An Englishman's Castle (Free subscription) | 06/11/2009
Forced sex education by Ed Balls; I suppose Gordon Brown could teach Personal Hygiene alongside him with the fragrant Yvette demonstrating.... Whoops I have just lost my breakfast........
Christian Today (Free subscription) | yesterday
The Catholic Education Service for England and Wales says it is disappointed with the announcement from Schools Secretary Ed Balls that sex education is to be made compulsory for all pupils
Ambush Predator (Free subscription) | yesterday
Following on from the problems in Orpington last week , it seems even the government is losing patience with further education: The government has banned the largest sponsor of academies from taking on new schools until it dramatically improve the ones it already runs , the Guardian has learned. A welcome change to the usual tactic of shovelling even more money into the coffers regardless… The...
The Independent (Free subscription) | yesterday
Ed Balls' announcement on Thursday that personal finance lessons will become compulsory for kids from 2011 should raise a cheer in homes across the country. The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families said personal finance will be taught as part of the PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) programme in secondary schools, currently optional. "All young people should learn...
Paul Owen (Free subscription) | yesterday
Earlier this week, Ed Balls, the Education Secretary (that isn't what he calls himself but it is essentially what he is) announced that 15 year olds will have to have mandatory sex education. Cue howls of anguish from the likes of the Catholic Church and various Muslim groups who promised to fight the proposals. Now I am no fan of Mr Balls, as a very cursory inspection of this site will quickly reveal....
Anglican Mainstream (Free subscription) | 06/11/2009
By Justin Thacker, Guardian When is a right not a right? When it concerns the education of children. The respective (and entirely contradictory) decisions of the children’s secretary Ed Balls and the European Court of Human Rights this week would be laughable if they weren’t both so serious. In the first place, Ed Balls tells us that [...]
The hermeneutic of continuity (Free subscription) | 06/11/2009
You can read the CESEW response to the Governments latest proposals on sex education in schools, and a clarification which states: We welcome the government’s reiteration of its support for the important principles underlining SRE, which emphasise that schools continue to have the legal right to determine the content of what is taught in PSHE within their schools and that governing bodies retain...
Townhall.com (Free subscription) | 06/11/2009
From the story: All 15-year-olds must receive at least one year of sex and relationship lessons, Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, said yesterday. Those whose religious or moral values prevent them from attending will be...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 06/11/2009
My six-year-old daughter is educated by me, at home. Are we about to become the state's latest scapegoats? Today, I received a copy of a letter that my local MP sent to the education secretary, Ed Balls. This letter was prompted by my concerns about the Badman report , a review into home-education which was submitted in June and immediately accepted by Balls. The government may implement these recommendations...
bilerico.com (Free subscription) | 06/11/2009
"Some faiths have a view about what in religious terms is right and wrong - what they can't do though is not teach the importance of tolerance." --U.K. Schools Secretary Ed Balls , on the government's decision to make gay-inclusive sex education compulsory for all schools
Sigmund, Carl and Alfred (Free subscription) | 06/11/2009
The Times: Sex education is to be made compulsory for all pupils, prompting fury from faith groups which said that the move would contravene the right for children to be educated in accordance with their parents’ beliefs. All 15-year-olds must receive at least one year of sex and relationship lessons, Ed Balls, the [...]
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 06/11/2009
Decisions on sex education and crucifixes in classrooms are highly illiberal intrusions into our lives and those of our children When is a right not a right? When it concerns the education of children. The respective (and entirely contradictory) decisions of the children's secretary Ed Balls and the European Court of Human Rights this week would be laughable if they weren't both so serious. In the...
Catholic Commentary (Free subscription) | 06/11/2009
The General Secretary of my trade union has a little paragraph in The Times today - utterly illogical and rather muddled it is, to say the least. I rather suspect that the leaders of other teacher unions were a bit more savvy than she was, and did not let themselves get drawn in to commenting. With one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in Europe, whatever we are doing at the moment we are not...
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 06/11/2009
Ed Balls sacks school's governing body after senior teachers allegedly paid themselves £1m in bonuses A headteacher who was knighted for services to education has resigned following claims that he and his senior colleagues mismanaged more than a million pounds of his school's funds. Sir Alan Davies, who received his knighthood in 2000, has stepped down from Copland Community School in Wembley,...
Lancaster Unity (Free subscription) | 06/11/2009
A national campaign to get BNP members banned from working as teachers comes to Carlisle next week The NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union in the UK which has more than 2,000 members in Cumbria, is joining forces with Carlisle Against Racism to host an open meeting on Wednesday evening. The union’s number two deputy general secretary, Jerry Bartlett, is travelling to Carlisle to be one...
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