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Admissions

  • How to choose a school: by teachers for parents

    Tis the season when schools are trying to woo potential parents at open days. How can you tell what a school is really like behind the facade? Here is our guide by those who know: the teachers. This article first appeared in The Guardian. I know from bitter experience that appearances can be deceptive. I…

  • If Gove likes Finland’s schools so much, why doesn’t he imitate them?

    The new results from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are about to be published which compare the achievements of education systems across the globe. The latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is expected to show the achievements of UK and Swedish schools falling behind, while Finnish schools are surging ahead. Michael Gove,…

  • Don’t panic about your child’s schooling!

    Help! I’m in a complete panic about schools! I feel that every decision I make about my children’s school is wrong. What should I do? Firstly, be aware that you’re not alone. Being a school teacher for the last twenty years in various state schools, I’ve noticed that a lot of parents panic about their…

  • The penny has dropped: scrap academic and social selection and opt for an ‘ecological admissions test’

    How many teachers really know how the pupils sitting before them actually got there? If you’re teaching in a grammar school, are you aware of the hours of agonised torture your pupils endured preparing for the 11-plus? If you’re in a school that deals with its own admissions, are you aware of all the hoops…