Tag: education

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Janitor strikes can close schools in Scotland but not in England

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Thanks to Dottie again for alerting me to this, from the Observer today: Headteachers are being forced to mend desks and unblock toilets themselves after sacking school caretakers in the wake of budget cuts, the Guardian has been told. School leaders in England said they could not afford to employ caretakers, and were having to change lightbulbs and clear playgrounds of dead rats themselves. Amanda Richards, the headteacher of Sytchampton primary in Worcestershire, said her school “literally can’t afford” a permanent caretaker, leaving her and other staff to move heavy equipment and make emergency repairs to keep the school running. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/apr/28/headteachers-schools-england-caretakers-budget-cuts The … Continue reading Janitor strikes can close schools in Scotland but not in England

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Far better staffing ratio means teaching assistants in Scotland not replacing teachers but Herald and Glasgow Times happy to deceive you

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By Professor John Robertson Thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this: In the Guardian today: Hundreds of thousands of pupils in England and Wales are being educated “on the cheap” by low-paid teaching assistants (TAs) covering lessons for teachers who are off sick or have quit, according to new research. A desperate teacher recruitment crisis, compounded by inadequate funding, means schools across the country are struggling to put a qualified teacher at the front of every class, unions say. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/apr/26/teaching-assistants-deployed-to-routinely-cover-lessons-in-england-and-wales Is this happening in Scotland too? A quick search gets this: Wow! It seems like its a thing here too. Wait, … Continue reading Far better staffing ratio means teaching assistants in Scotland not replacing teachers but Herald and Glasgow Times happy to deceive you

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How the Scottish Labour Lords cannot bear to hear of the SNP government’s actions to reduce child poverty in Scotland

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By stewartb The House of Commons Library and the House of Lords Library amongst other things publish ‘briefings’ in advance of debates. The purpose is to provide MPs and peers respectively – particularly backbench members of both houses – with information and insight on upcoming topics. After all, backbenchers may not have sufficient tacit knowledge on all subjects to make judgements on the content of debates, nor have sufficient research resource to make good their knowledge limitations. The Libraries’ briefings are designed to ensure backbenchers are better informed. The House of Lords Library (HoLL) published this briefing on 23 April … Continue reading How the Scottish Labour Lords cannot bear to hear of the SNP government’s actions to reduce child poverty in Scotland

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Pupils feel far safer in Scottish schools than elsewhere in the UK but our media report England’s worries as ours

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By Professor John Robertson In the Guardian today: Only two in five children in England say they always feel safe at school, according to a government survey, and teachers from across Britain have told the Guardian they have seen pupils’ behaviour deteriorate over the last two years. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/apr/26/two-in-five-pupils-in-england-always-feel-safe-in-school-survey-behaviour So first, see that ‘in England?’ Today, the Herald, the Glasgow Times and even the National completely drop it from their headlines so as to clearly imply Scotland too is part of this crisis. The facts on Scotland below but briefly, near the bottom of the report, the Guardian has: A secondary school teacher … Continue reading Pupils feel far safer in Scottish schools than elsewhere in the UK but our media report England’s worries as ours

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England’s primary schools heading back to pre-War class sizes under Conservative or Labour governments

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From the Guardian today: English primary schools cutting teacher numbers amid budget pressure, survey finds. A survey of more than 1,000 school leaders and teachers by the National Foundation for Educational Research found that three-quarters said their primary schools were cutting teaching assistant roles, while a third were also cutting teacher numbers. From GOV.UK in November 2023, pupil-teacher ratios: Any class-teachers out these will be shouting things like ‘I’ve got 30’ and ‘I’ve never had fewer than 25’, and so on. That’s because the above ratios take into account promoted staff with no or reduced class-contact times, so in Scotland, … Continue reading England’s primary schools heading back to pre-War class sizes under Conservative or Labour governments

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School suspensions 4 times more, and full expulsions shocking 600 times more, common in England’s not so fair and pleasant land

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Many thanks to Dottie for alerting me to this via the Guardian: Pupil suspensions in England hit record high, rising by nearly a third year on year, DfE figures show From the Scotsman, no friend of the SNP Government, on 25 March 2024: Across Scotland, there were 11,675 cases of temporary exclusion of any length of time, with just one pupil being expelled, as previously revealed by The Scotsman. The figures compare to 39,553 temporary exclusions and 164 permanent in 2007, when the SNP came to power. So, with 10 times the population, all things being equally progressive and hopefully not … Continue reading School suspensions 4 times more, and full expulsions shocking 600 times more, common in England’s not so fair and pleasant land

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Teachers in England may strike over 36% higher pupil workload than in Scotland

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BBC Breakfast, as with the junior doctors strikes, is NOT shielding the Conservative Government from criticism, but allowing union reps free reign to attack. Today’s threat of teacher strikes is headlining there but is nowhere on the BBC News websites. BBC Scotland? School photos scandal. A significant factor for the NASUWT is this: Class sizes, pupil teacher ratios, have gotten worse not better over the last decade. Strangely, neither the NASUWT nor the Government state the actual pupil/teacher ratio. Here they are, helpfully from gov.uk, across the 4 nations: Pupil to teacher ratios in maintained schools were lowest in Scotland … Continue reading Teachers in England may strike over 36% higher pupil workload than in Scotland

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Former head teacher says ‘PISA has very little statistical rigour and offers nothing in the way of improving educational practice’

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By Alasdair Macdonald The issue is with PISA. It has very little statistical rigour and offers nothing in the way of improving educational practice. I was a secondary school head teacher at the time it and other ‘measures’ were introduced in education in Scotland in other places. I and my colleagues argued against it. Educational provision, like everything else, ought to be continuously evaluated, partly to get evidence on whether it is achieving the aims set out for it and partly to get information on areas which require attention. However, there are, literally, hundreds of aspects to be measured and … Continue reading Former head teacher says ‘PISA has very little statistical rigour and offers nothing in the way of improving educational practice’

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Worse than England – Pisa scores fiasco leads to NINTH Welsh Education minister since devolution

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By stewartb I’m not one to consider that an education system should be judged on just the OECD’s PISA scoring but there is something to be said for comparing reactions by politicians to such scores for different parts of the UK. When the last set of PISA results for Scotland were reported on the BBC News website on 5 December 2023, we learned that ‘Performance in Scotland’s high schools has slipped according to new international research on education.’ With countries across the world receiving scores that were better or indeed more often worse than before, there are likely to be … Continue reading Worse than England – Pisa scores fiasco leads to NINTH Welsh Education minister since devolution

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Teacher staffing in Labour-run Wales a pupil-harming 40% lower than in Scotland as it remains the same here

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This site costs nothing to run so donate to our friends at  https://www.broadcastingscotland.scot/donate/ As the Guardian reports on 14 years of cuts to school budgets, crumbling buildings and a crisis in the funding for staff in England, the Scotsman has a go at including Scotland in this ‘crisis’ with: SNP teacher numbers vow in tatters The claim comes, no surprise, not from an independent research group but from the EIS union, whose leaders have regularly misrepresented their members interests to help Scottish Labour. The EIS leadership and Labour are close. Several, with me, were at Stirling University, thanks to one … Continue reading Teacher staffing in Labour-run Wales a pupil-harming 40% lower than in Scotland as it remains the same here