Archive for the ‘News’ Category

University standards, Swedish schools and race discrimination hit the headlines

Concerns over the worth of university degrees are hardly new, but the issue was thrust back into the limelight this week when a major body of employers suggested that standards had slipped. The Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR), which…

The Red Tape Peril

Interesting to read that the state sector is also blaming red tape and overzealous child protection policies for the decline of foreign exchange trips (see Telegraph article ‘Foreign exchanges ‘axed over security fears’). The independent sector has been equally worried; more…

At last some common sense on safeguarding from Ed Balls

I appeared on the BBC News Channel on Sunday 13th December to welcome the announcement by Ed Balls on the Vetting and Barring of adults coming into contact with children. I said that Ed Balls’ interview on the Andrew Marr…

How much of the population actually went to independent schools: 7% or 14%?

Reading the media on schools, you tend to hear a lot about how the independent sector in the UK only accounts for 7% of pupils, (see for example this article from The Telegraph last month).  The figure is used…

Choir Schools

It is fair to say that a choir school can offer a truly unique opportunity, twinning first-class independent and musical education. As Christmas approaches, and the eyes and ears of the country turn to Cambridge, King’s College and the Festival…

How can schools think strategically to cope better with the rapidly changing digital landscape?

What can Heads learn about ICT from Music?  Not so much I thought, or at least that was my opinion before last Wednesday’s ISC ICT Strategy Conference at Radley College.  One of the presentations at the conference was…

School Open Day Season

School Open Day season is the time of the year when schools will be throwing open their doors, giving you a chance to see what they have to offer. Most of the applications for entry next September will be made…

The Appropriate Relationship between staff and pupils in cyberspace

Traditional, established and agreed boundaries between staff and pupils are being blurred by the way in which Social Networking Sites operate.

What do you need to know

• Social Networking Sites [e.g. www.Facebook.com facilitate the sharing of up-to-date personal

…

ISC pupils take the lead on so-called ‘harder subjects’

With impeccable timing given the publication this week of A level results, Cambridge Assessment have released new research that seeks to explain why pupils choose the subjects they do. Their research highlights a whole range of factors, from gender to ethnicity,…

Public vs. Private Benefit: Possible attitudes towards independent education

Today I came across a very interesting report1 while trawling the internet for articles on attitudes to independent education and public benefit.

The 2004 survey, by Sara Solnick (University of Vermont) and David Hemenway (Harvard School of Public Health), gives…