I REALISE that the Covid pandemic has had many far-reaching consequences for schools, but the striking title Obstetrics For Schools did, at first glance, make me wonder just how seismic the changes had been.
Thankfully, as early as page nine, the author answers the question that many of her readers will be asking, Why the reference to obstetrics in the book’s title? If the reasoning is not especially subtle, it is certainly powerful.
The foreword spells it out. The book is rooted in another historical perspective. The infant mortality accepted in the Victorian era (40 per cent) has been almost eliminated today (0.4 per cent). Scientific discovery and a combination of advances in surgery — and, yes, vaccines against and cures for infectious diseases — have made for rapid and, indeed, uplifting progress. Yet, she says, “there is an expectation and acceptance of ‘baked in’ educational failure for around a third of UK 16-year-olds in UK schools each year.”
Rachel Macfarlane is driven by her passion to “level the playing field and tackle the disadvantage gap through my role as an educator”. The key factors that mark out the schools where the attainment gap has been significantly narrowed are at the heart of the book. And if, like me, you have wondered why non-selective schools in London have transformed the life chances of so many disadvantaged students, you will find many of the clues in this volume.
The book is delightfully jargon-free and a wonderful resource for quotuations: sometimes profound, sometimes tongue-in-cheek, but always relevant. When I interviewed Rachel for this review, she was engagingly direct and honest. She, along with many of the head teachers quoted, understands pressure.
“If my readers can find at least one practical suggestion which is useful for self-improvement, I will have achieved my purpose.” Job done, Rachel.
Since I cannot resist an “idea whose time has come”, here goes: New 9-1 GCSE AQA A Religious Studies: Christianity and Islam revision question cards. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined buying GCSE RS materials for my grandson’s birthday. This is one of those “Why didn’t anyone ever think of this before?” moments.
Of course, students have been creating their own revision flash cards for decades. Now, CGP has done it for them. Devised to accompany a revision guide from the same publishers, the cards are issued in a beautifully produced pack, a match for any pack of playing cards or games. For those who are now addicted to computerised learning, there is also an online edition. Sixty-four cards in total, great value for money, with a double-sided format. Basic facts and key terms on one side, along with key quotes and sample questions. Flip the cards over, and you’ll find full answers to each question.
You can note also that CGP prides itself on books and resources, “carefully written, immaculately presented and dangerously close to being funny”. I cannot say that I have ever seen a strapline like that before in an RE resource. Walsingham and Lourdes are often referred to as the best-known pilgrimages. I’m not sure that the revision card’s “I make a daily pilgrimage to the biscuit tin” will cut it with the examiners. But my grandson liked it. And the discussion was a good one. “Can I put a weekly pilgrimage to Anfield Stadium instead?” Good question. Simply brilliant or brilliantly simple. As you prefer.
On more familiar territory, Trevor Kerry, an experienced educator and teacher, familiar on these pages pre-Covid, has produced a typically readable guide to ethics in schools in Ethics for Teachers and Middle Leaders.
The style is anecdotal, and this is a superb resource for teacher-trainers. A number of scenarios are presented, where the outcome and the reasons for it are often blurred and contentious. It is difficult to imagine scenarios more relevant to 2022 than the ones that Kerry chooses: befriending students appropriately or otherwise on social media; a head teacher in a school in a deprived area alleged to have tampered with his pupils’ annual SATs papers; a successful principal who appears to have created a post for a member of their family.
And a further one I post without comment: a medical officer in the school made two trips to a second home during lockdown; he received a police warning as photographs emerged; the medical officer had been the public face on the school website urging compliance with the rules. Ouch. Thankfully, no talk of testing his eyesight. Discuss. The author has another surprise for us. He concludes by quoting Dolly Parton’s “The Seeker”. It is a song in which she looks back on her own bleak childhood, and then goes on to set up a successful charitable foundation for disadvantaged children.
The National Association of Teachers of Religious Education (NATRE) is linked with its own publishing company. Hot off the press comes the fourth in a series of colourful booklets for primary schools: Big Questions Big Answers Volume 4: Investigating worship. Colour cartoon illustrations will appeal across the five-to-11 age range.
The lead character is a very obvious detective-type figure with the obligatory magnifying glass. Christian, Hindu, Jewish, and Muslim world-views are covered. Non-religious festivals at New Year are also included. Volumes 1-3 are also available. The whole series would complete an excellent full RE curriculum for all primary schools, urban and rural.
The NATRE spring 2022 magazine RE Today, edited by Lat Blaylock, is also available from RE Services publications. Post-pandemic deals would appear to be on offer. Well worth a look.
Obstetrics For Schools
Rachel Macfarlane
Crown House Publishing £18.99
(978-1785-835407)
New 9-1 GCSE AQA A Religious Studies: Christianity and Islam revision question cards
CGP £8.99
(978-1-78908 572-3)
Church Times Bookshop £8.09
Ethics for Teachers and Middle Leaders
Trevor Kerry
Routledge £16.99
(978-0-367-682484)
Church Times Bookshop £15.29
Big Questions Big Answers Vol 4: Investigating Worship
Fiona Moss, editor
RE Today Services £10
(220102)
retoday.org.uk