NEWS FOCUS SecEd: On Your Side


Let's talk 'skewed policies' shall we?


A REVIEW of truancy sanctions in England has been launched by education chief Michael Gove with a speech in which he made reference to a “missing million” of pupils – those who do not attend more then 10 per cent of their lessons. He called them an educational underclass. The latest truancy figures in fact have shown a fall in


Pete


Henshaw Editor SecEd


absenteeism, but Mr Gove believes that the benchmark for persistent absenteeism (pupils who miss 20 per cent or more of lessons) is too high and he has changed this to 15 per cent. This means the number of persistent absentees is about to rise from 175,000 to 430,000. In his speech, Mr Gove talked heavily of the links


between absenteeism and educational failure. He talked of educational failure leading to gang indoctrination. He talked of his belief that those young people who rioted this summer had been failed by our education system. He talked of the previous government’s “skewed” policies which “undermined authority”. Most of all, however, he talked of how discipline was the


answer – giving teachers more power to restrain and search pupils, reviewing the truancy sanctions (such as parental penalty notices) to ensure they are policed effectively, and better supporting teachers who are accused by students. Do not misunderstand me. Much of the focus on discipline


I welcome, especially the long overdue focus on false accusations – the prevention of automatic suspension, liaison with police to ensure quick investigations, and consistent prosecution of false accusers. But what about the rest of the story? Discipline is very


important, but so too is giving every child hope and aspiration for their futures. In this context, if Mr Gove wants to talk about skewed policies, I am happy to oblige. While he is busy enforcing his disciplinary and


authoritarian approach to schooling, he has decimated the funding for Educational Maintenance Allowances (EMA) from £560 million to £180 million. These funds allowed disadvantaged young people to afford their further education. It is interesting to note that in the areas of London where the worse rioting took place (Brixton, Enfield, Haringey, Hackney and Waltham Forest) more than a third of London’s students receiving EMA are to be found. In addition, careers advice, perhaps one of the most


important services in the context of allowing teenagers to aspire, is in a state of disarray. The Connexions services have been slashed to ribbons long before the new All-Age Careers Advisory Service will be up and running next year. One union has estimated that two million teenagers will fall into this careers advice black hole. Furthermore, the new service will only conduct face-to-face


services for adults, not for young people, and responsibility for providing face-to-face careers advice will transfer to schools, but without any transfer of funding – it had previously cost around £200 million a year. The Aimhigher service, which worked hard to get disadvantaged students to consider higher education, has also been axed. And what about the curriculum? It is clear that the


academic focus of Mr Gove’s plans for what we encourage pupils to study will not suit every child. We need a whole curriculum that offers something for every child and we need to stop punishing schools if children do not choose academic subjects (I talk of course of the English Baccalaureate). And if you want to talk about rioting – I fear that the likely


demise of the subject of citizenship will do us no favours in trying to instill a sense of right and wrong in our young people. And if it must be discipline policy, we can discuss this


too. The Behaviour and Attendance Partnerships of the last government showed results, but the requirement to be part of one has now been dropped, meaning they will no doubt fade into history. Discipline is one thing Mr Gove – it is important and I’m


tempted to go so far as to wish power to your elbow in this regard. But do not forget the other half of the story – hope. We must ensure that our education system offers hope to all


young people, otherwise what kind of nation will we become? SecEd


• Pete Henshaw is publisher and editor of SecEd. Email editor@sec-ed.co.uk or visit www.sec-ed.co.uk. Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SecEd_Education


MUCH HAS already been said about the riots over the summer, but now the dust has settled, at least a little, perhaps it is time for us all to reflect. The riots were indisputably


serious; the proverbial “wake- up call” which none of us can or should ignore. They were shocking. Abhorrent. Criminal. That they involved “young


people” is certainly true, though the people arrested for the very worst of the crimes committed those nights are mostly in their 20s and 30s. The profiles of people arrested


also show it was not simply a “peasants’ revolt”, the backlash from those left behind in our increasingly polarised society, though that does not rule out simple greed as the motivation for some. One commentator dubbed it


“recreational rioting”, but that, too, is over-simplistic. There must be reasons, even if those reasons are complex, uncomfortable and do not universally apply. Whatever those reasons,


anything that involves “young people” behaving badly invites criticism of their teachers and their schools. Our prime minister David Cameron, oh so predictably, included “lack of discipline in schools” in his set-piece speech. In fairness, however, attention for once has also focused upon the role of parents (after all, schools were on their summer break). As I see it, the riots were the


coming to a head of a much more deep-seated cultural and social malaise, with which the schools have been grappling for a long time. Far from being the cause of the problems, we have been in the vanguard doing our best to confront them well before they boiled over this August. And quite successfully too. Perhaps it happened in the


long holiday precisely because our restraining hand and the normality we offer was missed. For in a fast-changing, challenging, over- crowded and tumultuous world that is so overtly materialistic and self- centred and so lacking in a moral compass, many children are tacitly grateful for their school. To many young people, school


is an oasis of civilisation in which rules are defined, boundaries are drawn and enforced at the same time as the values under-pinning them are openly discussed and consistently applied. We have done a good job against the odds, but it has not been easy. Far from it.


So many blamed a lack of discipline in schools for last month’s riots. John Fairhurst explains why this is absurd


Many of those who have


left teaching in despair cite “indiscipline” and “lack of respect” as the main reason for their going. In the minds of those who do not know the real worth of schools – such as Mr Cameron – this is evidence for the antagonistic claims they make at our expense. But I suggest those exiting the profession prematurely are symptomatic of just how much the job has changed in the last decade or two. So much more is demanded


of us as both the social cohesion and the moral climate in which we operate have declined around us. It is hard work, requiring imagination, sophistication and flexibility beyond many who try, only to discover that teaching successfully is not “just a job”, but something rather more challenging and open-ended. Most obviously, the widespread


absence of deference for any kind of authority has made our lives as teachers considerably more problematic. The “I know my rights” brigade – and I mean the parents too – has slowly undermined us. They have made achieving the


IN RESPONSE…


Nearly one in four children achieved an A or A* grade in their GCSEs and the A level pass rate has increased to a record high of 97.8 per cent. Other headlines from this


year’s exam results, include the increase in entries for A level maths, biology, chemistry and physics. Maths in particular has seen an increase of 40.2 per cent in the past five years. Much of the media coverage


focused on this aspect, with many newspapers quoting the “Brian Cox effect”. Elsewhere, French A level


uptake was down 4.7 per cent on last year and German saw a drop of 6.9 per cent. Those achieving the GCSE


five A* to C benchmark increased by 0.8 per cent to 69.8 per cent with the sciences again seeing increased entries. However, French and German entries also fell at GCSE level (by 13.2 per cent). The number of GCSE


entries fell this year by 4.2 per cent to 5.15 million, while the number of A level grades issued increased by 1.6 per cent to 867,317. Elsewhere, 26.5 per cent of girls achieved at least an A grade at GCSE level


compared to 19.8 per cent of boys. We round up some of the reaction to this year’s results.


Ziggy Liaquat, managing director of Edexcel: “When these students would have made their choices, it would have been at the very beginning of the global economic downturn, when businesses were crying out for students and young people to have skills in science, engineering and maths. What we are seeing today is


the outcome of those choices. Students are making far more informed choices on what’s going to give them success in terms of jobs, university and meeting the needs of the economy, which we all know has to compete in a global marketplace. That’s a really positive message.”


Professor Sir Peter Knight, incoming president of the Institute of Physics: “Year-on-year we are seeing increases in the number of students choosing to sit physics A level. As physics has enjoyed popular rejuvenation – thanks, in no small part, to the ‘Brian Cox effect’ and the excitement surrounding the Large Hadron Collider – we’re


sure that many students are also responding to calls from university leaders, businesses and the government for students to choose subjects which will provide the skills our country needs.”


Professor Dame Athene Donald, chair of the Royal Society’s Education Committee: “We are pleased to see both the government and the students themselves recognising the benefit of taking science and maths A levels to enhance their chances of attaining university places and long-term employment. While it is encouraging to see


the numbers of students taking science and mathematics A levels increasing, the numbers are still far too low to meet the needs of both business and education. We believe an overhaul of A levels may be needed to enable students to study a greater breadth of subjects, including science and maths.”


Brian Lightman, general secretary, Association of School and College Leaders: “The downward trend in design and technology is one that is worrying, because we desperately need technical engineers. The decrease in history and geography


could be explained in part by the rise in numbers taking religious studies. The decrease in modern languages at GCSE is disappointing but until employers give a clear message that they value languages as a business skill, it will be difficult to convince students otherwise.”


Ian Toone, senior profession officer, Voice: “An alarming feature of this year’s results is the widening gender gap, with girls outperforming boys at grades A*/A – the widest this gender gap has been since the A* grade was introduced in 1994.”


Chris Keates, general secretary, NASUWT: “The key question is, having worked so hard and achieved so much, what is on offer from the coalition government for these young people? Unfortunately, in just over


12 months, this government has stripped away many of the opportunities available. Apprenticeships have been slashed, financial support axed through the abolition of the EMA, youth unemployment has soared and university places cut.”


discipline we seek – and which the vast majority of our parents say they want – much harder Also, the bastions of British


respectability have so badly disgraced themselves in recent times, can we really be surprised at a wide and general loss of respect for authority? Politicians have always


manipulated people and events to achieve their policy objectives. It is the game they signed up to. But to commit the nation to war on a spin? To fiddle their expenses so obviously and so blatantly? (Some MPs did not even need to break shop windows to get their free televisions). Meanwhile,


the local


bank manager was a figure of respectability, prudence, integrity, but now? And the police have been caught up in accusations of bribery and corruption associated with an over-aggressive tabloid press. That same tabloid press which is now so obviously hiding the truth as it tries to wriggle out of the trouble it has created for itself. So who are the role models


for the young of today? Wayne Rooney? Lady Gaga? The shallow celebrity culture has something to do with all this, too. As do the media who elevate them way beyond their worth, while “entertaining” us with over-explicit “soaps” and contrived “reality TV” that debase the language, normal codes of behaviour and any sense of self- restraint. I believe I am right to resent


any suggestion that the schools are in some way responsible for what has happened. As British society and its traditional values have disintegrated around us, schools have worked harder and harder to keep communities together, foster respect for others and challenge selfish or yobbish behaviours. We have laboured extensively to hold on to and demonstrate moral purpose and to live by a set of positive values. Broadly, we have been more successful than people realise.


Schools have a duty to


contribute to a solution (if one can be found), but please Mr Cameron, do not suggest we are anything to do with the cause of a problem which we have been battling with for so long.


SecEd


• John Fairhurst is the immediate past president of the Association of School and College Leaders and the recently retired headeacher of Shenfield High School in Essex.


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Reflections on the riots


6


SecEd • September 8 2011


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