LSN Christmas Quiz 2014

Janet Downs's picture
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Kick off the festive season by having a go at this year’s LSN Christmas Quiz. Score one point for every correct answer. Score 10 points if you answer with wit (you’ll have to be the judge of that – self assessment is allowed).

1 What guide appeared in the Tatler where you’d least expect it?
2 What galloped into city schools (allegedly) and caused a national outcry?
3 Who said it was time to stop obsessing about school structure but then appeared to contradict this remark?
4 Who criticised the new Education Secretary for dodgy use of literacy and numeracy statistics at the 2014 Tory Conference?
5 And who ignored the criticism and repeated the dubious data in the Commons in December?
6 Which sacked schools minister was reappointed following the departure of Michael Gove?
7 Who wanted to drain swamps?
8 Who wants a secondary modern in every town?
9 Whose research found 90% of parents were satisfied with their child’s school?
10 Who warned complex academy structures could increase perception of wrongdoing?

BONUS QUESTION: 10 bonus points if you can answer this riddle:

When is good behaviour less than good?

Answers:

1 The Tatler Guide to State Schools. (See here and here.)
2 The Trojan Horse plot was alleged to have infected all major cities. Investigations in Birmingham found unacceptable practices in a small number of schools but no co-ordinated conspiracy.
3 Chief HMI, Sir Michael Wilshaw, who said it was time to stop debating the pros and cons of school structure. But his report criticised stand-alone academies for being ‘isolated’ and contained a graph showing how results at sponsored academies had risen over the years (but no corresponding graph showing how results at similar non-academies had risen at the same rate).
4 The UK Statistics Watchdog.
Nicky Morgan, the Education Secretary.
6 Nick Gibb, now called (without irony) Minister for School Reform.
7 Michael Gove during the Trojan Horse investigations. His remarks caused a row with Home Secretary Theresa May who accused both Birmingham Council and the Department for Education for being slow to act as it appeared they’d been sent allegations some time previously (2008 and 2010 respectively).
8 UKIP wants a grammar school in every town. Support for grammars means support for secondary moderns - the 75% who don’t get into grammars need to be educated somewhere. ONE BONUS point if you also named the group which has started a petition to set up more grammars (Conservative Voice).
9 The Department for Education’s second wave Longitudinal Study of Young People in England. Funnily enough, this finding doesn’t appear to have prompted a DfE press release.
10 The National Audit Office in its report into Durand Academy Trust, an academy much-praised by Michael Gove and found to have spent public money on ‘political lobbying’.

BONUS ANSWER: In Ofsted reports. Behaviour and Safety are now lumped together. If a school’s safeguarding Requires Improvement or is Inadequate then behaviour is judged the same. This is true even when the body of the report says behaviour is good. For example, Sir John Cass Foundation CoE School, London.

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