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 March, 2011
Teaching under-fives lawful in schools again, says shock report
Posted on March 31st, 2011 by Sarah McKimm, under Early Years Foundation Stage - Private Schools, NewsDame Clare Tickell’s report into the EYFS makes interesting reading. Frankly, my expectations of government-commissioned “independent” reports are quite low, written, as they tend to be, in formulaic colourless jargon. You read pages and wonder at the end what they have really…
Admissions Conference 2011 – Equality Act technical issues
Posted on March 29th, 2011 by Melanie Strickland, under Child Health, News, Politics, Special Educational Needs (SEN)This year’s admissions conference included much technical content (registrars and admissions staff have a lot to deal with – from complying with the professional Code of Practice for Schools, to the ever changing Tier 4 regime, to the Equality Act…
Collaboration and unity at ISC’s Admissions Conference
Posted on March 28th, 2011 by Isabel Morrison, under Private SchoolsCollaboration and unity were the rallying cries at ISC’s second annual Admissions Conference last week. Barnaby Lenon set the tone for the day in an entertaining and forthright opening speech. He gave a wide-ranging review of the challenges facing independent…
Is Ofsted slimming down its inspection framework?
Posted on March 23rd, 2011 by Ian Summersgill, under School InspectionIn the government’s recent education white paper, they told us that they would be ‘ask[ing] Ofsted to return to focusing its attention on the core … and taking a more proportionate approach’. Ofsted inspects schools against 27 headings, the paper…
More Tier 4 confusion for schools
Posted on March 23rd, 2011 by Matthew Burgess, under News, PoliticsYesterday’s set of announcements by the Home Secretary and UKBA has generated considerable uncertainty and confusion for schools this morning. The consultation run by UKBA was focused on the Adult Student Visa route and sponsors of Adult Students. There were no proposals…
The 2011 ISC Annual Conference: enlightening and inspiring
Posted on March 18th, 2011 by Adele Gilpin, under Private Schools, Public AffairsCentral Hall Westminster was the stunning venue chosen for the 2011 ISC Annual Conference. The location, within very close proximity to Parliament, seemed very apt given that we have been in a coalition government for just under a year and…
What happens after school
Posted on March 17th, 2011 by Manuela Winkelmann, under NewsAfter the Wolf report about the quality of vocational training and OFFA’s new guidance for universities on access, Demos’s report The forgotten half appears to be a slight misnomer, since transition into work or…
Students may fund school provision in university access u-turn
Posted on March 8th, 2011 by Kristen DiLemmo, under News, Politics, universitiesThis morning, Offa released guidance on university access that marked a sharp departure from their earlier observations on the subject. While Sir Martin Harris previously declared that universities treated applicants from both the maintained and independent…
Wolf Report reveals systemic failings of vocational training
Posted on March 4th, 2011 by Kristen DiLemmo, under NewsThe Wolf Report, a review of vocational education commissioned by the government, was published to great media attention yesterday. Professor Alison Wolf found that between a quarter and a third of 16-19 year olds (up to 400,000 pupils)…