Jun152017

Swinney owes parents an apology over school autonomy

Scottish Conservatives
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15 Jun 2017

Liz Smith

John Swinney should apologise to parents at schools who want to come out of local authority control, following his statement in Holyrood today.

For years, the SNP has hinted it would allow parents, such as those at St Joseph’s Primary in East Dunbartonshire, to take control.

However, the education secretary said such a move would not be part of Scottish Government school reforms today, which instead focused on more minor measures.

The Scottish Conservatives have repeatedly called on ministers to give parents the power to take schools out of local authority control if it was in the best interests of teachers and pupils.

The campaign group linked to St Joseph’s has also met with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as part of its drive to make changes to Scottish Government policy.

Scottish Conservative shadow education secretary Liz Smith said:

“We want to see a school system that encompasses more choice and diversity, giving real devolution to headteachers.

“That’s because we believe it’s the existing system, not our teachers, which is responsible for delivering weaker standards in so many areas of our schools.

“So while we welcome the general principles behind the reforms, we don’t think the reforms go nearly far enough.

“They are half-baked and only pay lip-service to real devolution.

“These reforms are not enough to deal with the root cause of the problems faced.”

Scottish Conservative West of Scotland MSP Maurice Golden said:

“John Swinney owes the parents of St Joseph’s a full apology.

“For two-and-a-half years, the parents of St Joseph’s have been strung along by the Scottish Government.

“They’ve been led to believe that their plans would be given a fair hearing. It turns out those assurances counted for nothing.

“This whole episode has shown up a Scottish Government which doesn’t listen.

“The SNP should be ashamed of the way it’s handled this from start to finish.”

The Scottish Conservatives have repeatedly called for parents to be able to take schools out of local authority control:

http://www.scottishconservatives.com/2015/02/first-ministers-warm-words-consensus-ring-hollow/

Jun152017

Appointments to new teacher training accreditation board announced

Welsh Government
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The Education Workforce Council: Teacher Education Accreditation Committee, which will be known as ‘the board’, will accredit individual Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes.

The newly appointed Chair is Professor John Furlong, Emeritus Professor of Education, Oxford University Department of Education, and Emeritus Fellow of Green Templeton College, Oxford.

Professor Olwen Mcnamara, Professor of Teacher Education, University of Manchester and Dr Aine Lawlor, former CEO of the Teaching Council Ireland will be Deputy Chairs. These appointments will run from 12 June 2017 to 31 May 2022.

The Welsh Government has announced new rules for the courses that train teachers as part of the drive to attract the best talent to the profession. The changes for ITE include strengthening how schools and universities work together and increasing the role of research.

The latest accreditation criteria are part of the Welsh Government’s national mission to reform education and include:

  • an increased role for schools
  • a clearer role for universities
  • structured opportunities to link school and university learning
  • a greater emphasis on research.

The changes build on the new professional teaching and leadership standards and link to the wider education reforms taking place in Wales. Pivotal to success is this very different approach to the professional education of the teaching workforce.

Kirsty Williams said:

“I am delighted to announce Professor John Furlong as Chair and Professor Olwen Mcnamara and Dr Aine Lawlor as Deputy Chairs of the new Teacher Education Accreditation Committee.

“This new board will allow more specific consideration of how ITE programmes will raise the quality of provision – attracting the right people with the right qualifications and an aptitude for teaching, to enter the profession.

“These changes and the new accreditation standards are part of our national mission to raise the standards and standing of the profession.”

The EWC is currently recruiting (external link) members to join the Board.

Jun152017

HSL: Principles of Incident Investigation and Failure Analysis – 6 July 2017

HSE
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Book Course

HSL is to run a 1 day course on Principles of Incident Investigation and Failure Analysis.

6 July 2017

Introduction

The ability to carry out a detailed and accurate mechanical failure analysis is a key skill for many sectors of industry particularly engineering, manufacturing and research and development.  From costly delays in production due to the failure of vital plant or tooling through to catastrophic failures with potential insurance and safety implications; all require the application of scientific analytical methods of inquiry.

HSL are offering a unique opportunity to engage directly with our incident investigation professionals and take full advantage of our decades of failure analysis experience.  This course is aimed at individuals or companies that maintain, contract or are seeking to develop failure analysis capability.  While the course will focus primarily on the investigation of mechanical and engineering failures, many of the principles covered will be directly transferable to investigations of any type.  The course will explain the common strategies and tactics of the failure analysis process from the initial response through to presenting your findings.

The course will address the following areas:

  • Roles and responsibilities
  • Strategy and tactics of incident investigation and failure analysis
  • Initial Inspection
  • Identification and collection of evidence
  • Record and note keeping
  • Common failure mechanisms
  • Establishing cause and contributory factors
  • Engaging scientific support
  • Presenting your findings

Who should attend

This entry level course would be most useful for H&S managers, insurance professionals, design and process engineers and other professionals seeking to better understand the forensic, scientific and analytical process.

Venue

The course will be run at the HSL laboratory in the spa town of Buxton. Buxton is in the heart of the Peak District and has good links to mainline train stations and Manchester International Airport.

Details of hotels in the Buxton area can be found at www.visitbuxton.co.uk

Cost

The cost of this course is £600 per person (includes course notes, certificate of attendance and lunch/refreshments).

Book Course

Please note the invoice option is not available within 4 weeks of the course date, or for overseas customers.  If you are selecting the invoice option for payment, it will be mandatory to input a purchase order/reference number as we are unable to process booking forms without this.

For further dates and additional information email: training@hsl.gsi.gov.uk or contact the Training & Conferences Unit
at HSL directly on +44 (0)1298 218806.

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