2) End child poverty

Last Saturday, I went on the end child poverty campaign march, which ended with a rally in Trafalgar square http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7651606.stm It was an affable and lively affair. The most obvious contingents were from anti-poverty and children’s charities, such as Barnardos, Action for Children, CPAG etc. Clearly, the aim was to make this a family friendly fun day out rather than a dour demonstration; so the participants included people dressed up as giant lobsters and much other silliness, all of which worked well. The rally was hosted by a famous person who I’m afraid I’d never heard of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Parker and in another sign of my old age, where I had expected to see a large number of Labour Party branch banners; I did not see a single one. There were some small trade’s union groupings from teachers and public sector unions.

In the square, large screens carried short broadcasts describing the reality of poverty in the UK and these were interspersed with some campaign posters. Some of these made me wonder. In particular, two poster/adverts worried me: the first, simply asserted ‘we spend £10 billion pounds a year on wine and champagne in this country’. The second, that we spend £24 billion (I think it was 24) on foreign holidays. I’m sure the intention of these statements is to plant the thought that if we can collectively spend such large sums of money on obviously gratuitous expenditure then we can easily afford to end child poverty. I think this line of argument is a real mistake: to be blunt, if ordinary folk think they are going to loose their annual holiday in order to pay for someone who has produced children without the proper means to support them then this movement is dead in the water. We must emphasise that we can afford this without ordinary people making sacrifices.

The march organisers were very pleased that the Prime Minister had once again committed the government to meeting the aim of abolishing child poverty by 2020; although the form of his commitment surprised me. The prime-minister announced that there will be "ground-breaking legislation to enshrine in the law of the land Labour's pledge to end child poverty"

This announcement was generally met by words of uncritical welcome http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/26/children.gordonbrown I know that ministers think the electorates’ memory is short but am I the only person in the charity business to remember that the government enshrined in law their commitment not to introduce university top up fees. Indeed, I’m enough of train spotter to still have a copy of the 2001 election manifesto which included the pledge, that the government "will not introduce top-up fees and has legislated against them". They were elected and they changed the law soon after and introduced top-up fees. So, I guess Gordon’s people judge that the collective social memory is around 5 years and as this commitment is 12 years away….

Maybe we all like magical thinking; it’s nice to think that poverty could be abolished. All the main political parties say they agree with the aim, there is no opposition, and yet, I don’t feel there is a hope in hells chance of achieving it. For example, the recent report showing that the number of people in the UK who are in fuel poverty rose by a million in 2006 – what must those numbers be now http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7647997.stm

Equally, I think the campaign organisers are right to try to hold government and other political parties to their public commitment to end poverty. However, in order to avoid disappointment, I’d caution people to remember that in this world the tail never gets to wag the dog.

Please left click on the picture to spot the lobsters

3) Brightside and Son

With recession looming, there are bound to be more major business failures in the UK. These companies that cease trading may well have well developed systems of sponsored charity work and consequently it will not only be redundant business assets that will be up for grabs. I think we should be alert for any such charitable assets, as we might be able to give them a new home. This Guardian article discusses the fall-out from the Lehman Brothers collapse and illustrates the kinds of opportunities that we could anticipate arising from similar situations http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/sep/24/banking.crisis.charities

4) Brightside’s bread and butter

How to make maths teaching more interesting http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/education/3136861/If-maths-is-boring-what-is-the-answer.html I’m not sure I’m convinced.

Physics in good health http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7647166.stm

Science teaching research and good practice http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/signal-failure-how-to-get-science-back-on-track-941087.html

Doctors training, a new approach http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/joepublic/2008/sep/24/nhs.doctors.training

5) It’s not over, even though the fat boy sang

The debate about widening participation and university admissions has flared up on a number fronts over the past few weeks. One spat has been over the extent to which considerations of social disadvantage should influence admissions to the elite universities, especially Oxford http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/oxford-is-not-a-social-security-office-947427.html and http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a17127d6-8c2e-11dd-8a4c-0000779fd18c.html?nclick_check=1 I notice that Cambridge seems to have a more sympathetic attitude and are making much better progress than Oxford, even though I have always thought (it would seem wrongly) of Cambridge as the most reactionary university in the UK. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7631070.stm An alternative view of the merits of an elite Oxford education found its way into the Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/02/oxforduniversity Elsewhere, debate has been sparked by the news that the government is backing a new system of grading state schools ‘on the proportion of their pupils who attend top universities http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/oct/03/schools.highereducation I think it is interesting that these types of discussions increasingly hinge on the importance of bad subject choices by some students while still at school. The National Council for Educational Excellence has recommended that all primary school children should get a ‘taste’ of university education http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/government-report-give-pupils-early-taste-of-university-949715.html the same report recommended that universities should be free to vary the A-level grades expected from applicants depending on the schools they attend http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7648733.stm which is probably just as well because a report from HEFCE has found that a number of universities are doing this already http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/sep/30/accesstouniversity The government has decided to strengthen this trend by sponsoring increased flexibility and experimental admissions procedures at 9 universities - Birmingham, Bristol, Exeter, King's College London, Leeds, Leicester, Newcastle, Southampton and Warwick. http://nds.coi.gov.uk/environment/fullDetail.asp?ReleaseID=379525&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=False The sensitivity of this subject was reflected in this discussion article in the Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/sep/24/accesstouniversity.highereducation This debate is not over, but I think the detail of these discussions and the different systems of access and admissions that are beginning to emerge could be of great relevance to the work of The Brightside Trust.

6) Important Lesson

The Scottish free school meals experiment http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7646898.stm to be piloted in England http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7632349.stm I think the important point is that universal provision of free school meals not only increases the numbers of students taking up school meals but it also increases the number of disadvantaged pupils taking up the offer of a school dinner. This should not come as a surprise: in matters of social policy it has long been known that if you want people to take something up then make it free and universal.

7) Another UN report criticises UK child care record

http://www.communitycare.co.uk/Articles/2008/10/06/109597/un-slams-britains-child-poverty-levels.html This article is from Community Care, which we now get delivered to our office (I have managed to secure a free subscription). I will keep back copies in the library. For those who don’t know it, I would describe it as the house journal for UK social workers. I think we will find it useful as a guide to contemporary community and social work projects.

8) Scandal: David Cameron and the Swedish model

The Swedish model of schooling has suddenly become fashionable with the Conservative Party. The Independent produced a neat little description of the Swedish education system and in particular the place of parent established and run schools http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/the-big-question-what-is-the-swedish-schools-model-and-can-uk-education-learn-from-it-947339.html I would point to the significantly larger sums of money being invested by the Swedes.

1) Reflections on the Olympics

Have you noticed that the majority of UK medal winners were educated at fee-paying schools? It shouldn’t come as a surprise, 58 per cent of British medallists at the 2004 Olympics in Athens had attended non-state schools.
Leo Mckinstry at the Daily Mail noted this fact and fell back on an old technique: when in doubt blame the victims, http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-1046615/Is-coincidence-Olympic-champions-privately-educated.html however, even for the Daily Hate this is an extraordinary set of arguments.
Let’s take a look at this Olympics malarkey. First, it strikes me that most of the world’s population hasn’t a chance of competing. Half the world — nearly three billion people — live on less than two dollars a day. No doubt the Daily Mail would point at the average African dirt farmer and say that he made his choice when he had those children.
It also strikes me that you increase your chances of winning when you opt for the more technically advanced and expensive events, as this will exclude another great chunk of humanity from competing against you. For example, I believe a good show jumping horse is worth around £250,000, add to this all the other costs, such as feeding the beast and you must safely see off the vast majority of the world’s population by choosing this sport. I guess this explains why the UK competitors have a better chance of winning in sports that require expensive equipment and specialist training in a professional environment.
However, that said, why within the UK, with lottery support monies to facilitate the elite, are there not more ex-state school Olympians? According to Leo Mckinstry there are a number of strands to this. First, that state schools don’t encourage high performing students. This is prejudice and nonsense; I know it is nonsense because I know the detail of my niece Kate’s experience. Kate is ranked 2nd for her age group at trampolining in the UK (Scottish independence would see her move to 1st; come on the SNP, I say). She attends a bog standard, middling, state comprehensive school where she has been greatly encouraged and supported by all the teaching staff and is freely given time off for training and competitions. Her successes are praised and publicised at every opportunity among the whole school community. Also, I know that this is the case for her peers, whose schools are equally proud of their pupils’ successes. Schools also recognise that tomorrows elite sports men and women require more than their school can provide and are pleased to work in partnership with others. Ignoring Leo’s usual misogyny, then there was the sneering point about health and safety; this is once again plain prejudice and ignorance: health and safety are very important; these young athletes are pushing themselves to the limit of their abilities. Without careful and precise training, tailored to their individual development, then serious and permanent injury can easily occur. Although Kate attends a middling state comprehensive school, with the possible exception of Kate herself, no-one would call her disadvantaged (no, not even with her choice of uncle). But what of the disadvantaged students; as a social group they especially value sporting success, so why if modern state comprehensives are a supportive and encouraging environment aren’t these students taking advantage of the opportunities?
As with most things in UK social policy, I think it comes down to small marginal differences and small marginal choices over a sequence of events and time that adds up to a big difference of outcome. For example, lets take an area of UK success, rowing.
First you need the idea – I could do that; then the question is how. Obviously, at one end of the scale if you go to a school with a rowing lake then this is a simple matter. But even if you live in a middle class area near some water then your family will probably know of someone who knows someone who messes around in boats. That link will get you started. However, what if you live on an estate in an inner city, all types of sailing are an alien activity, there is no link. If you were to ask around then you would be told that it is something that rich people do and you would probably suffer ridicule for asking. For most people this is where it would end, before it even begins.
The only way they might discover if they have the potential to be a talented rower would be if someone, or some organisation, reaches into their neighbourhood and offers them access. This is stage one, give lots of children the opportunity to try, then some will buy. However, stage one, is the easy bit!
Aiming for sporting excellence is a hard thing to do and its pursuit has to be maintained over many years: this requires a lot of support. My sister reckons to spend around £200 a month on club fees alone. There are transport costs, going to training 6 times a week, also competitions, which are nationwide and to maintain a national ranking must be attended. Its not just money; my brother in law and his whole family get to spend many a weekend in places such as Hull, locations they might otherwise not have chosen as a holiday destination.
Some families may not be able to provide this level of emotional support or the practical support or the financial support. Yet without it, without this backing, in all of its dimensions then the task becomes even harder to achieve; we all have our breaking points. For our potential rower, they may well have to travel alone out of their neighbourhood and mix with people who are different to them. Each of these are only marginal differences but in the long run they add up and at every stage in the process of development the disadvantaged fall away and this is long before the lottery money for potential medal winners kicks in. This is where schemes for mentoring may provide some of the support that is needed.
In short, the problem is not ideological; it is primarily practical, the problem is the variation in the level and type of support available to different groups of people as they try to do something very hard. Specifically, it is exactly what the author of this article said it was not “the urban working class are said to be excluded because they do not have the same access to facilities, coaching, and support”. That is exactly it: something that would be described to him in exquisite detail if he cared to visit any state comprehensive school and speak to the teachers, pupils and parents.
However contrast the ghastly Leo Mckinstry’s reflections on the Olympics with that of the apparently optimistic and enlightened Mayor of London, who in his enthusiasm, seemed to nearly disassociate himself from his party leader and all that chatter of a broken society http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/08/19/do1901.xml
In this article Boris still recognises that 58% of competitors went to private schools but argues for widening participation. We must talk to this man about how widening participation can be made real, especially with his role in the London Olympics and while there is a widespread interest in what are often seen as elite or upper class sports.

2) University widening participation: the usual story, one step back, one step forward

UCAS have decided that parents are to be overtly part of the university application process http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/aug/20/choosingadegree.clearing it strikes me this is a bad idea and will further disadvantage the disadvantaged. Disadvantaged students cannot draw on parental knowledge to significantly help them, as that knowledge isn’t there. Also, it won’t do any favours to those middle class kids who are being cajoled into doing what their parents want them to do. However, pushy parents are just the start in this process. I thought a report in the Times Higher of the 14th of August was interesting; it described how in the USA there has been a growth in the use of admissions consultants, with some 6% of applicants now using such services. Apparently, these consultants charge from around $100 to review a university application to $29,000 for fully supporting students and their parents when applying to top universities. Should the Brightside Trust get ahead of the game and offer this to disadvantaged students in the UK?
On the other hand, the happy widening participation news of the week is that Oxford University is to explicitly introduce social factors into its selection criteria, including postcode analysis of home address http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/aug/17/oxbridgeandelitism.highereducation?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront

3) Things only got better

The vast majority of this year’s GCSE examination students have spent their entire schooling in an education system run by a Labour government. Using GCSE results as a guide, did things only get better? Overall, the GCSE results show a significant improvement in pupil performance during the last 11 years http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7574073.stm So, no one heading for The Hague, just yet, however, not all social groups seem to be benefiting to the same extent. There is a widening gap between pupils in the wealthiest 10% of neighbourhoods and the poorest 10%. In 2006, the proportion in the wealthiest districts achieving five good GSCEs was 28% higher than the poorest, while last year this had increased to 43%. It’s not just at GCSE level: it seems to be the same section of the population who are benefiting least from the education system at any point. For once I agree with the Baron Adonis, that the 20% of primary school pupils who transfer to secondary schools without basic literacy skills should be the most important of priorities http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/aug/21/primaryschools.earlyyearseducation But why then was the big government education initiative of the summer a macho directive that they will close or turn into academies any school that fails to get 30% of its pupils five good GCSEs including English and maths http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7444822.stm . Everyone in the education system knows what the effect of this decree will be: rather than actively invest time in the most needy of students, staff will sideline them and concentrate their efforts on those pupils who are functioning just below the 5 GCSEs target, in order to get them just above that target and thereby carry the school and themselves over the 30% safety line. At the same time, while not admitting it, the school management will also find ways to get those who are least likely to achieve the required level off the audit and out of the way. Marginalised, these barely literate youths will be on an educational conveyor belt to becoming the unwanted unemployables of the next generation. Unintended consequences no doubt, but life damaging for those concerned and a blot on the government’s record.

4) The good news article

There has been an increase in the numbers of students going onto university compared to this time last year http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/aug/21/clearing.highereducation including an increase in the numbers of students from a disadvantaged background.

5) Summer in the city

Tower Hamlets Summer University, a description of what looks like a good project http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/aug/13/youngpeople.furthereducation

6) Education otherwise

Ever wondered about home education as an alternative to school? Well you should have. This is a generally friendly discussion of the subject and whether not going to school makes for disadvantage. http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/aug/19/schools.education

1) Standby for incoming

It is widely rumoured that the A level pass rate will exceed 97% this Thursday, which will represent the highest pass rate ever. So, it’s good to see some people getting their revenge in first, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article4492122.ece I have tried to locate this research paper on the Institute of Directors (IOD) website but there is no trace, maybe it will appear in this coming week. I hope so, because if, as I suspect, this analysis is based on a small self-selecting sample of their members, then it will publicly reveal an appalling ignorance of basic numeracy while complaining about the low standards of numeracy among young people. If this study is indeed based on a small self selecting sample, then the numbers being thrown around have no generalised validity whatsoever, they merely describe numerically the cumulative feelings and prejudices of those members who could be arsed to reply to the survey and cannot in any way be taken to represent the views of the total membership. Indeed, by filling in the form, or agreeing to answer questions, these people have probably already identified themselves as being different; therefore a statistical analysis on the basis of these results is entirely spurious. I know this kind of misunderstanding and misuse of statistics is commonplace, however, if it proves to be true here, then we don’t so much have an objective assessment of young people today but a public demonstration of hubris by the IOD. And while I’m at it, since when have most members of the IOD been experts in anything but the narrow details of their chosen business. Finally, if anyone is in any doubt about the IOD standards you should know that they twice invited me to become a member.

2) A batch of interesting case studies

A case study of mentoring a troubled, chaotic teenager http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/aug/06/youngpeople.society

A case study of an AIMHIGHER visit to an Oxford college http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/aug/05/accesstouniversity.highereducation

A case study of cared for child who become a lawyer http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jul/16/children.childprotection as Tracy said it’s a mixed message good and bad….

3) One step forward, one step back

The government is expanding the money available for summer schools and mentoring through the City challenge program http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/jul/28/bright.children meanwhile more universities are introducing their own recruitment tests http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,2291290,00.html which will adversely affect disadvantaged students. Win some, loose some.

4) SATs results

The latest SATs results show some worrying trends, http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/aug/06/sats.primaryschools I think the level 5 results are both interesting and worrying when broken down by gender with boys achieving significantly worse than girls http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000804/index.shtml I’d be interested to see the boys results when broken down by class and ethnicity, I fear there are very few white working class boys achieving level 5. These findings are matched by the numbers of children who move onto secondary school without a full toolkit of basic skills, functioning below level 4 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1041631/Entire-generation-pupils-failed-reading-writing-maths.html

5) Crime down, fear of crime up, why, why, why?

When asked about the level of crime, people conflate a number of things, but primarily they think about how safe they feel, not the statistical chance of their car being stolen http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/may/19/fear.of.crime . This really isn’t hard to understand, but it seems to permanently evade ministers, senior police officers and many journalists who are apparently determined to remain puzzled by the problem; like those depositors of plastic wrapped flower tributes at sites of national grieving who’s banal notes blubber ‘why, why, why’ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/daniel_finkelstein/article4380637.ece
However, for those who still crave for a balance between perception of crime and crime statistics, I think I can see some good news coming your way. There are signs that recent rises in food and utility bills are already setting off a splurge of shop lifting. Have you noticed that Tesco are not only security tagging expensive cuts of meat; they have started tagging the chickens, well they have in Finsbury Park. When people start stealing battery farmed chickens you know that the financial pressure is on. As gas, electricity and food prices are now consuming the sum total of many low income families’ financial resources there will be nothing left for Christmas. My guess is that as the festive celebration looms, rises in retail theft will balloon; not just on inner city estates, it’s going to be a ‘knock off Christmas’. Consequently, statisticians, police officers and politicians will enter the New Year with the satisfaction that the numerical balance between the fear of crime and the actuality of crime statistics has begun to be restored.

6) Happy land

Michael Gove, the Conservative Party spokesperson for education has delivered an interesting and well researched speech about educational disadvantage, it’s worth reading. Is this the future policy direction for the UK? http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/aug/08/schools.conservatives

7) It's research, it must be true

The BBC reported a new LSE study that showed 1 in 5 of the UKs 16/17 year olds are not in education employment or training (NEET), which is double the official figure. The research also featured on the BBC television news as a mid range item. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7515042.stm When I saw this, I thought the finding was both interesting and what I had feared. I also mused how relatively obscure pieces of local research can be rapidly circulated by international news agencies, for example, I found it repeated the following day on a news site aimed at the Indian community in Thailand http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/teen-troubles-target-britain_10073708.html Just one detail of a problem with the story: there is no such research report. I discovered this when I went to the LSE website and tried to view the details of the research, (I’ve been around long enough to know that you are unwise to take press releases on trust, always ask to see the data and methodology); when I couldn’t find any trace or reference to this research on the LSE website I started making inquiries. Long story short: it turns out that at a public meeting one of the LSE’s researchers had suggested that it may be the case that there are more young people not in employment, education or training than government figures suggest and this got a little twist by a listening journalist into ‘a study at the LSE has shown’ and there you go, the hare is running. Shame that not one of the people who ran the story bothered to check, or am I just being old fashioned, never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

8) Happiness needs to be constructed

I have decided that from now on that I will include a piece of genuinely good news with every blog update. Well, that’s my intension; furthermore it will be an item of education policy or at least of some sort of positive social practice. Whatever the struggle, I promise there will be no resort to Youtube video links of sneezing pandas.
Good news item of the week
Since 2004, care leavers have gone from 1 per cent of the student population to 6 per cent and that’s before the Brightside Trust’s projects have fully kicked in. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/higher/in-the-loop-why-a-rising-number-of-careleavers-are-going-to-university-880934.html On a more abstract level, I think this is also a classic example of a successful social policy intervention. It shows how life changing contributions to people’s lives, can be achieved, even where initial prospects don’t look good.

9) Not poor enough

Nearly half a million British children growing up in poverty are not entitled to a free school meal. The parents of 410,000 youngsters do not qualify because they are not receiving benefits but they are on such low incomes they are officially classed as living in poverty. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/2008/07/29/exclusive-hard-up-kids-denied-free-school-meals-115875-20675397/

1) A bit of good news (after a gloomy start)

A consistent strand to British culture is the dislike of children and the fear of adolescents. I think it is part of a deep pessimism of the soul that Polly Toynbee discussed on her recent visit to Daily Mail island http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/aug/20/mydailyhell While much of the reporting in the Daily Mail is simply laughable, Polly reminds us that it has a chilling appeal to it ‘"The ideal Daily Mail story," a former Mail journalist told me, "should leave you hating someone or something"’ These journalists seem to speak directly to the barely controlled unconscious of middle England, which longs to find the cause of its frustration and failure. Unfortunately, they will never look in the mirror – the cause of their misery must be someone else and once found they must be severely punished. One of the easiest of targets, and always one of the first, is ‘young people today’. However, despite their volcanic unconscious and limited intellectual toolbox, there is more to the consciousness of middle England than this; there is also a benign conscious, which includes a receptiveness to humour, and through it, occasional self-parody. In the end, with their obvious frustration, they are more Rigsby than ripper and like Rigsby will make common cause with the youngsters when it is clearly a matter of natural justice. Which is why I think this initiative is timely http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/youthmanifesto “The Youth Manifesto has been set up by the Talented Young People organisation to address the current situation regarding young people in this country and as a way to combat the current problems.” Yes, lets have a few celebrations of success but lets not be too worthy guys, lets go for the humour and the fun, and as a miserable old git may I advise that when dealing with your detractors always go for the low blow, middle England would expect nothing less.

2) Where are they now?

“One in 10 state school pupils will drop out of education before university despite having once been among the brightest in their class...” More Sutton Trust research http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/tenth-of-brightest-pupils-opt-out-of-higher-education-846241.html the problem seems to be keeping disadvantaged students actively engaged in the education process, especially up to and beyond GCSEs. This is going to become even more problematic when the education leaving age is raised to 18. Possibly shedding some light on this problem, an article from the Guardian, which is effectively a detailed case study of a disadvantaged student who made it,
http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2290865,00.html the analysis seems tough on parents but this is a recurring theme.

3) Absence makes the heart ….

As you may have noticed, the same old social issues and problems come round every few years; they get chewed over and when they no longer seem to be worth the jaw ache are spat out and left on the carpet in favour of something else. Then one day, for some reason, they are taken up again and once more become the touchstone issue of the day, a harbinger, a proof that we are all going to hell. So, I thought I’d get ahead of the pack and lock my nashers onto the temporarily deserted bone of school truancy. Even in terms of the official figures there are a lot of pupils not going to school http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7385275.stm however; I don’t think that these students should be seen as a discreet subset of the school population who have cut themselves off from their peers, rather they should be seen as a subset of a larger group: the disengaged. By the age of 15, many of these little lovelies can be found floating around school, some having registered, some not. Did you know that one of the recurring problems with students who have been excluded from school is keeping them away from the premises? When we discuss students who leave school without 5 GCSEs http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7348088.stm , I think we should be thinking of a group of children who have been in the process of gradually disengaging since they were 12 or 13. They slowly become unglued from the school routine and their reaction can then take the form of absence, disruption or even sometimes bursts of enthusiasm. People have tried many ways to re-engage these types of pupils. At the moment, peer mentoring seems quite fashionable, however this wouldn’t be my first choice, I think that having a significant sympathetic adult is what is needed. Anyone fancy starting an e-mentoring/mentoring scheme for occasional truanting/mildly disengaged 13 year olds? Your reward: when truancy next becomes the subject of national alarm you will be running the best stall on the market.

4) Firm but fair

“She gives away lots of - other people's - money to charities, but they have to meet tough business targets and prove they can rise to the challenge.” http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jul/09/voluntarysector proving efficiency and effectiveness when seeking monies is only going to get harder in the new philanthropic capitalism.

5) Knifes are us

There has been much panic and alarm about teenage knife carrying and murders but I wonder if this is a single or even a new phenomena. I was surprised to find the Sun newspaper contributing something worthwhile to the debate
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/justice/article1418367.ece I think it important to note that it was the cutting, the slashing, that was the purpose for these gangsters, not murder. The cultural and social context of knife use is important and not just in London, for decades Glasgow has had a much higher level of knife crime than the rest of the UK but as I understand it, once again the aim is to slash, hurt, humiliate but not kill. Silly boys carrying knives does not automatically lead to murder.

Are we even dealing with a single phenomenon? Details of these murders are hard to find but in at least one instance, murder followed a perceived slight in a bar where the attacker then went home, armed themselves with a knife and returned to kill the victim. This would seem very different to the theme of government and popular commentary where it is assumed that these fatal stabbings are the result of ‘situations get out of hand’ where young men carrying knifes find themselves using the knives, spontaneously and unplanned, resulting in an unintended death. The gangster slasher, the revenge stabbing, the panic wounding are all very different and I worry that they are being grouped together as a simple single phenomenon. If there are these differences then solutions might have to be both specific and different, depending on the detail of what is really happening.

6) Not that difficult

There has been discussion that some unfashionable universities may face closure due to falling numbers of undergraduates http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,2289878,00.html or maybe universities need to recruit more effectively from the less represented sections of society through their widening participation programs. They could also alter the types of courses on offer with universities becoming primary providers of foundation degrees and advanced apprenticeships. Especially as apprenticeships are about to get a major increase in funding and support http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/jul/13/youngpeople.workandcareers
In short, I would suggest that those universities who fear that they will be disproportionately hit by a diminishing student population should act now to develop a more overtly vocational slant to their courses and move away from an obsessive focus on traditional honours degrees. Indeed, perhaps we should give these new style universities a special name – how about polytechnics?

7) A report I welcome

In my opinion, the formal teaching of under 5s is unwise http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2290715,00.html we have plenty of evidence that it’s the soft skills that are lacking among many students in later life. The foundations for these skills are laid during the early years; in my opinion, forget early reading and writing; try to develop human empathy and a positive self-image through play.

8) Interesting fact

Did you know that summer babies are less likely to go to university http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1034773/Babies-born-summer-likely-study-university.html

1) Aspiration

The Sutton Trust has found that the numbers of students saying that they were very likely or fairly likely to go to university is now three in four. While I'm sure this response rate is in part dependent on the questions asked and the circumstances of asking them, this is still a significantly larger number than will actually find their way into higher education http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7370869.stm To be optimistic, for once, this would suggest to me that poverty of aspiration, which in the past was seen as a major obstacle to achieving the governments target of 50% young people going into higher education, is now much reduced and that the opportunity exists to build on this aspiration to meet that 50% target or even to exceed it. The detail of that venture must include addressing the widely different rates of participation by social group, especially for that of the least successful group: white working class boys on free school meals. Only 6% of white working class boys on free school meals go onto university, compared to 66% of girls from an Indian background http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2151025/White-working-class-boys-becoming-an-underclass.html . On the other hand, maybe attempts at widening participation are a waste of time, as Newcastle University’s reader in evolutionary psychiatry believes, because ‘fewer working class students at elite universities was the “natural outcome” of class IQ differences’ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/7414311.stm . For myself, I'm sure that the numbers of working class boys going onto university could be greatly improved without resorting to IQ boosting drugs or genetic engineering but I would advise them against attending a university that appoints readers in evolutionary psychiatry.

2) The living finger writes

I think that when the history of the Brown government is written, the most significant effect of its time in office will be seen to be the increased outsourcing of government services. Not just in the NHS, where outsourcing has been underway for some time but at the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) http://www.dwp.gov.uk/mediacentre/pressreleases/2008/jun/drc-082-050608.asp and in local government http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jul/02/voluntarysector.localgovernment

In a week or so, John Hutton, the enterprise secretary, will publish a review by DeAnne Julius, which is expected to give a further boost to outsourcing, indeed it has been widely trailed that she will recommend a significant expansion, arguing that the contracting out of 100% of government services is theoretically possible. As you all know, I’m not one to gossip, but while you might have guessed from the name that Dr DeAnne Shirley Julius is no horny handed daughter of toil, would you have guessed that she is a former CIA analyst http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeAnne_Julius I wonder what the reaction in the UK would have been if a former KGB functionary was writing Labour government policy. However, enough of such trivia, I think some really important issues are beginning to emerge from outsourcing. Such as the recent conundrum thrown up by ECT Group, one of the UK's most successful and diversified social enterprises, who has sold its recycling business to a private company http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/News/DailyBulletin/828078/News-analysis-Whats-price-social-enterprise/4C32FEE7AF154B2D4A8223156D5F0D37/?DCMP=EMC-DailyBulletin We are rapidly moving into an environment where there are no clear boundaries between the private, charity and government sectors. I could see this impinging directly on how third sector organisations, including ourselves at The Brightside Trust, will organise our business and work in the near future.

3) Minimum income

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) made a bit of a press splash with their report discussing what is the minimum income required for an adequate standard of living in the UK today http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jul/02/welfare full report at http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/socialpolicy/2244.asp This is an interesting addition to the more common debate about relative and absolute poverty. Minimum adequate income was calculated on the basis of what goods and services were needed to pay for an "adequate" standard of living as defined by a panel of adjudicators who assessed a range of goods and services that are widely available and deciding if they were a necessity or a luxury. I was interested by their classification of broadband access as being a luxury, except for families with secondary school students. I feel they are a bit behind the times on this one, and I would have included it as a necessity for all citizens wishing to live an adequate life and I would further argue that without it families with children of all ages slip below the threshold of an adequate life into the disadvantaged. For example, if one looks at the type of home/school internet links that will soon be in place http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2288247,00.html these will fundamentally alter interactions between parents and teachers and as the article shows will put those who are not able to engage on a routine basis over the internet at a major disadvantage. I don’t think the existence of public points of access are equivalent to home access.

4) Short and sweet

“By the age of three, children from disadvantaged homes are up to a year behind in their learning than those from more privileged backgrounds.” http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6740139.stm

This reminded me of a Sutton Trust study that described the way in which children from poorest homes were less equipped to cope with starting school http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2284405,00.html

5) Political correctness gone mad

Well, quite a good idea really http://education.guardian.co.uk/further/story/0,,2288262,00.html I think it is always sensible to offer people learning opportunities that relate closely to their real immediate needs and existence. I could see some of the people who are successful at this then moving onto tackling other qualifications or training, not that the great British public will see it that way.

6) Sciences harder

I think this simple truth has long been understood by students http://education.guardian.co.uk/alevels/story/0,,2288309,00.html and yet another report that highlights the problem of recruiting and keeping specialist physics teachers in state schools http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7478302.stm which will be compounded by problems of future recruitment http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2288115,00.html but wait, a little hope, physics can be made more interesting by the use of games http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jul/03/physics.video.games

7) The vision thing

Gordon Brown has announced that there will be a government white paper later in the year that will draw together the government’s plans to increase social mobility in the UK. In a recent speech to the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust he gave us a flavour of what will no doubt be in that paper http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page15837.asp The thing I find most puzzling about Gordon’s policy is the way he turns to the USA for ideas and projects to improve social mobility for the UK, when the USA has such a poor record in this matter, as the report by Jo Blanden, Paul Gregg and Stephen Machin, at the London School of Economics has shown http://cep.lse.ac.uk/about/news/IntergenerationalMobility.pdf To quote from their key findings “International comparisons indicate that intergenerational mobility in Britain is of the same order of magnitude as in the US, but that these countries are substantially less mobile than Canada and the Nordic countries. Germany also looks to be more mobile than the UK and US”.

So, why are we looking for examples of good practice to the USA rather than our near neighbours?

1) Second chance

The government has announced that more than one and a half million young people in England are to become eligible for £7,000 each to spend on improving their qualifications. The offer is open to 18-to-25-year-olds who want to boost their education to GCSE or A-level standard http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7448213.stm

2) Snail’s pace

Another batch of statistics and a report finding that widening participation into higher education is only making slow progress http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article4069357.ece

3) Off-site units and PRUs

The government has produced a white paper, ‘Back on Track: A strategy for modernising alternative provision for young people’ http://www.dfes.gov.uk/publications/backontrack it is discussed here http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2281099,00.html I feel that it is very wrong to assess the effectiveness of pupil referral units (PRUs) by the number of GCSE passes and it suggests to me that the people driving this policy review have little idea about the reality of such places. For example, it has always been the stated aspiration of off-site units to re-integrate into mainstream: it simply doesn’t happen in practice. Why? Because frankly everyone, student and mainstream school, are thoroughly sick of each other by the time the move to the PRU is undertaken. Its not surprising that few students get 5 GCSEs A to C, the kind of young people I came across were more like the characters in this article describing a unit that combines boxing with study http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2285860,00.html From my experience it should be seen as a success if students leave the PRU functionally literate and numerate with a sufficient repertoire of ‘soft skills’ that they are employable. Forget 5 GCSEs, once employed they can get an equivalent trade qualification that will serve them better.

4) Conservative Assessment

In an article by Oliver Letwin, interestingly placed in The Guardian, he argues that ‘Our aim is to be as radical in social reform as Margaret Thatcher was in economic reform.’ http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jun/03/conservatives.labour spelling out that project, the Conservative Party has produced a discussion paper, ‘welfare to work’ and their spokesperson Chris Grayling has outlined in a speech what he calls the ‘next steps in welfare’ http://www.cps.org.uk/latestlectures A common mistake and a common theme that I think I see in both Labour and Conservative analyses is that the out-of-employment population are seen as languishing away in their homes, sullen but ready to be swept up by programs of training or employment. From what I’ve seen over the years in Finsbury Park and from working as a social worker this is not the case. The lifestyle is not so much one of being gloomily stuck, it is more that of hanging out with friends, having a laugh, ducking and diving, being a gangster or at least a shoplifter or small time dealer. They are in a state of permanent adolescence, a careless nihilism. If you do pester them about their plans they will tell you that one day they will go to college and become a plumber or a beautician and earn more cash than you. Living in a haze of drink and drugs, time passes quickly enough and there is always one more money making scheme to be tried. Some exist for years thinking they just need a break and then they will become a celebrity.

In short, they have aspirations but little plausible idea as to how or when they will achieve them, however the offer of doing something hard, like picking vegetables at the minimum wage is not on their agenda. Shifting them will be a much more difficult project than government or opposition seem to realise.

5) Poverty statistics going the wrong way

This report makes for gloomy reading as it shows child poverty rates seem to be on the rise again, as reported in The Independent http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/failure-on-child-poverty-targets-is-moral-disgrace-842780.html and at The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jun/07/socialexclusion.taxandspending and http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jun/11/socialexclusion.children1 but I thought the charts at the end of this last article were interesting, in particular, the way they show a fall in the percentage of national income going to the middle and fourth cohorts of the population as well as to the poorest. I think this explains, at least in part, why in the UK the middle classes are feeling unloved, insecure and not particularly sympathetic to the poor. Yes, there has been consistent economic growth over the past ten years from which they have benefited in real terms, but it would also seem that the middle classes are right in feeling that their share of these gains has been minimal and that it stands to be wiped out by the present burst of commodity price inflation. I feel that another thread in the current middle class consciousness is paralleled in another article which focuses on a single parent who is quoted as saying ‘it feels like I am not giving my children what I had’ http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/jun/11/socialexclusion.children2?gusrc=rss&feed=society . I think many middle class married couples could be found expressing the same sentiment albeit using different criterion. In turn, I think this is linked to the mood of public pessimism, which seems to be impervious to genuine improvements, such as the falling levels of crime. On the upside, I guess the Labour Party could save money and catch the popular mood by recycling the 1997 ‘things can only get better’ campaign song for the next election campaign.

6) Tomorrow belongs to OFSTED

“Strong leadership, self-knowledge and a strong school identity are key to a successful journey out of special measures, according to Ofsted's new report, 'Sustaining Improvement: the journey from special measures'.” http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications/070221

I had hoped that the 20^th century had disabused people of the general folly of wishing for strong leaders. However, when it comes to headteachers there is form here. We have seen many decades of reinforcing the powers of headteachers and in particular of asserting their autonomy from local education authorities. In my opinion, what this has shown is that headteachers are only a marginal factor in school improvement and only in some circumstances. Where is the OFSTED study of those schools who appointed ‘superheads’ at salaries of over 100k and then got worse. I think that OFSTED have confused a description of some superficial outcomes with causal factors. It is the fashion for headteachers to present as strong leaders when ‘their’ school is improving; while the finding that ‘self-knowledge and a strong school identity are key’ is banal even in consultant-speak. The only good thing about this report is that it shows that whatever the problems schools face, OFSTED is not the answer.

7) ULN, a new acronym for you

I don’t know if people had noticed, and I’m afraid I hadn’t, but the government has willed the means for assigning every person undertaking education and training in the UK state system a unique number, which they will then carry through their academic life. An Oracle database has been constructed to keep the data associated with each Unique Learner Number (ULN) and it goes online in September. I don’t know who will have access to the database but it potentially opens up the possibility of much easier and more detailed research into widening participation and educational choices. If it is available to employers it should also make educational career counterfeiting a more difficult project.

1) Diploma dancing

It has been announced that student numbers for the new diplomas are to be cut by a quarter http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2274658,00.html embarrassingly it has been leaked that Ministers and education experts in Whitehall would not recommend studying the new diplomas to their own children http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/20/nedu120.xml This comes at a time when a government committee is asking what the future is for A levels? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7397084.stm It also comes at a time when the pre-U is coming into use at private schools http://education.guardian.co.uk/alevels/story/0,,2273115,00.html Overall, this is an interesting time for post 16 qualifications. We seem to be at a point where we are either on the eve of the establishment of a single system of post 16 qualifications after the phasing out of A levels in 2013. Or, we are seeing the establishment of the most divisive system we have ever had in the UK, where qualifications will reflect the social class of the student and the type of school attended. In this latter scenario, diplomas will identify students as being lower class and having attended a poorer performing comprehensive school; A levels will indicate middle class students who attended a superior state school; while private schools students will study the pre-U.
This in turn will then no doubt be reflected in higher education, with private schools consolidating their grip on the Russell group universities who will give preference to the pre-U students; A levels will be the qualification of choice for the other older universities; while diplomas will get you into an old polytechnic. The result will be that social mobility in the UK will diminish and the introduction of diplomas will have achieved the exact opposite of its originator’s intension. I think both scenarios are possible, what’s your bet?

2) Ending child poverty by 2020

The charity 4children have published a report entitled, ‘Turning up the volume on child poverty’ http://www.4children.org.uk/information/show/ref/1224. The publication begins with 3 relatively detailed and well argued statements from Labour, Conservative and Liberal spokespersons about what they would do to end child poverty. I found it significant, and admittedly a little surprising, that all 3 say they are committed to ending child poverty by 2020. However, I think it fair to say that all are rather vague as to how this will be achieved. Consequently, the analysis that 4children make of this challenge, between pages 28 and 40, is particularly useful. Of specific note to The Brightside Trust is the identification of the importance of various forms of mentoring if poverty is to be made history. From page 42 they identify ‘five end child poverty tests’, which they suggest should be used to judge social policy pronouncements.

3) Mentoring for the difficult

Most of the time, most social policy in the UK is not directed at the hardest to reach or hardest to change populations. However, a couple of recent initiatives are apparently aiming to do just that and have mentoring as a core component of their strategies http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2266449,00.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/apr/30/socialexclusion1
It will be interesting to see if these projects are pursued. It is not clear how the youth task force action plan will engage and mentor 1,000 difficult teenagers but one for us to watch.

4) Are you NAGTY or Iggy?

Information update about the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth (NAGTY) program http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2275354,00.html

5) More to do

Educational gap grows between cared for children and others http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7367250.stm

6) Happiest days?

A million students since 1997 have left school without achieving 5 GCSE at level G or better. http://education.guardian.co.uk/gcses/story/0,,2275280,00.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/21/nschool121.xml In my opinion, not reaching a grade G at GCSE is indicative of a complete failure to engage in a GCSE course or, in a small number of cases, a serious undiagnosed learning difficulty. I see this finding as proof that a significant number of students learn little or nothing in their final years at school.

7) Inadequate advice

Yet more interesting research from the Sutton Trust http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article3828407.ece They found that many students reported the level and type of advice they received at school about university was inadequate. This would seem to match anecdotal information that has emerged from a number of Brightside projects. In turn, this seems to parallel concerns about careers advice expressed elsewhere http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7318919.stm However, I think it unwise to read too much into the detail of this type of survey. Firstly, I have doubts about administrating questionnaires in classrooms where the students inevitably feel they are under the disciplinary gaze of the school and hence most of them wisely try to give the correct responses. Also, I wonder if there is any real relationship, especially for the younger students, between their replies and their subsequent actions. A few years ago, I asked a classroom of 10 year olds what work they thought they would do when they grew up. The majority were going to be teachers, most of the rest vets. I don’t suppose that is what happened but I also don’t think it significant – they were children.

1) Shameless

Over the past few weeks, the disappearance and then discovery of Shannon Matthews has been the subject of much press interest and seems to have left many commentators thrashing around for explanation and understanding of disadvantaged Britain, for example http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=557960&in_page_id=1770&ct=5 While coverage has been diverse, the comments are always written from the perspective of outsiders struggling to understand ‘people like that’. Under these circumstances it is not surprising that writers have cast around for a schema that structures and ‘explains’ with the most popular comparisons being with the TV series Shameless, which is seen as prescient or even causal to the events in Wakefield. Apparently we live in post-modern times where fiction shapes reality. I think not, rather it was because the author of Shameless drew on his own life experience, that of growing up in a chaotic and disadvantaged family that he had a repertoire and way of writing about ‘these people’, which others are now borrowing. When reading this Sun article I noted that the family had three computers in the home; one apparently supplied by social services. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1034032.ece It would seem that it is not just the newspapers who try to understand social disadvantage in the UK using categories of analysis borrowed and mediated by fiction, albeit Oliver Twist rather than Shameless. For my part, I can only hope that things work out for Bianca and Ricky.

2) Poverty

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation recently published a report that argued child poverty could double over the next 10 years in the UK unless significant steps are taken to up-rate welfare benefits. See report summary http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/apr/09/welfare.socialexclusion and full report at http://www.jrf.org.uk/bookshop/eBooks/2194-benefits-taxation-poverty.pdf The authors assume a constantly rising median income in the UK over the next 10 years and that government does nothing in response to this; even I think that a little unfair to government. It is however in the context of other reports that claim to show that the poverty gap has not narrowed under labour http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/apr/03/socialexclusion.labour and http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-is-burying-bad-news-of-poverty-study-until-after-elections-803990.html However, despite this pessimism, I would argue that it is still a good time to push the issue of child poverty in the public domain as all three main political parties say that they are committed to abolishing child poverty, albeit none are very clear about how and when they will achieve it. For this reason, I think that The End Child Poverty Campaign, which brings together over 110 organisations, has a potentially important role to play at this time http://www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/assets/plugins/fckeditor/editor/index.html Maybe we should join?

3) Mentoring

As I’m sure most people are aware, the government are to launch a major mentoring scheme where secondary school pupils are to be mentored by university students http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7328464.stm I think it worth reading the linked description of Westminster’s scheme and how they pay mentors, £7 per hour. Are the days of the free volunteer over?

4) Texas – home of progressive thinking

As we have seen from the gifted and talented scheme in the UK, simply defining the top few percent of children in every school as gifted and talented can create anomalies and complications but I thought that the use of that approach in Texas seems to have achieved some genuinely innovative practice http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/comment/story/0,,2273636,00.html . Whatever the government intention, I’m worried that we are about to put in place a system of qualifications in the UK that will entrench the existing class system in higher education. Private schools are rapidly moving away from A levels to the new Cambridge Pre-U qualification http://education.guardian.co.uk/alevels/story/0,,2273115,00.html . IN state schools, the middle classes will continue to pursue A levels while the rest will be steered to diplomas. The result will be a three tier HE sector, with the old prestigious universities recruiting the Pre-U students, the middle range universities recruiting the A level students, while the old polytechnics will admit the diploma students. Once again, the British class system will be re-enforced and graduates class coded by their university. Rather than that scenario I think we should seriously consider the Texan alternative, which builds on student potential and achievement, rather than family background and school.

5) London calling

The conservative party have sponsored a report that raises many questions about poverty in London, it is entitled Breakthrough London http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/default.asp?pageRef=240 This comes at a time when government are also launching an initiative to help more children out of poverty in London http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2008_0069 It is interesting to note the importance of children’s centres in the government’s plans and how many services, including training and employment, are to be child centre focused.

6) Gold star

A major report from the government looking at life chances in the UK

http://www.dius.gov.uk/publications/life_chances_180308.pdf This is an excellent reference document. Indeed this report was recently given the rarely awarded Sue Maskrey prize for readability and relevance.

7) Firm foundations

Foundation degrees are designed to be organically generated, or at least intimately connected to the skills needs of specific industries and careers. In that sense I see this debate about foundation degrees as paralleling the debate about the new diplomas http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7343027.stm There is some evidence that industry specific training can be the most financially rewarding type of training for individuals at the lower grades. Will this prove to be true for higher qualifications such as the likes of foundation degrees? The government are pushing strongly ahead on this course of action http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,2273466,00.html and also see this interview with John Denham for the direction of travel http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,2273417,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=8 Also Bill Rammell has launched a consultation on strengthening England’s skills base http://www.dius.gov.uk/press/14-04-08.html. Note the particular attention to STEM subjects. Maybe someone at The Brightside Trust would like to give Bill some advice.