Education system to be overhauled (From Southend Standard)

Education system to be overhauled

11:00am Wednesday 1st July 2009

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THE Government has announced wide-ranging education reforms, which include one-to-one tuition for children who fall behind in school and new US-style report cards.

Announcing the reforms, Children’s Secretary Ed Balls said children of all abilities must be given the chance to succeed, whether they aim for universities or more practical career routes such as apprenticeships.

The ambitious reforms, outlined in an Education White Paper, include plans to merge weak schools with good schools to create “chains” under the authority of one headteacher.

New US-style report cards will see every school ranked on a number of measures and given a final overall grade.

Families could be forced to attend classes to learn how to control their offspring or face a £1,000 fine and a jail sentence if they do not pay.

The White Paper will also set out pupil and parent guarantees, entitlements for each child which include a personal tutor to act as a single point of contact at secondary school and an entitlement to five hours of sport a week inside and outside of school.

PARENTS have welcomed Government plans to get kids doing more sport and providing one-to-one tuition for struggling pupils.

But there are concerns about where the money will come from.

Schools will be obliged to provide pupils with the chance to take part in five hours of sport a week both within and outside of school hours.

Mum-of-six Joadey Dyer, 39, of Clarence Road, Benfleet, who also teaches PE, said: “I think that’s brilliant news, especially with all the overweight children.

“A lot children have got the wrong kind of pastimes at the moment.”

Another key proposal is to give all children access to a personal tutor as soon as they start falling behind.

Mrs Dyer added: “Schools do not have enough money as it is. Where is the money going to come from for this?”

The White Paper also announced plans to scrap what is known as national teaching strategies to give teachers more freedom over how they teach Dad Norman Bowdler, 52, of Ormsby Road, Canvey, said: “That is good news and you’re not going to get any better than one to one tuition, but I would worry whether they have got the necessary resources.”

ONE of the most controversial aspects of the Government plans are proposals to punish parents of unruly children by sending them to parenting classes – or even jail.

Families could be forced to attend classes to learn how to control their offspring.

If parents still fail to keep children in line, they would face a £1,000 fine and a jail sentence if they do not pay up.

However simply handing out punishments to parents whose children refuse to toe the line, is not necessarily the way to go, according to one childcare expert from Southend.

David Peters, founded of the Purple Club – a not-for-profit organisation offering online courses for children who are in care, not at school or being taught at home – said: “This seems like a political fop to me. It’s like putting a band aid over a gaping wound.

“We need to be working on treating the cause, not the symptoms.”

The Purple Club is run from a building in Aviation Way, close to Southend Airport, and was devised after the publication of a report by Sir Cyril Taylor, chairman of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust.

The report revealed children who were in care were much more likely to end up without qualifications.

Mr Peters added: “There is no doubt some parents are to blame and don’t work with authorities, but for the majority of parents we need to be working with them and their children to educate and support them.

“Every case should be treated differently so we shouldn’t have just blanket proposals for all problem children or their parents.”

HEADTEACHERS could be paid up to £200,000 a year under proposals to create “chain” schools with a shared brand.

Under the scheme good schools would team up with weak or failing schools to create a group of schools under one super head, who would be entitled to an extra 20 per cent more pay than normal heads.

The thinking behind it is that the involvement of a good school would raise standards at the other schools.

But Andrew Baker, headteacher at Westcliff High School for Boys, is sceptical.

He said: “I’m in favour of all schools working together to help each other to create success across the education service as a whole.

“But I think it would be a mistake to assume someone who had been successful in one environment was necessarily going to be someone who will have a great deal to offer a different situation.”

Mr Baker approved of the 20 per cent pay rise.

He said: “It’s a good incentive and I am sure there will be people who will be interested in that.”

Richard Thomas, headteacher at Bromfords School in Wickford, added: “It’s good for schools to co-operate. We have done that over the years.

“The question is what is a failing school? Is it because it’s in a challenging area with high levels of deprivation?

“If you’re in a middle class school or a school that selects its pupils, is that head any better equipped to work in a deprived area?”

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