Ilford headteacher gives his backing to new English EBacc certificate

Jessica Earnshaw, Reporter Thursday, October 18, 2012
8:00 AM

An Ilford headteacher has welcomed the new English Baccalaureate certificate (EBacc), believing it will have a positive effect on the school system.

Ivan Mulinder from Cranbrook Grammar, Mansfield Road, Ilford, said the EBacc will help “differentiate” pupils with greater abilities, help raise standards and “remove intense commercial competition with exam boards.”

He added: “I am thoroughly in favour of the new system”.

The new exam has divided opinion in Redbridge.

Speaking last month, Michael Capon, headteacher of the selective Ilford County High School in Barkingside, said: “It’s not a good idea for pupils to go into an exam expecting to score less than half marks. There’s a sense of underachievement.

“Young people shouldn’t be spoon-fed, they should be challenged. But young people don’t all succeed in the same area and shouldn’t we be dedicated to supporting diversity?”

Spencer Lewis, headteacher at King Solomon High School in Barkingside, added: “I support a more rigorous assessment system so that students are stretched and challenged and so that the percentage of A* and A grades really mean something.

“I am, however, very concerned about those for whom academic study is more difficult, who require different approaches to learning and assessment, those to who we currently offer vocational courses as well as core subjects.”