Dear GEM
members
Last week the
Department for Education announced an inquiry into the English Baccalaureate
(E-Bac). It would be useful for GEM to respond to this at the outset as
there could be great opportunities for cross-curricular work with the 14-19 age
group. If you would like to have your say you can submit your own comments
via http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/education-committee/news/new-inquiry-announced-e-bac/.
I will be sending a response on behalf of GEM and would welcome any
comments which you feel we should include. Send them to me off-list
unless you think GEM members would value a more open discussion at this
stage. The DfE lists the following headings:
- the purpose and
benefits of the E-Bac and its value as a measure of pupil and school
performance;
- the choice of subjects included in the E-Bac;
- the
implications of the E-Bac for pupils, schools and employers;
- international
comparators for the E-Bac.
The deadline for
submissions is 8th March so please send any comments by 1st March if
you want me to incorporate them in the GEM response.
To emphasise the
importance of this, it's worth looking at the Welsh Baccalaureate, which has
been running since 2002. It has a core section which includes a
significant cultural element (within a theme called 'Wales, Europe and the
World') which ensures that all students across the vocational and
academic spectrum study their cultural heritage (see http://www.wbq.org.uk/about-us). The
Welsh Bacc is currently taken by about 50,000 students across Wales (70,000 from
September 2011, in 240 schools and colleges) so the potential is
huge.
I'll look forward to
hearing from you.
Robin
Clutterbuck
GEM
Trustee
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