NEWS FOCUS SecEd: On Your Side


Right you ‘orrible lot...


The focus on discipline in schools sparked by the summer’s riots has been all-to predictable and no doubt has bumped Troops to Teachers, one of the coalition’s flagship policy ideas, up the agenda again. It’s amazing how often at the Boarding schools’


Guest


Editorial Hilary


Moriarty


Association we receive phone calls from parents close to tears and declaring: “We have to find a boarding school for him (or her) – he (or she) is out of control!” It is more amazing that even a parent at the end of their


tether should think a boarding school is the answer to the problems bundled in the skin of a stroppy and unruly teenager. It usually is a teenager, but once it was a six- year-old. The phone call was long, and felt like emergency counselling for a mum in despair. We ended up agreeing that spending more time with her


child rather than less would be a good idea, and since he loved dinosaurs and museums are free, why not take him to see some gigantic skeletons. I even sent him a book about dinosaurs – it was a week before christmas. Most of the calls are more briskly dealt with: British


boarding schools are not military schools along the American model of “boot camps”, where children learn discipline the hard way and not necessarily because they want to. And if a child is out of control at home, why on earth would any boarding school want to invest time and energy in reforming him (or her)? Their primary concern is children’s welfare, and that


means all of the children, boarders or day pupils, they already have. Why would any sane headteacher want to admit a liability? And what would the parents of the many say if the head did admit a child who was a danger both to himself and to the others he was joining? family situations do arise where a child is better off out


of the family home, and so are the parents, and perhaps the “downtime” a boarding school offers by having the child in a safe place for nights and weekends as well as days can allow such a family to heal and go forward more positively. But such situations are relatively rare, and when they


do arise, parents need to be very honest with the receiving school, and ideally able to paint a picture of the child’s potential – a sportsman? An actor? An IT whiz? – to balance any hint of being intrinsically difficult to educate. I’d be the first to agree that a school environment


should be disciplined. I do believe that you need order in the classroom to make progress, to learn. And in the corridors, and in the lunch queue, and I speak as one who was nearly run over by a rampaging rugby team thundering down a corridor on its cheerfully boisterous way to a practice, and who almost came to blows with two boys brawling at my feet and completely oblivious to a mere vocal intervention. oh yes, we should be able to take it as a given that our children are as safe in school as they would be at home. But I have to admit that when we start believing only


soldiers can run schools, then we might as well all pack up and go home. Would there not be uproar if we declared what the army needs in its various theatres of war is regiments of teachers? If so, why do we smile and nod and say “but of course!”


to the notion that soldiers will make excellent teachers? After all, the army imposes discipline on willing recruits who get court martialled if they step too far out of line. It may not be so easy in 10G on a friday afternoon with precious few sanctions in the kit bag. Transferable skills being what they are, no doubt


cross-over with appropriate training and sufficient subject knowledge is possible – sergeant majors wielding text books and historians getting to grips with bayonets (if indeed they are still in use) may be the answer to recruitment problems in both worlds. But could we please get rid of the idea that, basically, anyone can teach?


Let’s get physical


MAThs A level is too focused on examinations, while students are not aware just how closely linked the subject is to physics, a study has said. The Institute of Physics (IoP)


released a report this week, Mind the Gap: Mathematics and the transition from A-levels to physics and engineering degrees, which also suggests that students choose their subjects for post-16 study based on what they enjoyed in their Gcses rather than their career prospects. The report is the result of six


telephone interviews with physics academics, an online survey of 393 students, and case study visits at three universities involving 24 physics and engineering students and nine maths students. The survey also included evidence from 40 academics fromuK universities. All the research was taken between february 14 and March 29 this year. The aim of the report was to


look at the extent to which students are prepared to deal with aspects of maths in physics and to understand exactly why students do not study physics at university despite being qualified to do so. Academics in the report


slammed the mathematics curriculum currently in place believing the link with physics should be better emphasised when students make their A level choices. The report said: “In an ideal


scenario, changes should be made to the A level structure, both the way in which mathematics is taught at that level – it was felt that it is taught too much to exam


The Institute of Physics released a report this week looking at the similarities between the subject and maths and how


the standard of A levels can be improved. Daniel White reports


rather than to promote contextual understanding of the topic – and also to the amount of crossover between mathematics and physics at A level – the two subjects are currently perceived by students to be quite separate.” The report follows the A level


results that were released last month which saw an increase in entries for both maths and physics. for the past five years, the


number of students taking maths has risen dramatically – up 40.2 per cent – and the number of physics entrants has also increased by six per cent from the 2010 figures. In the summer, experts from the


examination boards and the Institute of Physics said the rejuvenation of the subjects could be down to the “Briancox effect” with the subjects being more widely referenced in the popular media. Meanwhile, the report also


said that students need to be made more aware of the links between physics and maths. It claims that this will enable students to make more educated subject choices for A levels and degree level.


IN RESPONSE… Dear sir,


Thousands of girls won’t be going back to school this week. They haven’t failed their exams, found decent jobs, or progressed to college or university. Instead, they’ve been taken abroad and forced into marriage. for most, their education will be over. The summer holidays


SecEd


• Hilary Moriarty is national director of the Boarding Schools’ Association but writes here in a personal capacity. SecEd’s editor is Pete Henshaw. Email editor@sec-ed.co.uk or visit www.sec-ed.co.uk


are known to be the most dangerous time for girls at risk of forced marriage. Young women between the ages of 14 and 19 are particularly vulnerable. some are told by their families that they are going on holiday, only to find themselves signed up for a wedding ceremony. on average, the foreign office’s forced Marriage unit rescues


and repatriates 400 young girls and women a year. The fate of hundreds more is unknown. The uK figures are just a


taster of a major worldwide problem. every three seconds a girl is coaxed, coerced or forced into marriage. Ten million girls around the globe will be married too young or against their will this year. some are as young as five- years-old. This leaves them more susceptible to violence, hIv and death in childbirth. Importantly, marriage also takes them out of school. Internationally, 75 million girls are missing from classrooms. As president of the Girls’


schools Association, I am passionate about girls’ education, both here and around the world. early and forced marriage is an issue that cuts across continents


and social backgrounds. studies in countries like Bangladesh have shown that delaying marriage by just a few years means girls are much more likely to be literate. educated girls are healthier and more able to move themselves from a life of poverty to a future of opportunity. They also help improve the quality of life of whole communities. Research by the World Bank demonstrates that if just one per cent more girls leave school with secondary level education, every citizen’s income goes up by an average of 0.3 per cent. I know the difference schooling


can make for girls. I spend every day with young women whose futures are full of hope and excitement, with university beckoning, promising careers on


the horizon and the expectation of fulfilling, equal relationships and their own healthy families in due course. As we get back into the


classroom this month, we must think about those who are denied education. ending early and forced marriage is the right thing and the smart thing to do. Girls should be walking to school, not up the aisle. The Girls’schools


Association is backing Plan uK’s Because I Am A Girl campaign and the Take thevow petition against early and forced marriage (www.plan-uk.org/vow).


Dr Helen Wright President of the Girls’ Schools Association and head of St Mary’s School in Wiltshire


The report said: “Many


mathematics students reported being unaware that physics contained so much mathematics, and that a love of problem-solving, which was felt to be absent from physics degree courses, was what had pushed them towards pursuing mathematics to degree level. “students felt that the


mathematical nature of degree-level physics should be made clearer, so that a more informed choice could be made.” one student in the report said


a teacher recommended that they study further maths instead of maths to prepare for a degree in the subject. however, the student said this made the subject “seem easier in comparison” to physics. elsewhere, the report found


students need more advice on making A level choices with many not thinking of their future degree options. A statement in the report said:


“some students reported that they were thinking about their future degree options when they made their choices, but many were not.


These students tended to make their selections based on the subjects that they had enjoyed at Gcse, and what they had been advised by teachers to pursue based on their aptitude. “A number of students had


studied mainly scientific or mathematical subjects but decided to balance that out by studying an arts subject or foreign language. “This was done not only to


develop a broader range of skills, but also to ensure that they didn’t spend all of their time working mathematically.” elizabeth swinbank, chair


of the IoP’s Maths in Physics Working Group, said: “The IoP has, for some time, been concerned that physics and mathematics A levels do not provide sufficient mathematical preparation for those who continue with their physics at university either within a physics degree or in other cognate disciplines.” In response to the report, schools


minister Nick Gibb said: “We need to ensure that our curriculum and qualifications are robust and rigorous and that they keep pace with the demands of employers and universities. “This research reflects


widespread concerns that A levels are still not preparing students sufficiently well for the study of a science degree course at university, with insufficient maths preparation in science in particular.”


SecEd Further information


To read the full report, visit www.iop.org/publications/


www.sec-ed.com


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SecEd • September 15 2011


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