24 Mar Measuring happiness at school
Headteachers said Government proposals for a radical overhaul of school inspections were too bureaucratic and would lead to schools in deprived areas being “castigated”.
Under plans, schools will be rated on a range of measures including the take-up of lunches in canteens, the proportion of pupils doing two hours of sport a week, the quality of sex education lessons and relationship advice. Schools will also be measured on truancy, exclusions and the ability to promote “emotional resilience” in their pupils.
The so-called wellbeing indicators could also be used in a “report card” system being proposed by the Government as a new way of ranking schools.
It follows a recent report from the Children’s Society that said that competitive schooling, league tables and selfish parenting was creating a generation of miserable young people.
But the “happiness” measures are being opposed by teachers’ leaders, who claim they are almost impossible to quantify.
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