and Manchester, wants more maths graduates and people seeking a career change to consider teaching as a career. The TDA said maths teaching


was growing in appeal, particularly among career changers who had some knowledge and expertise in the subject. Nearly half (45 per cent) of the enquiries TDA had regarding teaching maths came from professionals considering a career switch from industries like finance or banking. The quality of maths candidates


has improved over the last decade. Since 2002, the percentage of maths teachers with a first or 2:1 has jumped by 14 per cent, and last year nearly half of maths teachers had a first or 2:1, compared with 43 per cent in 2002.


2 Maths teacher and stand-up


comedian, Matt Parker, has teamed up with the TDA to highlight the campaign. He said: “Getting the right teachers makes a world of difference in helping engage young people. Students need maths for their future success but at school it can be such a struggle, and without a dedicated teacher, it can be too easy for discouraged pupils to sim- ply give up. Good teachers bring maths to life in a way that will stay with pupils forever. It’s all about making it engaging.” Graham Holley, chief executive


of the TDA, said: “It is thrilling to see maths teaching enjoying such a renaissance over the last few years. It is no surprise that the subject is attracting highly qualified career changers, with all the opportunities, professional challenges and person- al rewards it can offer.” One of the government’s pri-


orities is to attract more high-cali- bre maths graduates into teaching. Bursaries of £9,000 are available for eligible trainees and subject enhancement courses can help career changers update their knowl- edge of maths, or those with associ- ated degrees to build up subject knowledge.


SecEd • March 3 2011 The Citizenship Foundation


met with Mr Gove last month to argue their case on why the subject should be protected. Molly Kearney, policy and advo-


cacy manager at the Citizenship Foundation, said that without it being compulsory some schools would not educate young people about issues such as the economy and society. She told SecEd: “Our main pri-


ority is to get as many organisations and people to go on the Democratic Life website and show their support for the subject and what benefits it can have. From our meeting with Mr Gove it was hard to see what is


going to happen and the department isn’t making any clear indication. “We just have to fight for it to be


included in the national curriculum, and if not then at least a statutory requirement for schools to teach the subject.” Citizenship was introduced


across the curriculum in 1996 by the then Conservative administra- tion, before the Labour government made it a compulsory subject at key stages 3 and 4 in 2002. Since then, almost 500,000


students have taken A lev- els and GCSEs in the subject, with 100,000 sitting citizenship GCSEs last year. There are now


around 2,000 teachers who have trained specially in citizenship. The coalition of campaigners


have written to MPs from all parties with a nine-page briefing showing the benefits citizenship can have as a subject and its achievements. Ms Kearney added: “The gov-


ernment is arguing the need for more set academic subjects, and the maths and sciences are important, but citizenship reflects society and what’s going on around pupils. It enables students to be politically active and to learn about economics and current affairs.” For more information, visit www.democraticlife.org.uk


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