Schools

Peter Stanford: The burden of homework is too heavy

Homework has been a controversial subject in our house since my son's primary school starting setting it when he was seven. Most of the controversy has consisted of me encouraging, bribing and sometimes all but forcing my children to do it. But there have also been times, with them collapsed at 9pm over their maths, when they have raised their heads wearily to ask, "what is the point of it?" To which, in that moment, I have no satisfactory answer.

Inside Schools

Education Quandary: 'I am a geographer who has been asked to teach some maths classes at my school. How can I brush up my rusty skills fast?'

Thursday, 9 October 2008

Swede dreams: The Tories' controversial plans for school reform

Thursday, 9 October 2008

Conservative plans for parents to set up their own schools on the Swedish model are being rubbished by the experts

How should we teach British history?

Saturday, 4 October 2008

The shadow Schools Secretary has said history lessons should make pupils proud of our past. Is he right?

An academy for all ages: Why 'all-through' state schools are booming

Thursday, 2 October 2008

From the outside, the most striking thing about St Matthew Academy, south London, is its shiny new, zinc-tiled building. But inside, things quickly get stranger. There are the usual things you would expect to find in such a school: art room and science labs and hulking teenagers lounging in front of computers. But there are other things, too – a line of infants scampering up the stairs to lunch, a bright corridor of primary classrooms, and pupils aged five to 16 sitting together in a house assembly.

Bethan Marshall: 'We should query this article of faith'

Thursday, 2 October 2008

Faith schools are controversial, and becoming more so. Last month, a new law was passed making it possible for faith schools to employ the head and the non-teaching staff from people who share the religious belief of the school. So, anyone from the teaching assistants to the dinner ladies may have to be paid-up members of whatever denomination or religious belief the school demands.

Leading Article: Broad appeal

Thursday, 2 October 2008

The assertion by Kate Broad, the new chief executive of the Centre for Information on Language Teaching, that it would be wrong to go back to the days of compulsory language lessons for teenagers aged 14 to 16, may at first seem strange coming from someone in her position.