-
Education Act
The Act made secondary education free for all pupils up to 18, compulsory to 15.The Act provided for the appointment and the establishment of a Ministery of Education to promote the education of the people of England and Wales and the progressive development of institutions devoted to that purpose. LEAs set up to ensure nursery, primary and secondary education. Tripartite System introduced (caused outrage with Labour government who didn't agree with a class system of schools). -
Minister of Eduaction
Ellen Wilkinson, whose main task was to implement the provisions of the 1944 Education Act. She accepted the challenge enthusiastically, seeing opportunities for a new kind of schooling with 'laughter in the classroom, self-confidence growing every day, eager interest instead of bored uniformity'. This shows the support and the difference the Act had. -
Teacher Training
Post war left a shortage of teachers, which was made worse by raising the leaving age in the 1944 Act to 15. By 1950 76 new training colleges were opened by the LEAs to tackle this problem and to supply adequate teachers into the education system. -
GCE - General certificate of Education
The effect of the tripartite system disqualified a majority of the nation's children from access to qualifications.
The General Certificate of Education replaced the old School Certificate. It was designed for the top 25 per cent of the ability range. GCE exams were normally taken at 16 (Ordinary Level) and 18 (Advanced Level) mostly in the grammar schools and the independent (public or private fee-paying) schools. Pass or Fail exam, not all got a qualification -
Churchill
When Churchill had come to power in 1951 he had immediately cut spending on education -
Education Act
The 1944 Act stated special educational provision was to be included in LEAs' development plans for primary and secondary education. The less seriously handicapped might be catered for in ordinary schools, while those with more serious disabilities would, wherever practicable, continue to be educated in special schools. The 1953 Education (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act extended these requirements to independant schools. -
Spending
Tories accepted the notion that increased investment in education led to national economic growth, and public expenditure on education rose from 3 per cent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in 1953-4 to 4.3 per cent in 1964-5. As a result, there had been huge improvements in educational provision since the end of the war. 1,800 new secondary schools had been built in England and Wales, there was more variety in the curriculum, equipment and materials had improved, and more out of school activities -
Labour in Charge
After 13 years of Conservative government, Harold Wilson led the Labour Party to a general election victory. Wilson was anxious to increase opportunity within society as money spent by conservatives didn't benefit 'average' pupils. In the education system this meant change and expansion: for the first time ever, a British government spent more on education than on defence. The propertion of children attending secondary education rose by 30% but selection into grammar schools remained -
CSE- Certificate of Secondary Education
The report 'Secondary School Examinations other than the GCE' recommended that there should be a new exam system for pupils considered incapable of coping with the demands of the GCE. This led to the introduction of the Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE) in 1965, giving al pupils the chance of a qualification. However, lead to seperation of ability even in comprehensive schools. -
Middle School
In 1968 the first opened in Bradford and the West Riding. Yet no one had done any academic research into the effectiveness of middle schools. -
Spending Cuts - 'Milk Snatcher'
The decade began with a Conservative administration led by Ted Heath (pictured), elected in June 1970 with a Commons majority of 30. Heath needed to make cuts in public expenditure and his new secretary of state for education - one Margaret Thatcher - offered, among other things, to abolish the universal provision of free school milk. This was achieved in the 1971 Education (Milk) Act and led to the jibe 'Thatcher, Thatcher, milk snatcher'. -
Recession
The governments of Heath, Wilson and Callaghan were all 'unable to breathe new life into the old system'.The recession provided a rationale for economic cutbacks in education not only in England but in most advanced western industrial countries. -
More Comprehensives
LEAs continued to submit plans - presented as individual school plans - which Thatcher accepted. Indeed, she sanctioned more comprehensivisations than any other education minister before or since. The halfway point was reached during this period - there were now more children in comprehensive schools than in selective ones. -
Leaving Age Increased
Leaving age of secondary school raised to 16. This resulted in all pupils sitting exams for qualifications and the possibility to enter higher education. -
Deeper Recession
Labour government forced to have a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The cuts in public expenditure which were forced on him increased unemployment and worsened the provision of education and other public services. -
No Selcection??
Educaiton Act 1976 stated a principle for no selection into secondary education. however the rest of the act contained many loopholes so selection still remained. -
Thatcher
Despite their claims to be radical and modernising, Thatcher's Tories - and the 'New Right' which supported them - couldn't bring themselves to ditch the elitist policies of the past. The most obvious of these was selection for secondary education.Thus the 1979 Education Act - Thatcher's first - gave back to LEAs the right to select pupils for secondary education at 11 -
Keith Joseph - Education Secretary
With Joseph leading the education department, Thatcher set about preparing to take control. This meant confronting the 'education establishment' - the teachers and their unions, the training institutions and national and local inspectors and advisors. There would be action on three fronts:
The curriculum, the teachers and LEAs -
School Curriculum
DES issued Circular 6/81 which requested that, in the light of the advice contained in The School Curriculum, each local education authority should (a) review its policy for the school curriculum in its area, and its arrangements for making that policy known to all concerned;
(b) review the extent to which current provision in the schools is consistent with that policy; and
(c) plan future developments accordingly, within the resources available. -
LEAs
Thatcher enlisted the right-wing tabloid press in her campaign against the LEAs. For Thatcher, the local authorities - many of them run by Labour - were an irritant, blocking central government's ability to affect what was going on in the schools. The government took another swipe LEAs in 1982, when it launched the Technical and Vocational Education Initiative, aimed at 14-18 year olds. LEAs were not allowed to participate. Instead, it was administered by the Departmant of Employment's MSC -
Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (CATE)
Set up to establish standards for teachers -
NVQs
The National Council for Vocational Qualifications (NCVQ) was set up in 1986 to promote National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs). -
GCSE
Replaced both the GCE O-level (General Certificate of Education, Ordinary Level) and the CSE qualifications, which suffered problems due to the two-tier nature of the system. Grade C of the GCSE was set at equivalent to O-Level Grade C and CSE Grade 1. HIgher and basic tier GCSE covered A-E and F-G respectively -
National Curriculum
The government published The National Curriculum 5-16. This consultation document set out plans for the introduction of a national curriculum and associated assessment procedures. -
Education Act 1988
Acts major provisions
The Act was presented as giving power to the schools. In fact, it took power away from the LEAs and the schools and gave them all to the secretary of state - it gave him hundreds of new powers.Even more importantly, it took a public service and turned it into a market - something the Tories had been working towards for a decade. -
BTEC
In 1989 the government announced that schools would in future be allowed to offer vocational courses like those from the Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC). It also made an effort to rationalise Britain's vocational qualifications in an attempt to create a single new system of vocational qualifications: GNVQ for educational qualifications and NVQ for qualifications gained through work. -
I was born
-
Kennith Clarke- Education Secretary
Administration was equally committed to selection and elitism; equally determined to continue undermining the local authorities; and equally destructive in its attitude to the teaching profession. This the new government established a teachers' pay review body, introduced a 'Parents' Charter', removed further education and sixth form colleges from local authority control and established Ofsted (office for education standards) -
Specialism in Schools
Tories now sought other means to damage the comprehensive system and weaken LEAs control of education. Their strategy was to convert 'selection' into 'specialisation'.''Selection is not, and should not be, a great issue of the 1990s as it was in the 1960s. The S-word for all Socialists to come to terms with is, rather, 'specialisation'. The fact is that children excel at different things; it is foolish to ignore it, and some schools may wish specifically to cater for these differences. -
Period: to
My Education
-
Lane Head Nursery School
Lane Head Nursery School opened as a nursery school in January 1973, but has a much longer history. The date inscribed on the building is 1880, when the school opened as a board school. The original logbooks are now in the keeping of Walsall's local History archive library, and make fascinating reading.The school eventually became Short Heath Junior School, but in the 1960s it was obvious that the accommodation was being outgrown. the junior school moved, leaving the viactorian building vacant. -
Review of national Curriculum
It recommended that:
the content of the curriculum should be reduced, less time should be spent on testing,around a fifth of teaching time should be available for use at the discretion of schools, at Key Stage 4 (14-16 years) schools should have greater discretion, with art, geography, history and music becoming optional subjects, some curriculum choice should be introduced at Key Stage 3; and the National Curriculum Council and Schools Examination and Assessment Council should become one body -
Roasedale CofE Infant School
Rosedale celebrated its 40th year this year. -
Keeping Grammar Schools
Labour party's opposition to academic selection at 11 has always been clear. But while they have never supported grammar schools in their exclusion of children by examination, change can come only through local agreement. Such change in the character of a school could only follow a clear demonstration of support from the parents affected by such decisions -
Short Heath Junior School
-
Excellence in Schools
Secondary schools would be encouraged to become 'specialist schools' which would be allowed to select a small proportion of their pupils on the basis of 'perceived aptitudes'. At least an hour a day in primary schools would be spent on English and an hour on maths. -
Specialist School Colleges
Blair - Selective again - removed comprehensive schools - Schools would achieve specialist status by raising £50,000 in business sponsorship, setting improvement targets and involving the local community. In return they would get a £100,000 capital grant and £120 extra per pupil per year for at least four years and would be allowed to select up to ten per cent of their intake on the basis of aptitude -
City Academies
City academies were to be public/private partnerships. Businesses, churches and voluntary groups would build and manage them, and they would be outside the control of local authorities. In return for a £2m donation towards the capital costs, sponsors would be allowed to rename the school, control the board of governors and influence the curriculum. -
Willenhall School Sports College
-
5 Year plan
The government's five year plan, published in July 2004, formed the basis for its next education white paper. The plan 'sounded the death knell of the comprehensive system' (The Guardian 9 July 2004). It proposed:allowing all schools to become specialist schools;
new 'independent specialist' schools;
a massive expansion of the controversial academy programme; -
Academies an improvement?
League tables based on test results for 14 year olds in English, maths and science, showed that nine of the 11 academies came in the bottom 200 schools in England. This proved some concerned highlighted the previous year:
escalating costs;
poor performance;
replacement of schools that were not 'failing';
imposition of academies where parents didn't want them;
the involvement of faith groups;
selection by stealth;
pupil exclusions;
lack of LEA control and support;
dubious use of public funds -
Willenhall School Sports College 6th Form
-
More Flexibility for Teachers
The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority published new plans for KS3. Designed to give schools greater flexibility in deciding what to teach & make it easier to allow children of different abilities to progress at their own speeds. There would be a greater focus on 'life skills'.The QCA began consulting on a new secondary curriculum. It was part of a major overhaul of teaching at KS 3&4. QCA said the aim was to ensure that all pupils were actively and imaginatively engaged in learning -
University of Southampton
-
Future
Raising Leaving age to 18 - how to fund this?
More Academies?
Change Curriculum?
Changing Assessments?
Higher University fees?
Education funding cuts?
