Speaking at ASCL’s annual conference in Birmingham, general secretary Brian Lightman said: ”Children are faced with a lot of different role models these days, not all of which are the most positive. They see examples on TV, in celebrity culture, of people not speaking the right way and not interacting in a way we would expect people to.
”In many ways schools are the last bastions of those traditional values.
”We do assert old fashioned standards of discipline and we do that unashamedly because we do see it as our job to educate children in that way.”
You have got to be kidding. Public schools? the last bastion of traditional values????????? Don’t think so.
#1 — “Public school” in the UK doesn’t mean the same thing as the term here. They can actually be private schools but still taxpayer funded. Can someone from the UK explain the school system? LOL, it confuses me.
It’s quite simple really.
You have ‘public’ schools which are private and independantly funded. They are not bound to teach state ‘national curriculum’ but they mostly sit the same kinds of exams as state schools. They are often quite old and well-established. Not necessarily for the brightest pupils, but perhaps for the well-connected and wealthy pupils. Some are fiercely academic, some simply give stupid rich kids the network they need to get through life. Many have the same kind of ability range as many state schools but with smaller class sizes and the absence of a ‘cool to fail’ culture.
You have ‘state’ schools which are state funded. These state schools fall into several further categories:
1) comprehensive. These have to teach national curriculum — non-selective intake of students, in theory, from the local area, unless they are of a faith foundation in which case they will have places set asside in accordance with school policy for students which meet their faith criteria. These are usually co-ed.
2) grammar (academically selective) which may be single sex or co-ed.
3) academy (based on charter school model from the USA). May or may not be selective academically or along the lines of faith. Not accountable to local authorities or bound to teach the national curriculum. These may be funded, in part, by carpet magnates or faith groups.
4) ‘Free Schools’ which are state funded and completely independant of state control which may or may not be selective along lines of faith or academic ability. These schools also involve state / private partnership.
I’m not entirely sure how free schools differ from academies, as I’m only a teacher. I think this is all correct at the time of publishing. There may be further fragmentation between the time I hint ‘enter’ and the comment is posted.
See? Simple.
Oh yeah… Academies fall into two cateogories as well. Original foundation academies (I teach at one of these) and a conversion academy. Original academies are based on the Charter School model from the USA. Conversion academies are often (but not always) failing comprehensive schools which are effectively shut down and reopened with a view to improving education. Other schools may convert to academies simply to avoid paying money to the Local Authority for support services, or, if many schools around them convert, they have to convert because the local authority can no longer afford to offer them the services they require.
I lived in Britain for a year and tried to figure it out. I never had much luck.