Tag: school

4 Comments

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

johnrobertson834

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

3 Comments

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

johnrobertson834

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

3 Comments

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

johnrobertson834

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

20 Comments

Pisa – 33% of Scotland’s schools took part but only 4.7% of England’s schools were confident enough to do so – Scotland did far better

johnrobertson834

I’m grateful to AR and Haggis Hunter https://twitter.com/thistlefarmer5 for alerting me to this. The England PISA sample consisted of 201 eligible schools having at least one pupil in this age range. In England, 3,852 pupils from original sample schools and 911 pupils from replacement schools participated. Pupils in participating schools that did not participate are not replaced. 159 agreed to participate, along with a further 32 replacement schools, but 16 schools withdrew before data collection. Data was therefore collected from 143 schools in the original sample and 32 replacement schools. Of this total, nine original sample schools and one replacement … Continue reading Pisa – 33% of Scotland’s schools took part but only 4.7% of England’s schools were confident enough to do so – Scotland did far better