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We must fight for young people's future

    Opinion
  • Monday, January 24, 2011
  • | CYP Now
The political debate is dominated by the economy. But while the battle rages in Westminster about whether the financial cuts are necessary or proportionate, there is general agreement that they have had a severe impact on young people, women and children.

Flaws in plans for a reading test

    Opinion
  • Monday, November 29, 2010
  • | CYP Now
The education white paper proposes a "light-touch, phonics-based check" to test the reading of all Year 1 pupils. The test will be based on words like "street" and "cat", and some non-words like "flape". Michael Gove says it will be "impossible" for schools to drill pupils to pass the test, which will be a "true gauge" of a child"s reading skills. Let's unpack all that and see what it means.

Progress in joint working must go on

    Opinion
  • Monday, November 22, 2010
  • | CYP Now
The decision last week to strip the Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) of government funding will inevitably raise concerns that any genuine "development" of the workforce will stall. A plan for how the Department for Education intends to take forward the quango's work is yet to be articulated.

Show some respect for state schools

    Opinion
  • Monday, October 4, 2010
  • | CYP Now
The drama over education reform continued at last week's Labour Party conference. Shadow education secretary Ed Balls naturally joined in, describing the coalition government's plans for free schools as "the most socially divisive education experiment for 60 years".

An alternative approach to helping looked-after children gain good grades

    Opinion
  • Monday, October 4, 2010
  • | CYP Now
When middle-class children fall behind at school, the parental response is often special tutoring. In London, tutoring for secondary school admission is a substantial industry, and in Birmingham almost all children being put in for grammar school tests are tutored. I'm not judging this, by the way, I was tutored (fruitlessly) for my French O-level; and we paid for extra music lessons whenever needed.

Welfare officers provide vital defence

    Opinion
  • Monday, September 6, 2010
  • | CYP Now
Education welfare officers (who go by the glorious acronym of EWOs) provide a lifeline to vulnerable schoolchildren, and there are calls this week for their contribution to be properly recognised.

Shhh... Every Child Matters lives on

    Opinion
  • Monday, August 9, 2010
  • | CYP Now
Watch out, the language police are about. An internal Department for Education memo lists 30 terms the government wants consigned to history, and the words that should be used in their place. Many relate directly to children's services.

Children's chiefs key to school reform

    Opinion
  • Friday, July 9, 2010
  • | CYP Now
As the government ploughs full steam ahead with the expansion of academies and free schools, the strategic educational role of local authorities is clearly under threat.

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