Technology beyond their reason falls too easily into their hands. The huge change in the anatomy of childhood that we have seen develop over the past 40 years is the link we ought to be trying to pin down when we consider children and violence Among adults, screen violence is just a matter of taste.. The general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association defends modular A-levels

According to Judith Judd’s report in The Independent, the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) is warning that the new modular A- levels are preventing bright pupils from showing their grasp of a subject. But the exam boards have maintained the standard of the traditional end- of-course papers.
In fact, modular courses have made A-levels more accessible – and herein perhaps lies the problem. Whenever the education system successfully implements a reform which broadens opportunities and creates success for more people, someone is sure to say that standards are falling. GCSEs met the same response, as did university expansion.The proposed system of advanced level qualifications is now being accused of “dumbing down”.Until July 1998, I was head of a comprehensive school with a large, successful sixth form where modular assessment programmes were used in six subjects. The level of difficulty of the subjects was the same and standards were maintained, but the students achieved more A grades and very few failures.

Modular assessment enabled the young people and their teachers to monitor more effectively their progress through the course and deal with weaknesses more quickly.The students also found that modular courses provided stronger motivation for success They also make them work more consistently. We need to go further, especially by bringing academic and vocational qualifications into a more unified structure and creating a modular credit framework which matches the Government’s ambitions for lifelong learning. For the start of the 21st century, we need an education system that offers maximum opportunity.. MANDELSON: THE BIOGRAPHY

BY DONALD MACINTYRE, HARPERCOLLINS, pounds 19.99
KEY QUESTIONS arise out of the meteoric career of Peter Mandelson. First, should we regard him as the essence of New Labour? Second, is he to be viewed solely as a consummate operator, or as a leader with ideas and vision? On the answers may hang not just Mandelson’s own future, but also the direction of a party which – for all its proven ability to govern – appears uncertain about where it is heading. Thus the second Mandelson biography this year is about much more than a character who has captured the end-of-century political mood.

It is a parable of our times.Inevitably, Donald Macintyre covers a lot of the same ground as Paul Routledge, whose pre-publication revelations sparked the resignation of the former Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. Nevertheless, there are differences that justify a rival work. Routledge’s book was a political attack, aimed at his subject’s jugular. Macintyre’s, by contrast, is semi-official, with selective access to Mandelson’s papers, family, friends and even his thoughts.Such sources add detail and authenticity while meaning, of course, that the author is beholden. Yet if Macintyre is a friend, he is also a relentlessly probing one.