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ACADEMIES
Outwood Academy goes from failing to outstanding in two years Outwood Academy in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, has gone from being ranked among the worst in the country to outstanding by Ofsted in just over two years, which the Department for Education says is one of the quickest turnarounds ever achieved. Outwood Academy Portland’s principal, Dr Phillip Smith, says that while a renewed focus on attainment in core subjects since the school became an academy has been crucial, the school’s success was only possible thanks to the numerous extra-curricular activities now provided because they turned the school into a place where children wanted to be.
Dr Smith added that high-quality extra-curricular activities are a feature of all academies in the Outwood family of schools. When the school was council run, only a handful of activities were available. But now the school uses its academy freedoms to offer pupils more than 100 after-school classes – with everything from extra English and maths classes, to an orchestra, a choir, a debating club, Minecraft club and circus skills on offer. The school has seen sharp improvements in results and behaviour since they first started working with Outwood Academies Trust in May 2011, a year after being placed in special measures.
SCIENCE
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FINANCE
Calls for transparency in Head pay The Department for Education has revealed that 900 head teachers in the UK receive annual salaries in excess of £100,000, with a third of these paid more than £110,000 – three times the average teacher’s salary. Most of the highest paid heads work in academies. Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT, said: “Head teachers should have their annual salaries published in a clear and transparent way like every other person in senior public service positions. It’s scandalous that schools in receipt of millions of pounds of public money do not have a requirement show exactly READ MORE: what they pay tinyurl.com/oqftjsf their heads.”
REGULATION A new learning research initiative will explore how informal learning activities impact on young people’s engagement and attainment in science. The £9 million scheme was launched by the Wellcome Trust along with the US National Science Foundation and the UK Economic and Social Research Council. Clare Matterson, Director of Medical Humanities and Engagement at the Wellcome
Trust said: “With young people spending just one-fifth of their waking hours at school, the Wellcome Trust wants to explore what sparks their imaginations outside of the classroom. Science Learning+ will provide evidence for what makes an effective informal learning experience, giving young people the opportunity to engage with science in ways that really work for them.”
Reaction to lab work being axed from curriculum Many in the British scientific community have criticised Ofqual’s decision to take assessed coursework off the main A-level curriculum for science subjects. From 2015, lab experiments will be counted towards a separate practical qualification to be taken alongside science A-levels. Dr Sarah Main of the Campaign for
Science and Engineering said: “The changes will not help students who we know are inspired and motivated by doing science, not just learning about science. “And they will not help universities, colleges and companies who already struggle to recruit people with the practical experience they need.”
Teachers slam education watchdog Ofsted The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) has criticised the target culture in education. The organisation has called for an ‘inspection charter’ for school inspections to combat what it sees a trend of subjective measures being imposed on schools. Simon Clarkson of Leicestershire said: “We need to stop the madness. We need to stop the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ management of our schools and, as part of the way of doing that, we need to fix the distorted looking glass that is Ofsted, that is distorting the very READ MORE: way tinyurl.com/pncdfme we teach.”
Volume 19.2 | EDUCATION BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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