Rev up your scooter and dust off your Who records, the modbacc is coming to town. Andy Burnham has conjured up a shiny new challenge to Michael Gove's ebacc, featuring an array of subjects rather than an elite few. He's expected to attack the ebacc at the Labour party conference later today:
"It's indefensible that Latin is promoted above ICT, engineering, business studies or economics in the English bacc. It's indefensible that creative subjects don't feature."
But can Burnham come up with something coherent enough to win over frustrated teachers, or does the modbacc look a trifle too much like style over content?
More education news from the Guardian
• AQA's suggestion that high-performing students from weak schools be given bonus points at A-level to help them get places at the best universities has come under fire, unsurprisingly, from those very universities. The exam board's Neil Stringer (@neilstringer) believes his idea would help universities identify the brightest pupils. But here's the Russell Group's Wendy Piatt:
"No single measure of educational context could fairly rank all applicants, and we would warn against such crude approaches. Social and economic disadvantage are complex problems that are difficult to measure reliably, especially at the level of individual applicants."
• A fascinating live chat took place yesterday afternoon with three academics - Howard Hotson, John Holmwood and Danny Dorling - who are part of a group promoting an "alternative white paper" on higher education. Do take a look - the standard of debate is impressive.
Education news from around the web
• Back to the AQA debate, which has been exercising minds this morning. You may like to look at the actual document before taking a view yourself - it's here on a pdf.
Michael Gove has written a response in the Mail that has got right up Twitter's nose:
"The deluded notion that background matters more than ability is still alive, well and undermining excellence in the cloistered seminar rooms of the leftwing education establishment.
How else to explain the bizarre idea which has emanated from one of our examination boards that students with weaker A-levels, if they've attended a poor school, should be able to automatically leapfrog students who possess stronger A-levels in the race for university places?
Exam boards exist to measure ability, not engage in crude social engineering."
@SchoolDuggery retorts:
"That Mail article by Gove is vile. Pure tribalism when the idea being discussed is complex and needs deep thought. Sorry."
The Telegraph quotes Barnaby Lenon, chairman of the Independent Schools Council and former headmaster of Harrow, as saying:
"The implications for this country's educational system are horrendous."
Oh I don't know - floods of rich kids banging on the doors of the country's least successful comps? Sounds thrilling.
• Ed Miliband's former school has abandoned plans to become an academy, the Independent reports. Both he and brother David attended Haverstock School, a comprehensive in north London, which recently started a consultation to become an academy. But it's changed its mind, apparently.
• The vice-chancellor of the University of London has announced he is stepping down just one year into the post. According to a THE report, Geoffrey Crossick says he will leave the part-time role in July 2012 because the workload is more onerous than he expected.
Education seminars from Guardian Professional
The Guardian Teacher Network runs training sessions for teachers throughout the year in Yorkshire and London. Upcoming courses include:
Is your school thinking of becoming an academy?
This seminar will provide an independent view of the advantages and disadvantages of converting to academy status. It will look at the process of conversion, the implications of academy status, and the support and funding available. November 30, in London. February 21, 2012 in Yorkshire
Protecting young people in a digital age
Led by school digital safety experts, this one-day course will provide safeguarding policy and Ofsted criteria updates, as well as looking at social media and offering practical advice to help your school develop its digital safety policies. February 1, 2012 in London. February 8, 2012 in Yorkshire.
For a full list visit the Guardian Teacher Network
Teachers seminars from the Guardian Education Centre
Reading for pleasure – bringing classics to life
This half-day conference for secondary school teachers will explore the use and teaching of classic books from Dickens and beyond. Keynote speakers will be Simon Callow, actor and Dickens enthusiast and Judy Golding, daughter of William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies.
20 October, London
Insight into digital journalism
Spend a day at the Guardian and find out how an international news media organisation works. The seminar will focus on aspects of digital journalism including writing and editing for a news website, the relationship between print and web journalism, live blogging, the use of social media, podcasting and video production.
2 November, Kings Place, London
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From Guardian Professional
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