-
Period: to
Winston Churchill (Conservative) Prime Minister
Minister's of Education:
Rab Butler 20 July 1941 - 25 May 1945
Richsard Law 25 May 1945 - 26 July 1945 -
Education Act
The Act provided education for all children aged between 5-15. Established three progressive stages, known as primary, secondary and further education. The Act introduced a national test for 11 year olds - the '11 plus' test as a means of allocating children to one of three types of secondary school, grammar, technical and secondary modern for everyone else, known as tripartie system. Local education authorities provided milk and meals for pupils in attendance at schools maintained by them. -
Period: to
Clement Attlee (Labour) Prime Minister
Minister's of Education:
Ellen Wilkinson 3 August 1945 - 6 February 1947 (died in office)
George Tomlinson 10 February 1947 - 26 October 1951 -
Introduction of General Certificate of Education (GCE)
Divided into Ordinary Level (O' Level) for 16 year olds and Advanced Level (A' Level) for 18 year olds. -
Period: to
Winston Churchill (Conservative) Prime Minister
Minister's of Education:
Florence Horsbrugh 2 November 1951 - 18 October 1954
David Eccles 18 October 1954 - 7 April 1955 -
Period: to
Sir Anthony Eden (Conservative) Prime Minister
Minister of Education:
David Eccles 7 April 1955 - 13 January 1957 -
Period: to
Harold Macmillan (Conservative) Prime Minister
Minister's of Education:
Quintin Hogg, 13 January 1957 - 17 September 1957
Geoffrey Lloyd, 17 September 1957 - 14 October 1959
David Eccles, 14 October 1959 - 13 July 1962 -
Crowther Report
Recommended raising the school leaving age to 16 and the provision of further education for 15-18 year olds. -
Beloe Report
The report titled 'Secondary School Examinations other than the GCE' was produced by a Committee appointed by the Secondary School Examinations Council which led to the introduction of the Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE), produced for pupils who had a 20 per cent less ability range than those attempting the GCE O Level. -
Education Act
Required Local Education Authorities (LEA) to provide full-time University students with a maintenance grant for living costs and tuition fees. -
Newsom Report
Entitled 'Half Our Future' it detailed statistics showing the variation in pupils' reading test scores by school and region and many 13-16 year old pupils of average/below the average ability were being failed. -
Period: to
Sir Alec Douglas-Home (Conservative) Prime Minister
Minister of Education:
Sir Edward Boyle, 13 July 1962 - 1 April 1964
Secretary of State for Education and Science:
Quintin Hogg, 1 April 1964 - 16 October 1964 -
DES: The Ministry of Education renamed the Department of Education and Science
DES: The Ministry of Education was renamed the Department of Education and Science and the Minister became the Secretary of State. -
Cirular 10/65
The Secretary of State requested LEA's to prepare plans for re-organising secondary education in their areas to end selection at eleven plus. Suggestions were: Comprehensive schools, age range of 11 to 16 combined with sixth form colleges for pupils over 16. Middle schools where pupils' transfer from a primary school at the age of 9 to a comprehensive school with an age range of 9 to 13. From the middle school they move on to a comprehensive school with an age range of 13 - 18. -
Period: to
Harold Wilson (Labour) Prime Minister
Secretary of State for Education and Science:
Michael Stewart, 18 October 1964 - 22 January1965
Anthony Crosland, 22 January 1965 - 29 August 1967
Patrick Gordon Walker, 29 August 1967 - 6 April 1968
Edward Short, 6 April 1968 - 19 June 1970 -
Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE) exams established
Polytechnics were established in 1965 through the amalgamation of existing institutions such as colleges of technology, art, and commerce. A new external examination, designed for children of middling intellectual ability and leading to a Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE), was also introduced that same year -
The Plowden Report
The Report took three years observing and discussing primary education for the purpose of identifying and disseminating ‘good practice’ and recommendations for further improvements to primary provision. Primary education was seen, not just as preparation for secondary school but of value in and for itself. Every child was seen as an individual and develops at different rates in three areas: physical, intellectual and emotional and looked at new approaches in pedadogy. -
Free milk withdrawn from secondary school
In 1968, Harold Wilson's Labour government withdrew free milk from secondary schools. -
Circular 10/70
Circular 10/70 was an attempt by Margaret Thatcher as Secretary for Education in 1970 to reverse the effects of Circular 10/65. However, this was withdrawn as the Conservatives stated that no funding would be given for new non-comprehensic schools. -
Period: to
Edward Heath (Conservative) Prime Minister
Secretary of State for Education and Science:
Margaret Thatcher, 20 June 1970 - 4 March 1974 -
Free school milk withdrawn for children over the age of 7
Margaret Thatcher, the Secretary of State for Education withdrew free school milk from children over seven, forever earning her the nickname, 'Milk Snatcher Thatcher' -
Legal leaving age increased from 15 to 16 years old
The government increased the legal leaving age from 15 to 16 years old, leaving a gap year of school leavers who, by law, had to complete an additional year of education from 1973 onwards. -
Manpower Services Commission (MSC) established
A non-departmental public body of the Department of Employment Group. The MSC had a remit to co-ordinate employment and training services ihrough a ten-member commission drawn from industry, trade unions, local authorities and education interests. The MSC became closely associated with its management of the Youth Training Scheme and various other training programmes intended to help alleviate the high levels of unemployment in the 1980s. The first jobcentre appeared in April 1973 in Reading. -
Period: to
Harold Wilson (Labour) Prime Minister
Secretary of State for Education and Science:
Reginald Prentice, 5 March 1974 - 10 June 1975
Fred Mulley, 10 June 1975 - 10 September 1976 -
Period: to
James Callaghan (Labour) Prime Minister
Secretary of State for Education and Science:
Shirley Williams, 10 September 1976 - 4 May 1979 -
Started Histons Hill First School
I started Histons Hill First School at the age of 4 years and 9 months. I remembered seeing the crates of milk in our classroom in the first year of School. If you lived on the south of the Wolverhampton Road in Codsall, you went to Histons Hill First School and children living on the north side went to St Nicholas First School. -
Period: to
Margaret Thatcher (Conservative) Prime Minister
Secretary of State for Education and Science:
Mark Carlisle, 5 May 1979 - 14 September 1981
Sir Keith Joseph, 14 September 1981 - 21 May 1986
Kenneth Baker, 21 May 1986 - 24 July 1989
John MacGregor, 24 July 1989 - 2 November 1990
Kenneth Clarke, 2 November 1990 - 28 November 1990 -
Started Codsall Middle School, 1982
Codsall Middle School</a>Started Codsall Middle School in 1982. I was here for 4 years till the age of 13. I remember our first day of School and meeting pupils from St Nicholas School in our tutor group. I really enjoyed this School and my most memories are from learning here. I remember Back to the Future film was popular and swapping stickers for the sticker book. It was the first time we had been introduced to learning French and I remember doing my homework as I enjoyed the challenge of learning something new. -
Histons Hill First School - School closed down
Histons Hill First School opened in1967 and closed in 1983. This was due to a decline in the birth rates in Codsall, in 1981. Parents were given a choice between Histons Hill First School or St Nicholas First School to stay open. -
National Council for Vocational Qualification (NVQ) established
To achieve an NVQ, candidates had to prove they have the ability (competence) to carry out their job to the required standard. NVQs were based on National Occupational Standards that described the 'competencies' expected in any given job role. -
Codsall High School
Started Codsall High School at the age of 13 as a 2nd year. I remember we were introduced to the pupils' in our tutor group back in June. Our tutor group consisted of students from Codsall, Perton, Bilbrook and Pattingham as these were the only areas that pupils' were accepted to the School. Most pupils' walked or were bused in from Perton or Pattingham. I left in 1990 as I went into 6th form and completed a 1 year Business course. -
GCSE examinations taken in all subjects
Introduced in 1986 (with the first examinations taking place in 1988) in all secondary schools, replacing the former O Level / CSE qualifications. The main changes enabled students to complete coursework during their two years of study, which was marked by their teachers and contributed to their final examination grade. -
Education Reform Act
Grant-maintained schools (GMS) were introduced. Primary and secondary schools could emove themselves fully from their respective Local Education Authorities (LEA) and could be completely funded by central government. The National Curriculum (NC) was introduced that insured that state schools of all LEA's had a common curriculum. National curriculum assessments were introduced at Key Stages 1 to 4 (ages 7, 11, 14 and 16 respectively) through what were formerly called Standard Assessment Tests. -
Started employment at Tarmac Construction
Started as an Office Junior and completed a NVQ in Business Administration, Level 2 on a day release at the Tarmac Training Centre, associated with Manpower Services Commision. I was interested in graphics and produced the 7 T's logo on the plotter as the image they were distributing was distorted. In 1991, the company introduced IBM PS/2 computers with Wordperfect as the word processing package. They had a huge air conditioned room dedicated for AS/400 servers. I helped with the IT Support. -
Period: to
John Major (Conservative) Prime Minister
Secretary of State for Education and Science:
Kenneth Clarke, 28 November 1990 - 10 April 1992
Secretary of State for Education:
John Patten, 10 April 1992 - 20 July 1994
Gillian Shephard, 20 July 1994 - 5 July 1995
Secretary of State for Education and Employment:
Gillian Shephard, 5 July 1995 - 2 May 1997 -
General National Vocational Qualifications (GNVQs)
GNVQs developed as a result of a complex set of industrial and political interactions and it was triggered by the CBIs concerns about the effectiveness of NVQs. Vocational qualifications were renamed/restructured as follows: GNVQs became Vocational GCSEs and AVCEs. -
Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) established
Ofsted inspects or regulates local services, childminding, child day care, children’s centres, children’s social care, CAFCASS, state schools, independent schools and teacher training providers, and colleges and learning and skills providers in England. Her Majesty Inspectors (HMI) are required to provide independent advice to the United Kingdom government and parliament on matters of policy and to publish its reports instead of reporting to the Secretary of State. -
Employed at the Kingswood Centre
Employed as an IT Instructor to teach computing sessions to children aged 6 - 18 years old. I was initially recruited as they needed a female instructor to teach computing. I also taught climbing, archery, fencing, go-karting and rifles so that I could teach all subjects to my tutor group. -
Eurocamp Plc
Worked in Biarritz, France as a Children's Courier organising activities for children aged between 7 - 13 years old. -
Worked at Kibbutz Merhavia
Worked at a Kibbutz Merhavia in Afula as a kindergarden volunteer looking after 2 year olds for 8 months. -
Period: to
Tony Blair (Labour) Prime Minister
Secretary of State for Education and Employment:
David Blunkett, 2 May 1997 - 8 June 2001
Estelle Morris, 8 June 2001 - 24 October 2002 (resigned)
Charles Clarke, 24 October 2002 - 15 December 2004
Ruth Kelly, 15 December 2004 - 5 May 2006
Alan Johnson, 5 May 2006 - 27 June 2007 -
Worked for Camp America
Worked for Pine Forest Camp in Pennsylvania, America as an Archery Instructor and Camp Counsellor. -
Started working at the University of Wolverhampton
Started working at the University of Wolverhampton as an Employability and Placement Officer, at the School of Computing & IT and wsa in this Department for 10 years, them moved to IT Services for 2 years and then moved to cover a maternity position for 14 months in Registry supporting and developing e:Vision. Took redundancy in 2013. -
Started BSc (Hons) Information Technology at University of Wolverhampton
Started course part-time as a joint between Education Studies and Computing, changed to Computing as I was unable to attend modules during the day at Walsall campus. I then combined the degree with the School of Art & Design to incorporate web design and graphic design, but they conflicted with principles taught in the School of Computing & IT, so I was able to change course to Information Technology as this only had one core module and I was able to continue onto the third year. -
Period: to
Gordon Brown (Labour) Prime Minister
Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills:
John Denham, 28 June 2007 - 5 June 2009
Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families:
Ed Balls, 5 June 2009 - 11 May 2010 -
Graduated at the University of Wolverhampton
Graduated at the University of Wolverhampton with a 2:1 degree in Information Technology. -
Period: to
David Cameron (Conservative) Prime Minister
Secretary of State for Education:
Michael Gove, 11 May 2010 - to date -
Started PGCE Computer Science at the University of Wolverhampton
Started the PGCE in Computer Science with another 4 colleagues in the group. Attended a Subject Knowledge Enhancement course over the summer.
