The Independent Schools Council is a politically independent, not-for-profit organisation representing 1,270 independent schools educating more than 500,000 children. It exists to promote choice, diversity and excellence in education, developing talent at all levels of ability and from all backgrounds.
Archive for June, 2010
Times Spelling Bee Championship: Schools Final
Posted on June 25th, 2010 by Holly Harris, under NewsWhat combines teamwork, competition, a good vocabulary, excellent spelling skills and the chance to replace school for one day with being part of an audience hosted by children’s TV presenters Dick and Dom? The Times Spelling Bee Schools Championship Final,…
How to get adverse material removed from a Facebook page
Posted on June 25th, 2010 by Melanie Strickland, under Briefings from ISC's ICT Strategy Group, NewsFacebook is the largest social networking site and many of your pupils are likely to have an account. Although Facebook requires users to be at least 13 years old, it is not uncommon for younger children to have accounts (so…
Economic effects of independent schooling
Posted on June 25th, 2010 by Manuela Winkelmann, under NewsA recent LSE paper by Richard Murphy has analysed the effect independent schooling has on individuals beyond their academic life. The paper highlights that the independent sector has had to offer benefits over and above those of the education…
IFS research aims to quantify value of independent education
Posted on June 21st, 2010 by Kristen DiLemmo, under NewsThe Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) recently released the first fruits of their multi-national project on independent sector trends in the UK, the US and Australia. The project aims to identify empirical (rather than anecdotal) evidence as to why…
Independent schools in the limelight this week
Posted on June 18th, 2010 by Rudi Eliott Lockhart, under News, PoliticsIndependent schools have been in the limelight this week for a variety of reasons. Today the Telegraph ran a piece from St Pauls’ Martin Stephen on why UK private schools are the best in the world: a measured and contemplative article that made…
Social mobility – a fact checking excercise?
Posted on June 4th, 2010 by Manuela Winkelmann, under NewsPolitical correctness or harmony in the scientific community clearly did not rank very highly on Peter Saunders’ list of priorities when he wrote Social Mobility Myths. The book gives an overview of a number of studies that have been conducted…
Independent Schools Council Census
Posted on June 4th, 2010 by Ian Summersgill, under NewsEach year, the Independent Schools Council conducts a census of all of its 1,260 schools in the UK and the Republic of Ireland (the actual membership number is slightly higher, but schools outside the UK and Irish Republic do not…
Gone but barely missed…..
Posted on June 3rd, 2010 by Judith Fenn, under NewsAs Michael Gove continues to cut a swathe though educational bureaucracy and regulation, this week’s quango casualty was the General Teaching Council for England. Established by David Blunkett in 2001 to raise teaching standards and professionalism, it charged teachers £36…
Breaking the Link: Social Mobility and Education in Britain
Posted on June 1st, 2010 by Manuela Winkelmann, under News, Private SchoolsYesterday the Sutton Trust presented some of their work on social mobility at the Master’s seminar of the Company of Educators. They highlighted the importance of education for social mobility, stressing that the penalties for lower levels of…
Schools set free, reality bites for students, and Boris gets a ticking off
Posted on June 1st, 2010 by AndrewHamilton, under News, PoliticsAs the dust began to settle following the Queen’s Speech (the first the current Monarch has delivered on behalf of a coalition Government), it became clear that education reform would be the issue to dominate the press over the coming…