All through schools

Some time ago I argued that one of the key reasons why schools in this
country do not do as well as in other countries was because of the
disruptive nature of a system where children transfer between schools
at the age of 11.

My original view on this, and other education issues, is here.

I was therefore very interested to read that Adnrew Adonis, Labour
Schools Minister, is advocating having all-through secondary schools. Click here for the article.

The basic premise is that chldren stay in the same school from 5 to 18
and therefore do not have the disruptive change of school at 11. It
also means that there are wider opportunities for educating those under
11 in what are called minority subjects.

I believe this is an excellent idea but it has one flaw. In urban areas
you need to find the land to build these schools on. The fact is our
traditional system of schooling, especially where the middle school
still exists, are going to find this sort of change very challenging.