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	<title>Edge Blog</title>
	<description><![CDATA[I am Andy Powell. I want to change the education system and strongly believe this will only happen by understanding the inside but operating from the outside - on the Edge.]]></description>
    <link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/</link>
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	<image> 
		<url>http://www.edge.co.uk/img/content/andypowell-1.jpg</url>
		<title>Andy Powell - Chief Executive</title>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/</link>
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    <item>
    	<title><![CDATA[Horse's Mouth, Richard & Judy, and Pushy Parents]]></title>
		<pubDate>Tue, 07 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=605:0:0</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=605:0:0</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[With the Customers]]></title>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[ ]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=584:0:0</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=584:0:0</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[How  are you intelligent!]]></title>
		<pubDate>Wed, 11 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[ ]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=568:0:0</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=568:0:0</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[The knight, the dragon and the fair maiden]]></title>
		<pubDate>Tue, 03 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[ ]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=567:0:0</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=567:0:0</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[Cheating yourself, cheating the system, cheating the country!]]></title>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 Jul 2007 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[Students taking drugs to learn, primary schools getting specialist status, Jim Knight stumped, and the missing 100 companies.]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=552:0:0</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=552:0:0</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[Carry on learning  ]]></title>
		<pubDate>Wed, 30 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[The other week I attended a really enjoyable debate organised by the Learning and Skills Network about raising the learning leaving age...]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=454:0:0</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=454:0:0</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[Diplomas - how we are helping]]></title>
		<pubDate>Wed, 23 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=449:0:0</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=449:0:0</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[14-19 Diplomas – what Edge is doing to help]]></title>
		<pubDate>Wed, 23 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[Direct support We will approach one of the successful 14-19 partnerships with an offer to help them in any way we can to ensure the Diploma is successfully implemented in their area ? including gaining support from teachers, parents, employers and Higher Education...]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=451:0:0</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=451:0:0</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[Cameron is the new Blair]]></title>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[What a remarkable turn-around!  In his speech this week Willetts made clear that grammar schools were stuffed with middle-class children and were no longer very effective in helping poorer children to succeed...]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=448:0:0</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=448:0:0</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[Leave it to the professionals]]></title>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[Did you know that social skills are now 33 times more important in determining the future success of young people than they were a decade ago (cohort studies of people born in 1958 and 1970)?  ]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=432:0:0</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=432:0:0</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[I'm back!]]></title>
		<pubDate>Tue, 08 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[Where have all my blogs gone? I cannot answer that &shy; only to say that they will be arriving thick and fast from now on! So much has happened in Edge in the past six weeks, let me tell you about a few good news stories...]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=431:0:10</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=431:0:10</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[How it all hangs together]]></title>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[ I have had a few people saying: "Edge seems to be doing some terrific stuff but how does it all hang together?".  So over the next few blogs I will also explain our strategy and why we are doing the things we do...]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=379:0:10</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=379:0:10</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[Diplomas:  A* for Alan Johnson, re-sits for Daily Telegraph ]]></title>
		<pubDate>Thu, 15 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=373:0:10</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=373:0:10</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[The Guardian hits the mark]]></title>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[What a great pleasure it was to open Tuesday's Guardian and find such an excellent supplement, produced in association with the Department for Education and Skills on the new Diplomas and 14-19 education reforms. It is well worth reading? I commend it to you...]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=372:0:10</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=372:0:10</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[Employer engagement]]></title>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Feb 2007 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[Discussing employer engagement in education or qualifications often leads to futile debates about the extent to which employers really have or have not had influence...]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=361:0:10</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=361:0:10</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[British children: bottom of the class?]]></title>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Feb 2007 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[After a rather uninspiring week of educational news, the recent Unicef report into child wellbeing landed on my desk. The report places the UK at the very bottom of a league of 21 economically advanced countries for the wellbeing of its children...]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=358:0:10</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=358:0:10</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[Inspiration from our Learner Forums]]></title>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[I was at my desk pondering what to blog this week, when I spotted an e-mail from Samia, one of the young people in Edge?s Learner Forums. She has just started volunteering half a day a week to work in support of Edge, looking at news stories and letting the other 75 or so young people in the Forums know what is going on. And it was so good? I thought you should be able to read it...]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=352:0:10</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=352:0:10</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[Specialised Diplomas]]></title>
		<pubDate>Thu, 25 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[Thank you to all those who have sent me thoughts, comments and updates on progress. Here are my recent comments to important people on Diplomas &shy; as always, please let me know if I've got it wrong!]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=346:0:10</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=346:0:10</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[Up to 18]]></title>
		<pubDate>Fri, 19 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[I wrote last week about discussions in government (and among MPs in all parties actually) to ensure all young people continue to receive some good education and training until 18...]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=341:0:10</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=341:0:10</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[Encouraging young people to stay on in education and training]]></title>
		<pubDate>Fri, 12 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[These headlines about the school leaving age being raised to 18 are, of course, totally misleading. The government's intention is to ensure that all young people continue to learn in a structured way until they're 18 (and indeed 21, and older)...]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=339:0:10</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=339:0:10</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[Defining 'gifted and talented']]></title>
		<pubDate>Tue, 09 Jan 2007 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[As these headlines show, it?s the start of 2007 and we?re back to promoting and extending the ?gifted and talented? programme...]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=340:0:20</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=340:0:20</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[Thank You]]></title>
		<pubDate>Tue, 19 Dec 2006 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[What an adventure!  It has been a long and hard, though rewarding year. Sometimes I have to remind myself that Edge is a grand adventure ? especially when I feel a bit like many teachers at the end of term? completely exhausted!]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=321:0:20</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=321:0:20</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[The qualification muddle]]></title>
		<pubDate>Wed, 13 Dec 2006 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[Gosh, we are getting in to a muddle. Here are three examples of existing confusion I'd like to highlight this week...]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=318:0:20</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=318:0:20</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[Edge Awards Night]]></title>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Dec 2006 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[It's been another fascinating week. The fun began on Tuesday night when we held our annual shindig, the Edge National Employer Awards at the wonderful Camden Roundhouse. ]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=413:0:20</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=413:0:20</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[No gifted children?]]></title>
		<pubDate>Mon, 27 Nov 2006 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[It?s been yet another action-packed week with much to discuss and sadly not enough time.  For the moment here are a few snippets that have caught my eye...]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=263:0:20</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=263:0:20</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[Parity of Esteem]]></title>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 Nov 2006 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[At last, back to the blog. I enjoy updating every week but have allowed trivial things like pressures of work to get in the way for a fortnight... I know, I know, it's simply not good enough...]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=258:0:20</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=258:0:20</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[Apologies, but worth the wait I hope.]]></title>
		<pubDate>Fri, 10 Nov 2006 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[Where has the time gone recently? I've been so busy it's just flown by. Have been clocking up plenty of motorway miles that's for sure.]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=257:0:20</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=257:0:20</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[My favourite meeting this week...]]></title>
		<pubDate>Tue, 24 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[It wasn't seeing an early demonstration of 'Horse's Mouth'  although that was great. I shall explain more about that another time. ]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=251:0:20</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=251:0:20</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[Dumbing down of science... ]]></title>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Oct 2006 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[I've had so much on over the last week that I haven't spent any time looking at the press.  However, I did catch some breakfast TV, and it happened to grab my attention because there was a feature on it discussing the apparent ?dumbing down? of science in schools. The new applied science GCSE was getting the blame.]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=247:0:20</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=247:0:20</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[A busy, busy week]]></title>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Sep 2006 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[Phew!  At last it's the weekend - many of us at Edge have been out and about almost constantly for ten days.  So much to talk about - but let me just give you a few bits and pieces...]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=232:0:20</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=232:0:20</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[Apprenticeships?]]></title>
		<pubDate>Mon, 25 Sep 2006 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[ I happened to see an article in a recent copy of Talisman (the magazine of the Adult Learning Inspectorate) relating to the ?survival? of apprenticeships over the years.  An appropriate phrase I thought. ]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=224:0:30</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=224:0:30</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[Reasons not to be cheerful]]></title>
		<pubDate>Thu, 14 Sep 2006 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[I'm receiving more and more feedback on my blogs which is great.  I was particularly interested to hear from one employer this week - whose name shall remain anonymous - that is involved in the design of Specialised Diplomas, a subject I discussed on July 31...]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=215:0:30</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=215:0:30</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[When life gives you lemons, drink lemonade]]></title>
		<pubDate>Thu, 07 Sep 2006 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[I was fully expecting to come across the usual meaningless claim and counter-claim about GCSE and A-level exam results on my return from holiday last week,  but there was a different slant to things...]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=209:0:30</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=209:0:30</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[Specialised Diplomas]]></title>
		<pubDate>Mon, 31 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[Formally called Vocational Diplomas, now Specialised Diplomas, are on their way....]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=180:0:30</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=180:0:30</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[Gifted and Talented]]></title>
		<pubDate>Thu, 20 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[Are you gifted and talented? Apparently this Government believes our children are "gifted" and "talented" - wait for it - only if they do well in their English and Maths exams, at the age of 11!  Now is it just me, or is this complete nonsense - and dangerous nonsense too? ]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=152:0:30</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=152:0:30</link>
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    	<title><![CDATA[My first attempt at writing a blog]]></title>
		<pubDate>Tue, 27 Jun 2006 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
    	<description><![CDATA[Hello! My name is Andy Powell and I am the Chief Executive of EDGE. This is a slightly daunting moment for me as it's my first attempt at writing a blog - but I'm very excited about it nevertheless and thoroughly looking forward to sharing my thoughts with you over time.]]></description>
		<guid>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=116:0:30</guid>
		<link>http://www.edge.co.uk/docs/believes/blog/?id=116:0:30</link>
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