Chalk Talk: Hard luck, Leonardo, no art lessons for you
Richard Garner
Richard Garner has been Education Editor of The Independent for 12 years and writing about the subject for 34 years. Before becoming a journalist, he worked as a disc jockey in London pubs and clubs and for a hospital radio station. His main hobbies are cricket (watching these days) and theatre. On his days off, he is most likelt to be found at Lord’s or the King’s Head Theatre Club.
Wednesday 14 November 2012
Imagine what Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Leonardo da Vinci would have been studying if they had grown up under Education Secretary Michael Gove's English Baccalaureate, the conference held to discuss exam reforms was asked.
They would, a headteacher argued, be deciding which to choose between history and geography for their humanities subject – and the door to engineering or art would have been closed to them.
Schools, the conference – organised by the Westminster Education Forum – was told, are anxious to follow the Baccalaureate agenda as they assume it will become the new panacea for measuring school performance now that the five A* to C grades including maths and English has been so widely discredited by the exams regulator Ofqual.
Not that the assembled crew of headteachers, exam board personnel and education bods were against the idea of a Baccalaureate – it was just that this one wasn't really a Baccalaureate. In foreign parts, the International Baccalaureate qualification symbolises a curriculum that is broad and varied.
"There should be a proper Baccalaureate, which recognises a whole range of achievement in arts, technology and volunteering as well," argued Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers.
"The only thing wrong with the Baccalaureate is that it really must get its act together on arts and classical civilisation," added Philip Britton, head teacher of the independent Bolton Boys' Division school. "It is barmy having to decide just between history and geography for a humanities subject."
There are signs beginning to emerge, though, from the Department for Education that it is prepared to be a little more flexible about what can be included under the Baccalaureate umbrella. On a recent school visit, Mr Gove let it be known he was prepared to consider the case for computer science.
I have always like the idea of a Baccalaureate and indeed welcome the English one for the good that it has done in halting the decline in the take-up of modern languages. Just a few more pushes and we could be there with just the kind of qualification we need for the era we are in.
-
Weather bomb in pictures: Storms cuts power for tens of thousands – and snow is on the way
-
Jessica Chambers: 19-year-old woman 'doused with lighter fluid and burned alive' in the US
-
Russell Brand calls Nigel Farage 'poundshop Enoch Powell' in BBC Question Time debate
-
Russell Brand was rendered speechless on Question Time by this man
-
Fury at Airbus after it hints the super-jumbo may be mothballed
-
Disgruntled RBS worker writes hilarious open letter to Russell Brand after anti-capitalist publicity stunt leaves him hungry
-
Shock poll shows voters believe Ukip is to the left of the Tories
-
Nigel Farage's approval rating hits 'record low' as popularity suffers in wake of Ukip sex scandal
-
Nigel Farage defends Kerry Smith 'ch***y' comment: 'If you are going for a Chinese, what do you say you’re going for?'
-
Ukip candidate jokes about 'shooting peasants' in racist and homophobic rant
-
Pakistan school attack live: Taliban kill at least 132 children in 'horrifying' massacre
- 1 Nigel Farage: Me vs Russell Brand on Question Time – he's got the chest hair but where are his ideas?
- 2 Harry Potter fans can apply to the Hogwarts-inspired College of Wizardry
- 3 Jessica Chambers: 19-year-old woman 'doused with lighter fluid and burned alive' in the US
- 4 Russell Brand calls Nigel Farage 'poundshop Enoch Powell' in BBC Question Time debate
- 5 Orange Wednesdays are no more
Caribbean luxury at its finest
Barbados offers a new slice of holiday heaven at Port Ferdnand and Saint Peter's Bay Luxury Resorts
Rainbow list 2014: The LBGT people who make a real difference
Introducing our annual celebration of the lesbian, bisexual, gay, and transgender people who make a real difference
i100: Who makes your world a better place?
Tweet us the people who deserve some recognition to @thei100 with the hashtag #everydayhero and tell us why.
i100: How to take a wild career break and come back more employable
Fancy a wacky sabbatical?
Build yourself a brighter future
Chartered surveyors will be critical to shaping our new world
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Independent Dating
iJobs Education
Opilio Recruitment: Product Owner
£40k - 45k per year + Benefits: Opilio Recruitment: We are currently recruit...
Opilio Recruitment: Product Development Manager
£40k - 45k per year + Benefits: Opilio Recruitment: We are currently recruit...
Recruitment Genius: Qualified Nursery Practitioner - Sevenoaks
£15000 - £16000 per annum: Recruitment Genius: We currently have an opportunit...
Recruitment Genius: Room Leader - Nursery
£17000 - £18000 per annum: Recruitment Genius: We currently have an opportunit...