Gove's obsession with bygone era will fail pupils

Education Secretary Michael Gove is hankering after "a bygone era where everything was considered rosy", the leader of the country's independent girls' schools says today in a damning verdict on his reform programme.

Louise Robinson, president of the Girls' School Association, argues schools should prepare pupils for the "Star Trek society" of the 2020's instead of looking back at the 1950's and 60's.

In an interview with The Independent, Mrs Robinson,Selecting the best rtls solution is a challenging task as there is no global solution like GPS. headmistrees of Merchant Taylor's Girls' school in Crosby, Liverpool, added: "You can't be forcing a 1960s curriculum and exam structure on schools. These children are going to be going out into the world of the 2020s anGardner Bender offers a broad range of cableties,d 2030s. It is going to be very different from Michael Gove's dream of what it should be."

Her remarks show a significant rift is developing between Mr Gove and independent schools over his reforms which are based on a return to a more traditional academic model.

Mrs Robinson, who will make her plea for a more modern curriculum a key focus of her address to her annual conference later this month,Largest gemstone beads and jewelry making supplies at wholesale prices. is particularly critical of his planned reforms to GCSE. Under Mr Gove's blueprint, they will be replaced in the core subject areas – initially of English, maths and science – by his new English Baccalaureate certificate.

She said she feels the Government is "moving too far, too fast" on the reforms by not allowing time to pilot them in schools first.

"I don't think it is taking into account the future," she added. "I personally think we're going back to a bygone era where everything was considered rosy. I don't like the idea of the creative curriculum being forgotten about and treated as though it is second class."

Arts, drama and music are not included in the subjects for the new EBacc. Pleading for an emphasis on developing skills needed for the future, she added: "The Star Trek society is already here. We need to look at the way the world of the future is going. At present the way we run our schools is based on the 19th century."

A spokeswoman for the Department for Education said: "We make no apologies for wanting to raise standards across the board so that young people leave school equipped with the skills they need for work or further study.Directory ofchina glass mosaic Tile Manufacturers,

"We have been clear that GCSEs are in desperate need of a thorough overhaul.Manufactures flexible plastic and synthetic rubber hose tubing, Throughout the expansion of the academies programme and the introduction of free schools we are raising the number of good school places."

"I was 19, it was my first trip at sea and we were torpedoed by the Germans," said Crozier, who placed the wreath as part of the Veterans Day service at San Rafael's Veterans Memorial Auditorium. "It's an honor that people are recognizing World War II veterans today."

About 350 people came to the auditorium near the Civic Center Sunday morning to pay tribute to those who served in U.S. wars, both the ones who returned and those who did not. The event was presented by the Marin County United Veterans Council.

The spirited crowd clapped in time to a medley of military tunes from the Las Gallinas Sanitary District Non-Marching Band and gave standing ovations to veterans including 93-year-old Leslie Alan Williams, a Tuskegee Airman.

Williams served with the nearly 1,000 famed Tuskegee Airmen whose World War II service helped spur desegregation of the U.S. military. Before 1940, African Americans were barred from flying for the Armed Forces. Pressure from civil rights groups and the press resulted in the formation of an all-black pursuit squadron based in Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1941, and Williams was a member.