We ask the heads of two leading schools, is it time to abolish GCSEs? The 700-year-old Coronation chair that has been used for the crowning of King Charles has 'jeopardised' the monarchy by meeting European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, Do we get our 87p back? She dreams of having a nicer home, She spends almost all her time in the tent when not at school: her brothers Ali and Deeb wont let her play football with them, Hadi, 2, is taught some basics of English by Sara to prepare him for enrolment into an UNRWA school when he is 6. Registered Company no. It was backed by the shadow chancellor John McDonnell. increasingly considered redundant given the raising of the school leaving age to 18, and governments fixation with exams. I'm sure everyone appreciates how challenging the last 18 months have been for everyone, especially teachers. Bedales Head Magnus Basharaat has responded to a major consultation conducted by exam board Pearson Future of Qualifications and Assessment steered by an expert panel including former education secretaries Damian Hinds, Baroness Morris and Lord Blunkett. I can understand why some commentators are advocating the abolition of GCSEs but I feel their focus is misplaced. Magnus Bashaarat, headmaster, Bedales School Alistair McConville, director of learning and innovation, Bedales School Will Goldsmith, director of teaching and learning, Latymer Upper School, London Dame Alison Peacock, chief executive, Chartered College of Teaching Leanne Forde-Nassey, headteacher, The Key Education Centre, Gosport and Havant We must recognise that it is possible to design a creative and challenging programme for young people around the current exams. Find out whatBedalescandidates are assessed on and how, and at what point before they start school. Writing in The Times, he said he liked the idea of a national education system without the dichotomy between state and independent schools but that the UK had an awfully long way to go before it was ready to integrate the two systems without sacrificing everything good that we do. For a reminder of what education might look like in our schools and colleges, we need look no further than the 2004 Tomlinson Report. 'Were I to be given the ultimatum that Bedales be made a state school, and that it should follow the national curriculum and policymakers' preoccupations with the transfer of knowledge and disregard for humanities and the arts, I would have to decline. Wealthy aristocratic lifestyle of the ex Tatler It-girl who grew up on her family's sprawling Dorset estate: 'Digital antidepressants' to be rolled out on the NHS as health bosses give eight apps and web-based therapy Their 53 days on the run: The trail for Constance Marten and Mark Gordon had gone cold it was only by School's out AGAIN: Tens of thousands of teachers across the Midlands and eastern England are set to strike Are YOU at risk of being cancelled? Unlike the others, Hadi was the only one born into tent life. Catherine Lough. However, many heads including some in private schools have said the GCSEs fail to provide a well-rounded education and put too much pressure on students. He said GCSEs should be scrapped by the Government altogether, but added that in the meantime private schools were slowly moving away from the qualification. With appropriate moderation, this would play to strengths already present in our education system. Bedales Senior, Pupils at Bedales Prep, Dunhurst took part in the Royal Society for the, The Spring term may have only started a few weeks ago, but children at Bedales, In a piece published by School Management Plus, Head of Bedales Will Goldsmith, U10/U11 Girls' Hockey v Ripley Court (A), U13 Basketball v Frensham and St Edmunds (H), Bedales Head Magnus Basharaat has responded to a major consultation conducted by exam board Pearson . Magnus Bashaarat told i that retro-traditional GCSEs were terribly past their sell-by-date. 'This approach enables students to concentrate on the complex business of learning, developing and becoming their own person.'. Discover the reason behind the inception of theschool byitsfounder, John Haden Badley. It doesnt serve any purpose anymore.. Most significantly, compulsory GCSEs at 16 ensure all children receive a broad curriculum that sets them up for life. Registered in England No. Bedales is situated just one hour's journey from London, and has a linked prep school, Dunhurst and pre-prep, Dunannie. Her brothers are now inviting their sister to come and play with them, which is very unlike things are back home in the tent where Saras place is indoors helping with chores, Sara, Ali and Deeb chase the white water on Lebanons coastline. Bedales has been innovating with its own wider range of assessments since 2006 when it introduced Bedales Assessed Courses. We all need to work towards this together. "Reflecting over the summer" reads as code for 'jumping before he was pushed'. School should be a preparation for life, rather than a job, Mr Bashaarat insisted. Asked whether Bedales could offer its qualifications to other schools, he said thats certainly on the table for the future. Private schools have been so far restrained in their criticism of the motion, choosing to focus on the work they do to justify their charitable status through offering bursaries to poorer pupils and collaborating with state schools. Rather, Magnus believes we should build on the re-emergence of teacher assessment drawing upon a range of evidence, resulting from the COVIDpandemic and the cancellation of exams. 'Mr Bashaarat is highly experienced and joins us having been Headmaster of Milton Abbey School and, most recently, Bedales. Rishi Sunak looked like he had won the lottery. After a year when he worked in newspapers (the Observer and The London Evening Standard) he completed a PGCE in English and Drama at King's College, London, and then started his teaching career at Sherborne School in 1992. The educationalist Bill Lucas has written that a focus on STEM subjects at school is not sufficient for would-be-engineers. Magnus has been Head of Bedales Schools since September 2018. Sara can see across the Bekaa Valley to the mountains, beyond which is Syria and the distant memories of the old life they had, Sara is keen to leave the tent, which leaks water from the roof when it rains and in the freezing cold winter months the snow drifts in. The demise of the AS-Level freed up time that we have used to develop a programme of teacher-designed diploma courses. Hampshire DISCLAIMER: I hereby declare that I do not own the. education secretaries Damian Hinds, Baroness Morris and Lord Blunkett. Mr Bashaarat said the school had been offering BACs for over 10 years and it doesnt mean that there are fewer offers made to university applicants at all. We have noticed that there is an issue with your subscription billing details. The same cannot be said of the state system, however, he said. The start of the pandemic saw some independent schools delivering their curricula online to a paying customer base beyond their usual rolls. . Magnus Bashaarat, the head of Bedales School, says 'retro-traditional' GCSEs are outdated By Will Hazell Education Correspondent January 26, 2020 6:00 pm (Updated July 10, 2020 4:51 pm) More. Church Road Magnus is enthusiastic about some of the possibilities revealed by schools migration to online learning for example the shared real-time editing of written work using SharePoint. E: admin@bedales.org.uk, Accessibility | Terms & Conditions | Sitemap | Cookies Policy | Privacy | Contact Us, Bedales Schools | Website Design by Oyster. She is currently engaged to Amir Fadlan. However, we dont need another change to the exam system in order to achieve this. SO22 4NR. He criticised the Labour motion but also criticisedthe 'unholy triumvirate' of Boris Johnson, David Cameron and Jacob Rees-Mogg for making 'the Eton brand toxic'. Discover whichGCSEs,A Levelsand BTECsare available to study atthe school, alongside their ownBedalesAssessed Courses. Sara, 11, is a Syrian refugee living in Lebanons Bekaa Valley in an informal tented settlement. leaving thousands of young people feeling let down by a government and Education Secretary who had . Although the pandemic put teachers in the invidious position of having to both deliver the curriculum and perform tasks more normally associated with exam boards, Magnus is not keen to see a return to business as usual in the shape of the usual GCSE and A Level formats. The same could apply to any pupil who wasnt planning to go down the university route after school. Magnus Bashaarat criticised a Labour motion to integrate private schools He is head of famously progressive 37,000-a-year Bedales school in Hampshire Former pupils include Daniel Day Lewis,. This is a way of learning that better reflects life and the workplace: after all, in our adult days we do not have one hour of Maths followed by one hour of Languages and so on. He cares for the stray dogs that visit the settlement and plays with the abundance of stones in the old quarry, Deeb accompanies Sara to buy bread from a small shop run from a neighbours home. Sitting on a swing in Beirut, she hopes for a better future built on a good education and psychosocial support made possible by EAA and UNRWA, Sara has dreams of moving to Canada, Europe or the Gulf states where she can study in English and eventually become a doctor. Magnus Bashaarat, head of Bedales school in Steep, Hampshire,hit out at a Labour motion to integrate all private schools into the government system and have their assets redistributed - a proposition that was passed last week at the party's conference. Find out about the ratio of national to overseas students and the range of countries that students travel from to attend. Sounds like there's a scandal there somewhere! A large number of students change school at 16, and to proceed without any qualifications would not be helpful for the next establishment they enter, whether this is a school, a Sixth Form college or a further education college. Learn more about how many nights of the week students stay at the school, and what happens during the weekends if students dont go home. Last week the Governor's accepted Magnus' resignation after he spent time reflecting over the summer. If your child is applying toindependent schools, this interview provides a powerful insight into the current independent school climate, and the kind of experiences your child can expect comparedto other education systems. Thebank that won't pass on rate rises unless you ring and ask:Just one of the ruses greedy lenders use to Meghan Markle was 'hugely disappointed' by life in the royal family and as a 'global superstar' she 'hated More snow and ice could batter Britain next week: Met Office warns Arctic blast from Greenland could send Shamima Begum and other British women who joined Islamic State and are being held in Syria will 'ultimately' Is YOUR lifestyle good for your heart? considers the national curriculum and associated qualification regime to be prescriptive, dull, narrow and inadequate, and points to the. Get an insight into theBedalesschool environmentand ethos, how it compares toother schools, and the impactthat this has on students wellbeing and learning success. It was a socially distanced audience, but a Skip to primary content Bedales Blog Bedales is the first school to be recognised by UCAS as offering its own GCSE-replacement qualification. Myriam Abbas was born in Baghdad, Iraq. At Bedales we have been offering our own Bedales Assessed Courses (BACs) alongside GCSEs for many years; they are recognised by UCAS and liked by universities and employers alike. A vocal critic of GCSEs, Mr Bashaarat has previously called them a high stakes pub quiz. Mumsnet carries some affiliate marketing links, so if you buy something through our posts, we may get a small share of the sale (more details here). Actress: Our River.Our Sky. Mr Bashaarat, who read English at the University of Edinburgh, was previously deputy head at . Last week the Governor's accepted Magnus' resignation after he spent time reflecting over the summer. Magnus Bashaarat, head of the 37,000-a-year Bedales, said he liked the idea of a national education system without the "dichotomy" between state and independent schools but that Bedales. 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