Educayshon Update

Once more unto the blog, dear friends, one more.

Over the Christmas break, Bristol City Council announced that the council officer responsible for Children and Young People's Services is leaving. According to the Post:

Ms Tomlinson will return to work on January 5 but it is thought she will not be in her high-profile post by the time of the next full council meeting on January 13, when further discussions will be held over plans to shut three schools.

Meanwhile, the Department for Children, Schools and Families has told the council to resubmit its strategy for the city's 110 primary sector schools by the end of January.

Her parting gift to the city is a few shiny buildings, a plan to hand £15 million to education consultants, and a marginal improvement in exam results. Unfortunately the latter achievement is overshadowed by the steady relaxation of marking criteria for exams over the last generation.

Not that Bristol's problems are down to appointed council officers. Ultimately it is on the desks of elected politicians in the Council House where the buck stops. However, now might be a good time to ask what marginal benefit does Bristol gain from paying £120,000 per annum - not including expenses, benefits and gold-plated pension - for a council officer. Given that their ability and experience are completely constrained by political policy, could we not get the same level of performance by paying £80,000 a year or even £60,000 (the latter still twice the UK's average annual wage).

In preparation for some future posts on local schools, here are the bandings used by Ofsted -the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills:

• Grade 1 Outstanding
• Grade 2 Good
• Grade 3 Satisfactory
• Grade 4 Inadequate

"Satisfactory" is the interesting one, as although it might sound like an acceptable grade, it is in fact a whisker away from a grade that would place a school in special measures.

Good examples of this are Fairfield School and particularly Monks Park.

Related Links:

City of Bristol - Provisional School Examination and Test Results 2008