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1944 Education Act
The Education Act of 1944 (also known as the Butler Report) replaced almost all of the education legislation that had gone before. The act saw the introduction of free and compulsory education for all 5-15 year old children and free education to 18 for those who wanted it. The 11+ exams were introduced as a way of measuring a child%u2019s intelligence and ability allowing them to be correctly placed in a tripartite system of schooling. -
GCE - General Certificate of Education Introduced
GCE O Level and GCE A level examinations introduced - replacing the older School Certificate. The GCE examinations were still in use during the first year of my secondary education -
The Crowther Report: Fifteen to Eighteen
The report looked at education from 15 %u2013 18 in relation to changing social and industrial needs. The recommendations included increasing the leaving age for secondary schools to 16 and introducing a new exam below the GCE level to target less academically minded pupils Additionally, the notion of a national system of vocational education was emphasised. This was evident in my sixth form education, with a range of B-TEC courses available -
The Newsom Report: Half Our Future
The report considered the education of children from 13-16 who were of average or below average ability, highlighting how they were being failed by the current system Again there was a recommendation to increase the leaving age for secondary education, but this did not happen for another nine years -
The Plowden Report: Children and their Primary Schools
The report considered all aspects of primary education, emphasising the importance of a child centred progressive approach to education. A new philosophy was suggested that rejected traditionalist ideas of learning, embracing less didactic methodologies in favour of newer pedagogies. -
Leaving age increased
The leaving age finally increased to 16 as recommended in the earlier Crowther Report of 1959 and Newsom Report of 1963 -
My birth date
I was born at RAF Cosford, Shifnal -
The Warnock Report: Special Educational Needs
The Warnock report reviewed the provision of education for children with special needs. The findings of the report led to the 1981 Education (Special Education) Act which was welcomed by the teaching profession. This is particularly relevant to my secondary education, as Smestow welcomed a high number of visually impaired pupils -
Warstones Primary School
I started my education in 1980 at Warstones Primary School, located in Warstones in Wolverhampton. Warstones was a large community school, consisting of an infant and a junior department, each with its own separate playground and hall. I attended the infant school from 1980 to 1983 and the junior school from 1983 to 1987 -
1981 Education (Special Education) Act
The act was underpinned by the findings of the Warnock Report in 1978. It replaced categories of handicap with the concept of special educational needs.
It also charged local authorities with identifying and assessing special needs and gave parents rights to appeal against statements of need. It also meant that where possible children with special needs were educated in mainstream schools -
GCSEs Introduced
The first GCSE's were introduced for teaching, replacing the old style GCE/CSE. The first exams took place in 1988 sparking a fierce debate about level of difficulty of the new style examinations. -
Corporal punishment ended
Corporal punishment was outlawed in state schools in 1986, but remained legal in independent schools until 1998! -
Smestow Comprehensive School
I first attended Smestow in 1987 and completed my GCSE's in 1992, gaining 7 A-C exam results. I then proceeded to the sixth form where I took A-levels in Geography, Economics, and Physics. I left the sixth form in 1994 with a single A-level in Economics. Smestow, a state maintained mixed 11-18 comprehensive school in Castlecroft, (Wolverhampton) has since been awarded Specialist Sports College status -
1988 Education Reform Act
The 1988 Education Reform Act (also known as the Baker Act) was the most radical shake up of the educational system since the 1944 Education Act. The Act saw the introduction of a National Curriculum and national testing. It also laid out plans for Ofsted, which was eventually established in 1992. Other key areas included opting out (GM schools) and Local Management of Schools (LMS) -
City of Wolverhampton College
I attended the City of Wolverhampton College, or Wulfrun College as it was then known, in 1997/8. I completed a set of short courses in various computer related disciplines as a pre-requisite to admission on to a full degree course at the University of Wolverhampton. -
University of Wolverhampton
After gaining the pre-requisite qualifications at college, I finally enrolled at the University of Wolverhampton in 1998 initially on a BSc (hons) Computer Science degree. At the end of the second year of the course I changed my programme to a BSc (hons) Computing degree to allow more specialisation. I graduated in 2002 with a 1st class degree. -
Introduction of Tuition Fees
Following the recommendations of the Dearing Report of 1997 tuition fees were introduced. This was the first year of my degree.
