ABSTRACT
We are in a time of transition in schools. But we are only part-way through the transformation of the school system. Only half of our 16-year-olds obtain five good grades at GCSE yet Digby Jones, the Director General of the CBI says that soon 80 per cent of the jobs in the UK will require five or more good GCSEs or their vocational equivalent. Transition can bring its own difficulties (as well as opening new possibilities) for children moving from primary to secondary schools. It is hardly less traumatic for the education world as it moves from old to new ways of working. There are schools which have embraced the implications of change with enthusiasm: we have seen some in these pages. The use of data to transform pupil attainment has become near-universal. But there is also a sense of foreboding among many others about what the future holds. Teachers worry about what their role will be – a fear that can lead to reluctance to incorporate new technologies into learning processes and suspicion about the enhanced status of classroom assistants. The Government has promised an unprecedented building programme of repair and renewal, but how many schools will grasp this as an opportunity to make their buildings more fit for their contemporary purpose, rather than simply a chance to repair past damage?
