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DON'T DROP DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
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In January this year, the Government announced that it would be launching a National Curriculum Review to consult on major changes it wanted to make to the primary and secondary national curricula in England. The latest thinking means that the only subjects which remain as a statutory part of the National Curriculum are English, Mathematics, Science and Physical Education. All other subjects may become optional and therefore will be taught only at the discretion of the school.
Whilst we fully believe in schools’ abilities to provide a broad and balanced curriculum for all students, we are concerned that too few schools currently recognise the importance and value of a D&T education, and we believe it truely is an important part of education. We believe it needs to stay in the curriculum as a statutory subject. We believe action is needed to make the Government understand this. If you believe this too, click here to find out more about the campaign to save Design and Technology in British schools.
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Barclays to support new free schools and academies |
CES 2012: 3D printer makers' rival visions of future |
Ofsted plans to scrap 'satisfactory' label for schools |
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Barclays Bank is to lend its support to England's new academies and free schools. The bank will offer £1m to groups that want to set up free schools and invest £15m in money management courses. It will also offer work experience to 3,000 pupils aged 16 to 18 from academies and free schools, and encourage staff to become governors. The National Union of Teachers accused the government of "opening up schools to the market place". A total of 24 free schools opened in September last year and 71 are due to open from this September. Academies and free schools are key parts of changes the coalition government has brought in. They are state-funded but with more freedom over the curriculum and teachers' pay and conditions than other schools. The government wants all schools to become academies, which stand aside from local authority control. Free schools can be set up by groups including charities, businesses, parents and religious bodies. But critics opposed to free schools and the expansion of academies say this will lead to a two-tier system and the break-up of the state education system. |
With a whir and a click the job is done. In the space of 20 minutes a plastic bottle opener has been constructed by the Replicator - a 3D printing machine capable of making objects up to the size of a loaf of bread. The device is made by the New York start-up Makerbot Industries and was launched this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The newly-created bottle opener feels warm to the touch and has to be prised away from its base. It has been created by using extrusion technology - a process in which a spindle of plastic thread is unravelled, melted and fed through a print head which draws the object layer by layer - in this case at a rate of 40mm per second. 3D printing is nothing new - engineers and designers have been using it for more than two decades to create prototypes. What has changed is that the printers are now being pitched at consumers. Discount designs The Replicator is being sold for $1,749 (£1,130) for the basic version that makes objects in one colour. An additional $250 buys a two-colour version. Each spool of plastic sells for about $50 - enough to build a toy castle playset which would cost up to three times the price in a store. |
Education watchdog Ofsted wants to toughen the language of inspections in England - changing the "satisfactory" rating to "requires improvement". Ofsted's chief inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, wants to send a message that "satisfactory" is now unsatisfactory and that more schools should be pushing for the higher rating of "good". This is the latest attempt to improve schools which are seen as "coasting". The National Union of Teachers criticised such labels as "insulting". But Prime Minister David Cameron said: "This is not some small bureaucratic change. It marks a massive shift in attitude. I don't want the word 'satisfactory' to exist in our education system. 'Just good enough' is frankly not good enough." Sir Michael wants to see more schools progressing beyond the current category of "satisfactory", with the change in description intended to emphasise that these schools need to make improvements. At present, inspectors can judge schools to be "inadequate", "satisfactory", "good" or "outstanding". Subject to consultation, the satisfactory grade will become "requires improvement". |