Another day, another cabinet
Wasn’t it Sir Tim Brighouse, the former London schools commissioner, who said “accept uncertainty as the norm, and understand that chaos can produce order”? In September we had a new prime minister and education secretary; in October we swore in another prime minister and our sixth education secretary in a year. I’m wondering who the line-up in November might be and where we will be by Christmas.
Time for a (creative and forward-looking) change
Twitter kicked off big time at half-term … as usual. I wouldn’t know as I don’t get half-term breaks and my timeline is a curated oasis of calm, cat pictures, cakes and critical race theory.
There was some noise in response to the latest pronouncement from the so-called social mobility tsar, suggesting that a preferred teaching style is the way children from “disadvantaged” backgrounds will break the glass ceiling. The other mic-drop moment was Lord Blunkett’s 137-page ‘Learning and Skills Report’.
The polarised responses to the report were succinctly summed up by one blogpost entitled ‘Whose Evidence is it Anyway?’ and by another called Education, Education, Education. As someone who worked in a system that grants a paid sabbatical year to all teachers in their seventh year of service, I think they’re definitely on to something there!
No ordinary schools
Since we mentioned education’s “strictest headteacher”, you might be interested in the latest episode of the Rethinking Education podcast, which features a whistlestop tour of three extraordinary schools: Michaela School in north London, often described as the military bootcamp of education; XP School in Doncaster, with its focus on pastoral care, beautiful work and expeditionary learning; and the Self Managed Learning College in Brighton, where the pupils (aged 9-16) do what it says on the tin and manage their own learning full-time.
These three unique settings aside, what is becoming alarmingly ordinary in many schools is the overuse of restraint. An article by practitioners at Studio III entitled Restraint and Seclusion in Irish and UK Schools describes the extent of the problem and provides some concrete solutions that will support teachers, parents/carers and students.
Representation matters
Black History Month was a feature in many schools throughout October, and some great resources were circulating again this year. An important item worth noting is the newly published ‘Preventing hair discrimination in schools’ from the Equality and Human Rights Commission. This has a wealth of explanations, guidance, case studies, and videos to help schools foster an inclusive environment by ensuring their policies are not unlawfully discriminatory.
The Young Historians Project has produced incredible resources for schools to use year-round, including its Radical Black Women series featuring women who have made important contributions for justice and racial equality in Britain over the past century.
It turns out that representation does matter when it’s genuinely embedded into the curriculum and staff racial diversity. This thread from Samir Richards shows how factors, including realigning the history curriculum, can have a marked impact on the engagement, progress and outcomes teachers and pupils.
A blessing and a curse
And finally, bringing us back to the trials and tribulations of online life, a blog post by Special Needs Jungle details the level of surveillance that parents of children with SEND have uncovered. Several from Bristol reveal that council employees have monitored, collated and assessed their social media posts, accusing them of “campaigning” against the council.
The post outlines the law and guidance that allows local authorities to carry out this sort of surveillance. It gives some great advice on how to navigate social media as a blessing that empowers and informs, but which won’t leave you open to undue surveillance when you express your views. Take care, it’s a jungle out there!
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