Our Policies: Learning & Education
Learning and education are our means to becoming what we want to be. To create a sustainable and inclusive society we need to be good at learning from our experiences all through our lives. We must be able to co-operate, to value each other, to think creatively about the problems we face. To do this we need to rethink what we collectively expect of the education system.The UK? approach to education owes much to nineteenth century industrial society? demand for a numerate and literate workforce. But the information-rich society we now live in requires us to have different skills. Too often, we have a one-size-fits-all approach to education, ignoring insights into the different ways that each of us learns. Learning does not merely involve the acquisition of academic knowledge, but also social skills to help us co-operate with others, life skills to enable us to function effectively in our communities, and an understanding of democracy.
East Cambridgeshire Green Party believes that education should both nurture co-operation and offer enlightenment to each individual. Learning should not be seen as a production line for industry and the economy. Its purpose is to provide all with the knowledge and skills they require to fully participate in and contribute to society. Including both long and short term aims, our policies represent a structured approach to moving our education system toward one that meets the needs of pupils and students, and the local community.
For pupils and parents
- Early years provision should concentrate on providing a safe happy, caring environment where children can develop their physical, social and emotional skills. Over-emphasis on numeracy, literacy and other intellectual skills at an early stage can prevent young children from fully developing other creative potential.
- Individual learning plans will be introduced for pupils over 14 where the school governance so wishes negotiated between student and personal tutor at the start of a course.
- We will work to increase the democratic accountability of schools, offering children and parents a stronger voice in the running of their school.
- Schools will be encouraged to make more provision for pupils to take state examinations (GCSEs, A levels and AS levels) at different ages according to their progress rather than arbitrarily according to their year group.
- We will encourage and promote distance learning as a means to widening access to higher education.
A resource for the community
- Schools will be encouraged to develop their curriculum in partnership with the local community, and that their performance be measured in how well they meet local needs, not just how good their grades are.
- Facilities of all educational establishments will, wherever possible, be available to all members of the local community for relevant activities, including at evenings and weekends.
- Full use will be made of the potential of school grounds and community resources such as libraries, sports centres, arts centres, workplaces and the natural environment, for learning, enrichment and extension of the curriculum, including for growing food.
- Work to make schools as self sufficient as possible by means such as ensuring school building are upgraded and maintained to meet the best green standards. New school buildings should be state of the art in environmental terms, offering themselves as learning resources.
- All school in East Cambridgeshire will be encouraged to reach Eco-schools standard and to support the Sustainable Schools programme.
Structure of support
- Each Local Education Authority will work to make at least one site a ?ommunity college? This will go beyond current evening class provision, toward encouraging participation by all in the building of a sustainable local community.
- The district council will support, through grants, the setting up of early years provision: playgroups, nurseries, family centres and parent and toddler groups.
- Family centres will be created as a means of building a base of support for families. These are informal clubs, with parent and toddler groups, playgroups and other facilities which can act as a base for all families in a community and serve the needs of parents and children.
- Local Education Authorities will work to increase their support to a wider range of teaching approaches, such as home education, part-time schooling, Steiner education, human-scale education, and small schools. This will be encouraged through LEA-led clustering of schools, allowing each to focus on different approaches to learning.
- The school inspection process will be augmented by a process of peer review and self-evaluation for schools and teachers. This will also be the basis of moves to encourage local schools to work collaboratively and supportively.
- Charitable status for private schools will be phased out, no publicly-funded school will be run by a religious group, nor teach a particular religious outlook.
- Selection to any school on grounds of ability will be discontinued. Where a school is over-subscribed, priority will be given to those who live most locally.