The Times Education Commission published findings this week, looking at the evidence they have taken on the purpose of education, social mobility, the curriculum, teaching, assessment and mental health. The report said that, despite the important work done by individual teachers and schools, evidence suggests that the system is failing to ensure every child is achieving their full potential.
The Commission’s report focuses on several key areas, such as the stalling of social mobility and the regional inequalities in pupil attainment. However, in Schools North East’s 2019 ‘Manifesto for North East Education’, we highlighted the importance of recognising the regional context schools work in. A focus on pupil attainment, without taking into contextual factors, too often mistakenly presents economic and geographical factors as educational ones, presenting a false negative narrative of a north-south divide in educational standards.
While the report makes mention of these pupil attainment differences, it does highlight that this gap in attainment begins before children start school, with the Commission saying that ‘the life chances of many have been determined long before they get near the school gate’. The report argues that despite quality early years provision being vital to a high-performing education system, provision in the UK is treated as a ‘babysitting service’. In doing so, current policy is reinforcing inequalities, rather than driving social mobility. Greater support for early years, with quality teaching and learning, was also a key recommendation in our ‘Manifesto’.
Another area the Commission focussed on was the narrowing of the curriculum and the lack of extracurricular activities in state schools. The report says that schools seem irrelevant to many pupils, who cannot see a route from education to employment, criticising the impact of the EBacc on subject choices.
In the Schools North East ‘Manifesto’, we recommended promoting a flexible curriculum that develops more than just academic skills and making sure that the curriculum is appropriate and accessible to all students. It is encouraging that the Times Education Commission also recognises that current government policy is failing to promote this sufficiently, especially in areas like the North East where geography and local context can combine to make it far harder for all schools to offer the breadth of curriculum they would like to.
The Commission also argues that private schools have a greater focus on extracurricular activities, with state schools focussing on the ‘basics’. While the report recognises that this is in part driven by timetabling and staff pressures, it risks ignoring the considerable efforts state schools in our region and across the country make to ensure a range of experiences for children and young people.
It is difficult for state schools to ‘learn from the success of private schools’, when funding between the two types of schools is in no way comparable. What is remarkable is that, once contextual factors are taken into account, the state system is able to compete at an academic level while also providing vital curricula enrichment.
Alongside this perceived ‘narrowing’ of the curriculum, the Commission discusses what it sees as a dysfunctional exam system. The high stakes nature of exams has undermined the broad and balanced education that should be offered to all young people, the report argues. Additionally, this has put enormous stress and strain on students.
Mental health is a key strand in the work we do at Schools North East, of both staff and students, especially during the pandemic which has exacerbated workload and wellbeing issues. The Commission likewise focusses on this challenge, noting on the mental health crisis for students caused by exam pressures and the impact of paperwork on demoralising the teaching workforce.
The report covers a wide range of challenges facing education, covering many of the recommendations we made in our manifesto in 2019. Schools North East will continue to lobby on these key issues as we look to rebuild the education system as we leave behind the pandemic.
