Rowena Macrae-Gibson: Head of Information Literacy

Rowena Macrae-Gibson is Head of Information Literacy at City University, London.

Gary Green: Technical Librarian

Working as part of the Virtual Content Team, Gary Green is Technical Librarian for Surrey County Council Library Service, and is responsible for catalogue development, as well as assisting in the development of the Library2.0 and Web2.0 strategy. He is also a founder member of “Voices For The Library” campaign group.

Education letters

Considering Oxbridge, digital skills and misleading labels

Power of the state

If I lean dangerously out of my office window, I can glimpse four or five university institutions whose academic standing is such that the Ministry of Education of any other European country would kill to have them on their patch (Ticket to the top? 21 June). Oxford and Cambridge together admit about 8,500 UK undergraduates each year, out of a total for all universities of about half a million. The great majority of clever and well-motivated young people are not going to end up at Oxbridge, and so the "half of state school teachers [who] wouldn't advise their brightest pupils to consider Oxbridge", and who probably know more than anyone about their students' abilities and personalities, may be doing them a service.

Dr Paul Temple

Institute of Education, University of London

• While universities have made attempts in outreach, schools aren't doing the same. There's a lot of talk about private-school grooming, but is this completely impossible for state schools to achieve?

aguers via EducationGuardian.co.uk

• I had to smile when I read your article about Oxbridge outreach schemes followed by a letter from Sally Tomlinson of Oxford referring to why Hackney Downs school was closed in 1995. The Hackney Downs I knew as a pupil in the 1950s did not need research-worshipping universities to intervene at all. It was inspired and inspiring teachers, moderate discipline, outstanding leadership and high values that led hundreds of working-class kids from deprived backgrounds to go to universities and polytechnics, and become leading academics, scientists, medics, lawyers, engineers and artists.

It is time governments concentrated on developing schools that are like Hackney Downs.

Mike Goldstein

Streetly, West Midlands

Lack of connection

Martha Lane Fox gives some very persuasive arguments, but misses two quite important points (Could you help someone who really needs to learn? 21 June). I currently live in a homeless hostel, and even if I could afford some computer "kit", I wouldn't be able to get connected – I am only going to live here for six months or so, and no telecom company will offer a contract for so short a period of time. My position will be the same as tens of thousands of other people's in the country.

Second, there is a problem with the skills gap. Over four years ago, Microsoft launched its Office 2007 product, which has a completely different look and feel from previous products. My local further education colleges are only now beginning to teach the new version. This means that in skills terms I am way behind anyone who is currently in work and regularly using computers.

Andy Fidler

Southampton

A lot's in a name

Naming is a powerful vehicle for the promotion of understanding or, equally, for obfuscation. With this in mind, I'm pondering two of the labels being used in discussions about vocational education (A Bacc for the future, 21 June).

In what sense does a "university technical college" embody the traditions, mission and practices of a university? And does the label Professional Technical Baccalaureate imply that Ebacc will not be "professional" in all or some senses of the word? There's a surprising lack of comment from institutions and associations interested in preserving clarity about these labels. Absence of critique helps to ensure another political victory for Michael Gove in the shaping of public consciousness.

Gus Pennington

Faceby, North Yorkshire

Education letters

Considering Oxbridge, digital skills and misleading labels

Power of the state

If I lean dangerously out of my office window, I can glimpse four or five university institutions whose academic standing is such that the Ministry of Education of any other European country would kill to have them on their patch (Ticket to the top? 21 June). Oxford and Cambridge together admit about 8,500 UK undergraduates each year, out of a total for all universities of about half a million. The great majority of clever and well-motivated young people are not going to end up at Oxbridge, and so the "half of state school teachers [who] wouldn't advise their brightest pupils to consider Oxbridge", and who probably know more than anyone about their students' abilities and personalities, may be doing them a service.

Dr Paul Temple

Institute of Education, University of London

• While universities have made attempts in outreach, schools aren't doing the same. There's a lot of talk about private-school grooming, but is this completely impossible for state schools to achieve?

aguers via EducationGuardian.co.uk

• I had to smile when I read your article about Oxbridge outreach schemes followed by a letter from Sally Tomlinson of Oxford referring to why Hackney Downs school was closed in 1995. The Hackney Downs I knew as a pupil in the 1950s did not need research-worshipping universities to intervene at all. It was inspired and inspiring teachers, moderate discipline, outstanding leadership and high values that led hundreds of working-class kids from deprived backgrounds to go to universities and polytechnics, and become leading academics, scientists, medics, lawyers, engineers and artists.

It is time governments concentrated on developing schools that are like Hackney Downs.

Mike Goldstein

Streetly, West Midlands

Lack of connection

Martha Lane Fox gives some very persuasive arguments, but misses two quite important points (Could you help someone who really needs to learn? 21 June). I currently live in a homeless hostel, and even if I could afford some computer "kit", I wouldn't be able to get connected – I am only going to live here for six months or so, and no telecom company will offer a contract for so short a period of time. My position will be the same as tens of thousands of other people's in the country.

Second, there is a problem with the skills gap. Over four years ago, Microsoft launched its Office 2007 product, which has a completely different look and feel from previous products. My local further education colleges are only now beginning to teach the new version. This means that in skills terms I am way behind anyone who is currently in work and regularly using computers.

Andy Fidler

Southampton

A lot's in a name

Naming is a powerful vehicle for the promotion of understanding or, equally, for obfuscation. With this in mind, I'm pondering two of the labels being used in discussions about vocational education (A Bacc for the future, 21 June).

In what sense does a "university technical college" embody the traditions, mission and practices of a university? And does the label Professional Technical Baccalaureate imply that Ebacc will not be "professional" in all or some senses of the word? There's a surprising lack of comment from institutions and associations interested in preserving clarity about these labels. Absence of critique helps to ensure another political victory for Michael Gove in the shaping of public consciousness.

Gus Pennington

Faceby, North Yorkshire

How to teach ... debt

This week on the Guardian Teacher Network, you can find lots of fun activities to tie in with My Money Week

Forty-five years ago tomorrow, the credit card was launched in the UK. Meanwhile, there is rioting in Athens as Greece struggles with a debt crisis of epic proportions.

Borrowing more than you can afford to pay back is dangerous for individuals as well as nations – and personal debt management is a subject that today's young people have to master, not least because of the rise in university fees.

This week is My Money Week, run by the Personal Finance Education Group (PFEG). The annual themed week provides a focus on financial capability for young people in primary and secondary schools so they can learn more about managing money in a practical and relevant way.

The week's aim is to weave finance education into the curriculum, says the chief executive, Wendy van den Hende. "It's vital for young people to leave school with the ability to manage their money so they don't get into difficulties. With mortgages and rising university fees, debt is an everyday part of our life. We advise schools to do something substantial on finance education each year so children can understand the territory."

PFEG has developed resources across the whole age range, and gives a quality mark to the best resources created by banks and other finance organisations. We've pulled some of the best together on the Guardian Teacher Network.

Start with the activity packs for primary and secondary. The packs are brimming with flexible and fun activity ideas for teachers and parents to teach personal finance across the curriculum in My Money Week and beyond. As well as lesson plans, there are whole-school and assembly ideas, plus details of this year's future gazing national art and PSHE competition, which closes on 3 July. The pack also includes scenario cards to help bring money dilemmas to life.

Secondary pupils can assess their personal finance knowledge, skills and attitudes by using PFEG's innovative financial capability assessment profile tool, Fincap.

Fortunity is an online game to help secondary pupils improve their financial capability. Players move through different stages of life making everyday and long-term decisions, and discovering their outcomes. It's all linked to the current PSHE curriculum and there are also mini-games to play. For more details, see www.mymoneyonline.org.

For younger children, there are some extremely useful resources sponsored by the Association of Finance Mutuals: bit.ly/mmM49b. Upper primary-aged children can register with the site and learn more here: www.savingsquad.org.

We also have a lesson based on Guardian articles aimed at secondary students for use in school or at home on the background to the credit crunch.

For a simple explanation, and maths activities relating to the Greek debt crisis try this.

The Guardian's Lessons in Finance site, produced in connection with RBS, also has lots of great case studies and ideas for use at school and home.

• The Guardian Teacher Network offers free access to more than 70,000 pages of lesson plans and interactive materials. This content is being added to every day by teachers and specialists. 33,000 teachers have already registered. To see (and share) for yourself, go to teachers.guardian.co.uk

How to teach ... debt

This week on the Guardian Teacher Network, you can find lots of fun activities to tie in with My Money Week

Forty-five years ago tomorrow, the credit card was launched in the UK. Meanwhile, there is rioting in Athens as Greece struggles with a debt crisis of epic proportions.

Borrowing more than you can afford to pay back is dangerous for individuals as well as nations – and personal debt management is a subject that today's young people have to master, not least because of the rise in university fees.

This week is My Money Week, run by the Personal Finance Education Group (PFEG). The annual themed week provides a focus on financial capability for young people in primary and secondary schools so they can learn more about managing money in a practical and relevant way.

The week's aim is to weave finance education into the curriculum, says the chief executive, Wendy van den Hende. "It's vital for young people to leave school with the ability to manage their money so they don't get into difficulties. With mortgages and rising university fees, debt is an everyday part of our life. We advise schools to do something substantial on finance education each year so children can understand the territory."

PFEG has developed resources across the whole age range, and gives a quality mark to the best resources created by banks and other finance organisations. We've pulled some of the best together on the Guardian Teacher Network.

Start with the activity packs for primary and secondary. The packs are brimming with flexible and fun activity ideas for teachers and parents to teach personal finance across the curriculum in My Money Week and beyond. As well as lesson plans, there are whole-school and assembly ideas, plus details of this year's future gazing national art and PSHE competition, which closes on 3 July. The pack also includes scenario cards to help bring money dilemmas to life.

Secondary pupils can assess their personal finance knowledge, skills and attitudes by using PFEG's innovative financial capability assessment profile tool, Fincap.

Fortunity is an online game to help secondary pupils improve their financial capability. Players move through different stages of life making everyday and long-term decisions, and discovering their outcomes. It's all linked to the current PSHE curriculum and there are also mini-games to play. For more details, see www.mymoneyonline.org.

For younger children, there are some extremely useful resources sponsored by the Association of Finance Mutuals: bit.ly/mmM49b. Upper primary-aged children can register with the site and learn more here: www.savingsquad.org.

We also have a lesson based on Guardian articles aimed at secondary students for use in school or at home on the background to the credit crunch.

For a simple explanation, and maths activities relating to the Greek debt crisis try this.

The Guardian's Lessons in Finance site, produced in connection with RBS, also has lots of great case studies and ideas for use at school and home.

• The Guardian Teacher Network offers free access to more than 70,000 pages of lesson plans and interactive materials. This content is being added to every day by teachers and specialists. 33,000 teachers have already registered. To see (and share) for yourself, go to teachers.guardian.co.uk

Are colleges cutting more jobs than they need to?

Unions are questioning whether redundancies in colleges are justified when the coffers are relatively full

Around 4,300 and counting. Every month the lecturers' union, UCU, updates numbers of further education posts at risk, and each time the outlook grows grimmer.

It's just one strand of a national picture unfolding through the Guardian's Cutswatch, which, with readers' help, is mapping the fallout from the coalition government's austerity measures. Yet while no one expected FE to be immune, there's growing concern that some jobs are being sacrificed even when colleges' financial balances appear to be in rude health.

Recent weeks have brought news of redundancies across the country. "It's never-ending," says the UCU's Midlands regional organiser, Nick Varney. "We believe colleges are using the current environment, where they think people are fearful, to cut deeper than they need."

When UCU and the public sector workers' union, Unison, surveyed around 140 colleges in April, more than 93% said they had already shed staff since June 2009. But over half – 53% – said they intended making further redundancies.

UCU members in colleges will be among those striking on Thursday as part of the national campaign to defend pensions. Many are also embroiled in local disputes.

Meanwhile, it's hard to find a deeper sense of resentment among staff than at Newcastle College. On the one hand, it is facing 200 full-time equivalent job losses, 148 of which are teaching or teaching-related. However, management says that 188 new jobs have been created, of which 157 are teaching or teaching-related. This follows a curriculum reorganisation.

Newcastle College is part of a group (NCG) that includes Skelmersdale and Ormskirk College, and Intraining in Sheffield. Overall, it made a £6m surplus last year. The UCU claims its members were offered a stark choice: redundancy or applying for new jobs that would place many lecturers on a single grade paid just £22,500 a year. The spokeswoman says that a £6.25m cut in government funding meant the college no longer generated the same level of business in some areas, and many lecturing grades were no longer needed. "Therefore these new jobs attract a different salary scale."

Shortly after the news of redundancies first broke, it emerged that NCG's chief executive, Dame Jackie Fisher, enjoyed a pay rise, including bonus and retention payment, of almost £73,000. A spokeswoman points out that Fisher is responsible for three divisions with an annual turnover of £152m in 2009-10. "The [pay] deal had been agreed three years earlier, and paid in August 2010, before the government's comprehensive spending review," she says.

In some colleges, redrawn staff contracts will leave lecturers up to £10,000 a year worse off, says UCU's head of education, Barry Lovejoy. "I worry that it's a growing phenomenon."

College managements say cuts and job losses are unavoidable because of central government cuts. But a recent analysis of Skills Funding Agency data by consultants W3 Advisory revealed that cash balances last year increased by 30%, to an average £3.4m – the highest for five years. Meanwhile, the proportion of income spent on pay fell from 65.7% in 2008-09 to 63.9% in 2009-10.

What to make of it? Lovejoy concedes that the world of college finances is complex. "Ofsted requires them to have a certain amount of surplus in order that they have financial viability," he says. "If you drill down into those figures, colleges will probably come up with valid arguments [for holding large reserves]."

Julian Gravatt, assistant chief executive at the Association of Colleges (AoC), says there's no government guidance on the level of surpluses. "It's for governing bodies to make the decision," he says.

Chris Fabby, Unison's national officer for education, believes managements are overreacting. "There are colleges out there with healthy reserves and low borrowing," he says. "There's no financial justification." Fabby claims that colleges spend heavily on agency teaching and support staff. "They say it gives them flexibility, but long term it isn't a good use of public money – they charge a significant mark-up." He says his union wants to work with colleges and "people in the local community to devise long-term ways of making savings".

At Leeds College of Building (LCB), UCU staff have voted to strike over job losses and potential pay cuts.

Around 39 jobs will go, though the principal, Ian Billyard, estimates only six or seven will be compulsory.

Billyard admits that the college has £6m in cash balances, but says governors have agreed to spend £2m of this on retaining staff. "I think that by 2014-15, we'll have £1.5m-£2m remaining," he says. "I believe we're spending as much as we can – any more than that, we're risking the whole college."

At Barnsley, scene of a one-day strike 11 days ago, 40-50 jobs will have been shed by the end of the summer. The principal, Colin Booth, says voluntary severance is being offered to all staff and the likely number of compulsory redundancies has been reduced through consultation from 44 at the outset to six.

Lovejoy believes only goodwill and good practice can prevent excessive damage to the sector – "early consultation, a willingness to seek volunteers and offer other ways through".

• The following correction was printed in the Guardian's Corrections and clarifications column, Tuesday 5 July 2011. An interviewee was quoted as saying that Ofsted, the education regulator, requires colleges of further education "to have a certain amount of [financial] surplus" to ensure continued viability. Ofsted says that while its inspectors look at financial planning and stability, Ofsted does not require some level of surplus.

Are colleges cutting more jobs than they need to?

Unions are questioning whether redundancies in colleges are justified when the coffers are relatively full

Around 4,300 and counting. Every month the lecturers' union, UCU, updates numbers of further education posts at risk, and each time the outlook grows grimmer.

It's just one strand of a national picture unfolding through the Guardian's Cutswatch, which, with readers' help, is mapping the fallout from the coalition government's austerity measures. Yet while no one expected FE to be immune, there's growing concern that some jobs are being sacrificed even when colleges' financial balances appear to be in rude health.

Recent weeks have brought news of redundancies across the country. "It's never-ending," says the UCU's Midlands regional organiser, Nick Varney. "We believe colleges are using the current environment, where they think people are fearful, to cut deeper than they need."

When UCU and the public sector workers' union, Unison, surveyed around 140 colleges in April, more than 93% said they had already shed staff since June 2009. But over half – 53% – said they intended making further redundancies.

UCU members in colleges will be among those striking on Thursday as part of the national campaign to defend pensions. Many are also embroiled in local disputes.

Meanwhile, it's hard to find a deeper sense of resentment among staff than at Newcastle College. On the one hand, it is facing 200 full-time equivalent job losses, 148 of which are teaching or teaching-related. However, management says that 188 new jobs have been created, of which 157 are teaching or teaching-related. This follows a curriculum reorganisation.

Newcastle College is part of a group (NCG) that includes Skelmersdale and Ormskirk College, and Intraining in Sheffield. Overall, it made a £6m surplus last year. The UCU claims its members were offered a stark choice: redundancy or applying for new jobs that would place many lecturers on a single grade paid just £22,500 a year. The spokeswoman says that a £6.25m cut in government funding meant the college no longer generated the same level of business in some areas, and many lecturing grades were no longer needed. "Therefore these new jobs attract a different salary scale."

Shortly after the news of redundancies first broke, it emerged that NCG's chief executive, Dame Jackie Fisher, enjoyed a pay rise, including bonus and retention payment, of almost £73,000. A spokeswoman points out that Fisher is responsible for three divisions with an annual turnover of £152m in 2009-10. "The [pay] deal had been agreed three years earlier, and paid in August 2010, before the government's comprehensive spending review," she says.

In some colleges, redrawn staff contracts will leave lecturers up to £10,000 a year worse off, says UCU's head of education, Barry Lovejoy. "I worry that it's a growing phenomenon."

College managements say cuts and job losses are unavoidable because of central government cuts. But a recent analysis of Skills Funding Agency data by consultants W3 Advisory revealed that cash balances last year increased by 30%, to an average £3.4m – the highest for five years. Meanwhile, the proportion of income spent on pay fell from 65.7% in 2008-09 to 63.9% in 2009-10.

What to make of it? Lovejoy concedes that the world of college finances is complex. "Ofsted requires them to have a certain amount of surplus in order that they have financial viability," he says. "If you drill down into those figures, colleges will probably come up with valid arguments [for holding large reserves]."

Julian Gravatt, assistant chief executive at the Association of Colleges (AoC), says there's no government guidance on the level of surpluses. "It's for governing bodies to make the decision," he says.

Chris Fabby, Unison's national officer for education, believes managements are overreacting. "There are colleges out there with healthy reserves and low borrowing," he says. "There's no financial justification." Fabby claims that colleges spend heavily on agency teaching and support staff. "They say it gives them flexibility, but long term it isn't a good use of public money – they charge a significant mark-up." He says his union wants to work with colleges and "people in the local community to devise long-term ways of making savings".

At Leeds College of Building (LCB), UCU staff have voted to strike over job losses and potential pay cuts.

Around 39 jobs will go, though the principal, Ian Billyard, estimates only six or seven will be compulsory.

Billyard admits that the college has £6m in cash balances, but says governors have agreed to spend £2m of this on retaining staff. "I think that by 2014-15, we'll have £1.5m-£2m remaining," he says. "I believe we're spending as much as we can – any more than that, we're risking the whole college."

At Barnsley, scene of a one-day strike 11 days ago, 40-50 jobs will have been shed by the end of the summer. The principal, Colin Booth, says voluntary severance is being offered to all staff and the likely number of compulsory redundancies has been reduced through consultation from 44 at the outset to six.

Lovejoy believes only goodwill and good practice can prevent excessive damage to the sector – "early consultation, a willingness to seek volunteers and offer other ways through".

• The following correction was printed in the Guardian's Corrections and clarifications column, Tuesday 5 July 2011. An interviewee was quoted as saying that Ofsted, the education regulator, requires colleges of further education "to have a certain amount of [financial] surplus" to ensure continued viability. Ofsted says that while its inspectors look at financial planning and stability, Ofsted does not require some level of surplus.

New GCSE targets are a fresh blow to struggling school

How can schools with many pupils who face major struggles even hope to meet new government GCSE targets? Janet Murray charts a day in the life of Marlowe Academy

'It's annoying when people say you go to a rubbish school," says Holly-Anna Sheppard, a sixth-form student at the Marlowe academy, in Kent. "I've done really well here, but the trouble is, once a school gets a bad reputation, it tends to stick."

She speaks with some authority, having been around since the days of its predecessor, the notorious Ramsgate school, where, six years ago, just 4% of pupils got five A*-C grades at GCSE. "The teachers weren't interested, there were fights breaking out all the time. It was just chaos," she recalls.

The school, considered at the time to be one of the worst in Britain, re-opened as the Marlowe academy in 2005 and, for a while, things seemed to be looking up. By 2010, 68% of students at the academy were achieving five A*-C grades at GCSE – close to the national average. But the introduction of a new "gold standard" for pupil achievement has changed that. Launched earlier this year,the English baccalaureate measures pupils' progress in terms of A*-C grades in five core subjects including English and maths, two sciences, a language and a humanities subject. By that measure no pupils at the Marlowe academy achieved the Ebacc standard and just 14% achieved 5 A*- C grades including English and maths which means the school has plummeted back down the league tables.

It has been a big blow for the academy, which was put on "notice to improve" (the grading just above special measures) by Ofsted last October, due – amongst other things – to weaknesses in English and maths.

Earlier this month, the education secretary, Michael Gove, announced a new target for all schools to have 50% of pupils getting five A*-Cs at GCSE (up from 35%), which has raised the bar even higher.

But how realistic is this target, particularly in deprived areas, where pupils can be trailing behind their peers before they even set foot in a school?

Under the last Labour government, pupil progress was measured against their previous attainment (commonly known as "value added"). Under this method, the academy was performing above average. But as of next year, the government will no longer be using this measure.

Standing in the reception area at the beginning of the school day, it is difficult to believe it is currently the worst school in the country (there were only two schools with lower attainment last year, and both have since closed).

The state-of-the art building was designed with no corners or corridors and, as the vice-principal, Naomi Black, puts it, "no places to hide", but despite the colourful displays, high ceilings and expanse of light, it feels a bit like a prison – albeit a very plush one. The classrooms, visible from almost anywhere in the building, are located over three floors, with half balconies instead of corridors. At the beginning of each lesson, teachers appear in the doorways like sentries before chivvying the children inside.

It's incredibly noisy, and the pupils are boisterous, but they are teenagers, after all, and there is a definite sense of purpose about the place.

The first stop of the day is food technology with year 7, where a group of boys is watching the catering teacher, Gerry Haynes – along with two support staff – demonstrate how to make calzone.

The small class size (around 12) and high pupil-staff ratio is down to the fact that this is a "nurture group", explains Black– a group of children deemed to be vulnerable for a range of reasons that could include special educational needs, bereavement or low confidence.

The aim is to keep class sizes around 25, says the principal, Ian Johnson, although some groups – like this one – are deliberately smaller.

One of the most striking things about the children is their stature. Many of them – the boys in particular – seem small for their age, and underweight. It's something other visitors, and even Ofsted, have commented on, Black tells me, and it is undoubtedly down to poor nutrition.

The school does help, providing a free breakfast for students every day and subsidising school meals by 10% for those not entitled to free school meals (36% of the pupils are), but Thanet, where the school is located, is a very poor area.

One of the biggest local industries here is fostering, so the school has a disproportionate number of looked-after children (currently around 40). With the port of Dover nearby, there are high numbers of refugees and asylum seekers.

In the art room, Andy Lead is introducing another group of year 7s to the work of Rousseau – and they are captivated. But he looks panicky when Black turns up at his classroom, as does every teacher we see in the course of the day. Since last October's unsuccessful Ofsted inspection, Black has been conducting "learning walks" three times a week, which involve dropping in on teachers to observe their lessons and check their lesson plans. "I think they see me as the Angel of Death," she jokes.

But most staff have bought into the changes, says Johnson. "We have made it clear that you have got to teach good lessons all the time. You've got to be at your best and wanting to improve."

When I visit the ASD area (the school's specialist department for children with autism spectrum disorders) an incident is brewing. A boy has been removed from his lesson for swearing – and he says he didn't do it. A chair is thrown, and there is a lot of shouting, but staff quickly defuse the situation. "That's just a normal day," says Audrey Ford, who heads the support and guidance team, of which ASD is part. The school is known locally for its expertise in supporting children with additional needs, she says. The ASD team now has 67 students attached to it who follow mainstream and specialist programmes, while the EAL (English as an additional language) unit has around 72.

But having more vulnerable young people in the school makes meeting the government's stringent targets even more of a challenge, especially in a selective area like Kent, where 30% of pupils are "creamed off" to go to grammar schools at 11, she says.

Ford is angry that the government has moved the goalposts. It would be much fairer to set local targets that take into account social demographics and (in Thanet's case) the fact that it is a selective area, she says. "The school is here to serve our local community … and this is our community. We are all doing our very best, but it is hard."

And there are new challenges every week, says Susan Remaci, head of the EAL unit. An increasing number of pupils, particularly Afghan boys, are arriving at the school illiterate in their own language. "We have children arriving with no teeth, with horrific injuries sustained on their journeys to the UK. They often suffer emotional difficulties as a result," she says.

Over lunch, I talk to a group of year 7s about what they think of the school (they love it) and plans to change the uniform in September (the school is moving from T-shirts and trousers to a more formal look, with blazers and ties). Some of the pupils seem worried about their parents having to buy new uniforms – one boy says he is on one of 10 children (a mixture of step and half-siblings), another girl says she is one of six.

Poverty is a big issue, says Pam Chute, student welfare manager at the school. While she has been out to visit families where children are living in damp conditions or don't have a bed (she recalls one case where a baby was crawling through faeces on the floor), she talks of a new kind of poverty, "where parents will buy a massive TV or a mobile phone, but can't seem to stretch to a hot meal or new shoes for their child".

The pupils seem sleepy after lunch, but because the school day runs from 8.50am to 5pm, they still have over three hours left. Afterwards, I meet Dave Draper, manager of the EBD (emotional and behavioural difficulties) unit, who has been alerted to a problem with one of the boys on his caseload who is being disruptive. He calls the boy out of his lesson, has a quiet word with him and sends him back into his classroom, where he appears to calm down and get on with his work.

There are currently 21 children on his caseload with behavioural difficulties, he says, and their problems are often sparked by problems in their home life. But none of them would be at mainstream school if they weren't at Marlowe, he says – they'd be in a special educational needs school or pupil referral unit instead.

Afterwards, it's back on the beat with Black. Over the course of the afternoon, we drop into numerous lessons, across various year groups and, without exception, there is that calm, purposeful atmosphere. So what went wrong with Ofsted?

Johnson admits that the school "didn't react quickly enough" in identifying and responding to weaknesses in the teaching of English and maths at the school, but points out that entry levels are "the lowest in the area, by some way".

Most of the current crop of year 7 pupils – the first cohort that will be affected by the government's new GCSE targets – were behind their chronological age in reading when they arrived in September. Around a fifth had a reading age of nine or below, and 40% had achieved level 4 in English and maths in their key stage 2 Sats (the average is around 60%), which is generally seen as a reliable indicator of success at GCSE.

What Gove doesn't seem to understand, he says, is that it is not a level playing field. The pupil premium (a government initiative that will give schools up to £430 more for each pupil from a disadvantaged background) is a nod in the right direction, but it can only go so far. "Does the extra £1,500 you might get over five years mean that all obstacles for that student are going to be taken away? Of course not. I applaud him for saying that we need to raise expectations because we do need to, but whether the approach is going to be right, I'm not so sure. Whether he [Gove] understands the pressures that are here, or just assumes we have the pressures because we are not very good at our jobs, I don't know."

At 5pm, I join Johnson and Black on gate duty. As pupils head home, it seems clear that this is a safe, happy school, but with another Ofsted inspection due any time from October, there are likely to be tough times ahead. But while he would clearly welcome a little more understanding from government officials about the nature of the school's intake, Johnson seems wary of making too much of it. He doesn't want any of his pupils thinking they are no-hopers. "If you flip the problem around, what we've got here is untapped potential. If we can unlock that, if we can find out what the barriers to learning are and, above all, we are good enough – we have a chance to turn it around. It's definitely a challenge, but it's not impossible."

• This article was amended on 28 June 2011. The original suggested that 14% of pupils at the Marlowe academy achieved the Ebacc standard across five subjects. This has been corrected.

New GCSE targets are a fresh blow to struggling school

How can schools with many pupils who face major struggles even hope to meet new government GCSE targets? Janet Murray charts a day in the life of Marlowe Academy

'It's annoying when people say you go to a rubbish school," says Holly-Anna Sheppard, a sixth-form student at the Marlowe academy, in Kent. "I've done really well here, but the trouble is, once a school gets a bad reputation, it tends to stick."

She speaks with some authority, having been around since the days of its predecessor, the notorious Ramsgate school, where, six years ago, just 4% of pupils got five A*-C grades at GCSE. "The teachers weren't interested, there were fights breaking out all the time. It was just chaos," she recalls.

The school, considered at the time to be one of the worst in Britain, re-opened as the Marlowe academy in 2005 and, for a while, things seemed to be looking up. By 2010, 68% of students at the academy were achieving five A*-C grades at GCSE – close to the national average. But the introduction of a new "gold standard" for pupil achievement has changed that. Launched earlier this year,the English baccalaureate measures pupils' progress in terms of A*-C grades in five core subjects including English and maths, two sciences, a language and a humanities subject. By that measure no pupils at the Marlowe academy achieved the Ebacc standard and just 14% achieved 5 A*- C grades including English and maths which means the school has plummeted back down the league tables.

It has been a big blow for the academy, which was put on "notice to improve" (the grading just above special measures) by Ofsted last October, due – amongst other things – to weaknesses in English and maths.

Earlier this month, the education secretary, Michael Gove, announced a new target for all schools to have 50% of pupils getting five A*-Cs at GCSE (up from 35%), which has raised the bar even higher.

But how realistic is this target, particularly in deprived areas, where pupils can be trailing behind their peers before they even set foot in a school?

Under the last Labour government, pupil progress was measured against their previous attainment (commonly known as "value added"). Under this method, the academy was performing above average. But as of next year, the government will no longer be using this measure.

Standing in the reception area at the beginning of the school day, it is difficult to believe it is currently the worst school in the country (there were only two schools with lower attainment last year, and both have since closed).

The state-of-the art building was designed with no corners or corridors and, as the vice-principal, Naomi Black, puts it, "no places to hide", but despite the colourful displays, high ceilings and expanse of light, it feels a bit like a prison – albeit a very plush one. The classrooms, visible from almost anywhere in the building, are located over three floors, with half balconies instead of corridors. At the beginning of each lesson, teachers appear in the doorways like sentries before chivvying the children inside.

It's incredibly noisy, and the pupils are boisterous, but they are teenagers, after all, and there is a definite sense of purpose about the place.

The first stop of the day is food technology with year 7, where a group of boys is watching the catering teacher, Gerry Haynes – along with two support staff – demonstrate how to make calzone.

The small class size (around 12) and high pupil-staff ratio is down to the fact that this is a "nurture group", explains Black– a group of children deemed to be vulnerable for a range of reasons that could include special educational needs, bereavement or low confidence.

The aim is to keep class sizes around 25, says the principal, Ian Johnson, although some groups – like this one – are deliberately smaller.

One of the most striking things about the children is their stature. Many of them – the boys in particular – seem small for their age, and underweight. It's something other visitors, and even Ofsted, have commented on, Black tells me, and it is undoubtedly down to poor nutrition.

The school does help, providing a free breakfast for students every day and subsidising school meals by 10% for those not entitled to free school meals (36% of the pupils are), but Thanet, where the school is located, is a very poor area.

One of the biggest local industries here is fostering, so the school has a disproportionate number of looked-after children (currently around 40). With the port of Dover nearby, there are high numbers of refugees and asylum seekers.

In the art room, Andy Lead is introducing another group of year 7s to the work of Rousseau – and they are captivated. But he looks panicky when Black turns up at his classroom, as does every teacher we see in the course of the day. Since last October's unsuccessful Ofsted inspection, Black has been conducting "learning walks" three times a week, which involve dropping in on teachers to observe their lessons and check their lesson plans. "I think they see me as the Angel of Death," she jokes.

But most staff have bought into the changes, says Johnson. "We have made it clear that you have got to teach good lessons all the time. You've got to be at your best and wanting to improve."

When I visit the ASD area (the school's specialist department for children with autism spectrum disorders) an incident is brewing. A boy has been removed from his lesson for swearing – and he says he didn't do it. A chair is thrown, and there is a lot of shouting, but staff quickly defuse the situation. "That's just a normal day," says Audrey Ford, who heads the support and guidance team, of which ASD is part. The school is known locally for its expertise in supporting children with additional needs, she says. The ASD team now has 67 students attached to it who follow mainstream and specialist programmes, while the EAL (English as an additional language) unit has around 72.

But having more vulnerable young people in the school makes meeting the government's stringent targets even more of a challenge, especially in a selective area like Kent, where 30% of pupils are "creamed off" to go to grammar schools at 11, she says.

Ford is angry that the government has moved the goalposts. It would be much fairer to set local targets that take into account social demographics and (in Thanet's case) the fact that it is a selective area, she says. "The school is here to serve our local community … and this is our community. We are all doing our very best, but it is hard."

And there are new challenges every week, says Susan Remaci, head of the EAL unit. An increasing number of pupils, particularly Afghan boys, are arriving at the school illiterate in their own language. "We have children arriving with no teeth, with horrific injuries sustained on their journeys to the UK. They often suffer emotional difficulties as a result," she says.

Over lunch, I talk to a group of year 7s about what they think of the school (they love it) and plans to change the uniform in September (the school is moving from T-shirts and trousers to a more formal look, with blazers and ties). Some of the pupils seem worried about their parents having to buy new uniforms – one boy says he is on one of 10 children (a mixture of step and half-siblings), another girl says she is one of six.

Poverty is a big issue, says Pam Chute, student welfare manager at the school. While she has been out to visit families where children are living in damp conditions or don't have a bed (she recalls one case where a baby was crawling through faeces on the floor), she talks of a new kind of poverty, "where parents will buy a massive TV or a mobile phone, but can't seem to stretch to a hot meal or new shoes for their child".

The pupils seem sleepy after lunch, but because the school day runs from 8.50am to 5pm, they still have over three hours left. Afterwards, I meet Dave Draper, manager of the EBD (emotional and behavioural difficulties) unit, who has been alerted to a problem with one of the boys on his caseload who is being disruptive. He calls the boy out of his lesson, has a quiet word with him and sends him back into his classroom, where he appears to calm down and get on with his work.

There are currently 21 children on his caseload with behavioural difficulties, he says, and their problems are often sparked by problems in their home life. But none of them would be at mainstream school if they weren't at Marlowe, he says – they'd be in a special educational needs school or pupil referral unit instead.

Afterwards, it's back on the beat with Black. Over the course of the afternoon, we drop into numerous lessons, across various year groups and, without exception, there is that calm, purposeful atmosphere. So what went wrong with Ofsted?

Johnson admits that the school "didn't react quickly enough" in identifying and responding to weaknesses in the teaching of English and maths at the school, but points out that entry levels are "the lowest in the area, by some way".

Most of the current crop of year 7 pupils – the first cohort that will be affected by the government's new GCSE targets – were behind their chronological age in reading when they arrived in September. Around a fifth had a reading age of nine or below, and 40% had achieved level 4 in English and maths in their key stage 2 Sats (the average is around 60%), which is generally seen as a reliable indicator of success at GCSE.

What Gove doesn't seem to understand, he says, is that it is not a level playing field. The pupil premium (a government initiative that will give schools up to £430 more for each pupil from a disadvantaged background) is a nod in the right direction, but it can only go so far. "Does the extra £1,500 you might get over five years mean that all obstacles for that student are going to be taken away? Of course not. I applaud him for saying that we need to raise expectations because we do need to, but whether the approach is going to be right, I'm not so sure. Whether he [Gove] understands the pressures that are here, or just assumes we have the pressures because we are not very good at our jobs, I don't know."

At 5pm, I join Johnson and Black on gate duty. As pupils head home, it seems clear that this is a safe, happy school, but with another Ofsted inspection due any time from October, there are likely to be tough times ahead. But while he would clearly welcome a little more understanding from government officials about the nature of the school's intake, Johnson seems wary of making too much of it. He doesn't want any of his pupils thinking they are no-hopers. "If you flip the problem around, what we've got here is untapped potential. If we can unlock that, if we can find out what the barriers to learning are and, above all, we are good enough – we have a chance to turn it around. It's definitely a challenge, but it's not impossible."

• This article was amended on 28 June 2011. The original suggested that 14% of pupils at the Marlowe academy achieved the Ebacc standard across five subjects. This has been corrected.

Why are universities being asked to raise their access targets again?

Just a month before the Office for Fair Access is due to announce access agreements with universities, some are being asked to raise their targets for widening participation

Universities are doing more than ever to finance and support widening participation. Why is it, then, that just one month before the announcement of access agreements from the Office for Fair Access, we are being asked to raise our access targets again?

Over the last week, Offa has been in touch with universities to discuss their draft access agreements ahead of the announcement on 12 July. Intriguingly, these discussions appear to include proposals for "nudging up" targets.

What could be the rationale for this now? It is already several weeks since universities submitted their access arrangements for scrutiny. Is it to provide some unspoken target for the sector? Could it be to provide ministers with evidence that their policies will deliver increased access to higher education for young people of talent from under-represented groups by 2015-16?

If it is, we should remember that in the same month, the government is to cut its funding for the Aimhigher programme that has supported widening participation activity so well in recent years.

Aimhigher has had a significant impact in encouraging young people from non-traditional backgrounds to consider higher education. Even in these difficult financial times, universities like my own are strongly committed to finding the budget to continue financing this important work themselves. We've seen that it works and acknowledge that it has a key role in helping us to achieve access targets.

We should also remember and applaud the significant efforts and commitment of the many staff in the sector who promote and widen access to higher education. Over the summer, in universities across the country, our staff will bring their creativity, flair and energy to find ever more engaging ways to raise the awareness and aspirations of young people. Outreach teams work with children, parents and schools as early as primary years.

This is excellent work, but it requires a long-term commitment. In a recent briefing, Action on Access (the co-ordination team for widening participation) brought together information from a range of independent reviews and proposed a framework for embedding widening participation within institutions. These include engaging with learners at an early stage to encourage them to enter HE; preparing learners for university; working in partnership with community groups, employers and professional bodies; and, importantly, embedding widening participation and equality in institutional strategies.

Over the last decade, the sector has made real improvements in access for students from under-represented groups. However, for all the nudging of the figures by Offa, and institutional change implemented by universities, the reality is that the impact of government changes to the funding of higher education will be a live experiment with young people's futures.

There are serious concerns that, by altering so greatly the balance of funding for higher education from the public purse to the individual, the government's changes will undermine progress in widening participation, effectively "nudging" under-represented groups "out" of higher education.

Another concern for those working to widen participation is the extensive public confusion about the new funding arrangements. The government appears to have had a problem in getting a simple, coherent message across to future students and their parents about the implications of the changes to fees and loans. I trust that the newly established Independent Taskforce on Student Finance Information, headed by money-saving expert Martin Lewis and the former NUS president, Wes Streeting, will be able to address this.

I also hope that Simon Hughes MP, in his role as advocate for access, will be able to ensure that our work in widening participation is supported nationally. Here at Southampton, we are proud to have the highest ranking in the Russell Group for the proportion of state school students we recruit. We are committed to this continuing.

I passionately hope that no student will be deterred by uncertainty about the changes coming in 2012. However, in the light of the new funding arrangements, it is clear that while Offa works to "nudge up" the ambitions of the sector in terms of access, those of us in the sector must work even harder to find ways of ensuring that young people of talent from under-represented groups don't reject the prospect of higher education because of an over-riding fear of debt.

• Professor Debra Humphris is pro vice-chancellor, education, at the University of Southampton

Does Michael Gove have a vision for schools?

The government is making many small changes, says Estelle Morris, but their cumulative effect goes far beyond the schools at which they are aimed

The forthcoming summer break will mark the end of the first full academic year for this government. We should by now have some idea where the next four years might take us.

In many ways, little that has come out of the Department for Education in the last 12 months should be a surprise. Michael Gove has acted quickly and decisively on his flagship policies.

Almost a quarter of secondary schools are, or hope to become, academies. The first free schools will open in September, and more than 200 further applications are in the pipeline.

The English baccalaureate is already influencing timetables for next year; heads talk about "baccalaureate streams" and music, religious education and social science teachers, among others, worry about their subjects.

Whether you like these policies or not, this secretary of state is proving to be focused and determined. Admirable traits, but we've seen their downside as well. Determination can turn into obstinacy, and focus lead to an unwillingness to listen to anyone else. So in this first year, we've also seen ministers forced into U-turns on school buildings, sports partnerships and books for children.

Yet there's a void at the centre of the government's plans. There's little sign that ministers either understand or are prepared for where all this might lead us. The big picture stuff just isn't there; there is no policy follow-through.

Take the direction of travel of their key policies. Sooner or later over the next four years we are likely to reach a "tipping point", with the majority of our secondary schools becoming academies. Each will have its own admissions policy within a weakened admissions framework and with no overall planning for the number of school places. Every school with its own application procedure and entitled to use different over-subscription rules ???. Freedom for individual schools, but an uncoordinated and cumbersome system for parents.

Changes introduced this year could mean that in four years' time, local authorities will have so little capacity and resource that they won't have a central service to support vulnerable children.

The "middle layer" of education, Becta (the technology in education agency), the Training and Development Agency (TDA), Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA) and the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) will have been abolished or will be run by civil servants in Whitehall. International tests will be the high-stake assessment and the curriculum entitlement will be narrowed.

Abolishing the TDA meets today's political agenda for cutting quangos, but where is the vision as to how teachers will be recruited and trained, and how they will access professional development? Teaching schools that arguably will take on this role don't yet exist and not enough are planned to support every school and every teacher.

Getting rid of Becta helps to cut Gove's budget, but what about the consequences? Where are the plans to embed technology in schools, to make sure children benefit from the technological revolution and develop the digital skills the economy will need? It is difficult to find any ministerial comment on information technology, let alone a strategy for the future.

The sum of all these changes will be a very different education system. Yet ministers seem blinkered by their narrow focus on a few political priorities and are failing to think through the consequences of small changes in thousands of schools.

Schools do need their independence and they do not want to be told what to do; the government has shown it understands that; but we are not just a collection of "independent schools", but an inter-dependent school system working towards a shared future.

The cumulative impact of the government's priority policies go far beyond the individual schools at which they are aimed. They will cause fragmentation in the school support system that at some stage all schools will want to use. The secretary of state is entitled to dismantle his predecessor's vision, but we are entitled to expect something in its place.

Holland Park comprehensive to become an academy

The iconic Holland Park comprehensive has decided to become an academy. Why?

If you stand outside the Department for Education this morning and listen carefully, you will probably hear the sound of Michael Gove's cheering from within. That's because Holland Park comprehensive in west London, one of the most celebrated jewels in the crown of the British state system and probably the best-known comprehensive in the country, has decided to embrace academy status – and one reason for that, according to its head, is that to do otherwise would be to risk being left behind in the current education reforms.

For Gove, this is manna from heaven. In the controversy over academies, as much rests on the perception that they are the best way forward as on the actual number of schools seeking to convert. For an iconic school such as Holland Park – the one-time flagship of comprehensive education, once known as "the socialist Eton", and the alma mater of actor Anjelica Huston, former broadcaster Dame Jenny Abramsky, and Guardian journalist Polly Toynbee – to convert is a coup for the pro-lobby, and a blow for those who argue that the implications of academies have not been properly thought through, and that the DfE is rushing its plans at a foolishly breakneck pace.

Speaking to Education Guardian, Holland Park's head, Colin Hall, says that, while expediency was not the only factor in making the move, "there was definitely an element of that". "The reality is that this is looking like a successful platform – it's a template for how schools might be," he says. "Our governing body recognises that the landscape might change, but that what's being planned might be the template for ever and we want to be mindful of that. At this moment in time, this is the tree we need to hang our hat on."

Hall says he was aware that there would be a feather in that hat for the DfE, but he says the decision was taken with the sole intention of doing what was best for the school. "We are a confident enough institution that we would have ignored the direction of travel if we hadn't really agreed with it," he says. "We belong to ourselves, not to a political party, and we are making this decision in the context of our school and its children."

Unsurprisingly, not everyone is happy. Eighteen-year-old Nathan Akehurst, who has just left Holland Park after taking his A-levels and hopes to study at Oxford University from the autumn, has launched a campaign against the move. On its website, he says a move to academy status could damage the school, and that "the coalition government, based on their current record, cannot be trusted with school reform, and are committing untold damage to an education sector built on talent, academia and public money over generations".

The letter cites the usual reasons the anti-academies campaign uses to oppose the plans: academies, it says, are unaccountable and undemocratic since they are not accountable to local authorities, and the only extra money available for them will come from funds currently used for local support services. Added to which, it says, although academies were designed with the ambition of pushing standards up, a third of the schools that have converted have already seen their GCSE results fall.

"There are lots of reasons for opposing academies," says Akehurst. "I fear that, though the perception is that the change will make the school's funding more secure, the more likely outcome is that Holland Park will end up being reliant on private finance, especially in the current economic climate. And that's a very worrying step – do we want our education system to be funded by private enterprise?"

Akehurst, and others connected to the school, are also unhappy about the way the move to academy status has been "rushed through". "Even if I thought it was the most brilliant idea on earth, I'd still be concerned at the lack of consultation," he says. "There was just one meeting for parents, and there was no initial attempt to consult with pupils, although eventually the head did hold an assembly."

One mother says she believes the school already favours "the fittest and the brightest", and fears for the future for those who are less academically, socially and economically advantaged. "This school is already elitist – how much worse will that be when it's an academy?" she says. "I'm also angry about the way this is being pushed through – we weren't given anything like enough notice that this was being planned."

Others, too, are complaining about the pace of the proposed change: Hall sent a letter to all parents by first-class post on 7 June inviting them to a meeting on 13 June and informing them that a decision would be made at the governors' meeting on 16 June.

"That was nothing like enough warning for proposals of this magnitude," says Alasdair Smith, secretary of the Anti-Academies Alliance. "What really frustrates me is that the legacy of Caroline Benn, who, with her husband Tony, did so much for Holland Park and gave so much of her time to the principles of comprehensive education, should be being undermined like this. A school like this one should have had an extensive period of consultation and guaranteed not to move on academy status unless it had the agreement of all its major stakeholders. Instead, it's being smuggled through without a proper debate.

"I've heard civil servants describing the pace the education secretary is working on with this project as 'breathless'. And I would argue that it's clueless as well as breathless – and we will pay the price for that down the line."

Hall says the consultation period had been more generous than the law required, and he rejects the idea that becoming an academy will undermine the principles on which Holland Park was founded. "We  acknowledge, gratefully, the support of the Benns, but I'm a pragmatist and times change, contexts change, and we are not living in the 1970s any more," he says. "We believe we are true to the spirit of comprehensive education, and becoming an academy will not alter that in any way."

Melissa Benn, whose book School Wars: The Battle for Britain's Education will be published in September and who, along with her three brothers, attended Holland Park, says she has "real concerns" over the school's plans. "I don't think the academy model is the way to go," she says. "I think we have to look at a collaborative local model and modernise and improve it, but I don't believe in stand-alone schools, which are what academies are. It's a recipe for educational anarchy."

Outraged European academics resent 'rankings'

European academics are outraged by a new attempt to categorise arts and humanities journals

When new lists categorising European arts and humanities journals were first published in 2007, UK academics were – to put in politely – incensed. We want "no part" in such a "dangerous and misguided exercise", said a plethora of journal editors. A special arts and humanities user group was even formed by UK subject associations to provide a co‑ordinated opposition. It was a successful campaign: in 2009, the architects of the so-called European Reference Index for the Humanities (ERIH) announced they were heading back to the drawing board.

Now their labours have borne fruit. Earlier this month, three years after the initial lists, revised ERIH lists for nine subjects were published (another five are expected to follow by the end of the year). The European Science Foundation – which has overseen the lists – is due to begin publicising them this week. The revised lists see journals categorised in a new way that ostensibly scraps the controversial letter "grades"' that caused so much angst.

Yet academics remain bitterly opposed, and the new lists are promising to be just as controversial as the original.

The ERIH previously classified arts and humanities journals by assigning them a category A, B or C, depending on whether they were "high-ranking international publications" (A), "standard international publications" (B) or those with important "local/regional significance" (C).

Under the revised version, journals are now divided into whether they are targeted at a "national" academic audience (Nat) or a worldwide "international" audience (Int). International journals are then split into Int1 and Int2 journals, depending on their "influence and scope".

The revised lists also include a stern warning: the ERIH is not intended to assess individual candidates for positions, promotions or research grant awards.

"[The earlier grades] were like a red rag to a bull," admits Michael Worton, vice-provost at University College London and one of the five members that make up the ERIH's steering committee. "People got very upset and said it was all about hierarchies and rankings. We kept saying no ... You could call it bananas, oranges and apples; it is just to signal differentiation [in the nature of the journals] ... but consultations with the community were revealing that people didn't understand."

The aim has never been to create a ranking tool, says Worton. Rather it is to make high-quality non-English language journals (often overshadowed by English ones) more visible. He sees the revised lists both as useful in making scholars aware of the wide range of arts and humanities journals that exist across Europe, but also helpful for young scholars looking to get on the publication ladder. Young scholars, for example, might want to start trying to publish in  Nat journals first, he suggests. "We are trying to do some shorthand evaluation to help with the development of younger scholars."

But others fail to see any difference in the new system and say it is the same hierarchical ranking all over again.

"The revised categorisation has not changed things one iota," says Robin Osborne, professor of ancient history at Cambridge and chairman of the Council of University Classical Departments, who was instrumental in galvanising early opposition to the index.

"To name things as Int1 and Int2, and to claim that the names imply no hierarchy is preposterous ... [and] Int will be seen to rank above Nat," he adds.

Judi Loach, an architectural historian at the University of Cardiff, who edits the journal Architectural History, agrees. "It is just fiddling on the surface ... you are going to be graded better if your article comes out in Int1, than in Int2, than in Nat."

The academics' point – as with the initial lists – is that the system amounts to a ranking of journals' quality and, therefore, it could be used to grade people. Decisions about promotions and appointments could be made, and research assessed, not by peer review but by the journal in which work appears.

"There is a tool out there, which – even if they say, 'We are not intending it to be used by people to grade people' – is going to be used," says Loach, adding that she fears it is already happening.

Another residual concern, notes Osborne, is the forthcoming Research Excellence Framework. While Hefce makes clear that REF panels "will not make any use of journal rankings in the assessment", it can't be ruled out that universities might use the ERIH ranking in preparing their submissions to panels.

The Australian government – which initially embraced journal rankings with gusto, including them in its own research assessment – announced at the end of last month that it was dropping them after determining they were being deployed "inappropriately" by universities.

The only hierarchy as far as Worton sees it is whether a journal is on the list or not. "The point that very few people seem to get is that being on the list, you already have got your gold star – you are a really good journal," he says, adding that of the 14,000 journals considered by the process so far, more than 50% have failed to make it on because they do not meet standards of "good editorial processes".

Both the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Academy, the UK's national academy for the humanities and social sciences, also distance themselves from the revised index. While the Arts and Humanities Research Council was among the European agencies that supported its development initially, the council now says it has had "no engagement" with the recent development of the index and "no plans" to get involved.

"We remain concerned at the low level of confidence in it in the UK arts and humanities research community," it says. The British Academy is equally dismissive about the index: "[We] consider the revised lists/new categories to be just as flawed as before."

Worton says the lists are now "part of the landscape" and "being used all over the world". He acknowledges that academics will want to be in Int1 rather than Int2 journals "because they have greater impact", but said it was up to the community to make sure the lists are not used improperly.

Milena Žic Fuchs, a Croatian linguist who chairs the ESF Standing Committee for the Humanities, which has overall responsibility for the index, says the lists are "not set in stone" and the categories could be revised again if researchers felt it necessary. She may be hearing from a delegation of UK academics soon.

Teachers use hip-hop to teach poetry

When your teacher is a performance poet, English lessons can have a different accent

Neat rows of well-behaved year 9s collapse into giggles and cover their faces with their hands as, on the stage, English teacher Sam Berkson launches into a Linton Kwesi Johnson poem, Mekin Histri, in a startling Jamaican accent:

Now tell me someting

Mistah govahment man

Now tell me someting ...

What most of them don't know is that by night Berkson is a performance poet known as Angry Sam – and he's not about to be put off by a little teenage embarrassment. They are won over by his conviction and clarity, and soon become mesmerised. Berkson is not so much reciting the poem as rapping it, and he gets them to chant the chorus:

It is noh mistri

Wi mekin histri

It is noh mistri

Wi winnin victri

Berkson and art teacher Chris Beschi, another poet-by-night whose performance name is Curious, have organised a slam at Kingsbury high school, a huge comprehensive in north-west London. They're doing four poems from the year 9 syllabus in the style of a hip-hop contest, and giving the school's 300 year 9s the chance to vote for their favourite.

They have chosen poems about London, one thing their diverse group of pupils has in common. The earliest is William Blake's London (1794) followed by William Wordsworth's Composed Upon Westminster Bridge (1802). The most modern is Kate Tempest's Cannibal Kids, an extraordinary rap about the capital's disaffected youth.

The teachers adopt the persona and speech patterns of each poet, and say a little about themselves before they launch with gusto into the poems.

Poetry may once have been seen as a bit "girly" but hip-hop has transformed that. These days, teenagers are constantly listening to intricate rhymes written by the artists they admire, both American and British. They watch rappers compete to see who can outwit and outperform the rest. There is an energy, beat and relevance that chimes with other aspects of urban culture: hip-hop dance styles, DJing, and graffiti art.

Beschi says: "A big part of making the link between the academic poetry syllabus and the students' love of hip-hop is having people perform it who understand poetry, who have a passion for it, and who write it themselves."

Do pupils identify poetry and rap as the same thing? "Not of their own accord," Beschi says. "They understand the link once other people make it."

Berkson adds: "Many kids are interested in lyrics, and in writing lyrics themselves – and it's not that different from writing poetry." What poets call "lines", rappers call "bars", the poets explain. "Generally, kids will write 16 bars," says Beschi. "In their heads they are hearing a 4/4 rhythm and writing to that."

Berkson says: "The beauty of our approach is that it breaks down the barrier between what they're already into and academic poetry."

Judging by the attention of the pupils in the hall, and the cheers that greet every poem, it's working. Could other teachers do what they are doing, or would it just be embarrassing if they tried?

Beschi says: "I would argue that it doesn't work for everyone. You have an authenticity as a poet that comes into your work as a teacher. And I don't think you can fake that. Being involved in the writing, performing, promoting process – there's something important about artists teaching, practitioners teaching."

But age and accent are certainly not barriers, says Berkson : "It doesn't matter if you are middle-class or middle-aged, it's just if you've got a feeling for poetry. And that comes from a deep involvement.

"Performing poetry is a chance to model the learning behaviour that you want from students," says Beschi. "If you're a white middle-class person reading Linton Kwesi Johnson in a cod patois accent, you're just reversing the role that you ask of your patois-speaking Jamaican student when you get them to read Blake.

"That's really important, not just in teaching poetry but in teaching anything: modelling that kind of academic risk-taking. You're saying: 'I'm going to do something I'm not familiar with because that's what learning is – I try things I don't know'."

Berkson sees his teaching as a step-by-step process, starting with a grasp of what students already know. "You've got to work out where they're coming from, what they understand, and then you've got to work out where you're taking them to. Hopefully, you have a social empathy with the kids you're teaching."

Besides teaching art, Beschi is also Kingsbury's behaviour support manager, and uses poetry to help students with emotional issues. "Poetry can be a channel for frustration and anger. When kids write rap and express their thoughts in a creative way, it's cathartic for them. It's a way of getting things off your chest," he says.

Rap can be pretty crude, he admits. "A lot of the rap that kids listen to doesn't come from record labels, it's home-grown, recorded on your mate's phone, put on YouTube. There's no editing process – it's really coarse.

"And what comes across is that it's an expression of confusion. They're not feeling empowered but they don't really know why. They have a sense that they're part of a structure they can't control. This is a way of getting some control."

The government is keen that pupils study "useful" subjects such as science and maths. But poetry, say the teachers, teaches equally valuable skills – students learn to analyse, to communicate, and to believe in themselves.

"By giving people the opportunity to perform poetry, you're letting them express their own ideas, which there isn't much space for in the English curriculum," says Beschi. "It's empowering to have your ideas heard and discussed."

Berkson adds: "The benefit comes across as confidence. Often people say about public school kids: 'They've got a real confidence about them'. Affluent kids go out and do things; they feel they have the right to ask for stuff and make things happen. And kids who aren't from that background feel that their role in society is to follow. They don't feel like they could be a leader of society. It's vital to build their self-worth and give them a sense that there is a value to their thoughts."

Performing verse, rapping, can give you status among your peers too, the teachers say. Being an urban poet is a pretty cool thing to be these days.

At the end of the slam, Mekin Histri wins convincingly. A group of pupils tells me: "We liked it when he did the accent. We were happy that it was something different, not formal English."

"Using audience participation means they invested in the poem," says Beschi. "And it's a great poem – angry, but also uplifting."

"The last poem in a slam always wins," says Berkson.

Further education library and information resources

Here are resources that demonstrate the value and impact of library and information services in further education.

Think pink, if you want to deter building site thieves

Colour could be just one weapon in the war against plant theft – which costs the UK up to £1.5m a week

Not even Bob the Builder ever used a Barbie-pink digger on his building site – but his real-life counterparts could soon be doing just that. It's all because of research from academics at Birmingham City University Business School, who report that painting plant equipment fluorescent colours would help builders to solve a huge problem that is plaguing the construction industry: machinery theft.

Professors David Edwards and Gary Holt began their research project after spending years working in the building industry. Edwards, professor of industrial innovation at Birmingham City, started his career as a bricklayer, then worked his way up the ranks before entering academia. Holt worked as a construction manager in the building and civil engineering industries before doing the same.

But it wasn't until the duo had a chance meeting with the Plant Theft Action Group – an alliance made up of representatives from the plant industry, insurers, the police and government – that they learned of the scale of building-site burglary in the UK and began looking at what they could do about it.

"Theft from building and civil engineering sites is commonplace – not only amongst petty thieves, but also by organised gangs who use their ill-gotten gains to fund people trafficking, prostitution, drugs and even terrorism," says Edwards. "Much stolen plant is broken down for re-sale as parts, in this country and abroad." Thieves apparently find it pretty easy to ship pilfered machines overseas, because despite the scale of the problem, most building firms don't use any serious anti-theft measures.

"Most machinery found on building sites has a high resale value, so it offers thieves fast, easy and high returns," adds Holt. "A 20-tonne excavator can cost up to £100,000, and yet stealing and processing one is arguably easier than stealing a £5,000 second-hand family car." It's difficult to precisely calculate the cost of plant theft in the UK, but the academics suggest it is between £1.1m and £1.5m a week.

"It places a cost on society at large," says Edwards. He points out that stolen plant is frequently used for other crimes, such as attacking bank ATMs. The famous attempt at a diamond heist on the Millennium Dome also saw thieves using a JCB digger. A gang smashed through the gates of the Dome and reached the Money Zone – but the De Beers gems worth £350m had been replaced by replicas after the police received a tip-off.

Having established the serious cost of plant theft and the importance of helping the industry to crack down on the problem, in 2006 Edwards and Holt began working closely with victims, machine manufacturers and anti-theft-device manufacturers, as well as studying post-theft case studies, to analyse how burglaries unfold and to help understand the "method" of plant thieves. They also looked at how theft might be prevented and how stolen items might be recovered.

"Because prevention is better than cure, we conducted a detailed survey of plant users to assess perceived effectiveness of anti-theft devices and how users selected them," explains Holt. Their studies showed the best deterrents to be locking machines in awkward positions, for example with excavating arms extended; adding company logos – and painting machinery Barbie's favourite colour.

"Painting a machine pink is not expensive, but has proven anecdotally to be a strong deterrent," says Holt. Some mechanical tool-making companies have already started going down this track with smaller products. Heavily branded machinery and matching colours are, he adds, "good sales and marketing ploys as well as an inadvertent and psychological anti-theft measure".

But, at the moment, expensive devices on building sites look surprisingly bland. "Within industry, most plant users and owners can be quite apathetic towards their assets being stolen," says Edwards. There's an illusion that the insurance company will cover all costs, but people are becoming more aware of the problem, and some of the larger contractors and insurance companies now require plant to be fully protected from theft, or to be possible to track if stolen. Still, there are very low recovery rates for stolen items because – given the extent of the problem – there simply aren't the resources to find them all."

That's where the pink comes in. "Bright identifying colours psychologically deter a thief, whilst practically making it so much more difficult for them to process stolen components – they'd have to be re-sprayed first. Why steal a pink one when thousands of yellow machines already exist and provide a readily available second-hand market?"

The academics admit the scheme could become a victim of its own success. "If everyone started to 'paint it pink', then no longer would pink machines look out of place," Edwards concedes. "The real message has to be to make the plant as conspicuous as possible and add bespoke livery to match company logos – essentially, you are making the thief look elsewhere."

The duo add that construction site managers still need to retain some common sense. "Through a contact, we became aware of a construction site that was constantly being targeted by thieves with a particular eye for portable generators," explains Holt. "At the end of the working week, the site manager decided to tie up the generators and suspend them from the site's tower crane – "that will stop them," he thought. But when he returned to the site on Monday morning, the tower crane – worth over £2m – had vanished, too. It hasn't been seen since.

"Apparently, the gang wore boiler suits, which made them appear reputable, and they had magnetic signs on their vehicles to denote that they were from a hire company. Nobody questioned them and security even made them a cup of tea." The academics believe that might have been avoided if the equipment had been painted pink. They're aiming to get their message out across the construction industry, and are even thinking about linking in with charity. "If only we could do some related marketing and tie pink machines to breast cancer campaigns, then not only might we prevent theft, but also contribute to a good cause," they add.

Bend it like Beckham – but not on Mars

You could still play the beautiful game on the Red Planet, researchers say, but the ball would travel four times as far as on Earth – and you would no longer be able to 'bend' it

Football games vary measurably from city to city because of down-to-Earth differences in the air pressures, temperatures and other physical conditions. But those differences are slight in comparison to those described in a University of Leicester study called Association Football on Mars.

Calum James Meredith, David Boulderstone and Simon Clapton published the analysis early this year in the university's Journal of Physics Special Topics.

The journal is produced by and for undergraduates, which makes it a bit unusual. The current head of the department of physics and astronomy at the University of Leicester is Professor Lester.

Association Football on Mars methodically calculates the altered basics of play on the Red Planet. "It would be possible to retain the game in a familiar but slightly changed form," the authors reassure us.

On the Martian surface, the gravitational pull and the air pressure are less than we're used to. The ball would encounter substantially less drag in its journeying from foot to foot to head to foot to goal. On many a kick, the ball would travel about four times as far as it would on Earth. These impressive distances come with a straightforward cost: "the inability to 'bend' the ball due to a lack of air resistance would seem to decrease the skill involved in football".

The Journal of Physics Special Topics takes up topics that seldom find their way into the better-known physics journals. Also in the Association Football on Mars issue, one finds other monographs by Meredith, Boulderstone and Clapton. Two of those consider a solution to our era's most pressing environmental problem.

In None Like It Hot, the trio propose and describe a method "to help combat global warming by moving the Earth further [sic] away from the Sun to reduce its surface temperature". A companion paper, None Like It Hot II, investigates whether this feat "would be plausible given conventional rocket technology". They conclude that the mass of fuel needed to perform the manoeuvre "is only a few orders of magnitude smaller than the mass of the Earth. The number of rockets will make only a small difference due to the nature of the relationship between the two values".

The non-astronomy highlight of the issue is a report by Robert Hopton, Steph Jinks and Tom Glossop called Determining the Smallest Migratory Bird Native to Britain Able to Carry a Coconut.

This pertains to a claim in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, when King Arthur postulates that a migratory bird could have transported coconuts from the tropics to Britain. Hopton, Jinks and Glossop calculate that the only British bird with a chance at succeeding is the white stork. No go, they warn. The stork's cross-sectional area is slightly too low to provide the required amount of lift. The stork would fall short, and King Arthur would be nutless.

• Marc Abrahams is editor of the bimonthly Annals of Improbable Research and organiser of the Ig Nobel prize

Open up educational resources legally with new JISC tools

Making your educational resources openly available is not always straightforward when there are multiple licences involved - but two new JISC online wizards can help navigate the issues.

Amber Thomas, programme manager at JISC, said, “These are really useful tools for aiding the remix of creative commons licensed content. The wizards are very simple to use, and we hope they will be useful to many people”.

The wizards navigate through the licence compatibility issues which arise when blending Creative Commons (CC) licensed resources into open educational resources.

They have been created for use by JISC funded open educational resources projects, but it is anticipated that they will have to be applicable to other projects throughout the creative industries internationally.

Prodromos Tsiavos, England and Wales Project, Legal Project project lead, Creative Commons UK, said, "These tools allow users of the CC licences to make quick, easy and accurate decisions as to when and how to use multiple combinations of the CC licences. They reduce the complexity of copyright law and empower the end user by reducing the need for external advice when licensing copyrighted material. CCUK strongly supports this collaborative work and believes it will substantially contribute to the re-use, utilisation and proliferation of CC licensed content."

The toolkit will help people to understand the range of Creative Commons licences which are compatible with each other when they are blending Creative Commons licensed resources to create Open Educational Resources.

Jason Miles Campbell, service manager, JISC Legal said, “These tools make tricky calculations easy when it comes to working out how the various Creative Commons licences work with each other. Web2rights, Creative Commons UK and JISC Legal have pooled expertise to enable those passionate about releasing open educational resources to get on with creating imaginative, inspiring materials, rather than focussing on the legal intricacies of licensing.”

The wizards have been designed by the JISC-funded OER IPR intellectual property rights support project team, which is led by Web2Rights Ltd, in collaboration with JISC Legal and Creative Commons UK.

Naomi Korn, Director, Web2Rights Ltd, said, “I am delighted that we have produced a tool that so many people can use.”

Journals held in the Information Centre

Below is a list of journals in the Information Centre

ADLG newsletter - Aerospace and Defence Librarians sub-Group   
Adults learning   
ALLIS quarterly - Association of Librarians and Information Professionals in the Social Sciences
ARC (archives, records management and conservation) - Society of Archivists
Bookseller
Bulletin - Records Management Society
Catalogue & Index - Cataloguing and Indexing Group
Central Issues – CDG West Midlands
CILIP in Ireland news
CILIP in Yorkshire and Humberside: supplement to Library + Information update
CILIP update with gazette
CLSIG News - Commercial, Legal & Scientific Information Group
COFHE bulletin - Colleges of Further and Higher Education Group
COLRIC newsletter
Community Services Group journal (Back copies only, now online)
Cutting Edge – CDG East of England
CyMal – Museums Archives and Libraries Wales
Directions - CDG London & SE
Discover NLS - National Library of Scotland
Diversity Group newsletter
East Midlands Branch newsletter
Eclipse - South East Branch
ELG news - Education Librarians Group
eLucidate - UK eInformation Group
FIL newsletter - Forum for Interlending and Document Supply
Focus on international library and information work - International Library and Information Group
Focus – CDG Scottish Division
Front-line: Affiliated Members newsletter
Government libraries journal - Government Libraries & Information Group
Health information and libraries journal
Health Libraries Group newsletter
Historic Libraries Forum bulletin
IFLA journal
Impact - Career Development Group
Information Scotland
International preservation news
In view – Career Development Group North East
ISG (L&SE) news – Information Services Group London & SE branch
Journal of information science
Journal of librarianship and information science
Journal of the European Association for Health Information and Libraries
Legal information management (formerly Law librarian)
Libraries for nursing
Library and information gazette (ceased publication)
Library and information history newsletter - Library and Information History Group
Library and information update (now CILIP update with gazette)
Library and information research - Library and Information Research Group
Library campaigner
Library history
Library trends
LIBRI - international library review
Link – Career Development Group Northern Ireland
Local studies librarian - Local Studies Group
London CLIP: newsletter for CILIP in London
Managing information
Midlands & Anglia Local Studies - Midlands & Anglia Local Studies Group
Multimedia information and technology (MmIT) - Multimedia Information and Technology Group
Network: the journal for library and information professionals - Network of Government Library and Information Specialists
Newsletter – Career Development Group East Midlands
North East LIP - North East Branch
NW news - North West Branch
North West Local Studies Group Newsletter - North West Local Studies Group
Open access - West Midlands Branch
Personnel Training and Development Group newsletter
Post-lib - Retired Members Guild
Prison libraries journal - Prison Libraries Group
Public eye - Publicity and Public Relations Group
Public Library Journal - Public Libraries Group
Rare books newsletter - Rare Books and Special Collections Group
Refer: the journal of the Information Services Group
Relay - University College and Research Group
School librarian
School Libraries Group London & SE newsletter
School libraries in view - School Libraries Group
SCONUL focus
Searcher: the newsletter of the Patent & Trade Mark Group
Serials
Service point: the Journal of the Branch and Mobile Libraries Group
South Western news - South Western Branch
Sunrise - East of England Branch
Times educational supplement
Times higher educational supplement
UC&R newsletter - University College and Research Group
Wired
Y ddolen - CILIP Wales
Ymlaen – CDG Wales
Youth library review - Youth Libraries Group  

The non-CILIP titles on this list are held for twelve month to five years depending upon their size and the frequency of publication. 

We keep a set of back issues for all CILIP journals and newsletters. We also have an archive of Library Association Records and incomplete sets of Institute of Information Science journals and newsletters.

If you have a query about our holdings please contact the Information Team.

Darwin’s personal library put online

Notes and comments scribbled by Charles Darwin on the pages and margins of his own personal library have been made available online for the first time.

Darwin’s personal scientific library, the majority of which is held at Cambridge University Library, has been digitised in a collaborative effort involving Cambridge, the Darwin Manuscripts Project at the American Museum of Natural History, the Natural History Museum, and the Biodiversity Heritage Library.

The digitisation project was jointly sponsored by JISC and National Endowment for the Humanities through a transatlantic digitization collaboration grant. 

In total, Darwin’s library amounted to 1480 books, of which 730 contain abundant research notes in their margins. These annotated books are now in the process of being digitized. The first phase of this project has just been completed, with 330 of the most heavily annotated books launched online at the Biodiversity Heritage Library for all to read .

Alastair Dunning, programme manager at JISC, said: "Digitisation not only creates online version of books, but reveals the annotations and notes that are unique to each book and its owners. So with this website, jointly supported by the NEH in the US and JISC in the UK, we can see the flashing thoughts, hasty scribbles and cherished opinions that underpinned the development of Darwin's thought."

University Librarian librarian Anne Jarvis said: “The Darwin collections are among the most important and popular held within Cambridge University Library. While there has been much focus on his manuscripts and correspondence, his library hasn’t always received the attention it deserves – for it is as he engaged with the ideas and theories of others that his own thinking evolved.”

Because Darwin’s evolutionary theory covered so many aspects of nature, reading served him as a primary source of evidence and ideas.  Darwin once complained that he had become a ‘machine for grinding general laws out of large collections of facts’.

The pages of Darwin’s Library, smothered as they are in his tantalizing scrawl, give us a direct view of the great Darwinian intellectual machine in action. With the Charles Darwin Library online, now everyone can retrace how Darwin systematically used reading to advance his science.

Most of Darwin’s personal library rests at Cambridge University Library and at Down House.  Although the majority of the books are scientific, some are humanities texts on subjects that Darwin transformed into scientific topics.

The series of transcriptions accompanying each page allows everyone to see which passages Darwin found relevant to his work, stimulated his thinking, or just annoyed him as he read the work of others.

For example, his friend Charles Lyell wrote in his famous Principles of Geology that there were definite limits to the variation of species. Darwin wrote alongside this: “If this were true adios theory”.

The online transcribed marginalia relies on the work of two scholars, Mario A. Di Gregorio and Nick Gill, published in the 1990s and now greatly enhanced by Gill. Finally, in addition to images of the books and transcribed jots, the information is fully indexed so that people can search for topics and ideas relevant to their interests or work.

Images courtesy of Cambridge University Library.

Read the books online

Chaos reigns as 2011 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal winners are announced

The 2011 CILIP Carnegie Medal has been awarded to Patrick Ness for his novel, “Monsters of Men”. Grahame Baker-Smith has won the 2011 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal with his father and son inspired generational tale, “FArTHER”.

CILIP Carnegie Medal

“Monsters of Men” is the third and final instalment in Ness’s “Chaos Walking” trilogy which compellingly charts the epic power struggles between the inhabitants of a world where all thoughts are audible; and the relationship which develops between Todd and Viola, his young main characters. The two previous books in the trilogy, “The Knife of Never Letting Go” and “The Ask and the Answer” were also shortlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal, in 2009 and 2010 respectively, the first time this has been achieved by all books in a series.

Ferelith Hordon, chair of the 2011 judging panel comments: “By any stretch of the imagination – and this is a book which profoundly stretches exactly that – “Monsters of Men” is an extraordinary achievement. Within its pages, Patrick Ness creates a complex other world, giving himself and the reader great scope to consider big questions about life, love and how we communicate, as well as the horrors of war, and the good and evil that mankind is capable of. It’s also an enthralling read that is well nigh impossible to put down. Reviews on the CILIP shadowing site bear out our conviction that despite being part of a remarkable trilogy, this is a novel that both stands alone, and stands out”.

Asked what winning the CILIP Carnegie Medal means to him, Patrick Ness comments: "The list of Carnegie winners literally spans Arthur Ransome to Neil Gaiman.  What an incredible, career-defining honour to be placed there, and I'm genuinely moved to have been chosen." 

The CILIP Carnegie Medal is the UK’s oldest and most prestigious prize for children’s and young people’s writing. Over the last seven decades it has come to be regarded as the arbiter of quality in writing for children and young people, and has frequently spotted fresh talent ahead of the market. Although there is no cash prize, its prestige lies in its unique judging process. Most of today’s literary and book awards seek submissions from publishers and votes from the public. Not the CILIP Carnegie: the Medal’s selection process is rooted in the professional expertise of librarians across the UK who nominate titles to be considered for a shortlist of up to eight titles, from which the winner is then chosen.

CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal

Grahame Baker-Smith has won the 2011 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal, the UK’s most prestigious children’s illustration award for “FArTHER”. The book tells the moving story of how a son takes up his father’s unfulfilled dreams of flying, and finally takes to the air.

Baker-Smith’s book was inspired both by his own father, and by being the father of a son himself.

Of this year’s winning book, Ferelith Hordon, Chair of the CILIP Kate Greenaway judging panel comments: “FArTHER is a beautifully conceived picture book with a dream-like quality that captures the imagination of readers of all ages. Its wealth of detail conveys both dark emotions: the storms of war and weather, and a powerful sense of loss and bereavement; but also a great sense of hope, particularly as vested in future generations”.

Grahame Baker-Smith lives in Bath and has been working as an illustrator for the past 30 years. His work includes several books, and an album cover for Robert Plant. Five years ago, he evolved a new way of working, and a striking change of style. His first “new look” book, “Leon and the Place Between”, was shortlisted for last year’s CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal, and “FArTHER” is his second. Both are published by Templar.

On winning the CILIP Kate Greenaway, he comments: “It’s been an extraordinary, painful, joyous, frustrating and wonderful trip, this making a living from my imagination. I am utterly amazed to win”.

Both medals are awarded annually by CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. The 2011 winners were announced at a ceremony at BAFTA, Piccadilly, London at 12 noon on Thursday 23 June. 

For full press releases and background information please visit the awards website: www.ckg.org.uk/pressdesk

For more information about the CILIP shadowing scheme please visit the shadowing site: www.ckg.org.uk/shadowing

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23 June 2011

Press contact
Kasey Butler, CILIP
Tel: 0207 255 0653
Email: ckg@cilip.org.uk

CILIP Shadowing Scheme
Over 4,000 reading groups in schools and public libraries registered to take part in the 2011 shadowing scheme for the awards, involving nearly 90,000 children and young people. 
Visit: www.ckg.org.uk/shadowing  

Our supporters
CILIP is grateful to have received support from a number of organisations over the years. Since 2007, ALCS, the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society, and the Carnegie UK Trust have supported the shadowing scheme. In addition to their ongoing support from, in 2011 we welcome Renaissance Learning as a sponsor and Scholastic Book Clubs as our sole official book supplier.

The Authors’ Licensing & Collecting Society (ALCS) www.alcs.co.uk
Carnegie UK Trust       www.carnegieuktrust.com
Renaissance Learning     www.renlearn.co.uk
Scholastic Book Clubs     http://clubs.scholastic.co.uk/  

What makes a good library service?

Guidelines on public library provision in England for portfolio holders in local Councils

Libraries are important. A good library service provides a positive experience for local people, and demonstrates the value a local authority places on its community. CILIP has produced the guidelines in the public interest to advise portfolio holders in local councils what makes a good library service.

The Guidelines were published in October and revised in December 2010.

 Download the guidelines

A good library service will deliver against key policy objectives and provide:

• A positive future for children and young people
• A fulfilling life for older people
• Strong, safe and sustainable communities
• Promotion of local identity and community pride
• Learning, skills and workforce development
• Health improvements and wellbeing
• Equality, community cohesion and social justice
• Economic regeneration
  
  

Annie Mauger writes to England MPs December 2010

•  Read the letter: Our Public Libraries

Media release

• Sweeping cuts to public libraries threaten a fair society, MPs warned

Further information about public libraries

• Information to support the Guidelines about strategic planning, good practice and performance. Includes links to case studies, reports and strategy documents.
  
  
• Background information on public libraries including statistics, national success stories and information on who uses libraries.

First winner chosen for Aspire Award

Carly Miller, a student at the University of Sheffield, has won the first CILIP/IFLA Aspire Award. She will receive a free residential place at CILIP’s flagship conference, Umbrella 2011. The conference will take place at the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield on 12-13 July.

The Aspire Award was created in memory of CILIP’s Chief Executive Bob McKee, who died in August 2010. The Award will support Bob's passionate interests – developing new professionals and strengthening international relationships. It will help new professionals develop through networking at UK and international events.

To win the award, qualifying CILIP members were required to identify an ambition or overall aim that attending Umbrella would help realise. They also had to demonstrate how attending the conference would bring a definable contribution to the library profession. Consideration was given to how their ambition related to Bob McKee’s core belief in the role of libraries as a means to a fairer and more prosperous society.

Applications were judged by a small panel of CILIP staff and activists, in co-operation with Bob McKee’s family, and in a very tight race Carly Miller emerged as the winner. She will be interviewed in the July issue of CILIP’s Update magazine.

IFLA: The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions are also providing an international bursary this year under the Aspire Award scheme to support a new professional from Ukraine, a country in which Bob had a professional interest. The 2011 winner is Oksana Rozmirovska. The scope of this international bursary will be widened to the whole library community after two years.

The Aspire Award is being funded entirely by donations, which can be made through either CILIP or IFLA. More details are available at www.cilip.org.uk/aspireaward.

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Press contact:

Mark Taylor, Head of Corporate Marketing and Media Relations, CILIP
Tel: 020 7255 0654
Mobile: 07792 635 305
Email: mark.taylor@cilip.org.uk

Member enquiry service

The Information and Advice Team provides support to members on a range of practical professional issues from library building projects to statistics.

We are a first point of contact for general enquiries and provide a specialist enquiry and research service for CILIP members. Our team of qualified information professionals bring the following services to you:

• Current awareness services
• Employment law helpline
• Information Centre
• Online databases
• Practical Guides
• Salary guides
• Top enquiries
• Top Tips on employment issues

Contact Us

You can submit an enquiry by:

• Email: info@cilip.org.uk
• Online enquiry form
• Telephone: +44 (0)20 7255 0620 (Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm)
• Textphone: +44 (0)20 7255 0505
• Fax: +44 (0)20 7255 0501
• Post: CILIP Information and Advice, 7 Ridgmount St, London, WC1E 7AE

Feel free to contact us too via:

• The Information and Advice Blog
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• Or ask us and the wider LIS community on the CILIP Communities - Practical Questions and Answers Forum (member only, log-in required)