28 May 2010 All schools in England invited to become academies Ahead of a full Education and Children’s Bill in the autumn, the Academies Bill outlined in the Queen’s Speech this week is the first schools reform for the new government. This “free schools policy” allows high achieving state-funded schools to become academies and leave Local Authority control, and for new academies to be set up by parents or other groups without consulting the Local Authority.
28 May 2010 Hunt’s inaugural speech unveils the government’s key reforms for culture At the Roundhouse in London on 19 May, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt spelled out his vision for the arts and culture in his inaugural speech to the arts community. You can view highlights
14 May 2010 Cameron backs CLA – but what change can we expect under the coalition government? We have a new government led by Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative Party in coalition with the Liberal Democrats. The position on cultural learning isn’t particularly clear in either the Conservative or Liberal Democrat manifestos. Neither committed to a cultural entitlement, or curriculum changes that reinforced culture at the heart of teaching and learning. This situation is likely to be fast-changing , but here we outline what we might expect.
14 May 2010 Cultural Learning Alliance signatories show strength of support for cultural entitlement In March, we launched the Cultural Learning Alliance and asked people to show their support for a cultural entitlement by signing up to join the Alliance. There has been a great show of strength from across culture and education, parents and the general public with almost 1,000 people signed up so far. This tells us just how important cultural learning is to people across the country.
14 May 2010 Scotland invests in new Creative Learning Networks New Creative Learning Networks are being developed in Scotland, supporting a range of approaches bringing together local people with an interest in developing creative experiences and opportunities for children and young people to learn, communicate and champion the arts and culture. The scope of those involved in the networks is broad and aims to include schools and wider communities including children and young people, parents, youth workers, local authority officers and the cultural sector. Some of the networks will be brand new, whilst others will build on existing local programmes.
14 May 2010 Children, Schools and Families Bill failed to come into law In the first e-news we reported that the Alliance had responded to the consultation on Pupil and Parent Guarantees, part of the Children’s Schools and Families Bill.