Yesterday I went to the Studio Schools launch at Allen & Overy’s swanky offices. As many of us within the education and third sectors know, language and terminology around schools is like a minefield at the moment and I wasn’t quite sure if this was an academy, a free school or something completely new.
Studio Schools launched their first two schools this September in Luton and Kirklees, and are a new type of state school model (following the National Curriculum) which equip young people with the skills and experience to succeed in life. They are developed in partnership with employers, education agencies, local partners and government.
The launch (which was sadly missing Michael Gove) included speeches from Geoff Mulgan at the Young Foundation and Lord Hill the Parliamentary under Secretary of State for Schools. Both speakers talked about how the current education system has led to a deficit of skills in young people, and there needed to be a new focus on skills such as resilience, team work and initiative. For Lord Hill, he felt that too many young people were without the skills to engage effectively in future life.
Whilst I was inspired by the individual stories in Kirklees and Luton, and how schools were engaging with businesses to shape lessons to equip young people better for the future, I didn’t feel like it was particularly new. Both Geoff Mulgan’s and Lord Hill’s vision for educational reform, is in many schools already being achieved through citizenship lessons. Schools which teach it well undoubtedly prepare young people with the skills to engage with public life, and that is vital in all school settings not just in Studio Schools.
Nicola Harwood
Related
-
Posted in Comment.
-
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
- You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
-
This entry was posted
on Friday, November 19th, 2010 at 2:17 pm
Entries (RSS)
Email us
Studio Schools launch with an aim to prepare young people with the best skills for their future
Nicola
Friday 19 November 2010
Yesterday I went to the Studio Schools launch at Allen & Overy’s swanky offices. As many of us within the education and third sectors know, language and terminology around schools is like a minefield at the moment and I wasn’t quite sure if this was an academy, a free school or something completely new.
Studio Schools launched their first two schools this September in Luton and Kirklees, and are a new type of state school model (following the National Curriculum) which equip young people with the skills and experience to succeed in life. They are developed in partnership with employers, education agencies, local partners and government.
The launch (which was sadly missing Michael Gove) included speeches from Geoff Mulgan at the Young Foundation and Lord Hill the Parliamentary under Secretary of State for Schools. Both speakers talked about how the current education system has led to a deficit of skills in young people, and there needed to be a new focus on skills such as resilience, team work and initiative. For Lord Hill, he felt that too many young people were without the skills to engage effectively in future life.
Whilst I was inspired by the individual stories in Kirklees and Luton, and how schools were engaging with businesses to shape lessons to equip young people better for the future, I didn’t feel like it was particularly new. Both Geoff Mulgan’s and Lord Hill’s vision for educational reform, is in many schools already being achieved through citizenship lessons. Schools which teach it well undoubtedly prepare young people with the skills to engage with public life, and that is vital in all school settings not just in Studio Schools.
Nicola Harwood
Related