Gervaise Phinn as Minister for Education!

There was an interesting atricle in the Opinion and Analysis section of the Yorkshire Post this morning, written by none other than Gervaise Phinn (the ex North Yorkshire Schoos Inspector)

Gervaise commences his article by stating that the DES (Department of Education and Science) as it was when he was first involved in education has gone through many changes of title. It became the DfEE (Department for Education and Employment, the DfES (Department for Education and Schools), there were probably many others, and it is now the DfCSE (Department for Children, Schools and Families) or as teachers prefer to call it - The Department for Curtains and Soft Furnishings. The more cynical have an even better version – The Department for Comedy and Science Fiction

He states that politicians have failed the test on education, but suggests nine points as to how they can get it right.

1. Let teachers teach. Stop bombarding them with ridiculous amounts of paperwork.

2. Celebrate the teaching profession and give those who work with young people some credit for what they do. Teachers, just as much as their pupils need support and thrive on recognition.

3. Scrap the League Tables. They tell you very little about the quality of education in a school.

4. Scrap the Standard Assessment Tests (Sats) which have been proven to have a deleterious effect on teaching and learning. Replace them with a system of teacher assessment with external moderation.

5. Invest more resources in Early Years and Special Education and give greater support for the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children. At the present moment 70.000 children are in care, and 30,000 children live in Children’s Homes

6. Allow headteachers and Governors, in consultation with staff and the local authority to have a greater level of autonomy based on the National Curriculum.

7. Enhance the work of HM Inspectorate of Education, and, as it was in the past, make the school education system more supportive and less threatening. Replace school improvement officers and inspectors with education advisers who will work alongside teachers, demonstrate good practice, and offer a comprehensive programme of training.

8. Make parents more accountable for their children’s behaviour in school. Children are surrounded by the formal and informal fabric of the home. Some children are fortunate to come from homes where there is acceptable behaviour, family friends, positive attitudes to others, with parents who don’t swear infront of them, slap them and tell them they will never achieve anything in life. Others do not.

9. Listen more to the successful managers and leaders who work at the chalk face.

There is nothing revolutionary in this. It seems to me it is basic common sense, but unfortunately many of our politicians are sadly lacking in this commodity. Gervaise Phinn has stated what many teachers were wanting 30 or more years ago when I was actively involved in education.

From my own point of view, the system is top heavy with men and women running around with clipboards, filling in tick boxes, who probably have little real idea about what it is like at the chalk face. I would love to see some of the Ofsted inspectors placed into a classroom and left to get on with it, or as Gervaise has suggested, “work alongside the teachers, demonstrate good practice…..” I reckon it’s a pretty safe bet that most of them wouldn’t know what good practice was if it came up and smacked them in the face. They might well be full of hot air and the latest theories, but what about the practicalities of teaching a bunch of 15+ year olds last lesson on a Friday afternoon, when all they are thinking about is getting out of school and enjoying the weeekend? Suppose they are made up of a large proportion of those 70,000 who are in care, or 30,000 who are in children’s homes, or come from a background where their parents swear infront of them, tell them that they’ll never make anything of their lives. Then What?

With Gervaise Phinn's 9 points I suggest we make him Minister for Education!