With the Conservatives now convinced that grammar schools are bad for Britain and with the nation about to have a new Prime Minister in need of some passion-rousing policies that will unite his movement’s natural supporters and signal a shift towards a more radical and egalitarian agenda, are we nearing the time when selection by ability will finally be abolished for good? Almost all of the main political parties in Britain now agree that getting rid of selection in England’s schools (there is no selection in Wales or Scotland and it is on the way out in Northern Ireland) would produce an immediate improvement in the overall exam performance of the nation’s children, reduce poverty and inequality in many of our most deprived inner-city areas and overtly and transparently attack privilege that all too often masquerades as excellence. However it is important to emphasise that it is selection that needs to be got rid of, no one is suggesting that particular schools should be closed. There is no reason why the remaining 164 grammar schools themselves should not remain pretty much as they are now. They would have the same buildings, the same governors, the same headteachers and staff, the same resources, the same curriculum, uniform and largely the same funding. The only real change will be in the academic profile of the pupils attending the school.

Lord Puttnam, award winning film maker and president of Unicef UK, writes this weeks guest blog.  He talks about the importance of including digital technology in educational practice to make it more relevant to young people's lives.

This blog is posted on www.the2020vision.org.uk. To read it and leave your comments click here

According to Tony Blair one day every secondary school will be either a trust or a city academy. He may well be correct and I am of the view that it may not be a bad thing. As long as Academies remain in the depressed hearts of the old towns and cities and, perhaps most importantly of all, maintain their all-ability intake then progressive thinkers on the Left should not worry too much.

I. What is Socialism?

Unbelievable.   Adonis is in the wrong party.

"One of Tony Blair's closest allies has admitted Labour's obsession with the comprehensive system had "destroyed" many good schools."

The news that the DfES has drawn up plans to raise the school leaving age in England by 2013 should be welcomed by all those who are interested in narrowing the attainment gap and increasing the life chances of all of our young people.

Wednesday, 17 January 2007 - 1800-1930 - Boothroyd Room,  Portcullis House, Westminster

How can we sure that Labour's policy guarantees a good education for all? Will City Academies and new Trust Schools help to improve education for the least advantaged or will it create a two-tier system? Is our examination system adequately preparing young people for their future? Debate all these questions and more at Progress's forthcoming seminar.

With Britain's personal debt levels at over a trillion pounds is it time to put a financial literacy GCSE on the national curriculum?

The silly season is almost upon us. Soon the Daily Mail will be publishing a list of the 'best' and the 'worst' schools in the country. Local papers will be naming and shaming those schools in their area that come at the bottom of the league tables and the letters pages will be full of indignant parents either defending the school their child attends or calling for the head and the governors to go.

The latest news that Blair plans to double the number of new city Academies to 400 is bound to ruffle more than a few Labour feathers at all levels of the party.

Where do you stand on Academies? Are you for or against them?

I have declared my 'conditional support' for Academies in articles for the TES here and for the Guardian here.

Do you agree that for many communities trapped in a cycle of educational failure and a culture of low-expectations such schools can offer new energy, new purpose and new opportunities for the young people who deserve better? Or are they a huge waste of money that could be better directed towards existing schools?

Alan Johnson is floating the idea of raising the school leaving age to 18. A good example of creative, progressive thinking from the Government.

The Labour Party home page is currently running a poll on faith schools. They are polling the question, "Should new faith schools be forced to admit pupils of a different faith if there is demand?"

Once you have voted here, you are taken to this page where you can put a question to Education Minister Jim Knight MP.

Jim kindly spoke to Labourhome about the proposal for non-faith quotas in faith schools

Difficult as it is to avoid the depressing developments in the Middle East and their impact upon the national party's polling ratings, a few recent developments suggest that Labour supporters, activists and politicians are beginning to soberly chart a path towards a fourth term.

I am currently researching the government's plans to abolist the 11+ and academic selection in NI. They want to install the failed comprehensive system in NI and remove the grammar school system. It is not wanted by the majority of parents and even English universities recognise the benefits of the NI education system.

We have the best results in the UK - 25% of the best UK results in 2.5% of the UK's schools apparently.

I passed the 11+ and went to grammar school (Ballymena Academy http://www.ballymenaacademy.org.uk/portal.aspx) so may be biases in favour of the current system but will try and present both sides of the argument in my full blog post next week.

We need to stop knocking Academies and give them a chance to succeed

I've greatly enjoyed reading these pages since the website launched and have longed to write an entry addressing my own thoughts on the Labour Party's current direction. Perhaps it is my youthful naivete, but I can't understand all the doom and gloom that currently surrounds the Party's prospects.