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NEWS • VIEWS • INFORMATION • ADVICE





Minister ‘cherry-picking’ on curriculum revamp



Education Secretary Michael Gove has announced that the introduction of revised programmes of study for English, maths, science and PE are to be delayed by a year so they can be brought in at the same time as new curricula for all other subjects.



The NASUWT does not believe that another review of the national curriculum is necessary, coming soon after the introduction of the new secondary curriculum in 2008 and the role review for primary.



In the Union’s view, the Coalition Government’s curriculum policy is driven more by ideology and less by an attempt to meet the genuine learning needs of pupils.



The Coalition has already preempted the findings of the review by introducing the English Baccalaureate and incorporating it into performance league tables. Mr Gove has argued for the need for the curriculum to draw on ‘best practice’ from around the world, highlighting examples from abroad to claim that the English system is underperforming.



This is another example of ‘cherrypicking’ by the Secretary of State, argued Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, in order to justify their planned changes.



“Instead of using information systematically and objectively to support developments in education, the Coalition Government continues its undignified scouring of the globe, cherry-picking parts of other countries’ education systems to justify the reforms it has already decided to introduce.



"There is one lesson, however, that the Secretary of State may wish to take from all the education systems he has identified as examples of good practice: not one of them has undertaken any reform of the system based on the partial and ill-informed use of international data, which he has turned into an art form.”



Visit www.nasuwt.org.uk/Curriculum.





GOVERNORS’ ASBESTOS LIABILITY



The welfare of staff and pupils at schools will be put at risk, the NASUWT has warned, if plans to transfer responsibility for managing asbestos to school governors go ahead.



The Department for Education (DfE) is proposing to transfer legal responsibility for the health and safety of pupils and school staff from local authorities to governing bodies.



School governors do not have the specialist knowledge and resources to fulfil their responsibilities in terms of managing hazards such as asbestos, Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, has warned, adding that the plan could also deter many people from becoming governors.



NASUWT believes this is yet another reckless, ideologically driven proposal from the DfE, which will put the welfare and wellbeing of pupils and staff at risk.



Not only does evidence show that most governing bodies lack the expertise to manage the legislative provisions, but also no governing body would willingly take on the potential huge financial liability this responsibility entails.



Visit www.nasuwt.org.uk/Asbestos





Send My Friend to School



This year, Send My Friend to School is inviting UK pupils to ‘go for gold’ by taking part in its special Olympic-themed campaign.



2012 is Olympic year, offering athletes from every country the chance to test their abilities in hundreds of sporting events. Every child should have the opportunity to achieve all that they can, and education is the key to that. World leaders promised that they would work together to make sure all children get an education by 2015 and the great global education race got off to a brilliant start. Millions of children in Africa, Asia and Latin America went to school for the first time. But, like a marathon runner, the great global education race has ‘hit a wall’. The number of children out of school has stayed stubbornly at 67 million for two years now, with only three years of the race left. Some countries are making more progress than others… Burundi is one of the winning countries since they reduced the out-of-school population by 98%; there are now only about 10,000 children in the whole of Burundi who don’t go to school compared to 660,000 in 2000.



Nigeria is still struggling right at the back as they have the largest number of children still waiting for a chance to go to school.



Ummi [above] is one of 8.8 million children in Nigeria still waiting for a chance to go to school. Ummi spends her days selling spaghetti at a market but would love to join her friends and go to school. Now is the time to use energy created when the world visits London for the Olympics to remind world leaders of their promise and urge them to ‘go for gold’. Our Olympics-themed 2012 campaign will include a range of creative learning, campaigning and fun activities to engage the whole school during the Summer term of 2012.



Sign up now and we will send you a free schools pack next term, with everything you need to take part.



www.sendmyfriend.org

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