Academics active in public debate

Meetings with two high flyer academics who have their fingers in many pies. Becky Francis, of Kings College and Pearsons ThinkTank and Chris Husbands of the Institute of Education at University of London are both members of the Commission on Academies. The commission is a self appointed panel reviewing the government's reform agenda for schools by collecting evidence, holding public hearings and forums and writing a report. This is how high level intellectual debate is conducted here, open informed debate which has high impact on government policy and reputation. Many contacts and papers to follow up form meeting these two dynamos....

The front entrance maketh the school

Former NSW Premier Bob Carr, self styled Education Premier, once famously declared that the front entrance to a school was a fundamental indicator of the quality of teaching and learning within. So he started a controversial program to upgrade the entrances of NSW public schools. He may have taken his inspiration from the well-located City of London school. Fronting the Thames, the students and teachers gaze dreamily across the river to the monolithic Tate Modern and it is the back door with St |Pauls Cathedral pressing down on it, that truly impresses.

An elite independent school for boys, it dates back to the 15 century. It is a top ranked school at GSCE levels and A levels and a staggering 20% leave school for Oxford and Cambridge. Not withstanding the extensive program of mandatory testing in English schools the school also sets its own entrance exams for entry at 11 and 13 years and 16 years to the various stages of schooling. What am I doing here you may ask? Well 'just looking' as they say...want to see how the various categories of school compare and how they use their performance data to improve. It is fair to say this school concentrates on enriching curriculum for outstanding students rather than getting struggling students over the line. For boys who pass the competitive entry to the school, last year only 40 new entrants started from 1000 applications, it is truly an 'elite' experience.

Train ride to Reading

Up early for a 1 hour journey to Reading, the home of the charitable trust CfBT, which started life as the Centre for British Teachers but today is a large and diverse provider of Education services both in the UK and internationally. One of its valued clients is guess who? ..the Aussie government, via AusAid. But I digress, as did the erudite and amusing Director of Education, Tony McAleavy. His experience ranges over education reform projects in the Gulf States and the Middle East, as an Ofsted inspector in England, strategy and implementation of the CfBT academy schools and an extensive research program. He is seriously into 'education metrics' as he calls it and his favourite quote is 'don't quote me!'. topics of interest were accountability in a decentralised schooling system and incremental versus radical reform. You will have to read my Churchill report in December to learn more...

'Do tanks' not 'think tanks'

Royal Society of the Arts

The UK school sector contrasts with ours by the number of active stakeholders involved. Philanthropists, research bodies, established and new charitable trusts, all have a hand in it, along with government bureaucracies, local authorities, and local governance bodies with parents, school executives and local prominent community members. I met two such players in this diverse tapestry today. The highly respected and influential Sutton Trust which finances research, is a strong advocacy body for social mobility and the disadvantaged, as well as funding and running some interventions in schools. It is located in the Millbank Tower next to a famous neighbour Tate gallery and along the road from the historic Morpeth Pub where POMs (prisoners of Millbank) were shipped to Australia. this afternoon at the elegant Royal Society of the Arts, a new entrant in school management through its sponsorship of academy schools, Britain 's  approach to charter schools and independent self governing schools. Very  interesting jigsaw of  providers - the jury is out on effectiveness of the model but at its core is school improvement driven by         results, published transparent and quite complex data.

Historic Morpeth Arms overlooking the Thames on Millbank.

                                                                                                    

London - understanding the UK approach

My first day of research started with a full program of briefings at the DfE and Ofsted. Ofsted - Her Majesty's Inspectorate- is based in a listed heritage building on the Kingsway and the DfE in leased premises owned by offshore interests that has a limited timeframe for occupancy. In some ways this difference reflects the contrasting cultures of the organisations: one steeped in a history 140 years old from Queen Victoria's time when she established the concept of external inspections of schools for 'public accountability for public funds' and to ensure 'the safety of children'. The DfE presents as an organisation responding to an extensive reform agenda guided by conservative politics, grappling with many of the educational policy issues confronting Australia. But doing so in a top down managerial way by hands-on Ministers with clear and decisive, at first blush radical, changes to the systems of schooling.Technology presents unlimited opportunity for a transparency agenda that has become a driving principle for change....

Incidental sightseeing including the magnificent Westminster Abbey located 20 steps from the DfE and Marble Arch standing proudly on a throbbing shopping strip on Oxford St.

Hong Kong - first stop

Night before departure - first stop Hong Kong.

Itinerary finalised:

• Hong Kong 
• London
• Paris 
• Brussels
• Bruges 
• Luxembourg
• Cambridge
• London's high performing schools 

Details to come.......stay posted.

Michelle

Planning for departure

My daugher and I at Churchill Fewllowship Award Ceremony

10 days to go till departure on my 2012 Churchill Fellowship and I am in full swing finalising itinerary details. In the last week my husband and I attended a Churchill Fellows Association medallion lunch in the gorgeous Botanic Gardens... Last look at spring foliage as we head into the European autumn, and inspiration from some impressive 2011 fellows. Anyway, back to the trip....I recently secured some meetings at Cambridge University, impressive educational institution and the head of the faculty  and professor of education is...an Australian! Needless to say he welcomed my proposal to visit enthusiastically and has a raft of researchers doing important work on school improvement. Can't wait to see him in situ and hear that accent in the historic setting of Cambridge...