ParentsOutloud » Government

Transgender lessons for pupils aged five

Margaret — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 08:33:17 +0000

Jack Doyle Daily Mail

Ministers warn a wide range of steps are needed to combat ‘transphobic bullying’, which is defined as
the taunting of children who express ‘gender variant behaviours’. The document
was produced by the Home Office, which is responsible for equality policy
within Government.It states that schools need to be ‘more inclusive for
gender-variant children’.‘We know that over 70 per cent of boys and girls who
express gender variant behaviours are subject to bullying in schools,’ the
document states. in. ‘Tackling
transphobic bullying helps to address unacceptable behaviour and ensures that
our society becomes more tolerant.’ As part of its review of PSHE, the
Department for Education will consider adding ‘the teaching of equality and
diversity, including transgender equality’ to the curriculum.But critics said
there was a danger that children were being overloaded with ‘adult issues’ as a
result of such lessons.

Margaret Morrissey, founder of
campaign group Parents Outloud, said: ‘These are adult issues and we should
leave it until children are older or until they ask. ‘The problem is we are
overloading our children with issues that they should not have to consider at a
young age. PSHE is already overloaded with other issues. ‘We have given them
sex education and teenage pregnancies have risen year on year. ‘We have told
children about drugs education and we have a serious problem with drugs. We
have told them about drinking and cigarettes and we have more children with
alcohol problems and smoking.’

Transgender people include
those who have had sex change operations and people who have both male and
female sexual organs. Other measures proposed as part of the equality drive
include help for transgender job seekers and rules for the NHS designed to
ensure transgender people are dealt with fairly. The move comes after a
Government survey found nearly nine out of ten transgender employees suffered
discrimination or harassment at work. Also announced yesterday were longer jail
terms for murderers who are motivated by hatred of transgender people.The basic
sentence for anyone convicted of such killings will be 30 years, Kenneth Clarke
said. Similar attacks on disabled people will also face the same tough minimum
term. The Justice Secretary said that offenders ‘should be in no doubt that
they face a more severe sentence for these unacceptable crimes’. Click here to see Daily Mail article

Many areas face shutdown

Margaret — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:33:03 +0000

Richard Garner Independent

Monday 28 November 2011

A complete shutdown of every state primary and secondary school in several areas of the UK
is expected on Wednesday. Two authorities – Blaenau Gwent and Newport in Wales have indicated every school
will close. A survey of local authorities by The Independent revealed support for the strike appeared harder in the country’s industrial
heartlands. Only two schools in North Tyneside have been confirmed as open and just five in South Tyneside. In Durham, 168 out of 277
primary schools will definitely close. By contrast, only 44 of the 313 primaryschools in Devon have said they will be closed. Overall, from the 44 authorities who responded to our survey, a total of 2,421 schools declared they would either be fully or partially closed. If this picture was mirrored across the country, it would mean around 10,000 schools – mainly primaries – would close. But the final figure is likely to be much higher. Some union leaders estimate that around 20,000 of the 26,000 schools in England and Wales will close.A total of four teachers’ unions and one head teachers’ organisation are striking. The only union not to strike is Voice, whose members vow never to take strike action. It says it is receiving 100 applications for membership a day. Many of those striking on Wednesday will be walking out of the classroom for the first time. John Paul, a primary school teacher 33 years, said: “I’m hurt and offended by the injustice of what is being proposed. I didn’t come into teaching to make a fortune – that’s not what happens. I knew there would be no bonuses, no overtime but I did expect a decent pension.”Government concessions to those in their last 10 years of teaching would protect his pension, he admitted. But he said he had already lost hundreds of pounds as a result of basing the final figure on CPI rather than the RPI Support for the strike comes today from Education International, which represents 10 million teachers world-wide. It is publishingresearch showing £25bn was lost to tax avoidance in the UK last year –£18.5bn
of which was lost to tax havens through avoidance by individuals and corporations. “It is quite clear from our report that billions of pounds
are being held back from funding essential public services by corporate tax dodging,” said general secretary Fred Van Leeuwn. “It is absolutely wrong for the UK government to accuse teachers and other public service unions of being irresponsible and ignoring the financial crisis,” he said.Some parents groups condemned the move to take strike action. Margaret Morrissey, of parentsoutloud.com , said: “Teachers who strike – we expected better from you. You who lead our children you make no one feel proud and many feel ashamed. To the
thousands of teachers who are working and not striking, thank you so much.”

Wednesday strike action

Margaret — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 17:00:39 +0000

I started my work as a parents champion during the 1980′s teachers strike when asking a question on David Jacobs any Questions programme discussing the damaged caused to children’s learning. This strike is far the worse than the 80′s

Head teachers are at the top of the pay scale so I accept have more to lose but they can afford the extra pension. If I take my child off school I am in danger of having to pay a fine but teachers can close a school down for their own needs. Not onlywill the strike action stop children’s learning it will damage their moral outlook. The message is if I cannot have what I want I will stop work and cause harm to children at a time many of their parents have lost their jobs and pensions with no chance of recovery for some months/years. We are in deep financial trouble nationally from the last government and failures in Europe again with weak and inadequate governments. So when your country is on its knees kick hard hold allthe people to ransom and think only of how we can line our own pockets . What an example to set what a sad day it will be and to think men ,women, boys have given their life for this nation, sorry teachers who strike we expected better from you , you who lead our children you make no one feel proud and many feel ashamed. N ever never complain to a parent if they take their child out of school for a day saying it is irresponsible and effecting their education , you obviously do not believe that or you would not be striking.

To the thousands of teachers who are working and not striking thank you so much

Teachers’ Strike: Why Are They Walking Out?

Margaret — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 18:48:46 +0000

Telegraph
After the biggest teaching union voted in favour of industrial action, thousands of members will join two million public sector workers in a mass walkout on November 30.
The dispute with the Government comes down to reforms to public sector pensions as well as job cuts and working hours.
Lord Hutton reviewed public sector pensions earlier this year and proposed that nurses, teachers and other public sector workers should work until 65 but for lower pensions. He also suggested that public sector pensions should be linked to average earnings rather than final salaries.
The Government has said the change are unavoidable because greater life expectancy and the national debt makes the current pension bill unsustainable.But unions have hit out at the proposals, which would mean teachers and other public sector staff would be out of pocket.
Announcing the results of the ballot, in which 82 per cent voted for a strike, Chris Keates, General Secretary, said: “Teachers have been faced with a rising tide of excessive workload and a series of attacks on their profession, including unjust pension reforms, worsening pay and conditions of service, and increasing job insecurity.
“Teachers’ conditions of service are inextricably linked to providing the highest standards of education for all pupils.
“The Coalition Government needs now to take seriously the concerns voiced by the teachers today.”Other unions including Unite, which represents workers at West Midlands Police Authority, the British Film Institute, Mersey Tunnels and Greater Manchester Transport, also support action to protest against changes that will mean staff work longer for less.
Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said the Government had responded to the outcry with a “new generous settlement” that was “beyond the dreams of most private employees.” He added: “I urge the trade unions to devote their energy to reaching agreement and not to unnecessary and damaging strike action, which is often on the basis of low turnout.”

Government plans a new league table – of students

Margaret — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 09:31:44 +0000

By Richard Garner, Education Editor
Friday, 14 October 2011
Parents’ groups alarmed at Gove proposal to give A-level pupils a national ranking
Pupils face being given a national ranking from first to up to nearly 90,000th in A-level exams to help universities select the brightest candidates from thousands of top-grade passes.The move was floated by the Education Secretary, Michael Gove, as one of a series of radical measures to revamp A-levels, but parents’ leaders said they were “alarmed” by the proposal and warned it would lead to increasing numbers of appeals against exam results. One more mark could mean the difference of up to 1,000 places in the ranking.

“You can imagine a kid being really chuffed to get an A-level, only to be choked at being told ‘actually, you’re only 500th in the country in this exam’,” said Margaret Morrissey, of the parents’ pressure group Parents Outloud.

In his speech, Mr Gove said some exam boards were debating the idea of ranking pupils. Other moves outlined by Mr Gove in a speech to Ofqual, the exams watchdog, included placing a limit on the awarding of A* grades, so that only a fixed percentage were handed out every year.The rankings would indicate which pupils were top in the country in each subject – and also bottom.In the same way as A-level grades, they could be passed on to universities, schools and individual pupils.At one school where ranking has already been trialled, Burlington Danes academy in Hammersmith, London, it had improved pupil performance and led to students rating their teachers.”Parents love it,” he said, “because they give information that they’d previously been denied. In the past, parents asked ‘how has my son done?’ and they would receive the reply ‘he’s a lovely boy’. Now they accurately knew where he stood.”Results had also improved.”So if ranking can achieve that in one school in White City, if additional data and transparency can generate those beneficial results, is there a case for exam boards publishing more data about the performance of students rather than less?”On limiting A* grades, he added: “We can’t go back to a situation where all exams are graded on the basis of norm referencing (fixing the percentage pass rate, as happened in A-levels prior to 1980).”However, he added: “Could it be the case that – while we award As, Bs and Cs on the basis of criterion reached, is there a case for exploring whether or not A*’s should be allocated only to a fixed percentageof candidates? I would like to see that debate explored and engaged with.”The conference was told by Glenys Stacey, chief executive of Ofqual, that “most recent studies” showed evidence of exam papers being less demanding.A soon-to-be-published report on A-level chemistry will reveal that the exam was less demanding in 2008 than 2003.There were, she said, many more shorter questions that relied on candidates’ memories rather than knowledge.Professor Robert Coe, from Durham University, addressing the same conference, said analysis showed A-levels had suffered from grade inflation for the past 20

Private school parents could sue if universities discriminate

Margaret — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 08:09:31 +0000

By Richard Garner, Education Editor
Wednesday, 28 September 2011

The parents of privately educated children are likely to sue universities if their offspring are rejected for degree places under new plans to penalise them for going to top-performing schools.
A chorus of disapproval greeted the proposal for all university candidates to be ranked according to the school they attend – meaning that private school pupils would in effect receive “penalty points” for their education, while those at weak schools would get bonus points when applying.The plans, published by Britain’s biggest exam board, the Assessment and Qualification Alliance (AQA), and revealed in The Independent yesterday, presented the move as a means of getting more young people from disadvantaged backgrounds into university.
Margaret Morrissey, of the pressure group Parents Outloud, said she found the suggestion “disgusting”.”It may be you have struggled to afford to get your child into a good, private school,” she said. “If parents found out they were discriminated against because they went to a good school, they should sue.”
The Department for Education said it was in favour of using contextual data in university admissions – but how this was done should be left to individual universities. “This proposal risks confusing employers, teachers and pupils by giving different values to the same A-levels and would undermine the integrity of public exams,” said Schools minister Nick Gibb. Under the proposal, all A-level students would be given a ranking based on the school they attended, from challenging inner city schools through to top-performing schools in the leafy suburbs. Pupils’ exam scores could then be topped up or reduced accordingly.The AQA paper suggests that the ranking should be supplied to universities by UCAS, the universities and colleges admissions service.Kevin Stannard. director of innovation and learning at the Girls’ Day School Trust, said: “Universities already have access to applicants’ school type and other background information… so they’re already using the kind of information that AQA is suggesting.”Universities also rounded on the proposals. “AQA’s proposals are surprising, highly unlikely to help widen access to leading universities and probably unworkable,” said Dr Wendy Piatt, director general of the Russell Group.

Erosion of childhood: letter with full list of signatories

Margaret — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 09:42:15 +0000

23 Sep 2011 Telegraph
SIR –
Five years ago, your newspaper published a letter signed by more than 100 experts, arguing that children’s well-being and mental health were being adversely affected by modern technological and commercial culture. Since then, several high-profile reports on the state of childhood in Britain have agreed that our children are suffering from a relentless diet of “too much, too soon” – with Unicef finding Britain to have the lowest levels of children’s well-being in the developed world, and Britain coming out near the top of international league tables on almost all indicators of teenage distress and disaffection.
Although parents are deeply concerned about this issue, the erosion of childhood in Britain has continued apace since 2006. Our children are subjected to increasing commercial pressures, they begin formal education earlier than the European norm, and they spend ever more time indoors with screen-based technology, rather than in outdoor activity. The time has come to move from awareness to action. We call on all organisations and individuals concerned about the erosion of childhood to come together to achieve the following: public information campaigns about children’s developmental needs, what constitutes “quality childcare”, and the dangers of a consumerist screen-based life-style; the establishment of a genuinely play-based curriculum in nurseries and primary schools up to the age of six, free from the downward pressure of formal learning, tests and targets; community-based initiatives to ensure that children’s outdoor play and connection to nature are encouraged, supported and resourced within every local neighbourhood, and the banning of all forms of marketing directed at children up to at least age seven.
It is everyone’s responsibility to challenge policy-making and cultural developments that entice children into growing up too quickly – and to protect their right to be healthy and joyful natural learners. Top-down, political approaches to change always have their limitations, no matter how well-intentioned. It is only by coming together as a unifying voice from the grass roots, therefore, that we can hope to interrupt the erosion of childhood, and find a more human way to nurture and empower all our children.
23 Sep 2011
Dr Richard House, Department of Psychology, University of Roehampton (the Open Letter’s organiser)
Margaret Morrissey OBE FRSA, Founder of www.parentsoutloud.com
• Childhood ‘eroded by pressures of modern life’ full list of signatories
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Private schools may shut as parents turn to state sector

Margaret — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 11:44:25 +0000

Holidays are cancelled and second homes sold to pay fees at institutions with uncertain futures
By Richard Garner, Education Editor
Sunday, 18 September 2011
The recession is making almost a third of private school parents rethink plans to pay for education, according to a major survey published today. A poll of just over 2,000 parents reveals that 29 per cent are either scrapping plans to send children to private schools or reducing the amount of money they will spend. Such an exodus would have a devastating effect on the private sector, prompting school closures. The sector educates around 600,000 children from 300,000 families – the number is higher once pre-school nurseries are taken into account. The poll, carried out by Schroders bank, surveyed parents who spend money on private education for children of all ages. Experts from the independent sector conceded yesterday that some parents were facing financial difficulties, although their numbers had fallen by a marginal 0.2 per cent in an annual census. The true picture for this academic year will not emerge until next April’s census. There is already evidence, though, that parents are being more selective about how many years their children spend in private schools. “I think it’s the parents who are contemplating private education who are holding back on a decision,” said Neil Roskilly, chief executive of the Independent Schools Association. “They may be being more selective in terms of the key stages they may put their children in for private education. Some believe the basic skills are all important, introducing their children to private education at nursery level or the early years; others think the most important thing is entrance to university.” There is evidence that parents are pulling children out of private schools in the sixth form, especially if they have a successful state provision locally, such as Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge, which sends around 60 pupils to Oxbridge every year. It is the only state institution among the five leading suppliers of Oxbridge undergraduates. Pupil numbers appear to be holding up or even marginally increasing in the South-east, but northern areas have seen a 0.5 per cent drop in the past year.Many parents are either forgoing holidays or putting second homes on the market to keep their children in private schools.The worry for the sector is that – with the economic recovery so slow – more parents may reach breaking point, triggering school closures. Even household names such as Eton or Harrow – often charging the largest fees – may be hit if parents decide to go for a cheaper option.Today’s survey reveals that 33 per cent of parents believe the money they have set aside will not be enough. Almost a quarter of independent financial advisers say a significant proportion of their clients are relying on an inheritance to pay fees. The economic pressures on parents has seen a slowing down in the rate of school fee rises with experts predicting they will go up by between 2 and 3 per cent next year – which is below the rate of inflation – compared with rises of around 8 per cent a few years ago. Another chilling prospect for parents is the rise in university tuition fees, which will increase to up to £9,000 a year from next September.

Last night a parents’ leader called for government aid to help parents soothe the effects of the recession. “The Government should be looking at giving parents some degree of help to send their children to good private schools,” said Margaret Morrissey of the Parents Outloud lobby. “They should receive the amount of money a child would cost in state education in terms of a voucher.
She called on Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Education not to be “frightened you’ll be called elitist, because it isn’t about elitism – it’s about fairness. If we could afford to put more children into private schools, we wouldn’t have so many problems with behaviour because it works.”

Cameron says families of truants could lose benefits

Margaret — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 16:42:46 +0000

By Richard Garner, Education Editor
Saturday, 10 September 2011
Parents whose children constantly play truant from school face the prospect of having their benefits cut, David Cameron warned yesterday. The Prime Minister acknowledged it would be a “tough measure” but added: “We urgently need to restore order and respect in the classroom and I don’t want ideas like this to be off the table.” Social policy review groups, which are looking at how to react to last month’s riots, were investigating the idea. Discipline and rigour were necessary to mend a “broken society”, he said. Parents needed to know there were consequences for their inaction, he said at the opening of a free school in Norwich – and headteachers, needed tools to restore discipline. “But restoring discipline is also about what parents do,” he added. “We need parents to have a real stake in the discipline of their children, to face real consequences if their children continually misbehave.” Plans to cut the benefits of parents whose children played truant were mooted in 2002 but scrapped. Instead, ministers introduced penalty notices, with fines of up to £100 if parents failed to pay within 42 days. In extreme cases, parents have been jailed. Figures show the percentage of pupils absent from school without permission for a half day dropped from from 1.1 per cent in 2010 to one per cent this year. However, that is still around 65,000 pupils skipping school at any one time, a number ministers have said is still “too high”.
Margaret Morrissey, of the parents’ pressure group Parents Outloud, said: “Parents have got to be made responsible for their children’s actions but I don’t think this is helpful. Those who can’t get their children to school need support with their children – or even support with their own lives.”

Shock figures that spell out the extent of London’s reading

Margaret — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 16:02:27 +0000

Tom Harper London Evening Standard

Thousands of 11-year-olds start secondary school in London with a reading age of seven, the Evening Standard reveals today.Data obtained by the Standard show as many as one in three children in parts of the capital lags behind – far worse than was first feared. The figures reveal the extent of the literacy crisis in London, with many state schools failing to give children the most basic of life skills.The statistics, uncovered after a five-month freedom of information battle, led parents and experts to call on the Government to tackle the scandal.

Education Secretary Michael Gove said today: “Children who cannot read are condemned to spend their entire life in a prison house of ignorance.” He pledged to “eliminate the evil of illiteracy” and praised the Standard’s “brave and necessary” exposé.

Today’s findings are part of a Standard investigation into reading and writing in London. They reveal that the capital’s illiteracy crisis is far worse than was thought. One in three children in 11 council wards within Wandsworth, Haringey, Hillingdon, Bromley, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Brent started secondary school with dramatically impaired reading abilities, meaning they are on course to be “functionally illiterate”, according to government guidelines.

This is far higher than previous research which showed that one in four cannot read or write properly.

In total, 7,844 11-year-olds across the capital obtained Level 3 or below in their Key Stage 2 reading exams, leaving them with a reading age as low as seven.

But in 11 wards across London, one in three children is starting secondary school with a reading age of seven. The capital’s worst ward for literacy rates is Kenley in Croydon, where half of all 11-year-olds achieved only Level 3 or below.

Parents in these wards are likely to be unaware of the scale of the problem as the Government refuses to publish detailed exam results by local area. Parent groups and literacy experts called on the Government to act.

Miriam Gross, literacy researcher and author of the Centre for Policy Studies report “So Why Can’t They Read?, said: “This is absolutely tragic and completely unnecessary. This is not about immigration. It is about bad teaching.
“It is about some teachers thinking they should not force children to do repetitive tasks they do not enjoy. Transparency is the only way to solve the problem and the Government should publish full national data on literacy.”

Margaret Morrissey of Parentsoutloud.com said: “This information should be available to every parent who requests it. Parents are very concerned and it seems the only time anything happens is when the media highlight the problem.”

Illiteracy: The shocking facts

One in three teenagers reads two books or fewer a year

Seven per cent of children never read outside the classroom