Faithless City Technical Colleges?

Here's a good history of Keneth Baker's failed City Technical Colleges programmeof the late 1980s. Some may spot similarities with another controversial policy...

Summary of the Legal Implications to Challenging Academies

A BBC News article looks at the implications of the legal challenges to Academy schools, and for some of the reasons behind them.

A Parent is Launching a Legal Challenge to Academies

Parent Rob McDonald, from Tamworth is disputing his council's right to create an academy school in the courts.

Academies (amongst other things) can increase racial divisions

The CRE has expressed concerns about evidence suggests that the government's educational 'reforms' will lead to an increase in racial and religious segregation. CRE Policy Chief Nick Johnson told the Educational and Skills Committe that giving parents greater choice led to them 'banding together', thus leading children to their being exposed to less diversity.

And so it goes on...

According to this article in the Yorkshire Post ministers have ignored their own guidelines to push the Academy Schools through. I'm not sure it needs any more comment...

A Trinity of Horror Stories

This article relates some of the more absurd occurrences at Sir Peter Vardy's Trinity School in Doncaster. These include:

A student being excluded for wearing the wrong trousers.

A student being excluded for walking the wrong way down a corridor.

A student permanently expelled for smoking.

In all, 148 students have been suspended this year. I, myself, went to a fairly disciplinarian school, and the difference with Academy schools seems to be that they appear to be excluding students (who in the past would have got detentions) in an attempt to bolster their results. Unsuccessfully, as can be seen in the post below.

Another intersting element to the article, was this:

"Last year, as part of a wider investigation, the Guardian revealed that the number of children eligible for free school meals at Kings, the standard indicator of deprivation, had dropped by more than 100 compared with the school it replaced, leading to renewed claims that it was cherry-picking pupils who were easier to teach."

I had missed this before, and will try to follow it up soon.

Students do not do better at Academy schools...

As if the venality and corruption associated with them were not enough, as if the sale of education to private interests were not enough, now we find out that they do nothing he help students achieve better grades. Can there possibly be any justification for them now?

The Rise of Creationism

This Guardian article looks at the recent rise of creationism in Britain, and puts it in a world wide conrext, as well as talking to some of those responsible.

"Of course, some fossils are older than others, but there are none that predate the first major catastrophe - which was the great flood that took place about 4,500 years ago." That there are people, trained ass geologists, in the world who believe this and are doingtheir best rto make others believe it is one of the reasons why we must start building academy schools of our own. They aren't oging to stop until they are forced to. Let's show them that our ideas are more appealing than theirs...

So, who can sponsor a school?

According to the government, anyone can. Despite Ruth Kelly's claims that only 'appropriate organisations' could, the government's guidance now suggests that anyone except gamblers and pornographers can. This shows quite how much this government views the acquisition of wealth to represent moral good.

It does, however, bode well for our project. Simply wishing to start secular, humanist schools, then, there can be no objection in terms of the suitability of the sponsors. It will be interesting to see what will happen when the Jedi and the Wiccans get their acts together. Shame there are no evangelical Satanist car dealers to really shake things up a bit...

In Praise of Corruption

Tony Blair offered this explanation for the cash for honours crisis in the academies system yesterday: "I think if someone gives £2m of their own money, time, effort, energy, years of hard work - isn't that something we should be saying 'that's a great thing that they have done'?"

Let us note that he does not specify what they should be doing in order for them to gain our praise. Drug dealers pulling off a major deal, celebrities having their own houses built, Roman Abramovich - all of these fulfil the criteria he sets out. How you give £2 million of your own time I do not know. Or £2 million of your energy - presumably you'd get a special tarriff from your electicity provider if you were spending that much...

Wonderfully, Tony has given us the perfect rationale for bribing the government: "Look, if someone goes to the effort of buying a minister a house, thereby saving the public purse that cost, takes them on holiday, maybe pays their kids' school fees - shouldn't we be celebrating that, not condemning it? The problem with Britain is that we are so hidebound by our disinclination for 'corruption'. My new, reformed 'morality..."

Too Optimistic?

This article is rather optimistic in its assessment of the academy scheme crumbling. However, it does point out that of the first 100 academy schools, a third will have faith sponsors.

As it points out, the only people who will be deterred from investing in academy schools as a result of the adverse publicity of the last week, will be those who had truly philanthropic motives, and do not want to be tarred with the brush of corruption. Thoxse who do not care will still be happy to buy schools and peerages.

'As Chris Waterman, executive director of the Confederation of Children's Services managers, puts it: "you pay 10% of the purchase price to buy the freehold of an academy but you get a trust for nothing; that is not selling but giving away the family silver".'

Why Do We Want Faith Schools?

This is a good article from Peter Wilby about our assumptions about faith schools, and the impact religion has upon people. Particular highlights are:

"As I have argued here before, religion has a magnificent record of inspiring art, architecture, music, literature and even scientific inquiry. It has completely failed to improve human behaviour. Rather, it tends to persuade people that, provided they are believers, they can get away with anything.

"This may explain why several Christian sponsors of city academies come from what most of us would regard (without implying any actual dishonesty) as slightly dodgy occupations. At least two are car dealers, hardly a trade noted for its ethical standards."

and:

"Likewise, today’s parents rationally calculate that they should at least have their children christened and send an occasional donation for the church roof, stepping up their commitment according to the state of local schools as the child approaches 11.

"No wonder the churches are so keen to sponsor schools. It is by far the most effective form of promotion they have."

La La La! Lord Adonis Can't Hear You

The unlelected Education Minister Lord Adonis yesterday gave a typically Blairite defense of the city academies scheme. It seems staggering in the 21st century that Tony Blair could ennoble on of his advisers and appoint them to being a minister for education, and yet what is more staggering is the way in which the Blairite faction are incapable of seeing any errors in their way of thinking.

Lord Adonis said: "I have had nothing but statements of support this week" (he has obviously not read any of the newspapers or read any polls); "It would be absolutely wrong for us to slow down now." (simply a patent untruth - caution and evaluation of success are never 'absolutely wrong); he insisted that nothing improper had taken place (the fact that he can see what we know went on as 'proper' shows the extent to which the Blair government is steeped in venality and corruption).

To Evangelise or Not To Evangelise...

It is reasonable to believe Mr Eric Payne when he says: "Some recent media reporting and TV programmes seem to have had a preconditioned agenda seeking to mock and destroy the evangelical arm of the Church. Linking this to certain academies was both misleading and invalid.

"Academies are required to have a clear ethos. Whilst the new academy will operate within a framework of Christian values it is not there to evangelise or indoctrinate."

He admits to being an evangelical Christian, the basis of whose Charisrtianity is evangelising. They have a duty to spread the good news, and yet he claims that an institution he is sponsoring, which will have 'Christian' values will not attempt to evangelise.

Mr Payne is either not doing his duty to his God, or to the children in his care, much as he might like to have it both ways.

Also, is it 'misleading and invalid' to link evangelical groups to city academies when they are the sponsors of city academies?

He goes on to claim that: "Amongst others, teachers, local employers and the community will benefit." This is despite the fact that the teachers will not have any of the same protections under law that their colleagues in the state sector do.

Another One Bites The Dust

Andrew Rosenfield of Minerva donated £2.5 million to the city academies programme, lent the Labour Party £1 million in secret, his predecessor lent the Labour Party £2.3 million, months before they secured planning permission for a £500 million shopping centre in Croydon. Mr Rosenfield has now had to resign as it becomes clear that he may be questioned by the police.

The End of Comprehensive Education

This article by Melissa Benn and Fiona Millar is a good summary of the ways in which the Education Bill is an outright attack on comprehensive education. It gives interesting depth to the arguments about pupils being forced to choose an academic or vocational path at 14.

Jamie Oliver would be proud...

Steve Sinnott here proves that almost any argument can be made to revolve around Turkey Twizzlers...

One step forward...

This is all the information I have at the moment about the NUT's decision to support the existence of faith schools. It seems odd, as it comes at a time when everyone else's faith in them is waning...

Academies Represent the Venality of Blairism

This is Jonathan Freedland's perceptive article about how the flaws in the ways the city academies scheme were devised and implemented are natural reults of Blairism. I would say that this is true of all of his public service reforms: the denigration of the professional and the promotion of a mythical choice; the adoption of market mechanisms over common wealth; these are all symptomatic of Blair's ideological rabidity.

It can be done!

This article contains a reference to Northcliffe School, near Doncaster. At this school parents exercised their choice to prevent the school becoming an academy sposored by the Emmanual Schools Foundation (Peter Vardy's organisation). 90% of response during a consultation was unfavourable. Is this model sustainable across the country?