POSITIVE ACTION GROUP (PAG) - AGM & Public Meeting

MONDAY 25th March 2019

Annual General Meeting at 7:30 pm

and

Extremist Politics: "A Night at the Garden" at 8pm

Most of us are wary of extreme political views, but nevertheless they do seem to grab headlines in other parts of the world. This is not a modern phenomenon - PAG recently came cross this short shocking documentary of an event in the heart of New York City in 1939.

In 1939, 20,000 Americans rallied in New York’s Madison Square Garden to celebrate the rise of Nazism – an event largely forgotten from American history. A NIGHT AT THE GARDEN, made entirely from archival footage filmed that night, transports audiences to this chilling gathering and shines a light on the power of demagoguery and anti-Semitism in the United States.

The film was nominated for a 2019 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short and PAG has been given permission by the distributors to give it a public showing in the Isle of Man.

The Treasury Minister Explains

The 2019 Manx Budget

a presentation

by

Hon Alf Cannan MHK

7:30 pm Monday 25th February 2019

Manx Legion Club, Market Hill, Douglas

Each year the Budget Statement is expected with great anticipation. There is much to think about and Positive Action Group (PAG) is pleased to welcome Treasury Minister, Hon Alf Cannan MHK, to share and discuss his thoughts at a public meeting. He will present his 2019 Budget Statement to Tynwald on 19^th February. Less than a week later, as has now become almost traditional Positive Action Group is delighted to host the only public meeting where the Minister will expand on his decisions to the broader electorate, and face questions from the floor as to the public's reaction to those announcements.

Manx Legion Club Market Hill, Douglas

7:30 pm MONDAY 28th January 2019

The event is free and open to all

Since the first (2017) unofficial IOM Primary School League Tables were published on the PAG website debate has been generated on this subject in the Island’s media and other fora.

Following on from this, parent David Watts has written a second article (drawing on responses to a succession of Freedom of Information requests).

The Paper includes the Key Stage 2 (KS2) League Tables for the last academic year (ending July 2018). Importantly this work contains much more – notably what the author terms “Dashboards.”

Here readers will find a series of pages – one dedicated to each of the Island’s 32 primary schools where KS2 academic attainment, respective league table positioning, and other contextual data is tracked over a 5-year (2014-18) period.

Parents can directly compare and contrast various aspects of the Island’s schools to see, for example, if it is a consistently higher academic performer, a school where pupils struggle to reach Level 5 (+) or whether it is one whose KS2 results mirror that of a roller coaster, experiencing cyclical peaks and troughs of varying degrees.

Furthermore, following publication of England’s Early Years Foundation Stage results on 18^th October 2018 an analysis of each Island school’s Reception Year performance has been conducted using the Good Level of Development (GLD) performance measure. Here the author highlights the Island’s low ranking compared to the 152 Local Education Authorities (LEA) in England – if the IOM was considered as the 153^rd LEA it would rank 126^th.

Of course, as with KS2 results, there is dramatic variation in performance between Island schools. Full details are published in this Paper.

A pupil’s choice of school is governed by geographical catchment areas (unless the lottery of an out of catchment place is granted). Thus, a parent’s/guardian’s address means that school choice is postcode dependent (selecting faith orientated schooling, the Manx Language school or seeking private education are potential alternatives). Accordingly, parents may well want to compare various qualities and attributes of schools.

This Paper focuses on academic results, noting of course, that other factors are of great importance to prospective parents.

The author believes that his Paper makes for thought provoking reading for anybody interested in the academic performance of the Island’s Primary Schools.

To access the Paper, click on the link below.

Attachments:

File	File size	Downloads
The Great IoM Primary School League Table Postcode Lottery	2169 Kb	15471