An interview with Chris Patten:
This month sees the paperback publication of Not Quite The Diplomat, by Chris Patten. Lord Patten has often been described as 'the best Prime Minister we never had'. Conservative MP for 24 years, Minister in many departments - he was also the last Governor of Hong Kong.
His interest in education - and his championing of higher education - is well known - He was appointed Chancellor of Newcastle University in 1999 and elected Chancellor of the University of Oxford in 2003.
Education Village :
The 37.3m Education Village , created from Beaumont Hill Technology College , Springfield Primary School and Haughton Community School is the first in the country to bring together a primary, secondary and special school, putting children with special needs at its heart. The resulting "learning campus" has at its heart a mission to develop a unique approach to inclusive schools.
It is seen as a national education experiment and local authorities across the country have visited the site and will be looking on with interest.
The new school has state of the art facilities, including a swimming pool, hydrotherapy school, dance and drama studios and a large performance hall, which opens out onto the village green area to allow for indoor and outdoor performances.
Lesley Hilton went along to talk to Dame Dela Smith, executive director of the education village and Val Hetherington acting head of the special needs school .........and some of the parents and pupils.
Work Experience:
Work-related learning is now statutory for 14-16 year olds (key stage 4). It can mean many things but does specify that students have to learn from "direct experiences of work" and many schools fulfil this requirement by sending their students off - usually in year 10 before they've started on their GCSE courses - when they are 14 or 15. There's no doubt work experience provokes mixed feelings amongst parents, young people and teachers. In the studio with Libby is Roger Norgrove, south west regional director of the Trident Trust, and Steve Roberts (employer and parent), an architect at The Carl Fisher Partnership. Joining them on the line from Bristol is Pippa Thomas, work experience coordinator and business studies teacher at Ridings High School near Bristol .
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