English interior woodwork of the XVI, XVII, XVIIIth by Henry Jr. TANNER

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But the allocation of funds depended on pupil numbers; schools were ranked on ‘league tables’ that were to be based on the overall performance of their pupils in National Curriculum subjects. If schools allocated resources to pupils with SEN whose performance might not raise the aggregate achievement level, they were making what would appear in an open financial market a risky investment. Another effect of the changes was to force LAs to delegate a steadily higher proportion of their funds to schools.

It was argued that these features of the situation allowed educational standards to remain depressed and inhibited any urge to achieve excellence. Furthermore, the fact that schools in the public sector were designed to be similar and that there were restrictions on enrolment meant that parents effectively had no choice and that children’s diverse needs could not be met. ) The reforms presented as a solution to these problems involved: • enhancing quality by creating more competition between schools for resources and public support; • • encouraging greater diversity in the organization and funding of schools; • giving schools greater autonomy from LEAs in their day-to-day management while making them more accountable.

2005: 155). 4 Drawing a successful multi-agency team Glenny (2005) described three case studies of inter-agency support for local partnerships of schools. She noted: A key theme emerging from the case studies was that of control of the working environment. In the first case study everyone seemed to feel subject to forces outside their control and, as the researcher tracking down possible causes for this, I began to fancifully personify the force as a dragon: it was powerful, it demanded ritual sacrifice which might or might not appease, for example, the procedures for statutory assessment, and yet it was also mythical, because the agency (ability to act) must, in reality, surely be with the human players?