Primary Education IN ENGLAND Primary education is the first stage of compulsory schooling in England. Looking at how four to 11 year-old children are educated today can give us a hint about this country’s future. What are the principles and values that pupils take out of their day-to-day lessons and activities?
I follow the recent proposals to change the structure and curriculum of primary school years and look over some extra educational projects, like The Cat Escapes and Take a picture, analysing their influence on pupils.
The articles are targeted towards young parents in London, of age from 20 to 35, with average studies and Throughout this project, income, and are fitted to be I research, question and published in the education present the current problems supplement of a national and challenges of the primary daily newspaper, The education system, focusing Guardian. on activities and projects meant to help children learn more efficiently.
by Anca TOMA
In the next pages... Take one picture 3 Deconstructing art through children’s eyes
Children’s parties for the Queen 5 Pupils celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee
Comment 6 Debating how to learn times tables
A cat escapes 8 Teaching children about art, technology and people
Social media 10 Influence in primary education
Interview 11 Commonwealth teacher looking for recognition in England
Free schools 13 Controversies after the first year
School lunch 16 Eating in school canteens
Summer schools 18 Clegg’s ‘brain boosting’ program started today
Number of children 19 Up to eight percent more primary school children by 2015
File 21 Extra educational projects
REVIEW | Take One Picture
30 MAY 2012
Take one picture Deconstructing art through children’s eyes National Gallery’s Take one picture annual exhibition is recreating art through children’s eyes, showing a mirror to the artistic world. This year, the victim is Veronese
A
small, darkened and quite hidden exhibition room at the lowest level of the National Gallery is filled with some of England’s children best artistic creations. The front wall reproduces Family of Darius before Alexander, a famous painting by Paolo Veronese. Behind it, the Take one picture project gathered various interpretations of this painting, made last year by hundreds of primary children. The exhibition features a wide range of artistic expressions, from pencil drawings, oral storytelling, textiles, sculptures, photography and digital animation. Children from one of the participating schools even put-on a role-play show, imagining the dialogues and action in the picture’s scene. Others have recreated the artist’s studio, completed with easel, stool and costume chest. Only one room is dedicated to this project, but this takes you through so many types of art, exploring and interpreting everything from the big legend of the paining to small costume details. It’s a good lesson of art deconstruction. As Alexandra, one woman who is visiting the gallery, said: “It is amazing to see how in-depth the children looked at this paining and how much effort they put in their creations. A challenge for adults to see this much creativity in one place.” At first, it’s like seeing a contemporary art collection. Some pieces are oil portraits made of random black lines to represent Veronese’s characters. The children made diagrams presenting the relations between the painting’s persons. Many stuffed animal-toys and figures
are thrown on a wall, reminding me of one of Tate Modern’s similar installations. Inspired by the facial expressions of Veronese’s characters, children from the Bishop’s Tachbrook Church of England primary school in Warwickshire decided to map their emotions. The pupils took photographs of each other expressing grief. All these pieces show how the children understood and chose an angle of the painting they thought most important, and yet leave room for the visitor’s interpretation. The other side of the Take one picture exhibition is a history lesson made three-dimensional. What were the costumes were worn in that time? How about the swords, shields and other objects needed in battle? You can learn about the legend of the defeated Persian king, Darius, just by looking at every piece in this room. Take one picture is a project meant to guide children across the curriculum. So what would numeracy have to do with Veronese’s paining? Jade Peterson tells the story of how children from Friars Primary School in Essex have created a 3D collage of the most powerful persons in our times. “After learning about the conflict between Alexander the Great and Darius, the children acted out the scene of forgiveness and discussed what they would change if they were in command. This led to a debate about who were the most powerful people in the world today”, said Peterson in her project testimonial. In this process, pupils improved their mathematical skills, as they had to scale up characters and decorations from an A4 sketch of the ▶
Take one picture, photo by Anca Toma
painting. All of their creations are the result of in-class thought-provoking discussions. Paolo Veronese is one of the leading Venetian painters of the 16th century, renowned for his way of depicting famous scenes and covering every detail in brilliant colours and illusionistic effects. This project’s chosen painting shows the moment when the family of King Darius III of Persia have kneeled before Alexander the Great, just after his victory at the Battle of Issus in 330BC. The captured queen mother, accompanied by Darius’s wife, the queen, and two princesses went to ask for mercy after the king’s exile. “You’ll look at the painting differently once you have experienced it through the eyes of children. The aim (of the project) is that the pictures will continue to inspire the children throughout their lives”, said Ali Mawle, Head of Schools at the National Gallery, at the exhibition’s launch. The impact upon children is of no arguing of a highquality, all the participating schools underlining in their tutorials the meaningful engagement of the young children with the available collection and their interaction with knowledgeable and creative people. Children benefit from leaving the classroom and learning in different settings. They add new skills and have a lot of fun in the process, keeping teachers motivated and inspired. Imagination and ideas are sparked and put to practice.
“It feels like a bit of that painting is in me now”, wrote Matthew, an 11 year-old boy from Warwickshire, under his drawing of Alexander the Great. This exhibition is part of an ambitious annual project. The Take One Picture scheme invites primary schools across UK to use a chosen National Gallery painting as a creative motivation for learning outside the curriculum. Hundreds of schools take part and submit their work for display. Take One Picture is a project supported by The Dorset Foundation and the Tavolozza Foundation. Take One Picture is not a competition between schools, and, as one of the teachers pointed out “the process itself is rewarding”. A couple of schools are invited to bring the children to the National Gallery for some talks and presentations of the paining and get a chance to see the original. Then, the gallery chooses part of the submissions and exhibits them for a couple of months. They also project a video to show how children worked and expose some of their other creations that didn’t have room to be exhibited. Next summer we will have the chance to see a lobster’s significations in children’s minds, as the National Gallery will show how they deconstructed and what they learned from the paining Still Life with Drinking-Horn created in 1653 by Willem Kalf. ■
Take One Picture: Primary School Children inspired by Veronese 2012 is at the National Gallery, room E, until 16 September 2012. Admission is free.
NEWS FEATURE | Diamond Jubilee
1 JUNE 2012
Pupils celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Harbinger school, photo courtesy of the school
H
undreds of events, like funfairs, picnics, theatre, music and dance plays and playground parties were seen throughout London on Friday, 1 June, as primary school children started the long Jubilee weekend’s celebrations. Thousands of people are expected to organise and take part in street Jubilee parties in the next days, so teachers tried to get pupils into the spirit with themed lessons and activities about the Queen and her 60 years of royalty. Children studying in the Isle of Dogs schools were all dressed-up in red, white and blue this morning. Some of them even added paper crowns to their costume. At Arnhem Wharf Primary school on Westferry Road, London, children and teachers filled the front courtyard with long tables and benches and covered them in coloured crepe paper and union flags. Between singing and cheering, the hype of the day was a team
quiz about the Queen and the Royal Family. “It was great to see how children of all ages got in the patriotic spirit of celebrating the Queen’s Jubilee. They were curious to learn about the Royal Family and their duties, the Queen’s daily life activities and greatest achievements in these 60 years”, said Melanie Atwell, one of the school’s teachers. On the same street, Harbinger School, one of the local institutions renowned for admitting a big number of children from poor backgrounds, held a garden tea party where all children and staff were dressed-up as their favourite royal. In the other corner of Greater London, children from Waltham Forest have occupied the streets near schools with hundreds of pupils and their families enjoying Jubilee treats and games. John is a fifth year pupil at Sybourn Primary school in
Perth Road, Leyton. He won the class contest for making the best portrait of the Queen. All covered up in the union flag colours he said: “This week we learned about the Queen and what her duties are and we painted her portrait and castles. I am happy that we are having this great party and we dressed up and played games for her.” “It was wonderful to see families from different cultures celebrating Britain and the Queen. We had about 150 children and another 100 parents along with us for this great party”, said Rhonda Scott, co-organiser teacher. Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, has encouraged teachers to organise celebrations and sent union flags to every school in the capital for display on any celebrations they hold associated with the Diamond Jubilee festivities. Celebrations in the schools cited have been financially supported
through donations from local and chain supermarkets, charities or by the council, parents not being required to put down any money. Staff and children from Redriff Primary School in Southwark, London, planted 60 trees in the past month to celebrate each of the Queen’s royal years. They were donated by the Woodland Trust, a charity who launched a project to give free tree planting packs to applying schools from England. Hoping for a good weather, many Londoners planned street parties for children, relatives and friends. About 9,500 road closure applications were granted for neighbourly celebrations in England and Wales, this being with about 4,000 more than for last year’s royal wedding, according to the Guardian reporters. ■
COMMENT| Times tables
6 JUNE 2012
One Two Buckle My Shoe
How to learn times tables
A
s I was browsing the most popular online discussion groups and London parents forum boards, I noticed a recurring bizarre topic: how best to teach children times tables. Why is this debated in 2012? Maybe the “one, two, buckle my shoe” poem is back in fashion. This topic started when the Education secretary, Michael Gove, mentioned learning times tables by rote as one of the changes he wants part of the new curriculum for primary school students. For the first time since 1970s, children would memorise the tables by the age of nine and, maybe, understand them later. Gove encourages a return to “traditional values in the classroom” hoping pupils will have a better grounding in maths and science when they go to secondary school. In a way it’s about raising the bar and challenging children so that they will hopefully learn more by a younger age. A look into the proposed National Curriculum shows that by the end of primary school, pupils will be required to “read, write, order and compare numbers up to 10 million
and determine the value of each digit”. The current plans expects pupils only to “show understanding of place value up to 1,000”. Truth be said, the latest Key Stage 2 results for children up to 11-years old show that around 40,000 children in the UK are passing to secondary school with the reading age of a seven-year old. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) scaled Great Britain as the 28th country in terms of maths attainment in secondary schools, in its annual survey of global educational standards in 70 developed countries. So, ideas to change this situation were expected from Mr Gove. Learning by rote was a common practice in my childhood. Probably any adult remembers when they used to repeat poems to try to remember multiplying numbers up to 10 x 10. Yet, I admit I remember them today as they stuck on my mind then, even if I later understood why and how to get to the results. But, talking to teachers in primary schools, you get the impression that they are all baffled by the steps back proposed by Mr Gove.
“When learning by rote pupils are missing out on the understanding and ability to manipulate numbers. Many don’t realise that in order to find 6×8, they can begin at 6×2, double it to get to 6×4, and then double it once again. Learning times tables is the basis of maths, but students should understand them logically rather than to simply remember from a sheet”, is the opinion of Mary Thomson, teacher in a primary school in East London. Of course, no teacher can say that all his pupils understand times tables and calculate them instead of memorising. Maths anxiety is believed to affect about one in four pupils. What can happen is that some students understand tables and use a mixture of memorised facts and checking strategies, which is healthy. But other students don’t really understand the maths and cope with this by developing their abilities to memorise facts. They are often unaware that they should understand, not repeat mechanically. Now, there is a chance that good teachers will notice this and help the child correct, but if learning by rote ▶
becomes a rule, how will children go to the next levels? Andrew Vind opened a year ago a company in West Yorkshire trying to advise and help schools in managing student performance. I met him through a LinkedIn group where he was advocating strongly in favour of learning times tables by rote. His argument is that fundamental numbers multiplying is a basic skill that children cannot learn how to demonstrate. “Even when college students start an introductory course in linear algebra, abstract algebra, or topology, they require rote learning of primitive notions and axioms to tackle their course requirements. It is believed that having simple notions at hand
mentally will ease not only these operations, but also help progress to more advanced concepts.” A good part of Michael Gove’s plans is that the new curriculum would set standards for each primary school year, and not just for the key stages. At least the very young pupils can use poems and rhythms and then a bit later try to understand or remember all the times tables up to 12x12. New draft programmes of study for maths and science will be published by the by the end of June 2012, following a report by an expert education panel. After public consultations and further changes, the final curriculum will be introduced in schools from
September 2014. Compared to the 1970s, we now know how important it is for children to think independently and engage in learning. And this doesn’t come from memorising a sheet of facts, but through interacting and helping pupils see how their skills are relevant to everyday situations. So, maybe the new curriculum should take in consideration teaching school staff how to deliver maths lessons better and faster to reach the new goals, and not force just children to go and recite hundreds of numbers from memory. ■
Evolution of curriculum expectations in times tables learning 1970s - know times tables up to 12x12 by age eight - read, write and handle numbers in millions by age 11 - add, substract, multiply, divide fractions by age 11 2012 - know times tables up to 10 x 10 by age 11 - understand numbers by 1,000 by age 11 - compare and order simple fractions by age 11 2014? - know times tables up to 12x12 by age nine - know and compare numbers up to 10 million by age 11 - add, substract, multiply, divide fractions by age 11
FEATURE | A cat escapes
13 JUNE 2012
A cat escapes
Teaching children about art, technology and people What would Mr Gove say about a curriculum based on creating adventures in the classroom to motivate learning? A cat escapes, photo courtesy of Coney
O
ne morning in the middle of the second semester, the children from a primary school in London received a letter. It was sent by Varjak Paw, a famous cat character of SF Said’s books. The note talks about how Varjak’s cousin, Jasmine, was captured and is now trapped in a tower. The children are asked to find ideas to help her escape. She has only six weeks until the “catnappers” will move her to a secret location. The note ends with Varjak telling the pupils about a mysterious series of symbols which he dreamt about and include the elements: @, Jasminepaw, purrmail, .co and .uk. This letter is the first part of A cat
escapes, a six week adventure learning project developed by Coney and Battersea Arts Centre for primary age children, carried on by 25 schools until now. Each chapter covers letterwriting along with numerous other key literacy and personal, social, health, and economic (PSHE) areas, requiring children to take responsibility for the characters in the story and make ethical decisions for them.
of the project. “It makes children be Jasmine’s heroes as they create a unique narrative.”
“Our projects follow the principles of adventure, curiosity and loveliness. What unfolds from A cat escapes is a mixture of adventure and learning. We use live and digital art to create immersive stories”, said Tassos Stevens, one of the two writers
“One of the nice things about the project is that the different challenges can be solved using different talents, which we call super powers, of different children. Another challenge requires the class to keep the catnappers busy in their school while the cat escapes. ▶
In the first week of the exercise, the children receive the challenge to help Jasmine reach a little window in the tower where she is held captive. All there is in the room is paper, some drinking straws and tape. To resolve this, pupils have to use some design, technology and maths skills.
Solutions to this range from academic ones, like coming up with really difficult questions for the cats to stay and think about, to physical - some pupils formed themselves into a human wall which blocks the exit from the classroom. One class even staged a fire drill to keep the performers in the school,” said Tom Bowtell, writer and director of the project. After discussing in groups all the solutions they can come up with, children have to make the structures themselves and then test them to decide the best idea. Then, the class has to write a letter to describe the best plan so Jasmine can go ahead and replicate it. In the following weeks the class will receive emails from the trapped cat telling them if she succeeded in the previous challenge and what is the next one. The exercise is different from one class to another, because the project’s producers have to adapt the scenario to each solution the pupils have found. And there were no two identical solutions presented. The exercise also varies depending on the age of the pupils. It is mainly addressed to key
“
stage two children, but it was modified to be presented to children in first school years. For example, one of the first discussions could be about the differences between humans and cats. “A cat escapes encourages cross curricular learning. The learning in this project is based around the National Curriculum areas the pupils would be studying anyway. What it does is link all the areas together with a single narrative. This way the pupils have a context for their learning, helping the cat escape means that they are motivated to do the work - because there is an exciting reason for them to do it,” explains Mr Bowtell. Teachers are involved in every step of the exercise. They have to guide children and encourage them to find ideas while ensuring they apply the set of skills that is needed for their educational development. Lecturers receive full training from Coney’s staff before starting the exercise and are guided on how to include the standard lessons plan over this project. The top objective of A cat escapes is increasing children’s motivation to
learn. According to its producers, this was reported each time the project took place. They have noticed an improvement in the quality of work the pupils produced, particularly noticing this on kids with behavioural and learning difficulties. As Mr Bowell says, “this adventure empowers the pupils to become the heroes, and really drive both the story and learning themselves. From their perspective, the teacher knows as much as they do, so it makes them feel like they are on this journey with their teacher.” Coney is a London based agency with seven members in staff, supported using public funding by Arts Council England. The group has created a series of “adventures and playful experiences” for a wide range of audiences, like The Unclassifiables, a literacy focused project co-produced with State Library Victoria and inspired by The Lost Thing, a Shaun Tan’s book. They plan to run A cat escapes in all regions across the UK starting 2013. ■
A cat escapes encourages cross curricular learning. What it does is link all the areas together with a single narrative - Tom Bowtell, writer and director
FEATURE | Social media
28 JUNE 2012
Social media’s influence in primary education
I
t is no secret that this decade’s children have learned how to use the newest gadgets and browse social media internets from an early age. As five year-olds show that they can easily use an iPad, parents and teachers must foresee ways to introduce social media in primary education standards. Each incident involving a child using social media tools opens discussions and critics over the ways pupils should use them, if at all. A growing number of children are using social networking websites. According to an Ofcom report in May about the impact of social networks, 99 percent of children and young people aged eight to 17 used the internet last year. “The use of Facebook, for example, as a mobile learning environment, should include the best aspects of traditional classroom with the benefits of mobile technology and real-time”, says Carla Valentim, a year two teacher in East London. “It is important that children learn how to use these websites properly and not give personal information or post pictures of their family and friends, but we have to keep in mind, as parents and teachers, that kids see a lot of potential in making friends all over the world and show everybody what they can do.” But, the Ofcom
report says, one third of parents set no rules for their children’s use of social networks and 16 percent of them did not know if their child’s profile was visible to all. Legally, young children should not be having accounts on Facebook, Twitter or MySpace, as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) denies websites from collecting personal information about children who are under the age of 13 without their parents’ permission. But this rule is easily bent by pupils saying they were born in another year than they were. Children’s charity NSPCC says that online networking is not necessarily “bad” for children, and it can be a positive and learning experience even in the classroom. Starting this year, NSPCC is promoting SuperClubsPlus, a safe social networking site for primary-aged children and GoldStarCafe, targeted for 11 to 14 year-olds. These offer children a safe place to make friends online as they are fully monitored. “Telling children not to use social media tools doesn’t work. You have to find safer alternatives and explain to them why they shouldn’t use any other websites,” says Jake Bloomfield, teacher at a primary school in South London who introduced SuperClubsPlus to its pupils. Besides teaching children about internet safety, SuperClubsPlus can be used as an educational resource to support teaching across the curriculum, particular in literacy, ICT and citizenship. “To make a personal page on this website takes pupils through some ICT key stage 2 skills like learning hyperlinks and using photos,” explains Mr Bloomfield. Another social media website advertised as safe to use by children is Togetherville, targeted to children under 10 years old. Parents can use their own Facebook accounts to sign up children and create profiles for
them. After parents and children have selected friends by searching other school colleagues, adding family friends and sending e-mail invites, children will have access to a range of selected YouTube videos and games. The site is made as a mirror Facebook, including many of its features to make children feel like there is something as good but only for them. Other websites have implemented security measures like verifying the parent’s credit card information before allowing a profile activity. Many schools are interested in technological integration and innovation, but one of the problems that appear is educating teachers in this learning psychology. But the current curriculum is tied to the realities of the 20th century. Draft plans for the new curriculum would require children in England to learn about blogging and social networking sites such as Twitter and how to use them as sources of information and forms of communication. This idea was drawn up by Sir Jim Rose, the former Ofsted chief who was appointed by ministers to review the primary curriculum, as the Guardian reported last month. Social media websites can also be useful to motivate teachers and keep them informed about the newest learning developments. Schools all over London created Facebook and Twitter pages to promote their projects and achievements, teachers communicate with pupils and their parents through these websites, creating a closer and direct relationship in the meantime. “The internet as we know it is the very definition of the 21st century,” says Mr Bloomfield. “It is what some students have known their whole lives, even the very young ones. They are connected, creating, discussing and collaborating.” ■
INTERVIEW | Foreign teachers
5 JULY 2012
Commonwealth teacher looking for recognition in England On the 1 April 2012 the Department for Education announced it starts recognising teachers with qualifications from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States of America and treat them as having Qualified Teacher Status in England without any further training or assessment. Although this regulation sounded natural for many, experienced primary school teachers born in these countries struggled for years without it. This is also Nicky Turner’s story, a 33 year-old teacher born in New Zealand. Discussing with her makes England’s education system look like one of many contrasts. Reporter: In 2004 you were a primary school teacher in London, now you work as a nanny here. Why did this happen? Nicky Turner: I came to London in 2001 for the first time and started working as a supply teacher for nursery and up to year two. Back then, foreign teachers could work in England for up to four years in which they could apply to have their overseas qualifications recognised and receive QTS. This is what I was counting on, so, after three and a half years I went back to New Zealand and got my degree and started developing my teaching career. During that time I planned to come back to London when I was certified and able to be a good teacher there. But when I got back here in 2009, the government had enforced a new rule for international teachers coming from out of the European Union and so, if I wanted to work in a school, I was forced to re-train here for one year. Which I couldn’t do. Reporter: A year ago, Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, admitted that the department’s research shows teaching qualifications offered in New Zealand, Australia,
United States and Canada are already equivalent to those in England. How could the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) help you develop? Nicky Turner: There were two problems with this training course. First, I researched a lot about this diploma and the lectures it included and I didn’t feel like I would learn something new after graduating from it. I would have had about nine weeks in classes and then I would have been sent to practice in schools. But I already have all this experience. Before I first came to London I had graduated from a three year-qualification degree, a diploma in teaching early childhood education. Three years ago, back in New Zealand I got another degree for learning primary school children. I was registered, recognised as a fully qualified teacher by my native government. Reporter: What was the second reason why you didn’t want to take this training course? Nicky Turner: It is very expensive. A Postgraduate Certificate in Education costs around £9,000 in the new tuition schemes. I could use this money as a deposit to buy a
house in New Zealand. I just couldn’t afford this. Reporter: What made you stay in London? Nicky Turner: I really love living in this city. It is very different from my birth-place, much more alive and a lot more opportunities in any field. So, I stubbornly tried to look for a solution. In 2010 I started ringing the Teaching Agency in search of information and they, in the end, they told me that there are plans to change the legislation to recognise qualifications obtained in some nativeEnglish countries. They were realising that there is a need for teachers from these places with good degrees. We have received a high quality education and studied many various problems and techniques about how to best teach children. The department must have realised that we are a good resource. Also, I talked to other teachers in a similar situation with mine and they had also learned that Mr Gove wants to change the rules. I decided to continue working as a nanny and wait. Reporter: A month ago, the Department of Education announced the change and is now offering QTS to fully qualified teachers in these four countries. What was the next step for you? Nicky Turner: I went to apply for the qualified teacher status and I was rejected. I consider that this happened because of reading too much into rules and too little into the realities of the people. Normally, in order to maintain the registered teacher status obtained in New Zealand you have to continue teaching in the country, which I wasn’t, because I was here in London struggling to get legal recognition. All the teachers without QTS that have been here for
years would fall into the same problem. They had signed a legislation that no one would meet the criteria for. Seeing my rejection, I was a bit shocked and decided to confront this and lobby for them to realise what the problem is. I sent some upset letters to, well, everybody from the schools minister, Nick Gibb, to the QTS directors. After a couple of weeks I went and asked again about what can I do to receive the status recognition and they told me I had received it. Reporter: How did the international teachers community reacted to this news? Nicky Turner: It is not a very well spread information. The Department for Education published the new regulations somewhere on their website and some specialised publications wrote articles about it, but I still meet people who don’t know. Unfortunately, a lot of them have already gone back to their birth countries because they couldn’t wait this long and in this uncertainty. Reporter: Now that you can legally teach primary school children in England, have you found a job? Nicky Turner: Yes, it was actually quite easy to find a teaching job. Starting next September, I will work as teaching assistant position at a private primary school in Balham, Wandsworth borough. I chose this job because it was well paid and because it will help me get back the teaching skills I didn’t practice for these three years. In parallel, I will go work as a supply educator in various London schools. This will be even better training for me. But, on the other hand, I found that there are many jobs available now in state primary schools, especially in poorer areas like Elephant and Castle.
FEATURE | Free schools
16 JULY 2012
FREE SCHOOLS after the first year Michael Gove announced 102 new free schools that have been approved to open in 2013 and beyond in the United Kingdom, doubling this year’s number. We follow the current controversies around this way of educating children free from local authority control
E
very morning, 60 young pupils fill a small, old warehouse hidden between the Mudchute tube station and the Millwall Park in the Tower Hamlets borough. They learn in an environment advertised as Christian, on a curriculum designed by their own teachers. This is Canary Wharf College, opened in September 2012 as the first free school in this London area. The primary school is part of the coalition government’s first 24 approved institutions of this kind. After the 2010 general elections, the Conservative Liberal-Democrat coalition has made it possible for teachers, parents, charities and even businesses to set up their own schools. Sarah Counter, a former private school head-teacher, gathered some parents in Docklands and set to apply to open a free school because, as they explained in the proposal plan, they felt a need for “a new Christian school with a curriculum to emphasize maths, science and technology”. There are 86 primary schools in Tower Hamlets,
Canary Wharf College, photo courtesy of the school
according to the Department for Education’s website. Most of them are community or voluntary aided schools and about half of them have reported that over 70 percent of pupils have achieved a Level 4 or above at Key Stage 2 in both English and maths in 2011. But some Isle of Dogs families considered that there is a “serious lack of primary schools available” so they carried on opening one of their own. Talking about the need for a free school in Tower Hamlets, the principal said: “this college was established by the community, for the community and in our community centre”, emphasizing the support she got from other families and local business. “The population of this borough is said to increase from the current 210,000 people to over 300,000 and families want to have as many good schools close to their home.” After approval, a trust of six members was set up, including Sarah and her husband Peter, four parents from the Isle of Dogs, Michele Martin, Peter Webb, Dorothea Schwenk and Jürgen Michels. The trustees of the college work voluntarily and are accountable for any financial losses. Budget surplus is reinvested in the future of the Canary Wharf College. The released documents estimate that £400,000 was spent on restoring the upper levels of the Docklands Settlement Centre and opening the school. “It is a big financial effort to open a free school in London. We had the resources and received help from the community and local businesses, but we are happy to also see help from big corporations that have the power to support thousands of children”, said Mary Gibbons, the mother of one of reception pupils. In January 2012, Barclays bank agreed with the Department for Education a set of measures to help free schools with their setting up and running, offering voluntary financial advice and online business training programmes. The National Union of Teachers has accused ▶
Free schools opened in 2011 in Greater London, generated using Google Maps
the government of “opening up schools to the market place”, but the bank’s program started and they have offered over £1m in loans to groups that want to set up free schools. Canary Wharf College couldn’t get involved in this because one of its founders works for Citibank. The school opened in September last year, with admissions of children in reception, first and second years, and about 20 pupils in each class. As they stated since the school launch, its aim is to “live, share and celebrate the love of learning”, educating children in a “Christian environment welcoming children from different faiths and backgrounds”. The Docklands free college now has ten members in staff, teaching and running the College. No Ofsted reports are available yet for this school. “For me, it doesn’t matter much what level the Ofsted would give, because my child is very young. I feel he is learning every day when he comes home with a new idea or project. And it helps to be informed weekly by the head-teacher about the activities they planned”, explained Ms Gibbons. Indeed, every week the parents receive a nicely layout newsletter to tell and show them what the children have done in each class. A good communication, well advertised activities and “A small and plans is crucial for this kind of very expensive schools to show-off their ideas and education style and receive solution” further financial support. In the meantime, the pupils have had a bunch of events in school and have a lot of stories to say about this first school year. Princess Anne was passing by the school to pick up a helicopter flight from the park behind the school, when Lorraine Cavanagh, the chief executive of the Docklands Settlement Centre which houses the school, saw her and took the children out to
meet a royalty. Then, a couple of months ago, the school was included in the Get Set network, the official London 2012 education programme, recognising the institution as having a demonstrated commitment to the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The sports day the school organised at the end of June included a parade around Millwall Park, each child having dressed-up in a national costume. Funded through public taxes, non-selective and free to attend, but not controlled by a local authority, free schools have the possibility to make their own curriculum and apply the best ways they consider in teaching children. The philosophy of the concept is simple. They were created after New York’s successful model, and, as Education Secretary Michael Gove explained back when he announced the coalition’s plan, these schools would “create more local competition and drive-up standards”, leaving parents to choose the teaching ethos and methods they want for their children. The first 24 free schools opened in 2011 and a further 50 new institutions are aiming to open in September 2012. Last week, 102 proposals have been approved throughout the UK, most of these aiming to open in September 2013. The area requesting the highest number of free schools is London, with 34 newly approved institutions waiting to be opened. Even now, when the second generation of free schools is almost in place, there are plenty of critics who oppose to both this idea and the expansion of academies saying that they are not enough to rebuild British education and fear they will lead to a two-tier education system and the break-up of the state one. Francis Gilbert is one of the founders of Local Schools Network, an anti-academies campaign group which aims to inform people about the problems of the non-state local schools. Mr Gilbert sees the free schools as an artificial solution to real problems. “We are going to need many more school places in the following years and the free schools are not going to satisfy that demand. This is a small, but very expensive solution, costing billions and educating less than 1% of the children.” As he assessed, Mr Gilbert cannot understand why people suddenly wanted to give up the local authorities’ 100 years of experience in setting up schools. The Department for Education says they have made a rigorous application process which included groups having to demonstrate clear parental demand and carries out individual background checks on the people applying. But Mr Gilbert claims that the reality is different from the rules and the fall-backs are shown even in the department’s published statistics. Most of the debates around free schools analyse their capabilities and desires to offer equal opportunities in admissions. “Even if you have rules that say you must be equal, schools promoting a specific and strict religious ethos and curriculum will normally attract families with ▶
those beliefs. How will this balance the need for school places?” wonders Mr Gilbert. Another argument put forward is how, as a Guardian analysis published in April, only four of the coalition’s 24 flagship free schools have taken an equal or higher proportion of pupils with eligibility for free school meals (FSMs) compared to equivalent state funded school in the same local authorities. Religion based acceptation is another subject of debate. The regulations state that “faith free schools have to publish oversubscription criteria which allow for 50 per cent of places to be allocated to children without reference to faith if the school is oversubscribed”, but many critics consider that religious guided schools should be exceptions. As Michael Gove announced the 102 newly approved schools, a simple count showed that a third of them will be faith institutions. This compares to the quarter of the faith school in the first batch opened back in 2011. “It happened because faith school are backed-up by churches who can mobilise community resources easily
and can provide properties”, explains Gilbert. Parents on online groups discuss an even more worrisome side of the religious free schools. As the British Humanist Association (BHA) noted in a public statement, “a group of creationists has gained approval from the Department for Education to open a free school from 2013”, after the previous year a similar proposed academy was rejected. Back on the Isle of Dogs, the Canary Wharf College head-teacher tells stories about how she was also “accused of opening a banker’s school for rich people in the area”, but underlines that she strictly followed all guidance and regulations for admissions. The success or failure of free-schools is yet to be pronounced and, as Mrs Counter explains, “it takes a lot of time to change an education system. For now, everyone is free to judge and free to choose. Are not all these initiatives meant for parents to have a choice?” ■
FEATURE | School lunch
18 JULY 2012
Eating in school canteens The number of children having school lunches has increased for the fourth consecutive year, to 46.3 percent in primary institutions. As the Department for Education is happy to see that more and more children eat in canteens, we look at quality levels of the food and dining experience
A
n extra 167,000 pupils decided to have lunch in school canteens in 2011/2012, compared to last year, even if the average meal price has increased with 3 percent, up to £1.98. The numbers are based on a survey made by School’s Food Trust on all England’s local authorities, published in mid-July. Inner London is the area with the highest percentage of school lunches offered, with almost 70 out of a 100 children eating in canteens. Even more, the survey shows that 93.8 percent of children in the City of London take this option. In the survey’s release article, Mr Rob Rees, Children’s Food Trust chairman, said: “School canteens have the potential to be powerhouses for children’s health and their performance at school, as long as schools, cooks and caterers get the support they need to keep this progress going. According to this report, around 77 percent of primary schools have a full production kitchen, 5 percent have facilities for regeneration or a mini-kitchen, 17 percent have hot food transported from another school
or venue, while the rest of them have cold food only provision. The survey includes information from 84% of the primary schools in England. Since the setting of the national nutrients standard for pupil’s lunches in 2006, the trust shows in its report that over 90 percent of all primary local authority catering school have reported to be compliant with the food-based standard and with the nutrient-based standards. But the Department for Education reports that only 22.5 per cent of schools provide daily at least one portion of fruit and vegetables per pupil. Over the last years, there has been a move to change the parents and children’s attitude towards school food. Many parents took charge of improving what and how their children eat. At the Charles Dickens Primary school in Southwark parents have proposed a new way of serving lunch, by teaching children table manners and how to serve. “All the key stage two
children were trained to be a server and now they serve food for younger pupils and help clear the tables afterwards. This helped reducing the food waste, keeping order in the canteen and convince children to eat calmly and be polite. We were surprised to see how well children responded to this idea,” said the headteacher, Mrs Teresa de Quincey. After implementing this idea, the number of pupils eating in school grew from 46 to 102. St Monica’s Primary is just one of the schools in Hackney, East London, ▶
Number of pupils eating in schools, generated with Office Excel
which used its gardens to plant fruit trees and vegetables in 2011. “The good thing about this idea is that five to 10 years from now children will have more apples and rhubarbs than they could eat and it will be for free, healthy and fun,” said Steve Mason, the school’s gardener. A more enforcing proposal is the “stay on site policy” which is more and more mentioned by parents and charities like the School’s Food Trust as a solution to children obesity and a way to increase the numbers in canteens. BMJ Open published in June 2012 a survey done in Tower Hamlets borough showing that more than 50 percent of the pupils in the study have purchased food or drinks from
fast food or takeaway outlets at least twice a week, with about 10 percent consuming these type of foods daily. The School’s Food Trust survey came just two weeks after Mr Michael Gove, Education Secretary, had announced a new review of school dinners, which will be led by Henry Dimbleby and John Vincent, co-founders of the Leon restaurant chain. By next year, they will investigate canteens across the country and make an “action plan” on how to improve food standards. Their report will also include new ways to excite pupils about the canteen food so that they will want to eat it. A previous similar report was done by chef Jamie Oliver. He has now turned against this new
proposal saying that “it is not the time for more costly reports. Now is the time for action and that doesn’t seem to be what we get from Mr Gove when it comes to school food and food education. “Will this be just another report by good people which is destined to be ignored? I hope not, but I fear it will,” said Oliver in a press release. The School’s Food Trust is a charity who started in 2005 as a non-departmental public body of the Department for Education. According to their website, they lead the government’s implementation of the legal standards for school food in England since May 2006. ■
School meal standards* • Since September 2006, all pupils studying in a local authority maintained school, who take lunches in the institution, must select a healthy meal that contributes to a healthy diet • Responsibility to respect these standards lies with the local authority or directly with the school governors, if the meals budget has been delegated • For children aged five to 11, a healthy diet means a balanced diet with plenty of variety which provides enough energy for satisfactory growth and development • The standards were introduced after the School Meals Review Panel (SMRP) proposed radical changes in school food as children were not making healthy food choices at lunchtime and school meals did not meet their nutritional needs • The standards cover all food sold or served in schools: breakfast, lunch and after-school meals, but also tuck, vending, mid-morning break and after-school clubs
• Not less than two portions of fruit and vegetables should be available per day for every child • Fizzy drinks, crisps, chocolate and other confectioneries are removed from school meals and vending machines • Bread with no added fat or oil must be provided • High-quality meat, poultry or oily fish should be provided • No salt shall be available to add to food after the cooking process is complete • Starchy food cooked in fat or oil must not be provided on more than three days in a single week • Deep-fried food should not be provided more than twice a week • There should be easy access at all times to free, fresh drinking water • Healthier drinks include low-fat milk, fruit juice *source: Public information on Department for Education and School Food Trust websites
NEWS | Summer schools
23 JULY 2012
‘Brain boosting’ Clegg’s summer schools started today
N
ick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, launched Monday, 23 July, the 2012 summer school program in England, with about 65,000 disadvantaged primary-age pupils expected to benefit from extra classes in the 2,000 participating schools. The summer schools consist of two weeks of extra classes during holiday time, meant to support pupils who are most at risk from falling behind in classes, especially when passing from primary to secondary education. This is a voluntary scheme, as no school or child was obliged to take part and they had to apply and ask for funding. “Many pupils find that moving to a bigger school and to a more challenging curriculum is daunting and it can lead to a dip in their performance. Pupils who fall behind at this stage often never catch up”, said the minister while visiting Pimlico Academy in London. For these classes, schools are free to decide the activities and focus of their lessons according to the needs of primary age children, the only
condition is that secondary schools collaborate with the primary ones in making a development plan. They were advised to make a catch up in English and mathematics for those pupils falling behind at the end of Key Stage 2. Also, in the context of these classes taking place during the Olympic Games, schools have organised sporting or cultural activities. “This is £50 million worth of extra brain training, giving tens of thousands of disadvantaged pupils a flying start at secondary school”, said Mr Clegg. Summer school funding allocations were part of the £1.25 billion of the Pupil Premium program. For the 65,000 children announced to take part in summer lessons, that makes a cost of about £770 per pupil. This money is designated to help disadvantaged pupils, coming from families with an annual gross income of less than £16,190. The schools’ summer programs will not be part of their yearly evaluations, but the deputy minister announced that inspcetors from the Department for
Education will be looking out for examples of effective good practice. Throughout London’s poorest areas, many schools re-opened their doors to children wanting to learn and prepare better for next year. Tower Hamlets is the borough where most children are benefiting from the free school meals (FSM). According to the Department for Education’s website, six schools applied to organise summer schools here. “It was a bit hard to explain to my son why he has to go to school a bit more during holiday, but I think it is a good initiative. I just hope the time will be
well spent and he will be better off in autumn when secondary school starts,” said Parvathy, the mother of an 11-year old boy. Statistics of the Education department show that poor students, eligible for free school meals, regularly under-perform in class, compared to their peers. At the end of primary education, just 58 percent of disadvantaged pupils achieve the expected level of attainment, compared with almost 78 per cent of other pupils. The summer school programme was announced by Clegg in September 2011, right after the last summer riots, to help improve educational fulfillment. ■
Nick Clegg visiting a summer school, photo courtesy of DfE website
DATA ANALYSIS | Number of pupils
27 JULY 2012
By 2015
Eight percent more primary school children
State funded school pupils evolution, generated with Office Excel
S
tate funded primary school classes will reach back to the 1970s level in view of the number of children they will have to teach over the next eight years. According to a new statistic published by the Department for Education, in the next three years the number of state-funded primary schools pupils is projected to reach 4.417 million, an increase of eight percent compared to this year’s counts. The growth trend will continue, reaching 4.826 million young students by 2020, which is 18 percent more than they are now.
Births in England have been broadly rising since 2002 and are projected to continue to rise until 2014. This, along with the effects of immigration, led to the increase of the number of pupils in primary schools, starting 2010, . By 2015, the number of primary age children is projected to grow with at least 9 percent in all regions of England. London will be the area with the highest increases, reaching 18 percent growth in 2015 compared to two years ago. For example, this year there are 4,114 thousand pupils in maintained
nursery and state funded primary schools in England, as in 2020 the projection is to reach 4,850 thousand children with these ages. At the same time, pupil numbers in secondary schools are expected to decrease until 2015, when they will start to rise as primary-age children move to the next level. In the past year, many measures were taken to cover the growing population and pupil numbers. The Guardian reported in May 2012 that some borough councils have called for an increase of the legal limits to class sizes, so that â–ś
they can squeeze more pupils into each year. This autumn, around 75 new free schools are approved to open and another 102 are approved for next year. Other proposed measures include teaching children in shifts and scrapping the “sibling rule”, which gives priority to children with brothers or sisters already at the school. Although just a fifth of primary schools are full and there are hundreds of thousands of unfilled places nationally, these are not in areas expected to face an increase. The most debated problem is
lack of space to open new schools in. Town halls were forced to draw up emergency plans to teach children in disused shops and warehouses. Many of the free schools opened in 2011 are hosted in such improvised building. Critics say that these measures are not enough and, as Stephen Twigg, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary stated in a Telegraph interview, “are not even happening in London’s areas with the highest needs.” The government coalition has pledged to invest £4bn over the next four years to create
additional primary schools. The yearly national Pupil Projection Model (PPM) uses population estimates made by the Office for National Statistics, and is based on information about birth registrations in England and data derived from the School Census. The statistics were released to help local authorities in planning programmes and initiatives. ■
FILE | Extra projects
28 JULY 2012
Extra educational projects As the changes of the national curriculum are in full debate, we look at some of the extra educational projects running in London for primary-age children. We called for ideas on our social media pages and selected the most interesting suggestions that try to give children a better start in education, helping them learn more efficiently and have more fun www.see-the-future.co.uk See The Future is a project that provides environmental and sustainability education workshops and activities for both primary and secondary schools. They have educational packages on developing and using the school grounds, biodiversity, habitats, wildlife interactions, human interactions with the natural world and sustainability issues like defining sustainability, energy, cradle-to-grave, water and biodiversity. See The Future workshops are curriculum linked, interactive and designed to inspire, engage and enthral the young people. They can also help schools in implementing programmes such as Eco Schools, Healthy Schools, Citizenship and Learning Outside the Classroom.
www.thesuccesszone.com The Success Zone was “designed to transform a school culture from one based on conditional respect to one of unconditional respect”. A year ago they launched Success Zone Classrooms, an electronic resource for teachers with complete lesson plans, student worksheets, coaching resources, articles and links to related resources. They work across primary and secondary schools to help improve behaviour, attainment, attendance and decrease bullying. Other programmes cover study support in out of hours provision. Their consultants range from headteachers, national and regional advisors to experts in the study support field.
www.youhavefoundconey.net The Astronautical Challenge is an adventure in learning project co-created by Unlimited Theatre and Coney. Its aim is to get children excited about the bigness of the universe so that they can tackle its challenges through science. Classes are recruited by the Unlimited Space Agency (UNSA) to enter a competition against children from all over the world and find out if they have what it takes to be an astronaut. In this project took part over 500 pupils from 25 schools nationwide, until now.
www.totallylaughteryoga.co.uk Totally Laughter Yoga provides health and wellbeing education. They practice Laughtercise sessions, an exercise system based on laughter and yogic breathing (pranayama). Their pupils’ program is based on the fact that there are increasing numbers of children experiencing and suffering with stress and other mental and emotional health issues throughout their school life. Totally Laughter Yoga suggests that laughter yoga can help academic performance and improve behaviour and attendance within school.
www.workshopsinschools.co.uk Workshops in schools is an online database of freelance practitioners who offer creative workshops in the classroom. Lectures range from drama and art to creative maths, cooking and jewellery making. Teachers can find information about each workshop leader including the age group they work with, public liability, and search by either type or location. Teachers can come in contact with the practitioner via an online form. This project is a simple and effective way of allowing teachers to connect directly with creative artists.