White Paper Summary October 2005
THE WHITE PAPER - SHORT DIGEST OF THE EDUCATION AND SKILLS SELECT COMMITTEE REPORT, THE CONSERVATIVE MINORITY REPORT AND THE -ALTERNATIVE WHITE PAPER CLICK HERE
National Governors' Council - press release click here
The closing date for written submissions was 30th November: Click here for ACG's response
White Paper Summary from DfES Website ....
Our aim is to transform our school system so that every child
receives an excellent education ? whatever their background and
wherever they live. Because of the progress we have made since
1997 we can now take the next, vital steps.
In 1997, a third of children left primary schools without having
mastered the basics in English and maths. Now three-quarters
achieve in maths and even more in English. Our secondary schools
have substantially improved too. There are dramatically fewer failing
secondary schools. And there have been sustained and substantial
improvements in achievement at 14, 16 and 18. There are more
resources and more teachers in our schools.
These achievements are important. But they are not yet good
enough. Standards must keep rising in the globalised world in
which we now live. High standards must be universal to every child
in every school in every community. The attainment gap between
high and low achieving schools is too great. And a child?s
educational achievements are still too strongly linked to their
parents? social and economic background ? a key barrier to
social mobility.
This White Paper sets out our plans radically to improve the system
by putting parents and the needs of their children at the heart of
our school system, freeing up schools to innovate and succeed,
bringing in new dynamism and new providers, ensuring that
coasting - let alone failure - is not an option for any school. In this
way we will ensure that every school delivers an excellent
education, that every child achieves to their potential and that the
system as a whole is increasingly driven by parents and by choice.
To make that happen we need an education system that is
designed around the needs of the individual ? with education
tailored to the needs of each child and parents having a real say in
how schools are run. And to achieve that, we need to reform
schools so that they have the freedoms and flexibilities to deliver
that tailored, choice-driven education.
so we are developing a radical new school system.......
!2 page Summary as PDF File below
or go to www.dfes.gov.uk for full download
