EducationGuardian.co.uk | Schools special reports | Lib Dems get discipline ideas from Harry Potter

In an irregular feature on this weblog entitled "I told you so!" I offer for your perusal the above article click on the title to go to the article).

Ed Davey, Lib Dem spokesman on education says:

"Smaller class sizes, a more engaging curriculum and better pastoral care were also vital to improving behaviour."

So we are doing something right!

Revealed: the preps trailing state rivals - Sunday Times - Times Online

In case you haven't seen this, here is a link to the Sunday Times "piece" on Independent Schools' KS2 SATs results. IAPS schools have had the KS2 results "uncovered" from the past 3 years through the freedom of information act.

So what do you think? Should we be ranked on academic performance? Would this be of benefit to prospective parents? Do you agree with Jonathon Brough?

The league is headed by City of London school for girls, where fees are £10,584 a year. Jonathan Brough, head of its preparatory department, was proud of his school’s performance. “We are not a hothouse. I wouldn’t sacrifice the happiness of the children to get that position,” he said. “We are giving a well-rounded education and we don’t teach to test.”

What does this mean for the future of the National Curriculum in Independent Schools? Are we to be hauled up in the Sunday Times each year to be compared to our colleagues in the maintained sector? Doesn't that miss the point of what an Independent school is, regardless of the curriculum you apply or tests you take?

As John Morris says in the article: “Our members do not regard these tests as an objective measure of the value of schools or an appropriate measure of the achievement of children. League tables based on such figures are facile.”

What do you think?