Thursday, March 7th, 2013
Alistair Owens Keen2learn.
At the same time the children are going through the traumas of our educational system, parents are also involved in nerve-racking games and decisions to give their child the best possible schooling. News of the trials and tribulations involving our national curriculum and the performance of teaching resources at our state schools do little to help pacify an anxious parent concerned for the future of their child.
The whole process is epitomised by the school place allocation. Manoeuvres to place a child in the right school catchment area with the ideal pre-emptive qualifications do not ensure a place in a good school. Traveling distance does not necessarily follow logic with many allocations of places being linked to travel distances as the crow flies. Often this entails several different bus journeys as the as a child makes their way to school via conventional routes rather than bird flight.
The worst-case scenario, despite giving a child ideal moral support at home, arises when their child fails to get into the ideal school. The parent and child can only reminisce as to what might have been. Has their educational prowess been severely limited through attendance at the second tier school? Significant moral fortitude is required by both child and the parent to attempt to succeed when they are severely handicapped by choice of school. The results maybe immediate based on the performance of the school, in which case a parent has the choice of applying additional tutorial support. This can be achieved also by playing educational games to mean to reinforce the learning retention of their child. Unfortunately the performance deficit may be a ticking time bomb. The final exam results achieved in the school leaving the child short of the qualifications needed to further their ideal career. This can be a moment of substantial recrimination. Yet there is nothing new about the situation. For decades there has been a general criticism of the performance of the UK educational system. Certainly there have been exceptional progress from a range of schools but the majority still fall into the average performance category with many still under the watchful scrutiny of OFSTED.
The stress and strains of modern school management and the motivation of the teaching resources creates substantial anxiety with Headteachers. The constant flow of educational initiatives that have been introduced, drawing heavily on the teaching load within a school’s resource, and then abandoned are legion. The result; our educational programme in the UK is on the whole creaking at the seams. Not the ideal news to give to young schoolchildren who are starting their educational journey. Unless somebody with the strength of character to fight the system, and the visionary strategic planning ability to design a new system I cannot see how our groaning educational system can meet the demands ahead.
It is easy to criticise and pontificate over where it all went wrong. We have a core of excellent time served and experienced teaching resources in our schools. Maybe they should be co-opted to design the school of tomorrow that will meet the demands of the next 50 years rather than leaving it to politicians. It’s far more important than that.
Tags: entrance to good schools, National Curriculum, new schools policy
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Saturday, March 2nd, 2013
In this competitive age the right school and the best education is rightfully at the top of the list for many parents. Displaying some of nature’s least desirable attributes we kick, scream and shout to nudge our children into the right school. We invest in legal support when they don’t. Not necessarily the ideal role model that children should emulate, or is it? This is probably the behaviour pattern our children will need to adopt to succeed in their later adult life and by watching such parental manoeuvres provide sound grounding for the future.
Schooling can provide the academic basis for reasoning. Understanding the fundamentals of the education given in primary, secondary school and university helps students with their on-going performance immeasurably. But the real world needs a number of kickers, screamers and shouters to get things done. The real world comprises of all manner of bullies, from banks, commercial sharks, dodgy contracts to employers. Having their wits about them as well as an educated view of the facts, our young adults can prevent all manner of mishaps in later life. Instead of scorning all adult behaviour we should include the fundamentals of good, bad and advantageous behaviour in the curriculum. Social skills already form part of the PSHE syllabus, maybe we need an additional level that of street cred whose content will become opperational as children become young adults. This will aid the realisation that unfortunately we do not live in a sanitised world where only good thrives.
Already teachers are apprising children of the changes to expect as they grow older but the rate of change can overwhelm logical predictions. The advent of social networks didn’t exist six years ago. The growth in the use of the internet, for both good and bad reasons, has been phenomenal. Many careers, especially in technology, didn’t exist when children started secondary school. This rate of change can at best be confusing. How do children, aged 14 years, select the ideal subjects to pursue at A level and degree level to support a career from say 22 years, of which they have little notion, and may not yet exist.As only 15 per cent of graduates use their degree vocationally there is a staggering element of waste, lost opportunity and frustration. Hence the real need for a street cred degree; how to excel in a world that is far from ideal and developing at a furious rate.
One of the supreme ironies is the greatest entrepreneurial success often emerges with people who have not succeeded academically. Their DNA is spun entirely differently from the rest of us. And a huge amount, I believe, is down to their innate street cred ability; to spot an opportunity, take a risk and do it rather than just dreaming. The problem is how we teach students to acquire and utilise this ability. You would think that to run an organisation developed by an entrepreneur would require a vast range of skills. The business complexity grows exponentially and would need a person with extraordinary talents, but this is part of their skill. The successful entrepreneur knows when to back down and surround themselves with people having the skills they do not possess. This not only helps the entrepreneur to free up time to move onto the next project, it fuels the operation with expertise to allow it to thrive.
If this is the case where do we need the street cred. In a word competition. Many solid business has fallen foul of competitors who have stolen the product or a march on the original company. Competition will often use the kick, scream and punch approach. The business that is run entirely ethically may often fall to their onslaught. Even those operations who start with an entirely moral methodology are forced to change their approach with time to meet their growth objectives and competition. Pret A Manger, the purveyor of all things good sold its soul to MacDonald’s, The Body Shop sold out to L’Oreal. Even the great Google have adopted tactics that don’t sit well with its original corporate maxim of “You can make money without doing evil.” Competition, the need for growth to meet shareholders and employee expectations can lead to a form of greed which can sway many a marketing policy. We need street cred to spot when this is happening. It can then be no real surprise that supermarkets are tempted to cut corners in the cost of foodstuffs, airlines charge for all manner of ingenious extras that can con the ingenuous. Many a marketing proposal emphasises an often ludicrous lowest common denominator; cost per mile, cost per night for cruises etc. that have no real logic. The words “from” and “up to” beckon customers with enticing offers that frequently can never be realised and perhaps border legality. Roll back prices promoted by supermarkets that are the result of a previous short term inflated price to establish a “fictitious” bench mark. These are the street cred elements that students need to be aware of in adult life – if not before. Remember the infamous ring tone scandal where children were duped into paying for on-going extras hidden in the original agreement. Unfortunately this experience has bred a new generation who continuing to dupe children. Examples can be seen in computer games where the original apps charged at 69 pence mask further purchases charged at 6.9 pounds and 69 pounds, exploiting the unknowing.
Street cred is the basic from of survival. The more proficient students become the more likely they will survive and thrive in the adult world. We are tested every day with new ingenious assaults on our integrity. Nothing new in that, there were scurrilous deeds in Roman times. We have to keep up as in this technological era. New ways of misleading, kicking and screaming will abound; only now they are on a global basis.
Tags: GCSE and A levels, National Curriculum, school selection, Stret cred education, Vocational degrees
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Wednesday, February 6th, 2013
Secondary schools in the United Kingdom usually incorporate children from ages 11 through 18. Exceptional students can actually advance at an earlier age and enroll in college or sixth form education. For the most part, secondary schools in the U.K. don’t differ much from those found in the United States. Although the United States educational system usually separates grades six through eight in a “middle-school” atmosphere, sometimes the classes are combined as a secondary school. The secondary schools in the United States begin to shape what real-life knowledge our children will need after graduation. What subjects are taught in a U.K. secondary school?
1. English – Although our children can speak the language, the secondary schooling of English delves more into the structure of advanced sentences and proper usage. This is a core class in the U.K. as it is in the United States.
2. Foreign Languages – In the United States, many schools are making Spanish the mandatory foreign language taught in schools. The U.K. has a more diverse curriculum given the location in Europe. Not too many schools in the U.S. teach Greek or Mandarin.
3. Mathematics – All forms of mathematics are available in secondary schools. This can range anywhere from rudimentary math to trigonometry and above.
4. Citizenship – In the United Kingdom, Citizenship is taught to students as a way to develop their minds and prepare them to be a better citizen in a community. Having the ability to work well with others and promote a more responsible roll in the community can have excellent benefits for the future of the student.
5. Religious Education – As opposed to the United States, the secondary schools in the U.K. are mandated to teach about forms of religion with Christianity being the main focus. This could be viewed as extremely controversial in the United States, but has its merit of understanding where religious people stand in their beliefs.
6. PSHE – Personal Social Health Education in the UK delves into the roll of a person in life. Whether it is in the family or a member of society, this helps develop the student for current and future relationships he or she may develop.
7. Science – Various degrees of the sciences are taught in the secondary schools of the United Kingdom. While some classes in the U.K. will clump many subjects of science into one class, aspects of science are commonly broken into sections such as chemistry and physics.
8. History – Nearly every school in the world has a history class that teaches it from the perspective of that particular location. Although many global events will be similar, aspects of national history will take precedence. Not everyone outside of the United States knows who of John Adams.
Regardless of teaching method, education in any culture should be a high priority. In a face-paced world, our children need to be taught to adapt and go with the flow. Without an education, our children are doomed to repeat our mistakes and grind civilization into nothingness. Teach them to be productive in society and watch the world bloom.
Author Bio
Sara is an active nanny as well as an active freelance writer. She is a frequent contributor of http://www.nannypro.com/.
Tags: National Curriculum, USA secondary curriculumv
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Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012
Technology is on the increase as a valuable teaching resource in schools. Over the past 20 years a significant portion of educational budgets have been invested in electronic teaching support from educational games to interactive whiteboards.
But this technological approach has risks. Advances in design and performance can make equipment outmoded within a year and it does not come cheap. Compared to the lifetime of say a textbook or educational board game that can be up to 10 years, limited primarily by its physical structure, technology has become an almost disposable option. Yet therein lies a conundrum.
The ultimate role of teaching resources in school is foremost to prepare children for adult life. The national curriculum may set the agenda but the school has the responsibility to turn this into a practical scenario. If the information and communications technology (ICT ) equipment is to educate children in the efficiencies of technology the latest model becomes a necessity. Good news for the equipment supplier who has designed an element of planned obsolescence. It is in their interest to inject a step change in the design to encourage purchase and replacement. Inevitably if they don’t a competitor will. All this is bad news for educational budgets.
The BBC computer of 20 years ago was a marvel in its day but has long since occupied a place as a museum piece. A relic of bygone days massively superseded by current equipment that operates several quantum leaps ahead. The problem gets worse as the pace of change accelerates. Children are also becoming increasingly aware of the brand image of the equipment. Research Machines (RM) once leader in the field of networks and PC’s in schools are suffering from a cocktail of technology advances, cancelled educational schemes and budgets reviews. But their largest competitor perhaps comes from brand image and performance. Promotional pressure and product placement in television and films have elevated the Mac to be a must have item. Many schools opting for Apple Mac are benefiting from price support from Apple who see a marvellous opportunity to influence their future customers.
The mix of commercial, technological and brand pressure is immense. Schools are caught in a maelstrom of meeting academic and financial targets. Many ICT teachers are inevitably playing games between equipment that meets the demands of the curriculum versus the state of the art computers needed to maintain interest from the technical savvy classroom. Hidden in the equation is whether they overtake the capability of their educational games software to operate on the latest PC and operating system.
A hidden factor is the volume of software sales. The advent of the virtual learning environment (VLE), which centralises educational software for a number of schools and academies, has dramatically reduced the unit sales of software. Previously schools bought software direct. Now a universal license replaces the individual sales. A positive move for the schools who integrate the software which also allows the teacher to centrally track the performance of the student. But many educational games software titles are starting to disappear. The reduced volume has meant the creation and production costs are prohibitively expensive compared the sales volume potential. Teachers and commercial operations with that great idea have to find a viable volume to get it off the ground. Therein lies a danger. The only companies to afford the level of investment are the big players. Apple, Microsoft et al. could steal the market totally which could have dire consequences. A Trojan horse no doubt.
Tags: educational games, ICT games, National Curriculum, school budgets
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Monday, April 2nd, 2012
Recent reports on national TV revealed the latest range of electric car and vans. Quiet, efficient and with a government grant; reasonably priced. But children need to learn about renewable energy alternatives and one of the best contenders is the hydrogen fuel cell now available in schools as a science teaching resource to support the national curriculum.
The teacher can now show how solar energy can power the electrolysis process to release hydrogen and oxygen using a front of class demonstration panel. Students will learn the range of physics, chemistry and biology sciences that combine to make Hydrogen an ideal renewable energy storage media. The range of renewable energy teaching resources from www.keen2learn.co.uk includes the equipment to complete 30 detailed experiments in energy conversion using hydrogen fuel cells and solar photo voltaic cells. The classroom demonstration panel is supplemented by class- group experiments, which can include the fun model hydrogen fuel cell car with its two-way fuel cell. The highly practical range of experiments are designed to extend awareness of the role of hydrogen to capture renewable energy when it is least required by the national grid; like a huge battery.
Renewable energy experiment panel
The key to hydrogen is its use as an energy storage medium. Converting excess solar, marine, hydro and wind energy to hydrogen through electrolysis allows this stored energy to be used when the sun is not shining or the wind blowing. Passing the stored hydrogen through a fuel cell instantly combines the hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity, a bit of water and a little heat. Efficiency levels currently run at around 50 to 60 per cent but future developments will clearly improve this. Children will learn that this is a massive improvement on the 25 per cent efficiency generally achieved with heat source energy systems and internal combustion engines.
Hydrogen fuel cell systems are already used for emergency electrical supply in critical installations at airports and power stations where an uninterrupted power source can be run for as long as the hydrogen fuel lasts.
Tags: hydrogen fuel cells, National Curriculum, renewable energy, science teaching resources
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Tuesday, November 8th, 2011
As we hover near the precipice of recession keen2learn believes education be ring fenced from further cutbacks. Looking to the future children currently in school will be required to generate future prosperity and ultimately lead the country. On this basis we should be increasing the investment in education to groom those whose vital role will be to outperform their predecessors.
Not an easy situation to manage. Billions of pounds have been invested over the past decade to achieve this Utopian state. “Education, education, education” has been the mantra echoed by the many political leaders who rummaged through our educational portals yet achieved nothing. Investing in add-hoc schemes that ultimately became disruptive damp squids the waste of funds and impact on our teaching resources has been phenomenal. Comparing 2011 with 1987 science, technology and medicine have witnessed huge advances whilst education has struggled. The ability of teachers to teach and children to learn have maintained a disrupted approach to achievement. The countless initiatives have been launched with tumultuous fanfare to resolve an issue in maths, literacy or science that have quietly slipped, unloved and unmissed beneath the waves. Disastrously they each managed to leave a scar. Cohorts of children have been taken along paths, viewed by teachers as a waste of time and effort, from which they may struggle to recover.
And so our overall ranking in the world OECD educational league has slipped badly. We now languish in the mid 20’s position when we used to be in the top 10. Countries in the Far East having become the global manufacturing and commercial hub are not unsurprisingly supported by children enjoying a far better ( although not perfect) standard of education. But why is that despite the ongoing development of society and the changing demands of commerce and industry we predominantly struggle to move the barriers forward. Our pedestrian approach maybe directly linked to the ponderous approach of national control. Would a fully independent schooling system influenced by the need to make a commercial profit directly supported by results provide the approach needed. The concept works with current independent schools, ignoring their financial constraints precipitated by the current climate, why cannot this be rolled out? Could Michale Gove’s Free School approach be taken to it ultimate conclusion. The waste of government spending being transformed into value for money.
Clearly this would remove the need for the department of educational and its myriad of support outposts. More essentially it would transfer the scope and control of education that would have to match the demands of the modern world. It would remove the inflexibility of national curriculum, the unhealthy concentration on exam results and league tables. It avoid the intervention of countless “temporary” Secretaries of state for Education who have a dabble to try and make their name, then move on having collectively, archived nothing.
Technology could surely play a significant role in the teaching resources of the future although this needs careful handling. The charge into interactive whiteboards over the past 10 years has resulted in investment programmes that never achieved their objective. Due to technical issues or inexperience by the user a huge majority of whiteboards ended up with the power switched off . Used as white blackboards that boosted the sales of dry wipe markers rather than achieve the interactive content. Indeed even when a success story emerged and the whiteboard was used efficiently, some teachers noticed whenever a child was asked to contribute the concentration of the rest of the class switched off until it was their turn.
Careful analysis is required before the technology path is pursued. And this involves the use of laptops, netbooks and tablets. A brave school, Mounts Bay Academy in Penzance is investing £300k to provide iPads for each of its 900 students. A key element of the plan is to reduce costs of textbooks and improve the pupils learning potential. Although Apple, who are supporting the programme and the teaching staff at the school believe it has potential this is early adopter territory. It will take a few years to to prove the efficacy of the project and allow teachers to adopt a teaching style tuned to tablets. We need to avoid another whiteboard “white elephant” and see if the tablets are robust enough, have the desired battery life, effectively support lesson plans and do not present the pupils as a target for muggers.
Tags: keen2learn, National Curriculum, OECD educational league tables, teaching resources
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Saturday, November 5th, 2011
Many countries including the UK and USA have adopted the Science Engineering Technology and Maths (STEM) theme for their national curriculum. In this rapidly changing world the needs of employers is is being reflected in the learning content included in our educational programmes in secondary schools. But this is not just planning for the future; there are critical shortfalls now as employers fail consistently to attract the skilled workers they need.
There is a general shortfall in workers required by U.S. manufactures especially in computer, maths and science. Siemens has revealed it is currently struggling to recruit more than 3,000 workers with the requisite skills in STEM subjects. Chillingly the study sees the shortfall increasing with a general shortage of more than 1.2 million recruits by 2020. Hard to believe with the current level of unemployment especially in young people that employers are crying out for recruits. Harder to believe the pundits looking at the demands of the future employment market failed to spot the trend and adjust the curriculum earlier. A survey by ManpowerGroup in the U.S. found that a record 52 percent of U.S. employers have difficulty filling critical positions within their organizations — up from 14 percent in 2010.
Many manufacturing bases may suffer geographical changes but the support in design and service are still developing and will more than likely stay in the home countries. The UK has seen more that its fair share of manufacturing changes but is it hugely disappointing to see the numbers of children an young adults mismatched to the current and future needs of manufacturing. In the UK these children and young adults not in education employment or training (NEET) is a testament to an educational programme that is far from fit for purpose.
Tags: Employers struggle to recruit workers, National Curriculum, NEET's, STEM curriculum
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Sunday, September 11th, 2011
The clearest indictment that our schooling system is failing comes from the government. The introduction of free schools could be said to be a remedy for the malaise that our schools are facing. The National curriculum, unanimously voted by teachers as the curate’s egg; good in parts, has ailed and failed since its launch in 1987. Billions of pounds have been invested for scant return. But will new academies and free schools, unfettered by the national curriculum and government scrutiny, be the panacea our schooling system needs, or create confusion our schoolchildren will condemn for generations?
The uptake to seek free schools status seems grossly under-subscribed. Head teachers, hounded by Ofsted inspections, targets, budget cuts and endless government educational initiatives had been expected to grasp this ideal opportunity to opt out. But the flood of anticipated applications for free school status turned out to be a trickle. Just 240 schools applied from the expected two to three thousand. Many were late applications where teachers and school governors fought with the implications of academy or free school status. Clearly the freedom from government, Ofsted and local education authorities were a huge plus for the schools, but they are not exempt from performing and the thought of going it alone and failing must have been significantly daunting. Other schools hover on the touch line waiting to see how the first tranche copes. As the new academic year starts many schools are only half full raising concerns over their financial viability. The new free schools need to attract a minimum number of children to generate their operational budgets from fees paid by the government per child attending.
A further unease is whether the initial enthusiasm to break free prevails. If the right teaching staff are not recruited and retained the chances of a schools’ success will be severely impaired. From the teachers perspective they seek the better performing schools to provide job enrichment and career enhancement. There is a risk the brand new free school operating without a pedigree will only be able to recruit those teachers willing to take such a risk.
A huge benefit for children attending free schools is the amount of additional learning time involved in the school year. State schools are contracted to provide 38 weeks of schooling (196 days a year) a year. Free schools are able to provide up to 51 weeks a year. The additional learning time is further enhanced by a reduction in the time allocated to exams and the tutoring for exams that occurs generally in state schools preoccupied with the need to hit performance targets. State schools spend around nine weeks a year in exam tutorials. Parents may also welcome the longer teaching year giving them financial benefits from reduced childcare costs.
There is a lot of good that can come from the free school concept. Freed from government intervention and Ofsted policy they can invest more time to the learning process. Moving with the times rather than national curriculum could produce more rounded students better matched to the education demands of commerce and industry. But there is a high risk some will fail. The stand-alone structure may cause some to suffer withdrawal symptoms. This will be a catastrophe for the children involved.
Tags: academies, educational values, Free schools, National Curriculum, schooling year
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Tuesday, September 6th, 2011
Assiduous changes have affected our society immeasurably. Our children can often feel overlooked and ignored at home and at school. Yet their freedom of speech through social networks and the ability to communicate worldwide at the touch of a button has left some teenagers bewildered. They have significant power to talk yet can be discounted by a society where parents and perhaps teachers fail to keep up with their educational needs in a rapidly changing social environment. Feeling disenfranchised they result to anti social antics which we may abhor yet have been responsible in part for their onset.
Educational initiatives introduced as part of the national curriculum have predominately failed. The cost of failure has been phenomenal both financially and the social impact in school and society. The recent riots have rung the Lutine bell now the aftermath of action and reaction needs to dealt with effectively. The combination of renewed parental support and educational initiatives must be jointly harnessed. It all cannot be left to Teachers. But there is some help. A fantastic series of discussion cards is available to get that essential conversation going with our youth. Developed by Sue Scott- Horne after a lifetime of experience in dealing with children and young adults they break down barriers and reluctance to talk by introducing the subject in the form of educational games.
Gang Culture Discussion Cards
Stealing Discussion Cards
Vandalism Discussion Cards
Tags: dicsussion cards, National Curriculum, pshe educational games, Riots
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Tuesday, July 19th, 2011
Invention Stimulator does exactly what it says on the tin. An education game developed to inspire children to work alongside the national curriculum to learn to design electronic circuits that could lead to a great new invention. Teachers love the hands on practical approach and have seen some brilliant projects in ICT, PSHE, science and D&T emerging from children in key stages 1 to 4; 7 to 16 years old.
The World Bank award winning Invention Stimulator is a practical educational game that uses CD software to allow children to drag and drop components to design electronic circuits. Their program is downloaded to the micro control unit provided that is then integrated with the various electronic circuits and actuators. A range of sensors, relays, motors is provided with the game which can be extended by adding additional items sold individually.
The components and control unit are completely reusable allowing the kit to used in multiple designs. The aim is to teach children about electrical circuits and the range of possibilities that this entails. Working with national curriculum it allows teachers to use the equipment as a primary and secondary teaching resource covering science, ICT, PSHE and design and technology lessons. The comprehensive lesson plans and worksheets are just the start. The number of project possibilities range into the 1000’s limited only by the children’s imagination.
Already there have been a few patents registered such as a soap dish dispenser that squirts soap when you put your hands underneath it, and a pet food bowl that has a opening a closing lid which opens when the pet approaches it and closes as it moves away. The best recommendation comes from the teachers using Invention Stimulator who have seen their classes engrossed for the duration of the lesson. And with seven levels of projects the versatility of this highly practical teaching resource is enormous.
Tags: D&T, electronic games, ICT games, National Curriculum, PSHE, teaching resources
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Tuesday, July 5th, 2011
One of the few parameters of daily life in which we have little control is education. The disconnect starts in early learning and lasts for the four key stages of the national curriculum. Parents are in effect locked out of the learning process and rely entirely on the teaching resources that are provided by the school. This has little to do with cost allocation and applies for both the state and independent schools sectors.
The only exclusion from this control arises with home schooling where parents can select which maths, English, science learning resources they wish to pursue. The rest of the three million children currently in our primary and secondary schooling system have their educational programme mapped out by the government. The scope, content, timing, tests and examinations determined by a supposedly higher authority that knows best.
Parents are seemingly deemed inadequate to manage the process are left with the daunting task of attempting to select the best school for their children. A decision impeded by the lack of good schools. Post codes lotteries involving catchment areas of good schools become fraught with potential manipulation by both school and parents. And to cap it all the national curriculum enforced in all state schools is openly criticised by teachers who believe it can lack relevance in our fast changing world.
Importantly our examination and SAT testing process have become a travesty. Inaccuracies, manipulation and an annual debate on their relevance and suitability have undermined the exam boards. Despite the concern little has been achieved apart from the Department for Education terminating an overseas supplier multi-million pound contract who carried the can for the 2009 debacle where exam results results were late, poorly marked or lost.
The government has a history of change for change sake. The Secretary of State for education has seen a succession of incumbents for this strategic role. Ministers with an average tenancy of 18 months are hardly able to formulate and implement a plan before they move on long and way before any new policy can be ratified. Calamitous schemes have been launched costing tens of millions of pounds only to be abandoned five years later. Even the name of the department has changed to suit the latest Minister’s desire to stamp his or her authority on the role. But they certainly try and inevitably start with the name of the department. Recently the Department for Education and Skills became renamed the Department for Schools, Children and Families that ultimately reverted to the aptly named Department for Education in the last government shakeup. Printers reducing new stationery are delirious, teaching resources perhaps less so.
But the real question is if the government are the arbiters of our educational system why have they not cracked the ideal format for our children. Parents and teachers are responsible for the children in their care and perhaps the ideal resource to identify what works and what does not. They are after all responsible for all other decisions in a child’s upbringing. If the educational process were to be funded by individual families from reduced income tax parents would be far cannier with the pounds and induce more efficient control than has been achieved by central government. After all the billions of pounds invested in government educational schemes over the last ten years have yet to achieve a marked improvement in the basics of maths, literacy and science. The position of the UK in the educational world ranking has slipped from the top ten to the mid twenties. We are going backwards in what is an essential need for the nation as we metamorphosise into a new UK able to compete in the global market without our traditional industries and commerce. We need some bright well-educated children to lead the next generation and frankly take care of the current educational leaders who have failed so far.
Tags: English literacy, maths games, National Curriculum, Science games
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Monday, June 20th, 2011
Imagine the trauma of GCSE and A level students entering the examination room to find the question papers are incorrect, have missing data and the Educational Secretary is condemning the exams saying that they are an inadequate means to measure the teaching resources used. Educational Secretary Michael Gove’s recent comments urged the need for UK exams to match the world’s toughest. The content and timing of these strident comments has left head teachers, parents and students reeling. Confidence in the educational secretary and the educational system has once again been severely undermined.
For the children taking the exams having spent five years concentrating on the curriculum content, exam techniques and revision our teaching resources and pupils find the games being played by Michael Gove, who believes the exams are too easy and wildly adrift of what is required in our modern world, is a staggering blow to their confidence. In August when the results appear we will inevitably be involved in the annual debate with exam regulators and teachers on one side versus employers and universities who claim any increase in the pass rate implies a lower standard rather than students working harder or our teaching resources being more efficient. This criticism has faded all too quickly and the status quo remains largely unchanged.
Left unchanged The Department for education believes we will see a further decline in our world educational standards. Already we have sunk to the mid-twenties position in the world league table developed by the OECD. The view from keen2learn voiced many times in the past is that the curriculum and the exam standards should be controlled as entry levels to the next educational stage of the student. Primary school exams should be set by secondary school, GCSE’s set by industry and commerce, “A” level set by universities. This would remove the exam controversy and avoid children arriving on the doorstep of the next stage of their learning ill prepared for what is to happen next.
The recent statement by Michael Gove may appear strident and clumsy in the timing but seeks to address the misfit of our schooling with the needs of modern adult life. The fire from the hip approach will cause significant aggravation with teachers and the possibility of an overt rebuff that will allow the problem to still remain. Michael Gove further stated “By 2015 I want us to be on an irreversible trend to get more good teachers into teaching, more schools enjoying autonomy and all underperforming schools been taken over. I want us to refocus our curriculum to get rid of unnecessary extras and change our discredited exam system. It’s as much about modernisation as going back to tradition.”
The Educational Secretary has compared the output to the UK with the educational standards in Singapore, New Zealand, Canada and Hong Kong and believes that the route ahead lies in a mixture of old fashioned teaching resources and modern technology. This is to be combined with ill performing schools being handed over to local academies that would benefit more from a concentration of educational effort than perhaps emerged with local authorities.
Clearly the viewpoint of the Educational Secretary is paramount in the future for our schools and the education standards of our teachers and ultimately our children. The transfer to academy status may be a solution but overall it appears his strategy is being developed and released in piecemeal and in conflict with the head teachers who will be responsible to make it work. Surely the better approach would have been to take time out to develop the strategy thoroughly in association with our teaching resources and not rushed into premature statements which could imply muddled thought going off half-cocked leading to concerns, ridicule and negative reaction from teachers, parents and children.
Tags: DfE, edcuationla strategy, Michael Gove, National Curriculum, teaching resources
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Wednesday, February 9th, 2011
The educational secretary Michael Gove is poised to parade his Education Bill before parliament this Friday. Andy Burnham shadow education secretary feels it is a “huge gamble.” The content is far reaching and will centralise power firmly in the lap of Michael Gove. Yet is this a negative move.
Obviously Andy Burnham has an axe to grind and unlikely to give the government his blessing, such is the way of politics. But the current regime where the national curriculum specifies what children are taught and how the teaching resources should be managed is hardly a shining success. The UK has slipped down the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) educational world league tables to be languishing around 25th position for most subjects – way behind China who has moved in the number one slot. Each year we slip further, and hear criticism of the exam results are too easy whilst employers and Universities complain that those children released into the job market have woefully inadequate schooling.
Children are routinely transferred form primary to secondary school without the requisite attainment in maths and literacy. Their life in secondary school destined to become a burden for child, teacher and school. Statistics reveal the significance of the drop off that occurs with many children aged 11 – 14 years. Children that fail to thrive occurs both in the struggling group as well as gifted children that fail to be pushed. Teachers are constantly chasing targets and if nothing else have become street wise in hitting the key performance indices leaving little room to expand their teaching prowess. Countless initiatives abound. The Department for Education is able to churn out a staggering number of new ideals that pass through the system and achieve nothing apart from creating a level of disruption in schools that beggar’s belief.
Educational career opportunities seem to stagnate at Headteacher level. Despite a competitive salary the role fails to meet the promotional aspirations of deputy heads. Thousands of headteacher’s jobs remain unfilled – some for several years.
Do we therefore need a new Educational Bill, a new English Baccalaureate, a new schooling system? Do we agree with Andy Burnham and the maxim “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” and leave education alone? But the UK educational programme from Sure Start to university tuition fees is in dire need of being fixed. Let us therefore hope that Michael Gove has had the time to think things through strategically and not use the opportunity as a cost cutting charter. We cannot stay with a continuing failure in education. The Education Bill could be the turning point for the salvation of our schooling process. It is a truly massive undertaking and must address the cause rather than the symptoms. Will it work? Lets hope so because to achieve nothing is not an option.
Tags: Andy Burnham, Education bill, Michael Gove, National Curriculum
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Thursday, February 3rd, 2011
Change is here to stay. Just as schools get used to the final stages in the introduction of a new educational initiative a completely new one is announced. Our teaching resources have to adopt new rules, regulations and targets whilst attempting to maintain uninterrupted progress in class. Disruption in school is not totally down to the unruly child, educational policy and initiatives from the government causes mayhem at the teaching coal face.
A new curriculum embedded in the English Baccalaureate has teachers concerned. Each successive Educational Secretary has attempted to correct an ailing system that has coughed and spluttered since its introduction in the various guises of the Education Act. The National curriculum has generated some controversy throughout its life. Frequently modified by a multitude of bolt-on initiatives, school children and teachers have suffered from a system that is flawed. Our educational performance has consistently slipped down world league tables.
And school league tables certainly dominate the waking existence of teachers. Points are everything. To hit target teachers have been know to convince children to take exam subjects in which they can achieve the greatest result. Often the subject area is a soft option of little operational use. In 2004 children pursued 15,000 non academic qualifications. By 2010 this had risen to 575, 000. Ofsted announced these non academic subjects were of doubtful value. Hardly the inspiring accolade needed from the arbitrators who maybe needed to voice their opinion a little earlier.
Little solace to the children involved who discovered universities and employers discounted their achievements. Scarcely the result the child, teacher or school could be pleased with. Yet in the defence of Head teachers, many of whom operate under enormous pressure to get their school to hit performance targets or face the sack, it is no real shock many use their wit to circumvent the system.
The future is unclear; the government policy appears reactionary rather than strategic. Michael Gore appears unsure of the direction our schools should take and apt to release schemes before due diligence scrutiny by the teaching fraternity. Uncoordinated initiatives such the school rebuilding programme have been launched into confusion and criticism. Hardly the inspiring accolade needed from a vitally important ministry.
The UK continues to slide in educational resources and achievement. Once heralded as a world class model adopted by many overseas countries we now languish in the also ran league. Time now for the educational secretary to back away from the fire fighting initiatives and take his time to reformulate an educational policy that will radically turn things around, hopefully before the 18 months average tenure of education secretaries is up.
Tags: English Baccalaureate, National Curriculum
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Wednesday, November 17th, 2010
The daily flood of environmental concerns emphasise the fundamental need for the education of schoolchildren to include the implications of our energy needs and the paramount role of renewable energy. The learning activities for children in science, engineering, technology and maths (STEM) are comprehensibly covered in the function of hydrogen fuel cells. Elevating the importance of fuel cells in the curriculum, teaching resources and renewable energy education will entice children to pursue the green energy initiative in adulthood.
A recent Brighton to London car rally featuring hydrogen fuel cell powered cars placed the technology in the limelight. On show, the sleek machines from the worlds leading car manufactures keen to demonstrate the quiet, clean efficiency of the fuel cell. This should attract the enquiring mind in school children to wonder on the future of renewable energy education. One huge benefit of fuel cell powered cars is they swap the carbon dioxide emission from the exhaust of the internal combustion engine for warm water – the only discharge from the fuel cell. By far the better option for the environment, especially in city centres. But before you press the Luddite button, it was only a decade ago that diesel powered cars were anathema. Sluggish, noisy and pouring out P10 particles they were more expensive and didn’t produce that many miles per gallon compared to petrol engines. Oh, and you had to refuel at the truck pumps. But times have moved on. Diesel cars now stand for quiet, powerful, clean and efficient.
Understanding the technology behind hydrogen and its potential for power applications is an ideal project in the STEM curriculum. Already a versatile fuel the potential for further development is vast. But, critically, it will fall to children now in secondary school to perfect the technology in the years to come. Certainty we have along way to go but this could be the most exciting and relevant part of the whole curriculum to excite the budding scientist and engineer.
The cars in the Brighton rally were advanced prototypes costing around £80,000. They bear disproportionate development costs compared to a car in full production. Although we have glimpse of what the future could hold, environmentally, there other significant factors embedded in hydrogen fuel cells operation. A key criticism is the need of electrical power produced in power stations required in the electrolysis process to release the hydrogen. But this argument is receding as developments in solar energy and wind energy can power the electrolysis process. Critically the conversion to hydrogen presents a huge opportunity to store energy during those sunny or windy days when the immediate consumption of electrical power produced may not be required. Ongoing developments in bio-mass reactions which release hydrogen are also becoming a further source of renewable energy.
One of the inefficiencies of heat based power production is the inability to store the energy produced. Power stations running on full load produce energy more efficiently than on light load. Being able to run at maximum capacity and store the excess energy produced is a huge opportunity. But there are no batteries that large. Using the excess energy to produce hydrogen, stored for later use in fuel cells, is therefore an industrial scale opportunity.
The western economy’s reliance on oil has given rise to wealth, political unrest and corruption in the, predominately, third world countries with oil reserves. An alternative energy source would introduce stability to the UK economy by diminishing our reliance on oil over which we have no control. Throw in the cost of a couple of wars ostensibly to remover tyrants but in reality to protect our oil supplies we suddenly realise the real cost of oil.
Children in school ultimately will inherit the opportunity to develop renewable energy. Politics, religion, history, geography and science are all involved. Virtually the whole national curriculum can be embroiled in renewable energy and the removal of our reliance on oil. And it starts with the highly practical role to be developed in the use of hydrogen fuel cells.
Tags: Fuel cell cars, green energy, hydrogen fuel cells, National Curriculum, teaching resources
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Friday, July 16th, 2010
Foreign Secretary William Hague recently announced he is reviewing the UK’s foreign policy to develop new strategic partners overseas. These medium to long-term objectives need to be integrated in the educational policies and teaching resources of the national curriculum. After all, those responsible for the effective follow through of foreign policy are probably in school at the moment.
The political and economic map of the world is changing. The UK’s status has moved from a world leader in the industrial revolution to become a potential follower. But this may not be the disaster it sounds. It makes greater sense to take the lower risk option and develop a structure based on a rear guard movement. Learning from infrastructure faults will allow us to introduce a more refined mark II version.
We inherited many weaknesses from the industrial revolution. Not least being the first to introduce a new infrastructure. Our railway network is logistical fraught. A combination of Engineering brilliance and innovation mixed with old thinking and compromise. Whilst the rest of the world delights in modern railways able to travel at twice the average UK speed, updating the original and ageing London underground and national rail network is now a gargantuan task and economically unviable. Concorde was technically brilliant but commercially a disaster. Supersonic passenger flight followed travel by hovercraft have come and gone. Yet innovation is the very soul of the UK.
William Hague has flagged up potential realignment with developing countries. China, India and Brazil are showing distinct signs of emerging economies. Some pundits consider the UK, Europe and North America as aging economies. History reveals huge swings in the economic fortunes of leading countries. Portugal, Spain, Greece, Italy, the Roman Empire, even Venice once made fortunes as international trading nations. Ironically the current economic situation now reveals massive debt and ailing economies in this same group of “ex” world leaders.
To secure a future economic position for the UK the foreign policy, determined by the Foreign Secretary, has to be integrated in the educational curriculum by the educational secretary Michael Gove. This requires considerable long term strategic planning. Modern foreign languages in schools currently focusing on French, German and Spanish would need to switch to Mandarin, Hindi and Portuguese. Cultural awareness, customs and religion become essential if we are to capture any meaningful role in the new world market. No more can we assume empire status as we will be on the back foot.
We are not alone in this situation. Recent forecasts indicate the progressive assimilation of the Hispanic worker as essential in the economy of the U.S.A. Years of political stability in South America where national leaders have outlived their western counterpart is leading to a growing presence and a critical mass in world economies. If we fail to open this economic door we could slip up badly. We and more importantly our children need an educational curriculum that is matched to this objective, and the process needs to start right now.
Tags: educational secretary, Foreign policy, Michael Gove, National Curriculum, teaching resources, William Hague
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Thursday, July 1st, 2010
If the UK is to compete effectively in world markets the introduction of greater international content in the educational key stages of the curriculum is surely a necessity. But for years our state schools have been reluctant to grab this opportunity.
Counter arguments certainly exist within the teaching fraternity. Some say the IGCSE is more rigorous that the equivalent GCSE, others imply it is less so. But the key elements in the curriculum are designed to match the demands of an international market. Typical is the Cambridge IGCSE who state the course encourages learner-centred and enquiry-based approaches to learning. By developing children’s skill in creative thinking, enquiry and problem solving, gives them an excellent preparation for the next stage in their education. Schools can build a core curriculum, and then extend it to suit their cross-curricular perspectives. IGCSE is compatible with other curricula and is internationally relevant and sensitive to different needs and cultures.
The learning journey starts with the Primary school curriculum, but John Dunford, General Secretary of the association of school and college leaders remains unconvinced “There is no evidence that the IGCSE is more rigorous than the GCSE” he also states “Key issues in English and maths are missing in the IGCSE – despite the emphasis placed by employers on their need.” Clearly some further development work needs to done to increase the attraction of the course.
The current differences in the curriculum are less than many critics think. Maybe this is the weak point. If we are to prepare children for the international market we are rapidly approaching we must prepare them accordingly. The rest of world is certainly moving this way and we could be left in the cold if we stick to an anachronistic syllabus based on educational performance rather than depth and relevance.
The IGCSE is being used by international schools and a growing number of state schools in Spain, Italy, China and New Zealand, where it is regarded as having positive impact in the classroom. Defined as a linear course it offsets criticism of the standard GCSE and its modular approach. Being tested at the end of the course the Interaction accreditation removes the interruptions to teaching from the frequent tests involved with GCSE.
The world is rapidly changing. Historic commercial, manufacturing and financial bases are moving exponentially east. If we are to compete we must at least match the qualifications of overseas students. But our current overall educational performance is well adrift of the current pace. The financial market is already adopting the acronym NYLONHK, New York, London, Hong Kong – being the three key centres each eight hours apart that cover the world stock markets on a 24 hours basis. The international trading markets could follow. It is essential we prepare the next generation to manage the options they will need to succeed. The International educational curriculum is just the start of the journey, but time is short and we need to act with alacrity.
Tags: GCSE, IGCSE, John Dunford, key stages, National Curriculum, NYLONHK
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Thursday, June 10th, 2010
Education has been evolving over thousands of years. History has shown that we can educate scholars such as Aristotle in ancient Greece and Copernicus in medieval Poland. So why do we struggle to achieve an educational programme that is fully fit for purpose in 2010?
Whilst we learn of medical advances that push the boundaries in health care, educational achievements seem to have stagnated. Disease control, organ transplants, keyhole and robotic surgery have emerged yet teaching procedures appear moribund struggling in general to meet required literacy and numeracy standards in primary schools. The possible reasons for this situation are legion. The effects of the national curriculum, SAT’s, 11 plus, GCSE and special government schemes costing billions of pounds have seemingly failed to achieve any sustainable breakthrough.
The dilemma for parents wanting the best for their children starts when their child is five, epitomised by the sometimes traumatic activity to get their child into an “outstanding school.” Although five years old is the start of formal schooling for UK children, greater academic success has been achieved in countries where children start school aged six or seven such as in Finland and topically South Africa.
The type of school in the UK creates further headaches. The choice between Montessori, Steiner, Kumon, faith, independent and state schools complicates the decision as does that old chestnut of class size. Although some techniques appear to be marginally more successful than others no single teaching method emerges as the outright winner. The skill of the teacher emerges as the only significant denominator.
Technology in the schooling process has indeed moved on. Kids are taught keyboard skills, maybe to the detriment of handwriting skills, and our teaching resources are awash with interactive white boards. Soon many schools could be linked through the web to allow a strong teacher to simultaneously broadcast to several schools. So what is not working? There appears no simple answer. Various influences are cited as inducing a negative effect, notably teaching to test, where lessons are geared to passing exams and achieving targets rather than providing a broad educational strategy.
Strangely the collective might of the European Union have failed to influence the UK educational programme. This seems odd. Whilst we have the specification for the acceptable shape of bananas, one area we could seemingly benefit from is a European standard in education. A federal approach could identify the best practice from each member state. Although the potential benefits embedded in the International Baccalaureate and International GCSE are welcomed by trend setting schools these standards have been predominately avoided by most schools, and until lately, the government. Perhaps overwhelmed by current inefficiencies, the emphasis on targets and considerations of academy status, we are reluctant to adopt yet another change. Yet these schemes have proven effective in other European countries, whilst over the last decade the UK has little to show in overall educational achievements despite the effort and determination of its teachers and pupils.
The clock ticks on. Educational development must be the primary focus of any government. Technology, improved communications and the paradigm shift of the commercial centre of gravity towards the Far East has changed the emphasis. Our children will need to thrive in a now global employment market. They need the career flexibility commensurate with a broad based education to take advantage of emerging opportunities.
It has been proven beyond reasonable doubt that we need help. The average tenure of the Secretary of State for Education is around 18 months yet they are charged with the strategic policies influencing a child’s schooling journey lasting a minimum of 11 years. Perhaps we should leave teaching to teachers and establish a team tasked with the definition and implementation of a new curriculum and best teaching practices drawn from the very best in Europe. It must be better than the current situation, which, if unchanged, could leave us the poor relation, justly receiving the condemnation of generations of children to come.
Tags: education, GCSE, international baccalureate, international GCSE, National Curriculum, sat's, teaching resources, teaching standards
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Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
Latin is a foreign language in daily use in web design and advertising. I’ll repeat that – it really is Latin! Yet the number learning Latin in school is minimal, and for once, looking furtively over both shoulders, it doesn’t matter because you don’t need to understand a word of it!
Can this be true? Can a leading technological industry really use Latin that often? Has our educational system gone haywire and missed the need for a foreign language in the national curriculum? Well granted this amazing fact is stranger than fiction but it has all to do with Lorem Ipsum. Aha I hear you say, I have seen those words before.
If you are involved with the work of advertising agencies, web designers and printers you will have seen Lorem Ipsum frequently. They use it constantly and if you have ordered any copy, design work or printed material you will see the following passage in Latin. Sends spell-check absolutely crazy.
“Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.”
So what ’s it all about? Certainly it is Latin copy but why is used by the designers today when to most of use it makes no sense? Precisely the reason it is used – it makes no sense to anyone who cannot read Latin and therefore is a distraction. The idea is it fills the space where the English language or any other language will go in the artwork to give the customer an idea how the wording will look in the finished web site or printed page. A new idea? Not at all! Our modern artwork designers are using an idea from the year 1500 when an unknown printer set the text to make a type-set specimen book to promote his services. The passage in Latin was formulated from a passage by Cicero written in 45 BC describing the” Extremes of Good and Evil.”
And 500 year later despite huge technological advances transforming the design and print industry beyond measure it still holds a focal place, virtually unchanged and in constant daily use. Amazing or what?
Tags: Latin language, Lorem Ipsem, Modern foreign languages, National Curriculum
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Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
One of the biggest concerns for parents and teachers is the realisation the UK is slipping down the world educational league table. Whilst we have a number of excellent schools and respected teaching resources all are bombarded by continuous changes in policies, budgets changes and educational FAD’s. Just how these have hampered progress is questionable but like the King’s invisible suit of clothes in the song should we now shout out the obvious that they need to stop.
The results in primary and secondary education emphasis the previous government’s unsuccessful educational policy. Proven over the last 10 years throwing money at the problem has achieved little. Billions of pounds have been invested to improve educational standards in numeracy and literacy. But the initiatives have left the teaching profession, parents, children and the government frustrated. How have we gone backwards in subject areas that have changed little in content and educational structure? Teachers are still in the classroom teaching, children still attend school and the number of schools has not materially changed dramatically so what has been the cause? I believe it is the advent of the educational FAD.
I once listened to an intriguing lecture by an eminent management guru who, having been responsible for the conception of numerous management fads, had lost faith and become an arch critic of the process. Using a clock face to support his argument 12 o’clock represented the launch point of a FAD. The first quarter hour was the evangelical process; books were published, personal appearances made and editorial comment solicited. From quarter past to half past saw the early adopter. From half past to quarter to the hour management teams felt obliged to accept the concept driven by marketing hype from companies who had adopted the scheme but yet to prove its usefulness. Caught in the pizazz comparable to the King’s new suite of clothes very few criticised the FAD, before they did, our man had developed its replacement. And at 12 o’clock he launched the next theme. He claimed the lifespan of a FAD ranged from 18 months to five years. The trick is to be always one step ahead.
Sound familiar? How may FAD’s have landed in education since the 1987 education bill launched the national curriculum. The educational journey for a child is 10 years long. Most will encounter games played with learning as the government introduces streams of initiatives, many of which fail and are replaced. Schools expend vast amount of time, energy and expense adopting these measures generally against their better judgement. A representative sample of the 32,000 head teachers or 450,000 teachers show little enthusiasm for any of the government’s schemes.
If the UK schooling standards are still slipping just how much have educational FAD’s diluted the teaching thrust? In the meantime the world and global markets are catching up. Educational policies overseas illustrate the success of common sense and logic. Perhaps we have a lot to learn from them and adopt more rational measures based on the ideas emerging from teachers not governments that will put the UK’s schooling system where it belongs; top of the class.
Alistair Owens MD keen2learn
Tags: Department for Education, Educational FAD's, National Curriculum, schooling league tables
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Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
The demand for educational products to support children’s learning in school is growing. The range of fun learning products from keen2learn has been increased to match the demand.
Keen2learn have just added a host of New Products to their on-line web site explained managing director Alistair Owens. He gave the reasons for the range extension: “Keen2learn offers an extensive range of educational games, toys and puzzles that support the National Curriculum. The web site is growing each year as schools, nurseries and parents seek the teaching resources to support children’s learning in school and home for ages 5 – 15 years old. We’re continually asked by new suppliers to promote their products in our range” he said. “This is especially the case for the smaller suppliers who have a great product but find it difficult to reach the market. Many are ex teachers who developed some fantastic games based on their experience in the class. Over the past couple of years we have trebled the selection of teaching resources and supply to many customers overseas.” Keen2learn now operate as an educational supermarket offering a wide range from over 65 supplier’s on one site – saving teachers and parents the need to hunt around multiple sites explained Owens.
Examples of some the latest additions to the site:
Pond life camera
Rainbow fraction tiles
Handwriting Separate And Joined Letters
Medieval Realms
Tags: educational toys, maths educational games, National Curriculum, teachers, teaching resources
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Friday, March 5th, 2010
Asking your child what they learnt in school is inevitably met with a curt answer “Oh nothing much.” Don’t feel alone, 82 percent of parents feel isolated from the reality of their child’s schooling. Yet research shows children’s performance improves significantly when parents talk to them about what they are learning in school.
Recent research conducted by BECTA, the educational technology association, revealed most parents don’t know what the child is learning at school. The only contact point being parent’s night or end of term reports. By then any benefit of parental involvement may have gone cold and the opportunity of their assistance in educational support lost forever. Yet the educational maths and science games used as teaching resources in school and great fun to play can create a huge learning bond when played at home between parents and children.
In the meantime a conundrum of lost opportunity exists. Teachers find it difficult to get in touch with parents, often geography and shift work conspiring to fragment contact. Parents in turn find it difficult to extract information from their children and lastly most children are reluctant to share information or find it difficult to speak to parents. BECTA see a huge opportunity in the combined teaching resources of parent and teacher. Their research shows parental support of learning in the home can account for 80 per cent of a child’s academic success back in class.
Many of the problems stem from homework. Children see it mostly as a boring chore. Often text and exercise book driven, it tends to exclude parent or peer support – apart from a copy quickly obtained on the bus to school! Parents see home work as a necessary exercise from school and see their role to ensure its completion rather than any interactive participation. Many claim they don’t want to interfere; the teaching resources have changed since they were at school, or they never understood the subject themselves. But there is a huge opportunity ahead driven by technology. Soon most schools will have on-line links to children and parents. Schoolwork and homework can be completed on-line.
Replacing the historic end of term reports with weekly or daily updates will allow timely parental involvement in the schooling process. Achievement, problems, help and homework tasks will be able to be seen dynamically by parents.
Children working on-line get greater enjoyment from the task reflected in their achievement in school. Parents, especially fathers can rediscover the joy of helping their children in educational games that support the National Curriculum. The school parent contact speed could even be increased with email updates sent to work addresses. Capturing parent’s thoughts before seeing their child at the school gate or home can allow some preparation for the quality time to support their children. Above all mutually supporting their progress with the learning practice involved in playing educational games could rekindle their own interest in learning.
The Home Access scheme launched by the DCSF in January 2010 will provide 270,000 poorer families with a free laptop and broadband access. This allows a huge additional tranche of parents to give their child a better opportunity in school. This alone could provide the learning breakthrough many schools and children richly deserve.
Tags: educational games, end of term reports, homework, maths games, National Curriculum, Science games
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Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
Over the last six years the cost to parents of a child’s education up to the age of 21 has risen by a staggering £20k to a total of £52k. There is some relief; in the last year the rate of increase has slowed to 1.6 per cent. But is this investment good value for money when we hear of failing schools and the huge number of children floundering in maths and numeracy?
Judging by this week’s Channel 4 TV “Dispatches” documentary “Kids don’t count,” the answer is probably not. Despite the huge cost increase to parents, and a government investment over the past 10 years costing billions, many of our primary schools are still failing to deliver in maths. Over 1500 schools are currently classed as failing. Twenty per cent of all children have inadequate competency in maths to cope with secondary school. In all, 30,000 children a year are failing in maths at primary school level. Worryingly the results in primacy school have been shown to reflect the probable performance at GCSE.
The government focus on numeracy was designed to give children 50 minutes of maths a day. Unfortunately this is largely taught by teachers without maths qualifications doing the best they can. Frequently the schedule is overridden, time tables are not learnt and fractions, which elude many teachers, are untouched. Consequently children drift. Practise exercises, the essential ingredient for learning retention are frugal. To cap it all new learning is suspended for 25% of the school year whilst children rehearse for the SAT’s test.
Whilst schools continue to be judged by target performance achievement they will understandably focus on this objective and defer new learning. The consequential gap that emerges is almost impossible to recover in school but this is an ideal opportunity for parents to step up to the plate. Playing maths educational games at home is a fun way to complete the lesson practice. They can lighten things up at home, allow parents to get practically involved and help a child to moving forwards throughout the year – especially during the SAT’s hiatus. Playing say maths games as a board game, bingo or CD-ROM revision quiz is fun, instructive and matched to the national curriculum. But watch out – you may get to enjoy them and learn a stack of maths yourself.
The Dispatches TV documentary focused on Barton Hill primary school in Bristol. The likeable Headteacher knew he had a problem with maths – both with his teaching staff and his personal ability. He called on a retired man specialist, Richard Dunn, to teach both children and teachers in how to get excited about maths. An objective achieved with impressive results in tests taken by the children. Unfortunately his efforts were curtailed during the SAT interregnum. His 16 weeks programme displaced for nine weeks whilst the SAT rehearsals took place. If only he was uninterrupted continue goodness knows what the final results could have been.
Richard summarised the national situation on maths saying “Parents should be worried about how maths is taught in school. Bringing maths alive will make all the difference to visualising maths.” The DCSF had already drafted specialist teachers to provide one to one maths support for struggling children but the revelation that 30,000 children needed assistance is a huge task. Without the support of these maths specialists and assuming they can be found, children failing in primary school can look forward to a similar fate in secondary school.
As adults, 25 per cent of us have maths and numeracy skills equivalent to an 11 year old. And 75 per cent of all adults have maths skills that are lower than GCSE. This is causing significant concern with employers who inherit the problem and find it essential to train new staff in maths. MacDonald’s and Sainsbury’s are part of a long list of retailers who run their own academies to teach maths to employees. A task they object to but have little alternative. The billions of pounds invested by the DCSF in maths education has predominantly been a waste of time and money. Notably only the UK makes maths compulsory up to the age of sixteen, most other countries extend maths on into higher education.
Children who failed numeracy in primary school will struggle significantly in secondary school unless there get a really strong maths teacher in the first year of secondary school. As secondary school teachers believe the problem should have been resolved in primary school the skills gap could fester. This could take some time to resolve so despite the increased educational cost to parents there is an essential need for them to step in the ring. And with the educational games and teaching resources now available they certainly have a very real and enjoyable chance to make a difference. After all 80 per cent of a child’s achievement in school is influenced by what they do at home.
Tags: educational games, educational standards, fraction games, maths educational games, maths results, National Curriculum, Primary schools, sat's
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Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
Parent support is fundamental to improving the learning process through a greater awareness of their child’s progress in school . Using educational games, toys and the internet at home can help children learn in a way that suits them. Having parents alongside gives children constructive support and a great insight into their progress, ability and the details of the National Curriculum.
Becta, the original name for the British educational computerised training association, in case you’re ask, are behind the drive to engage parents in the schooling process. Children who use the internet at home do better in maths and reading tests, are more interested in their studies and have more fun learning. The Home Access scheme encourages children to go over schoolwork at home, do homework online, contact classmates and teachers, get information and work together on projects with parents.
Research shows that children achieve more highly when parents talk to them about their experiences of school and learning. However, a recent report showed 82 per cent of parents felt left in the dark when it comes to their s child’s schooling.
The online reporting to become available to parents will allow parents to see their child’s progress dynamically rather than end of term reports or parents night. Research also showed this level of parental involvement at home heightened their awareness of a child’s progress at school leads to a dramatic improvement in a child’s achievement. Playing educational games, board games or ICT games at home can replicate the teaching resources in class and bring enjoyment to revision in the form of CDROM literacy, numeracy, chemistry and physics quizzes that can lead to an improvement of two grades at school.
The recent scheme launched by the DCSF to fund 270,000 poorer families with a laptop computer and online access to schools will allow these children to catch up. Teacher advice in areas where help is needed will allow them to enlist parents help. Their interest and involvement in a child’s learning and education is more important than anything else in helping that child fulfil their potential.
Key benefits:
- Home -school communication is improved considerably.
- Communications of a very a positive nature is encouraged
- Contact can be established with all parents, irrespective of the nature of the catchment area
- Father’s become more involved in their children’s education
- Parents give a significant amount of quality time to their children
- Parents become more knowledgeable about the school curriculum
- Parents become more involved in the assessment of children’s progress
- Equality of educational opportunity is addressed
- Esteem between parents, pupils and teachers is enhanced
- Promote team promoting family learning activities
- Underpinning home- school agreements
- Raising standards of attainment.
Research by the PTA showed the effect of parents and what they do at home to support learning can account for 80 per cent of a child’s academic success.
Tags: educational games, educational toys, Home access, ICT games, National Curriculum, physics quizzes
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Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
Perhaps the biggest concern for parents and teachers is the continuing trend of the UK to be slipping down the world educational league table. We have a limited number of excellent schools and respected teaching resources in both the state and independent sectors, but these are denuded by the significant failure in the bulk of our primary and secondary schools.
(more…)
Tags: Ed Balls, educational games, Gillian Low, National Curriculum, teaching resources
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Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
Updating the primary level educational curriculum is perhaps overdue. The world has changed significantly since the last review and our schooling standards need to reflect the social and technological changes incorporated in these updates.
From The Department of Children Schools and Families
The curriculum lies at the heart of the government’s policies to raise standards and help every school to improve all of the time. Our curriculum should help children become the very best they can be. We live in a changing world, and our curriculum has to evolve to prepare our children for the opportunities and challenges of life in the 21st century.
Following a review by Sir Jim Rose and consultation by QCDA, a new primary curriculum from September 2011 was announced on 19 November.
This new curriculum will be organised around six broad areas of learning to help schools and children make coherent links across all their learning. It is a model that advocates direct subject teaching, complemented by serious and challenging cross-curricular studies which provide ample opportunities for children to use and apply their subject knowledge in order to deepen understanding. The next step is to implement the new curriculum by creating the new areas of learning in law through the Children, Schools and Families Bill, currently before Parliament.
Religious Education, though not part of the National Curriculum, remains a statutory subject and part of the basic Primary Curriculum. An illustrative programme of learning will be published in January.
Related downloads
Areas of Learning
* Essentials for learning and life (doc, 70kb)
* Understanding the arts (doc, 108kb)
* Understanding English (doc, 108kb)
* Historical geographical and social understanding (doc, 91kb)
* Mathematical understanding (doc, 105kb)
* Understanding physical development (doc, 32kb)
* Scientific and technological understanding (doc, 107kb)
Tags: 2011 curriculum, DCSF, English games, maths games, National Curriculum, Primary schools, Science games, Sir Jim Rose
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Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
The average sixteen year old in the UK is studying two academic subjects at GCSE. Our educational programme centres on English and maths whilst the rest of the world is pushing for six academic subjects.
Britain is on a par with Australia in what could become an academic backwater. We expect some educational prowess in English as the mother tongue, but this is not the case. Our standards in English literacy and maths are falling. Whilst we slide in these key subjects Germany, France, Japan, USA and Canada push children towards four to six academic subjects. With maths and their indigenous language matching the educational programme in the UK, overseas students are additionally pursuing science, history, social studies and English as a modern foreign language.
British children will ultimately compete in global markets. Overseas governments recognise the potential of this development and have raised their schooling ambitions. The legacy of our children in mastering English, once regarded as an advantage peculiar to the UK et al. is now matched by the significant use of English overseas. Spurred by the Internet, films and its growing dominance as the international business language, English is by far the predominant modern foreign language studied overseas. Bang goes our first reserve! And whilst our schools persuade children to pursue non academic vocational subjects to achieve overall school targets we are left with maths as the focal academic subject.
Our natural reserve and perhaps entrenched educational procedures and standards are cluttering the forward plan. We don’t readily accept change – shown by our reluctance to adopt the IGCSE and International Baccalaureate in the National Curriculum. But if we fail to adjust to the demands brought by the globalisation of the job market we may miss one of the fundamental reasons for education. And learn to bitterly regret it.
Tags: English games, International Baccalaureate, literacy games, maths games, National Curriculum
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Friday, December 4th, 2009
Ed Balls, secretary of state for the children, schools and families has laid the gauntlet down to 1,400 primary schools told to improve. He is demanding 10 local authorities come up with an action plane to redress the failures in Maths and English literacy in the National Curriculum. The move is reminiscent of National Challenge, where secondary schools in which fewer than 30% of pupils achieve five good GCSEs are threatened with closure or turned into academies.
The move comes days after the primary school league tables, published on Tuesday, showed growing numbers of primary schools were failing to teach children to the level expected. In just under 900 primaries – 100 more than last year – the majority of pupils leave without mastering the basic skills of the national curriculum level 4 – in English and maths that form the bedrock of secondary education.
Tags: DCSF, Ed Balls, English games, literacy games, maths games, National Curriculum, Primary schools
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Thursday, November 19th, 2009
If you work with children and young people, the new ‘Choice’ PSHE games Discussion Card Sets and Billboard Posters for teachers, youth workers, counsellors, mentors and parents can make your life a whole lot easier. Designed to educate and create conversations about an array of issues with young people they cover a range of adolescent issues in Health, Crime Prevention, Personal Development, Citizenship and the Environment. Tackling Knife, Gun and Gang crime fro example they have solutions to many teenage problems. The developers won a BT Business Competition in June 2009 and a chance to meet Peter Jones from Dragon’s Den for an advice session, and more recently Lord Sugar gave a nod of congratulation at a British Enterprise week event at the British library on 19th November.
The “Choice” range was developed to assist teachers, youth workers, mentors, counsellors and parents to communicate productively with teenagers and young people. Developed with the QCDA and the ECM programmes in mind, the choices discussion cards and poster series provides clear, easy to use ‘talking tools’. They aim to get teenagers and young people around a table rather than the usual computer screens and mobile phones. By talking in groups or in one to one sessions about the issues which really matter in their lives they gain invaluable skills and advice for their personal growth and development.
The choice discussion educational games which meet the new PSHE curriculum due to commence in 2011, can be used in schools, youth projects, Connexions Services, counselling services or at home. They can also be used as an introduction to a themed piece of work or for training purposes.
Tags: emotion games, Lord Sugar, National Curriculum, Peter Jones, PSHE, pshe games, self esteem
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Alistair Owens Keen2learn.
