Good news on UK education

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I'm agreeing with the posts about comparing children in this country with those in the Far East who obviously go on to achieve great success academically, but at what price? The whole tiger mother syndrome does not seem to allow for anything else other than being the absolute best at whatever, violin, maths, physics, depending on the child me thinks that this could produce a genius, equally it could also produce a basket case! I'd rather UK emulated Finland I've read great things about their education system, not least the fact that they demand very high qualifications of their teachers.

Well, only if they are enjoying a sauna, but I expect that applies only to consenting adults.

Oriental kids often good at maths because:
languages make maths easier - ours is illogical - eleven? fourteen? eh?
they use the abacus to calculate.
Bet they don't get hit with sticks in Finland

There are quite a few hangers and floggers not too far from home who would probably like to bring back the birch!

We had a South Korean girl come to our school. She was amazed that we didn't hit her and the other children with a big stick. Apparently in South Korean schools if a child misbehaves they get hit with a big stick. If they get a question wrong they get hit with a big stick. If they answer too slowly they get hit with a big stick. You get the drift. Everything is learned by rote and there is no room for individuality.

She was amazing at mental maths but had no imagination when it came to literacy.

Seems it's Ok for the Government to make excuses for missing its own targets (i.e. Back to Work programme) but not for anyone else..schools, hospitals etc!

i thenk the government needs to become an academy as it has failed!

The government seems to think it can walk on water.

Wel, the government seem to think they can measure our happiness!

First you have to find out how to measure happiness! My GDs are very happy at school, though.
Slight digression, but when I took them in on Monday, the elder said "Right, you drop me off and walk straight past" and the younger one said, "No kissing, when you leave me in the playground".
Oh dear.....

I wonder how some of the Asian countries would fare on a table of children's happiness, seeing how some children are relentlessly hot-housed practically from birth.

Finland that is!

Not that sixth place isn't very good.

Now can we have a league table of the happiest schoolchildren?

I think they have excellent free, consistent, state pre-school provision as well.

absent!

Well obviously South Korean education is gangnam style.

I believe children don't start school in Finland until they are seven. The UK's obsession with league tables and targets have resulted in some really bad suggestions - like setting attainment tests for four year olds.

I can see why the reforms in Finland have worked. Excellent local schools, no creaming off the bright pupils, highly qualified and valued teachers, consistency of reform programme for forty years.
That would be nice, wouldn't it?
No clue about South Korea!

I know that entry into grammar school was closely related to parental income! The rich get richer..............

When I was a school gov, (2ndary) we used to have about 1/3 "special needs" and never got any credit for that in league tables either. Individual school league tables measure, mainly, demographics of intake!
Schools in Uk have improved a huge amount under the last government. They put a great deal more money in per child.
Yes Gove will be trying to get credit no doubt but we know it takes more than 2 years to make a difference...
Meanwhile his minions will be puzzling about what Finland and S Korean systems have in common
Any thoughts?

When I was a school governor, one year, our Y6 had 7 children with special needs of one kind or another. This wasn't taken into account when the league tables were compiled, so parents looking for a place for their children got completely the wrong impression. There are lies, damn lies and statistics...

UK schools are certainly better than French schools, were individuality is frowned on and everything is regimented. I thought my grandchildren's schools were excellent.

Absolutely VQ. Of course cohort size makes a huge difference. I used to work with tiny rural schools, where one or two children can make a ten percent difference. You can never tell from media reports, but it sounded as if this survey had a more robust methodology than some. I know PISA say you can't compare their historical data, but everybody does it.