ID packs for schools

Slightly off-topic, but here's the Newsnight interview with Andrew McIntosh, whose 'Truth In Science' group is promoting Intelligent in schools.

There is an interview in today's Guardian with Steve Chalke , who runs Oasis, the Baptist organisation that runs five academies:

'"Creationism is a load of garbage," Chalke declares. "Genesis is a poem based on a Babylonian creation myth."

Chalke insists that anyone can work for Oasis and any of its organisations. "People have to be committed to the ethos, but they don't have to be Christian," he says. "We want depth, not a label. I'm not interested in who says they are a Christian or not, but whether they are inspired by the message of Christ of inclusion and equality"'

His different vision of how academy schools should work, and how faith organisations can be involved in what have been traditionally the state's roles in service provision are interesting.

The question remains, however, as to whether or not the state should subsidise his ideas about what a school should be...

Not Schools of Choice...

Here, Melissa Benn explains why academies are not always schools of choice. She highlights the case of Labour MP Karen Buck, who removed her child from an Academy to go to the local comprehensive.

"As long as some schools are allowed to engineer favourable intakes for themselves - be they private, grammar or faith schools - and then build on that advantage, those will be seen to be the successful schools"