Election, SATs and jazz

Hello,

Well it’s finally arrived, Election Week! From an education perspective, the TES pre-election debate featuring the Lab, Lib & Tory education spokesmen was interesting, focusing on the topic: “Contrary to headlines in the popular press, teachers and schools have never been better”. There’s a good commentary and snippets from the people who followed the debate on Twitter here. What I’m finding most fascinating about the election this time round is the sheer amount of chatter about it – debates, online coverage, twittering (aside – I’m reliably informed this should be ‘tweeting’, but I prefer twittering, it’s more onomatopoeic!) – so many ways to catch up on what’s being proposed, purported and promised, and so many ways to have your say!

I’ve also read today that the three main parties concur that the SATs boycott should not go ahead (see article here) – Lib Dem man Laws sounds the most sensible, suggesting a replacement process of internal marking and selected moderation, which sounds to me like what’s being implemented with APP for KS3? If so, wouldn’t this make a lot of sense? Students would be used to working with this method of assessment, and it would be easier to judge their levels when they arrive in Y7 and subsequently to plan KS3 most effectively based on this information. I’m not a teacher though – comment and have your say! The team would be interested to hear your thoughts on this, and on APP in general. Is it working for you? Do you think it would be a good replacement for SATs at KS2 and ease transition to KS3?

In other news, Cheltenham has been buzzing this weekend with its annual International Jazz Festival. Ali, Becky L and I attended some very varied events, from the free gigs in the Imperial Gardens where lots of people bravely chanced the intermittently inclement Bank Holiday weather to catch music by the likes of local man Jake Hall and students from the Birmingham Conservatoire, to beat-boxing in the Battle of the Beats spectacular (man vs machine vs instrument), to my particular highlight, Polar Bear. Described as a “significant ripple in the new wave of youthful, ahem, post-jazz”, and led by the adorably charismatic and talented drummer Seb Rochford, the band were an eclectic and experimental mix of free jazz and electronica, drawing on many different influences and pushing the boundaries without ever pushing me away – I was absolutely absorbed and delighted for the full 90 minute set. They even turned a balloon into an instrument, and it worked – honest!

Emma