Media Highlights: November 2019
With the election taking up most of everyones’ media attention recently, we thought it was important to make sure a few key articles on education got the attention they deserve. We were encouraged to see several articles highlight progress as well as what still needs to be done to improve access to education and to make the education system fairer and more equal:
The Telegraph endorses schemes that place disadvantaged students in boarding schools
The Guardian interviews former London school commissioner on educational reform
The Guardian looked into impact of health centres on education examining Labour’s campaign claims
The Conversation examined the effect of adult education on the centenary of a pioneering scheme
1) Amid growing pressure on private schools to do more to tackle social mobility, it was encouraging to see The Telegraph report on a pioneering project by the Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation. The project followed the five-year progress of over 700 children from troubled backgrounds who were placed in boarding schools, finding that 82% of the scheme's participants secured places at university compared to 26% of disadvantaged students nationally; 97% of the charity's participants achieved at least two A-levels compared to 16% of disadvantaged teenagers in the rest of the country; at GCSEs the vulnerable children who were sent to boarding schools scored more than two grades higher than they would have been expected to achieve otherwise
2) Writing in The Guardian, Tim Brighouse, former commissioner for London schools, argued for educational reform that “promotes early years programmes of play and language, starting with health visitors, through to teacher-run nurseries and formal schooling at age six where pupils experience a curriculum designed to develop values, attitudes and ideas as well as knowledge and skills”. It is encouraging to see an emphasis on broadening the focus beyond purely academic achievement and addressing issues that affect children’s hearts and hands as much as their minds, particularly with more focus on mental health and wellbeing.
3) During the run up to the General Election, Labour announced it was to reinvest in early years care and reinstate 1000 Sure Starts if it was successful. The familial relationships that Sure Start helps foster form a key part of the social care ecosystem, and building effective relationships from Day 1 will help keep children out of the care system. An article in The Guardian highlighted the health benefits of the centres, with the Institute for Fiscal Studies study finding that for every extra centre per one thousand children there were 18% fewer hospital admissions, for 11-year-olds each year.
4) Lifelong learning for adults is also a part of keeping children out of care and it was encouraging to see this mentioned in an article in The Conversation, which noted that 2019 is the 100th year anniversary of the final report of the Adult Education Committee of the Ministry of Reconstruction, a key policy document published in 1919 which argued that a population educated throughout life was vital for the future of the country.