Autumn Statement 2011: Schools that specialise in maths planned by Government

It is understood they will be among 100 new free schools for England to be announced by Chancellor George Osborne when he delivers his autumn statement on the economy on Tuesday.

He will tell MPs that the Government is to provide ￡600 million in additional funding over the next three years to enable the schools to be completed by the end of the parliament.

The new maths schools will be the subject of a special application process - outside the normal free school application process - to be set up by the Department for Education.

It will be open to groups with links to strong university mathematics departments to apply to open the schools for 16 to 18-year-olds.

Mr Osborne was said to have given his strong personal backing to Education Secretary to ensure that funding was found for the programme.

Maths is seen by the Government as a "fundamental strategic priority" in education.

With the spread of digital technologies, it is regarded as being is of ever-greater importance to the economy, offering students a better chance of well-paid jobs than almost any other subject.

Ministers want the new schools to produce a new generation of mathematicians able to produce breakthroughs in pure and applied mathematics or able to build new innovative companies.

Private schools have a 'moral duty' to their pupils - not the Government's academies

The history of education in the UK is a history of private success and public failure.

Research regularly tells us the best education systems in the world are those with little central interference.

This is not the model I see in the academies and free schools initiatives.

Over the years state education has become less about children and more about the fortunes of governments and individual ministers.

Schools have become caught up in an unseemly web of legislation that blows this way and that.

The independent school model works because it responds to a fundamental right and a fundamental responsibility.

Parents have the right to have their children educated as well as possible. They therefore have the responsibility to pay for it.

The partnership between hard-working parents, motivated students and committed schools has ensured no stakeholder rests on their laurels.

The freedom of schools as charities to charge fees in order to make a surplus means investment can be made in a school’s provision.

It is a virtuous cycle. Introducing the state into the equation removes motivation of all parties.

The over-involvement of government in many areas of our lives is a socialist hang-over that has infantilised the nation for generations.

All that has resulted is a lacklustre parade of cheap and low quality provision funded by an agency, the state, which has failed to create successful and lasting change in the way children are educated.

I believe the state, among many things unrelated to education, is there for the most vulnerable. It is there for those who cannot help themselves.

I am the first in line to pay my dues to a government that will lavish care on the unloved, the problematic and often unruly in our society.

That is the original philosophy of the Welfare State.

Dr Seldon says the perceived difficulties associated with fee-paying schools sponsoring academies “need not be burdensome” and the practical difficulties “are much exaggerated”.

As I see it, transforming a failing school or starting a new one is a Sisyphean task.

If an independent school wants to sponsor an academy properly, they need to invest time and energy into it.

If the practical difficulties are easily overcome, the task is not challenging enough and the reward not worth the effort.

We do not have money to spare to send teachers and deputies to form schools elsewhere. And we are behoven to our parents who are already paying twice for education.

As regards private schools “perpetuating social divides”, I want rather to perpetuate the right sort of divide – where the deserving are rewarded and the indolent do not prosper.

However we have lost sight of what a genuine meritocracy is.

Too many do well because of unearned advantage. Others expect help when they are unwilling to give of themselves.

By making education something all parents buy into and make sacrifices for, we have more chance of seeing motivated pupils and united families working towards common goals.

The engine room of the private sector is the hard working school that has to pull together a tough budget each year and strain every sinew to ensure that the educational offering is as high quality as it could be.

It is a tough ask, because they live in an unpredictable and unstable environment and must deliver or die.

As I walk the corridors of my school, I am acutely aware of the sacrifice families are making in financial terms to enjoy the first class education we offer. I am under pressure, as are my fantastic colleagues, to give value for money.

It has created, in the vast number of cases, a co-operation between parent and school for the success of those children in my care. It works. And it has worked here at Taunton School for 164 years.

I often get told independent schools do not live `in the real world’ and commercial organisations know all about survival in tough economic conditions.

Yet I know of few organisations that have lasted more than 100 years.

However, I know of dozens and dozens of fee-charging independent schools who have thrived and been successful over generations.

I believe education should be paid for – yes with a contribution through the tax system from the Government, called by many a voucher scheme.

Otherwise, parents should be allowed to top up what they want and go where they choose.

Schools, logically, would be free to teach and deliver as they please, and charge whatever top up they saw fit.

An inspectorate would guarantee basic standards. Such vouchers would be allowable also at independent schools.

A marketplace develops.

Competition between schools ensues. Schools improve or go under.

Parents see where their hard earned money is going.

Parents are more likely to work better together as a family for the good of their children if they are paying for their education.

‧ Dr John Newton is the Headmaster of Taunton School.

Autumn Statement 2011: bright children to be sent to 'maths schools'

Around 12 specialist institutions for 16- to 18-year-olds will be opened to give pupils expert tuition under the guidance of university mathematics departments

Unveiling the plans in his Autumn Statement, George Osborne said the colleges would help produce graduates in academic disciplines seen as vital to the country’s economic recovery.

On Tuesday, the Chancellor announced that a total of ￡600m would be earmarked for 100 new “free schools” – establishments opened and run by parents' groups, charities and private companies free of local council interference – between 2013/14 and 2014/2015.

Of those, around a dozen will specialise in maths for teenagers, he said.

“This will give our most talented young mathematicians the chance to flourish,” Mr Osborne told the Commons.

“These ‘Maths Free Schools’ are exactly what Britain needs to match our competitors – and produce more of the engineering and science graduates so important for our longer term economic success.”

But teachers condemned the move.

Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “At a time of unprecedented economic pressure it is incomprehensible that the Government is committing that sum of funding to creating 100 new free schools when so many existing schools are in desperate need of investment.”

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT, said: “In naked pursuit of the Coalition's elitist vision of education, 100 free schools and a handful of pupils get ￡600m while children in 22,000 other schools fight over a few hundred pounds.”

In a further announcement, it was revealed that another ￡600m would be spent creating additional school places in areas with the greatest “demographic pressures”.

It is already feared that many infants are being forced to travel miles to primary school because of an acute shortage of places caused by a baby boom and influx of migrants in some areas.

Many schools have been forced to turn hundreds of children away while others have created extra space by educating pupils in mobile classrooms or local church halls.

The biggest pressures have been reported in parts of London and cities such as Bristol and Birmingham.

On Tuesday, Mr Osborne said money would be allocated to places with the greatest need to deliver an additional 40,000 school places between 2012/13 and 2014/15.

This comes on top of ￡800m a year already allocated each year – and an extra ￡500m for 2011/12.

Europe's top ten MBA schools favoured by employers

France's INSEAD was last year ranked Europe's number one MBA school by international employers. The average INSEAD graduate started the programme with six years of work experience and left commanding a base salary of $107,240. The course duration is ten months, places a strong focus on entrepreneurship and requires students to be tri-lingual.

The information provided is from QS, a global provider of specialist higher education and careers information and solutions, for the academic year ending 2010.

Picture: Directphoto.org / Alamy

Expat guide to Russia: schools

Background:

The International School of Moscow, not to be confused with its near-namesake, is also a comparatively young and fast-growing school, having been founded in April 2007. It is part of an association of nine schools, in locations ranging from Tashkent to Sao Paolo, run by the British Schools Group.

TISM, in a well-to-do area of west Moscow, is situated on the site of the 1980 Olympic Games: the ice hockey stadium is opposite. It operates from two adjacent sites, the recently opened upper campus complementing the original lower school site, which caters for foundation stage to lower primary age pupils.

The school currently educates pupils from the age of two to 13, with GCSE courses for older children due to start next year. Currently, around half of the school’s 400 pupils are in the younger age group (ages two to eight) on the lower school site.

For the past two years, the school has been attracting pupils from British embassy families, along with children whose parents are working in business and commerce. The largest national groups are Britons, who make up about 30 per cent of pupils, followed by Russians at 15-20 per cent, with 35 nationalities represented overall.

Facilities on the lower school site include playing fields, library, and computer suite, and on the upper site, a gym, basketball court and golf driving range.

Curriculum:

The school offers the English national curriculum and its associated tests, with local adaptations including daily Russian lessons, with French also taught. Children are taught to play a musical instrument from year one (age five).

Provision progresses from pre-nursery, where children aged two and three learn through play, through the English key stages one, two and three. Children’s progress is assessed and tracked closely. Teaching is usually in mixed-ability classes, although the school may offer tuition in smaller groups if it feels more support is needed.

Sporting and artistic activities range from dance and gymnastics to ultimate Frisbee, basketball, skiing, plays and musicals and extra music tuition while golf, a specialism of the school, is offered to all pupils during curriculum time.

Results:

Marks from key stage two English national curriculum tests, set at the age of 11, have been consistently well ahead of English averages, with all pupils achieving at least the UK Government’s target level four in reading, writing and science in 2010, and 64-73 per cent achieving the higher level five. The school does not yet have any GCSE results.

Admission:

TISM is selective, with academic assessments taking place at the school from reception (age four) upwards. The school likes children to spend a day in the classroom before joining, during which time most will take a written test. In the past, the school has not stressed special educational needs (SEN) provision, but has now appointed a SEN co-ordinator to cater for those with individual needs.

Fees:

Annual charges range from €11,970 (￡10,251) for pre-nursery to €19,665 (￡16,841) for years seven to nine. There is also a one-off €200 (￡171) application fee, a charge for “capital” of €6,000 (￡5,138) per family, a compulsory annual lunch charge of €1,222 (￡1,047) and uniform costs of €250 (￡214). Fees for the optional bus service are €2,205 (￡1,888) per year.

What the school says:

“The thing that parents often comment on when they come into the school is the atmosphere around the place. Although we have high expectations of the children, the relationship between the parents, students and staff is really very good.” Paul Seedhouse, headmaster.

What the parents say:

“When we arrived on our first day, the staff lined the corridors greeting the students with huge smiles and even the odd 'high five’. The children couldn’t have felt more welcome. What has impressed me most has been the holistic approach the school takes to learning: rather than being spoon-fed facts, TISM’s approach has resulted in far greater inquisitive behaviour and motivation from our children.” Sara Slim, whose two boys and a girl started at the school in August.

“Everyone has a great sense of belonging, whether it be the children, parents or teachers. The fact that our children all look forward to going to school, finish the day smiling and have gained so much confidence sums up the school for us.” Lucy Cranfield, who has had three children at the school since it opened.

ENGLISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, MOSCOW

Highly international institution that emphasises a caring ethos

Background:

The English International School, Moscow prides itself on its small-school ethos: there are only 150 pupils here, spread over the ages of three to 18 with classes typically numbering 14-15.

Nevertheless, the school has grown rapidly since its foundation five years ago, when it had only 36 children. Next summer, the first group of students – five of them – will sit A-levels and this is also the first year when meaningful numbers are taking their International GCSEs.

The school, one of a group of five established in locations ranging from Majorca to Seoul by the private operator Orbital Education, is situated on a one-hectare site in Moscow’s eastern suburbs, a quarter of an hour’s journey from the city centre by Moscow’s underground system.

Sports facilities include provision for tennis, badminton and basketball, a small gym and a running track.

This is a truly international school, with 40 nationalities represented. A substantial minority speak English as a second or third language.

Curriculum:

The school offers an adapted version of the English national curriculum, followed by International GCSEs and then A-levels. One of most significant ways in which the curriculum is adapted is that children are routinely “accelerated” through their lessons from year five onwards, meaning that they go on to take IGCSEs in English, maths and one or two more subjects in year 10 rather than the more conventional year 11.

Unless they are learning English, all pupils here will study Russian from year one, and French from year three.

The EIS says that, because of its size, it can tailor its curriculum to suit the individual child. That said, the small numbers overall mean the school focuses on the core IGCSE subjects: English, maths, science, history, geography, French, Russian, art and religious studies. At A-level, eight subjects are offered, with a further one or two to be taught from next year.

EIS is said to be the only international school in Moscow playing sports fixtures against local Russian schools, while inter-school drama, dance and cultural events also feature. Last month, the school offered Russian Culture Week, with events ranging from classes in Cyrillic rune writing to a trip to the former royal palace of Kolomenskoye.

Results:

There are few to report, because next year will be the first that the school has pupils taking A-levels, while only three pupils have so far completed GCSEs. However, last year’s year 10 took a range of IGCSEs early, with a 100 per cent A*-C rate recorded in maths and seven out of 10 gaining Cs or better in English.

Admission:

Non-selective, or “all-enveloping”, as the school puts it. It is proud of its work to support children with special educational needs.

Fees:

Annual charges range from €13,900 (￡11,917) in nursery to €20,400-21,400 (￡17,490-￡18,348) in the senior school. There is also a one-off assessment fee on entry to the school of €2,000 (￡1,715). All meals, stationery, materials and exam fees are included, with bus service (€1,000, ￡857) per term and school uniform (about €200, ￡171) costing extra.

What the school says:

“We do not pretend to compete with the St Paul’s, Westminsters or Manchester Grammars, but we seek to be like a middle-ranking UK independent school. We have an absolutely lovely bunch of children here, everyone knows everyone and this means we are absolutely focused on individuals.” Ross Hunter, headmaster.

What the parents say:

“From the first time I visited the school, my experience was so positive that I thought I’m not going to look anywhere else. I liked the fact that the teachers were not bothered in trying to sell me what the school could do for me as a parent; they were interested in how they could help my children. They work out what each child’s needs are and work from that, at the child’s own pace.” Tina Lindsay, who has boys aged 11, 10 and six at the school.

This piece was originally published in the Telegraph Weekly World Edition

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David Cameron goes to war on Britain's 'coasting schools'

He says that while it is “relatively easy” to identify problem schools, it is just as important to tackle those that are resigned to mediocrity.

“It is just as important to tackle those all over the country content to muddle through — places where respectable results and a decent local reputation mask a failure to meet potential,” he writes.

“Children who did well in primary school but who lose momentum. Early promise fades. This is the hidden crisis in our schools — in prosperous shires and market towns just as much as in the inner cities.”

In January, new league tables will be published that will show how low-, middle- and high-achieving children are performing in their schools.

In June, a new national pupil database will be introduced to show how pupils have progressed during their time in school. The data will not disclose any names but should allow parents to identify schools that are better at pushing certain pupils in different subjects.

Mr Cameron writes: “This challenge is one for all parts of the country — places where governors, parents and teachers might never guess things might be wrong. That’s why it is vital to shine a spotlight on secret failure by giving people the information they need to fight for change.

“The last government shied away from the problem. It kept huge amounts of data under wraps — focusing only on league tables which seemed to show things were getting better every year. It set a narrow definition of coasting schools which allowed many to slip through the net undetected. By contrast, this Government is going to widen it so that more average schools are pressed to do better.”

The Prime Minister says Mossbourne Academy in Hackney, one of the most deprived areas in Britain, is now achieving far higher marks than comprehensives in middle-class areas across the Home Counties.

“The point of education is to change lives — it’s not good enough for teachers in shire counties to be satisfied with half of children getting five good GCSEs, when Mossbourne Academy achieves 82 per cent in Hackney,” writes Mr Cameron.

“When people involved in education can see what needs to be done to get out of a rut — and are given the freedom to make their own choices rather than orders from above — dramatic improvement is possible. Goffs School in Cheshunt, for instance, went from barely half its pupils achieving five good GCSEs including English and maths, to almost three quarters in a single year.”

It is understood that the Government has decided against sending “hit squads” into comprehensives identified as “coasting”. Ministers instead hope that by publicly identifying failing schools, parents and governors will put staff under intense pressure to improve standards.

Sir Michael Wilshaw, the incoming head of Ofsted, previously warned that the watchdog needed to do more to tackle teachers who were coasting.

He said extra effort was needed to identify “the teacher … who year in, year out just comes up to the mark, but only just, and does the bare minimum”.

The Government is also giving permission for dozens of new free schools, effectively independent schools paid for by taxpayers within the state system, across the country. Mr Cameron says he wants these schools to be the “shock troops of innovation” who will “smash through complacency”.

The Coalition is also relaxing admissions and expansion rules for successful schools, which is expected to lead to an increase in grammar school places.

Yesterday, it emerged that some grammar schools are planning to take over schools in neighbouring towns — effectively leading to the creation of the first new grammar schools since the 1960s.

Graham Brady, chairman of the Conservatives’ backbench 1922 Committee, said it was a “small but important step”.

More cash needed for state boarding schools, warns head

Raymond McGovern, chairman of the State Boarding Schools Association, called for a greater investment in the sector to allow them to expand.?

Raymond McGovern, chairman of the State Boarding Schools' Association, said schools would struggle to meet the requirements of a tough new inspection regime without more money.

He also called on ministers to put more capital into schools to enable them to expand to take in additional pupils.

In recent months ministers have praised plans to allow growing numbers of “vulnerable” children to be given a boarding education. A number of the Government’s flagship academies have built – or are planning to build – boarding houses for pupils.

But speaking on Sunday, Mr McGovern, headmaster of Sexey’s School in Somerset, said new inspections introduced for the first time this summer to regulate pupils’ health and welfare provided significant challenges.

“Lack of central funding places state boarding schools at a significant risk, especially as – quite rightly – they must comply with the new National Minimum Standards,” he said.

There are currently 38 state schools in the UK with boarding accommodation.

Almost 5,000 pupils board at these schools, up from 3,674 in 1998 and from 4,695 last year. Education is free although boarding costs between ￡7,500 and ￡12,000 per year.

In recent years, a series of the Government’s semi-independent academy schools have opened boarding facilities, including the new Wellington Academy in Wiltshire and Harefield Academy in Middlesex.

Another school, Durand Academy in Lambeth, south London, is planning to open a satellite boarding school in West Sussex for children aged 13 upwards.

Mr McGovern said: “The Secretary of State for Education expressed his support for boarding when visiting Durand Academy… This is a significant departure for the state sector as families have traditionally had to fund boarding from their own incomes, or via the Armed Forces’ Continuity of Education allowance or an external charitable trust such as the Royal National Children’s Foundation.

“If the Government truly believes that ‘boarding which is free of charge is a good thing for the young people of Lambeth’ then surely the same is true for any young person in every local authority, particularly for those young people who are vulnerable or otherwise disadvantaged?”

Specialist subject teachers parachuted into primary schools

The reforms are outlined in a radical blueprint designed to overhaul the system of teacher training in England.

From 2012, funding will be reallocated to allow more state-funded training places to be made available for subject specialist primary school teachers.

They will get priority places over students taking general primary courses and schools will be offered the chance to train their own primary specialists.

Trainees teaching science, maths and foreign languages could be offered extra financial rewards because the subjects are seen as vital to pupils’ future chances of getting into top universities and securing a good job.

Ministers will also toughen up the selection process to weed out unsuitable trainees and introduce a package of generous incentives to attract the brightest graduates.

For the first time in 2013, students must pass basic tests in English and maths to start postgraduate training courses – and will only be allowed to re-sit assessments twice. Tests themselves will also be toughened up and the pass marks will be raised.

It will replace the current system in which student teachers normally take exams half-way through one-year courses and are permitted unlimited re-sits.

As reported on Tuesday, the Government will also introduce a system of tapered bursaries designed to attract graduates with first-class honours degrees.

The top students will be able to claim ￡20,000 scholarships – given out in monthly instalments throughout their course – to teach physics, maths, chemistry and modern languages. The best students will also be eligible for ￡9,000 bursaries to teach other “priority” secondary school subjects and to train as primary teachers.

Graduates with a 2:1 or 2:2 degree will handed smaller awards, while those with third-class degrees will be banned from claiming state funding.

But teachers condemned the move as elitist.

Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: “A first class degree does not necessarily a first class teacher make.

“The real incentive which Government needs to address in order to attract people into teaching is not simply bursaries.

“Teachers need to be given greater control over what goes on in the classroom, the unnecessary bureaucratic workload needs to go, pay and conditions need to remain competitive and of course Government needs to ensure a good pension.”

In further reforms, the Government will create a new training programme specifically to allow former Armed Forces personnel to gain qualified teacher status.

Alternative positions will be available in schools for ex-soldiers to act as advisors on discipline and “work with students at risk of exclusion or exhibiting anti-social behaviour”.

Specialist subject teachers parachuted into primary schools

The reforms are outlined in a radical blueprint designed to overhaul the system of teacher training in England.

From 2012, funding will be reallocated to allow more state-funded training places to be made available for subject specialist primary school teachers.

They will get priority places over students taking general primary courses and schools will be offered the chance to train their own primary specialists.

Trainees teaching science, maths and foreign languages could be offered extra financial rewards because the subjects are seen as vital to pupils’ future chances of getting into top universities and securing a good job.

Ministers will also toughen up the selection process to weed out unsuitable trainees and introduce a package of generous incentives to attract the brightest graduates.

For the first time in 2013, students must pass basic tests in English and maths to start postgraduate training courses – and will only be allowed to re-sit assessments twice. Tests themselves will also be toughened up and the pass marks will be raised.

It will replace the current system in which student teachers normally take exams half-way through one-year courses and are permitted unlimited re-sits.

As reported on Tuesday, the Government will also introduce a system of tapered bursaries designed to attract graduates with first-class honours degrees.

The top students will be able to claim ￡20,000 scholarships – given out in monthly instalments throughout their course – to teach physics, maths, chemistry and modern languages. The best students will also be eligible for ￡9,000 bursaries to teach other “priority” secondary school subjects and to train as primary teachers.

Graduates with a 2:1 or 2:2 degree will handed smaller awards, while those with third-class degrees will be banned from claiming state funding.

But teachers condemned the move as elitist.

Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: “A first class degree does not necessarily a first class teacher make.

“The real incentive which Government needs to address in order to attract people into teaching is not simply bursaries.

“Teachers need to be given greater control over what goes on in the classroom, the unnecessary bureaucratic workload needs to go, pay and conditions need to remain competitive and of course Government needs to ensure a good pension.”

In further reforms, the Government will create a new training programme specifically to allow former Armed Forces personnel to gain qualified teacher status.

Alternative positions will be available in schools for ex-soldiers to act as advisors on discipline and “work with students at risk of exclusion or exhibiting anti-social behaviour”.

We shall shame schools that 'muddle through'

Already free schools – fully independent schools within the state sector, launched by this Government, funded by taxpayers and set up by parents and teachers, charities and entrepreneurs – are revolutionising education. Today, the Government is launching plans for more – for children with behavioural problems or special needs.

I know free schools work. I have seen for myself – and what’s happening is fantastic. By next September, more than 80 free schools will have opened across England.

I want them to be the shock troops of innovation in our education system. They are going to smash through complacency. Two thirds of the first ones are oversubscribed, with some seeing more than three applications for every place.

Spotting the real problem schools, looking at the league tables and sending in the inspectors to sort them out is relatively easy. And we remain relentless about combating entrenched failure. We will soon have taken over more failing schools with new academies than in the whole eight years of the programme under Labour.

But it’s just as important to tackle those all over the country content to muddle through – places where respectable results and a decent local reputation mask a failure to meet potential. Children who did well in primary school but who lose momentum. Early promise fades.

This is the hidden crisis in our schools – in prosperous shires and market towns just as much as the inner cities.

So I am excited that Sir Michael Wilshaw, one of the finest head teachers this country has had, is taking over as chief inspector of schools. He’s already made clear that he has coasting schools in his sights.

This challenge is one for all parts of the country – places where governors, parents and teachers might never guess things might be wrong. That’s why it is vital to shine a spotlight on secret failure by giving people the information they need to fight for change.

The last government shied from the problem. It kept huge amounts of data under wraps – focusing only on league tables that seemed to show things were getting better every year. It set a narrow definition of coasting schools, which allowed many to slip through the net undetected. By contrast, this Government is going to widen it so that more average schools are pressed to do better.

From January, we are going to sort out league tables so that everyone involved in schools can see for the first time whether they are doing as well as they should.

From June, we will release data about the performance of all pupils from the National Pupil Database. Of course, it will be anonymous, but you will be able to see what happened to individual pupils: where they started, the progress they made and where they ended up. We’ve also made spending data public. All this will allow people to spot the truth and confront failure where it exists.

We are also toughening up exams. More pupils are taking essential core subjects. Already, around a quarter more children have been entered for modern language and history GCSEs than last year. There’s been a stunning 82 per cent increase in the numbers of pupils studying triple sciences. Later this week, we will also be saying more about plans for apprenticeships.

The point of education is to change lives. It’s not good enough for teachers in shire counties to be satisfied with half of children getting five good GCSEs, when Mossbourne Academy achieves 82 per cent in Hackney.

When people involved in education can see what needs to be done to get out of a rut – and are given the freedom to make their own choices, rather than take orders from above – dramatic improvement is possible. Goffs School in Cheshunt, for instance, went from barely half its pupils achieving five good GCSEs, including English and Maths, to almost three quarters in a single year.

Schools must help children to go further than anyone ever thought they could. We must give parents the evidence they need to get together to demand better. So that is what we are doing.

Michael Gove: 'we will pull all levers to improve schools'

Under the strategy, student teachers will be expected to display better standards of English and maths before being allowed to qualify – scrapping a current rule that gives trainees unlimited attempts to pass basic tests in the three-Rs.

"In particular we are going to ensure in primary schools we will have science and maths specialists, alongside other teachers, to improve their maths and their science so we can once again become a world leading nation, " said Mr Gove.

Private schools cut back in downturn

One school which was enjoying high pupil numbers, a teacher admitted the closure of other local independent schools had allowed them to take advantage and recruit more students?Photo: Alamy

More than one in three teachers and four in 10 non-academic and support staff have are facing pay freezes this year, according to figures from the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) union.

A survey of more than 1,500 school staff found that 46 per cent had seen spending fall in their school this year, with the same percentage expecting a drop this year.

But more than a quarter of those questioned claimed their school had raised fees by at least two per cent this year, with ten per cent saying they had gone up by four per cent or more.

While some schools are thriving despite the economic downturn, others are suffering from a fall in pupil numbers, the ATL said.

More than a quarter of respondents reported that their school had fewer pupils this academic year, but 37 per cent said numbers had gone up.

Some reported that competition from local grammar schools and financial pressures were turning parents away, while a teacher at a school in Lancashire said they were recruiting fewer British and European pupils and more from Nigeria.

At one school which was enjoying high pupil numbers, a teacher admitted the closure of other local independent schools had allowed them to take advantage and recruit more students.

Almost two thirds of staff said they did not expect their school to make any redundancies this year, but there were fears that staff numbers could still fall as recruitment slows down.

One head admitted: "Financial constraints meant when a member of the leadership team left they were not replaced – and we are all doing extra work to cover it – very long hours are now almost impossible hours."

Dr Mary Bousted, ATL general secretary, said: "The majority of staff in independent schools are feeling the full pain of a pay freeze or a well below inflation increase.

"While it is understandable that schools need to keep their costs down in the current economic climate, it is not acceptable for any to use it as an excuse to exploit their staff."

Schools in Sweden can't be beaten: corporal punishment around the world

Even the thought of a teacher striking my son makes me angry. What about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which protects children from “all forms of physical or mental violence”? Not an obstacle, I have learned, since the US is one of only two countries, along with Somalia, which have not ratified it.

Do I really want my offspring to grow up in a kid-cuffing country? And if my family is going to up-sticks and emigrate, where would be the most flagellum-free place?

Countries can be categorised in a four-tier league system, like football teams. The fourth division, the most violent, is where children can be smacked by three groups of punishers: parents, teachers, and government officials. Right at the bottom are Saudi Arabia and Iran, whose regimes impose amputation and mutilation. If we were to move to Iran, its penal code would impose adult sentences on my son when he turns 16, and on my daughter when she is only 10. Anyone caught stealing must endure the amputation of the four fingers on the right hand for the first offence, and half of the left foot for the second.

Malaysia and Singapore regularly cane offenders. Flogging of the feet, or falaka, is used by strict Islamic regimes, and was applied by Uday Hussein to punish players on the Iraqi national football team who missed a penalty or an open goal. His favoured instruments were thorn-studded whips and electric cables.

Bangladesh is seeking promotion out of the fourth division, banning the use of religious edicts, or fatwas, in July 2010. But provincial justice is defying central government. Last month, a terrible story emerged of a 14-year-old girl in the Shariatpur district. She was accused of having an affair with a married man. A local imam ignored her protests of innocence and issued a fatwa that she be lashed 101 times, in public. She died a week later.

Under pressure from the imam, doctors wrote a post-mortem saying she had no signs of injury but had perished from “convulsions due to hysteria”. Her body was exhumed to reveal that she had died from internal bleeding and wounds to her scalp, abdomen, back, chest, arm and legs. Police are now treating the case as murder.

The third division of child clobberings is where children are beaten by parents and teachers. Here we find a brace of European countries – the Czech Republic and France – as well as Australia and Iraq. This is also where the US sits.

American supporters of corporal punishment often cite the Old Testament book of Proverbs, chapter 13: “Those who spare the rod hate their children, but those who love them are diligent to discipline them.”

According to Deborah Sendek, director of the Center for Effective Discipline, a non-profit organisation based in Ohio, this Biblical interpretation underpinned American law on the mistreatment of children for nearly a century after the country was founded.

Corporal punishment remains widespread in American schools and homes, largely because of a 1977 Supreme Court ruling, Ingraham vs Wright. The case centred on James Ingraham, a 14-year-old student in Florida, who allegedly disobeyed a teacher’s order to leave the school stage. Ingraham was held down and spanked more than 20 times with a paddle. He suffered a haematoma that left him bed-ridden for days.

Ingraham’s parents sued the school for violating the 8th Amendment that prohibits “cruel and unusual punishment”, and for denying his basic right of “due process.” But the Justices upheld school beatings as constitutional.

Corporal punishment retains a huge wellspring of national support. A study done in 2005 by SurveyUSA showed that 72 per cent of American parents believe “it is OK to spank a child”.

“We estimate that one in two American children are getting spanked or slapped, with a higher concentration of beatings in less educated, lower socio-economic families,” Sendek says.

As far as schools are concerned, individual states decide on whether teachers may hit students. Today, 19 out of 50 states give their blessing to corporal punishment in publicly-funded schools. Those states are marked in red on the map below:

Schools must keep a record of each beating. In 2006, the Office of Civil Rights documented 223,000 beatings in American public schools. That figure would be far higher if statistics were available for beatings in private schools, which 48 states allow.

Only two US states, New Jersey and Iowa, have outlawed beatings in state and private schools.

The favoured method of chastisement in American schools and homes is a wooden paddle. “Teachers are restricted to paddling or spanking on the buttocks,” Sendek explains. “They can’t strike the arms or face.”

Nevertheless, Sendek cites numerous cases of lasting harm. “We’ve seen serious injuries to the back and upper thighs and cases of pregnant adolescents miscarrying. Then there’s the psychological impact. For a student being bullied or having academic difficulties, who may be contemplating suicide, a beating can be the final straw.”

There are fewer restrictions on what parents can do. Sendek says: “Americans feel like we fought for the independence on how to parent and our laws reflect that belief: freedom to speak, freedom to smack.”

There’s a long and tragic history of American children who have died from parental beatings. Brooklyn, where I live, still mourns the 2006 death of Nixzmary Brown, a seven-year-old girl who endured months of beatings by her stepfather, and was eventually killed when he slammed her head into a bathtub. The killing prompted changes in the New York state law to improve child protective services.

I asked Sendek what legal limitations there are on beating. “Most states insist that a child cannot sustain an injury. This technically prohibits any bruising or tissue damage. But that damage happens with any spanking. It’s absurd. No parent ever receives training in how to beat their kids. So the reality is that thousands of pre-school kids every year are getting injured, not just with paddles and hands, but with belts and other objects.”

Proponents of corporal punishment often bring up the case of a child who sticks a metal instrument into an electrical socket, or touches a hot stove. I asked Sendek whether a smack on the bottom might help to fix such habits. “Absolutely not,” she insists. “That smack might change the behaviour at that moment, but it’s useless in the long term. A child in pain does not process things clearly. Effective discipline requires a clear, firm explanation of why that stove or socket is dangerous.”

A growing number of organisations have added their names to the call for an abolition of corporal punishment, including the Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, The American Psychology Association and the National Education Association.

In June, a Global Summit On Ending Corporal Punishment will be held in Dallas, Texas.

The organisers, including Sendek, hope that it will lead to America rising to the Second Division, where only parents may beat their children. In this group, we find Canada, Russia, Japan, China, South Africa and most of Europe – including the United Kingdom.

Historically, Blighty has only given up her floggings with a massive fight. Until 1891, British husbands were allowed to beat their wives in order to keep them “within the bounds of duty”.

It was not until 1948 that Britain abolished judicial corporal punishment, usually whipping and birching – well after its European neighbours.

As for corporal punishment in schools, Parliament outlawed the practice in state schools in 1986, and in private schools in 1998. (The ban took effect in England and Wales in 1999, Scotland in 2000 and Northern Ireland in 2003.)

But beating remains legal in British homes. Scottish law is tougher than in England. As of 2003, it banned the use of the belt, cane, slipper, wooden spoon or any other implement.

Some traditionalists still call for the return of the rod. A 2008 survey of more than 6,000 British teachers found more than a fifth believed the cane should be brought back. In the survey, one supply teacher said: “Children’s behaviour is now absolutely outrageous in the majority of schools. There are too many anger management people who give children the idea that it is their right to flounce out of lessons for time out because they have problems with their temper. They should be caned instead.”

Tony Little, the current headmaster of Eton, told me: “As someone who’s been a headmaster for 20 years, I have never felt it can be useful as a deterrent, or as a way to convey a message. It’s a very redundant approach.”

I asked Little how things had changed so much since I was beaten, 27 years ago. “There’s been a generational shift. It’s just so far off the radar from being considered now. We teach boys through their life and work to respect others. Laying into someone physically is just not appropriate.”

Still, there is no political momentum to abolish it in homes, so British prospects are poor for joining the Premiership. This growing group of 29 nations practising “universal prohibition” includes New Zealand, the Netherlands, Tunisia, Kenya, Spain, Israel and Venezuela.

So which of these should I move our family to? The top-dog equivalent of Manchester United, the country with the most anti-beating pedigree is ... drum-roll ... Sweden. It was the first country to introduce universal prohibition in 1979. I hope my children develop a taste for meatballs.

Sweden, here we come!

More information on individual countries’ laws on corporal punishment can be found here

Read Sebastian Doggart's New York blog here

This article was originally published in the Telegraph Weekly World Edition