2008

Last year's Sir John Cass's Foundation Lecture took take place on the evening of 13th November 2008 at the Cass Business School. The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls agreed to give the Lecture.

Sir John Cass's Foundation Lecture Type: Presentation and Networking (Marketing & Comms) Venue: Cass Business School, 106 Bunhill Row, London EC1Y 8TZ Room: Auditorium Date and time: 18:00 to 20:30 on Thursday 13 November 2008 Speaker(s): Rt Hon Ed Balls MP, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Event details The Sir John Cass's Foundation Lecture is given annually by a policy maker or commentator and seeks to advance the debate of charity and business working together to promote education. In giving this year's lecture, the Secretary of State, Ed Balls MP, will take as his theme "A world class education for every child". Ed Balls was appointed Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families on 28 June 2007. His principal focus will be to ensure that every child gets the best possible start in life, that they are safe and healthy, that they secure the highest standards of achievements, that they enjoy their childhood and that they can make a positive contribution to society free from the effects of poverty. Ed Balls was previously Economic Secretary to the Treasury, taking up appointment on 5 May 2006. He has been a Member of Parliament for Normanton since 2005. He was born in 1967 and educated at Nottingham High School; Keble College, Oxford; and the John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard. Ed Balls was a teaching fellow in the Department of Economics, Harvard 1989-90; and an Economics Leader writer and columnist for the Financial Times 1990-94. He was Economic Adviser to the then Shadow Chancellor Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP 1994-97; Secretary Labour Party Economic Policy Commission 1994-97; Economic Adviser to the Chancellor of the Exchequer 1997-99; Chief Economic Adviser to HM Treasury 1999-2004; and Research Fellow, Smith Institute 2004-05. Ed Balls has had a number of publications including Towards a New Regional Policy and Reforming Britain’s economic and financial policy: towards greater economic stability and Microeconomic Reform in Britain: Delivering Opportunities for All. He is a member of the TGWU, Unison and the Co-operative Party. Ed Balls is married to Yvette Cooper MP and has three children. Outside work his interests include music, cooking and playing football with his children   The full text of Ed Balls' Lecture can be downloaded below.

SIR JOHN CASS'S FOUNDATION LECTURE 2007

Speaking on the subject of 'Schools of the Future', Lord Adonis set out his vision for the education system in 2020.

By 2020, he explained, 80% of teenagers should leave school with at least five A-C grade GCSE passes. 

The 10 essential components for reaching the 80% target are as follows:

• further investment in, and reform of, the teaching profession
• accelerated change in schools (ethos, governance, leadership) and, in the case of secondary schools, stronger partnerships with employers and higher education
• greater diversity and choice for parents and pupils, both within schools and between schools, sufficient for every young person to be able to develop their talents to the full
• making extended schools and personalised curriculums for all students a reality
• staying-on post-16 needs to become the norm
• completion of a national under-fives service to give every parent proper support in the early years of the child’s life and ensure that every child gets the best possible start
• transformed provision for those with specific learning disabilities, those in danger of dropping out and who do in fact drop out
• steady expansion of higher education, up to and beyond the existing 50% target
• an internationally focused education system that prepares pupils for the globalised world in which we now live
• steadily rising public and private investment in education at all levels.

The full text of Lord Adonis' Lecture can be downloaded below.

About Sir John Cass's Foundation

Sir John Cass's Foundation has been involved in education since it was established in 1748.  Today it is one of the oldest and largest educational charities benefitting young people in inner London providing support to individuals, schools and organisations through its grant making programmes. 

The Foundation has links across all sectors of education.  It provides support to its primary school in the City of London, its secondary school in Tower Hamlets (a Specialist Language School), the Cass Business School (part of City University) and the Sir John Cass Department of Art, Media and Design (part of  London Metropolitan University).  

The Foundation has supported a variety of Government educational initiatives in schools within inner London, such as an Education Action Zone in Hackney, thirty four specialist schools, including the first parent promoted school in the country, and last year decided to contribute towards three academies (Islington Green & St. Mary Magdalene in Islington and St. Michael's & All Angels in Camberwell). It has also agreed to work with the East London Business Alliance, on employment and educational opportunities in east London over the next five years, leading up to the Olympics Games in 2012.