Recently in education Category

Service user involvement in social work training in England remains "patchy" despite it being a requirement of the degree, according to a study by the Social Care Institute for Excellence.

SCIE wrote to 1,300 service users and their organisations and emailed 300 service user-controlled organisations to ask if they were involved in social work education and training.

by Bronagh Miskelly

Social workers in the UK can often feel very alone - but their opposite numbers in other countries may well be facing the same problems. Certainly that was my experience when I met a number of social care experts from other countries.

  By Natalie Valios

My new year's resolution to remain calm in the face of stories that start my blood boiling has just come to an abrupt end. Perusing the Guardian's education website I came across the news that a new primary school in Sheffield won't be calling itself a school. Instead it will be called Watercliffe Meadow, a place for learning.

One simple phrase springs to mind in response to the sudden departure of high-flying family services director Andrew Webster from Surrey council - how are the mighty fallen!  Webster resigned more than two months ago, shortly before publication of an Ofsted joint area review which raised serious concerns about some services to vulnerable children.  Although there has been no confirmation that the two events were linked, the coincidence is too thunderous to ignore.

by Bronagh Miskelly

The collaboration between the Department of Health and the Department of Children, Schools and Families to improve children's services has given rise to a new great double act in the traditions of British comedy it seems.

By Derren Hayes

Whether it is tanker drivers going on a national strike, motorcyclists holding a mass rally on the M6 or lorry drivers blocking the roads of central London, those who rely on petrol for their livelihoods certainly know how to get the message across that the price of fuel is hurting.

by Mithran Samuel

The link between social background and educational performance is part of the DNA of the UK's education system, and England's in particular. Recent data on social mobility suggests this problem is getting worse. So it's refreshing that all three mainstream political parties see closing the results gap between less and more affluent pupils as a priority. Not only is there some consensus on this goal, but also on at least one of the means to achieve it, namely "freeing" schools from "local authority control". Yet the link between means and end is at best unclear and at worst the converse of the truth.