Goals & Policy Detail - Schools

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This is what you say:

We want to turn out well-educated, healthy and confident young adults.

What's wrong with things as they are?

Thousands of pupils are leaving school without sufficient education to fulfil their expectations
Truancy, bullying and disruptive behaviour seem endemic
Schools are not stimulating children sufficiently to keep their interest
Bureaucracy, interference and constant 'new' initiatives are distracting teachers from their main role
Children needing specialist education are not getting adequate support
University students are starting their adult lives saddled with debt
Grade inflation of exams is leading to devaluation of results

UKpopdems will make sure that education maximises a child's potential in adulthood, so we'll:

Set schools free from local authority control but measure and monitor them more to ensure student potential is maximised.
Provide at least two healthy meals during the school day.
Lengthen the school day to allow for an extended curriculum, additional meals, the completion of home-work in-school and vocational activities.
Reduce truancy. Follow-up every no show and incorporate infirmaries into most schools.
Introduce simple identity cards and ensure most pupils remain within school grounds or escorted when outside.
Utilise community officers, better parent liaison, healthier food and stricter discipline in order to combat disruptive behaviour and bullying.
Implement a new curriculum encompassing four extensive subject areas: Communication, Civilisation, Self-Management and Vocation.
Define communication as equipping students with the ability to communicate clearly through the written and spoken word.
Define civilisation as promoting respect and understanding of the modern world and its diversity.
Define self-management as preparing students for the adult world, confident in managing their own lives and goals in a competitive world.
Define vocation as encouraging experiences and development of skills in sports, engineering, science, health, arts, entertainment and others.
Make education to degree level free.
Run an independent exam system to ensure a true test of breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding, and to eliminate grade inflation.

What will this do for the British People?

Your children will gradually become better educated, healthier and more confident adults, able to take more of what the world has to offer and contribute more to the world.
Your children will be safer at school, healthily fed, and free from home-work and course-work at the end of the school day.
State education will be free to degree level. The burden of additional student debt will be lifted.
If you are a working parent, the longer school day will benefit you, while all parents can expect better liaison and encouragement to share in school activities and meal times when they are able.
Your child's school will be monitored more closely so any developing problems can be addressed early and support made available.
If your child needs specialist schooling, you will get the support your child needs.

Companion notes to the policy

The future of our children is the future of Britain. Every child should feel able to maximise their potential. Taking as much as the country has to offer and, in return, contributing as much to the country as they are able.
The object is to make schools free of bureaucratic control so teachers can get on with the job of making sure children get the best education. To make sure this happens, inspection will be rigorous and undertaken without prior notice.
The longer school day not only allows for an expanded curriculum, but means that when the school day ends, children will be free to enjoy home life without homework. Working parents will benefit, too, because they can be home when their children are, and know that at least two good meals have been eaten. Parents, whether working or not, will be encouraged to get involved with the schools their children attend
Truancy, disruption and bullying are three key behaviours that need eliminating. The armoury will include community officers, medical officers, dieticians, infirmaries and identity cards. Teaching methods also play a key part by making sure teaching matches closely to individual learning behaviours.
The expanded curriculum is designed to give pupils a rounded education of breadth and depth which can be tested independently. Young children learning by play within set boundaries, middle school pupils learning through adventure with wider horizons, and senior students learning through challenge without frontiers.

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