Browns October speech in my view

"We need not just education reform but culture change."

"Opportunities are only meaningful if people have the capabilities, resources and the aspirations to make the most of them. So inequalities in aspiration and capability must be tackled." He talked as much about involving parents, increasing take-up of apprenticeships and university places and bottom-up development, yes he mentioned closing schools as well but it wasn’t the core of the speech.

"The very idea of personalising learning is about helping children become more aspirational: that we identify talent, we shape education around the unique needs and aspirations of the child, and we engage pupils in their own learning - giving them a thirst for education and knowledge that will stay with them long after they have left school." Is that a new definition for personalised learning perhaps?"

"This is my belief: that world-class performance comes from consistent brilliance from teachers in every classroom; professionals who seek continuous improvement, who teach better lessons tomorrow than they did yesterday because they are learning all the time; who when a pupil falls behind don't assume it is a lack of ability but instead ask - 'how could I teach that material better to enable my pupil to master it?'"

People occassionally tell me “I don’t need anything new or innovative because we’re really good now” perhaps I need a better answer than OK then!