As reported by The Guardian, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson calls for a shift from academic obsession to fostering wellbeing and belonging in schools
Top exam grades will not transform children into happy and healthy adults, the education secretary will say, calling on schools in England to replace a “tunnel vision” on academic success with wellbeing.
Speaking to school leaders in Birmingham on Thursday, Bridget Phillipson will say that schools can respond to declining attendance and an increasing number of pupils with special needs by improving the sense of belonging.
“Exam results open important doors to opportunity for young people; they show what pupils know and can do; they are and will continue to be the anchor of our education system,” Phillipson will say.
“But A*s alone do not set young people up for a healthy and happy life. And where previous governments have had tunnel vision, we will widen our ambition.”
The speech to the Confederation of School Trusts is Phillipson’s first attempt as education secretary to set out her vision for England’s schools, aligning with calls for more of subjects such as music and sport.
Phillipson will tell the 1,500 school and academy trust leaders that “wellbeing and belonging hold the key” for improving the lives of young people, saying: “If we want to tackle the epidemic of school absence, children need to feel like they belong in school.
The review announced in July is expected to encourage a broader curriculum to be taught in schools, including music, art, sport and drama, as well as vocational subjects, alongside the core subjects of literacy and maths.
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