Why does the Church of England sneer at grammar schools?
by Archbishop Cranmer:
The Church of England is apparently not interested in opening new grammar schools. In an interview with the TES, the CofE’s Chief Education Officer, the Rev’d Nigel Genders, says:
“We’ve been very clear that, because we think every child is important, we want to develop more schools that are meeting the needs of all pupils, irrespective of whether they’ve got high academic ability or not. How do we provide a school where there isn’t currently enough education for the children in the area, and meet the pupils’ needs? That’s our priority. And that means opening schools for the whole community. It’s about serving the needs of the many, not just the few.”
Every child is important, and grammar schools conflict with that belief? The Church of England wants schools that meet the needs of all pupils, and grammar schools have no place in a framework of educational diversity? They’re prioritising schools for the whole community, and grammar schools are elite, aloof and anti-society? They seek to serve the needs of the many, and that necessitates ignoring the needs of the academically-gifted few?
What is wrong with educational provision tailored to the the needs of the few?
Nothing, it seems, if those few are ‘special needs’ or vocationally-inclined. Nigel Genders explains:
..in bidding for new free schools we are putting our emphasis on exploring what more we can do for those who need outstanding special education or alternative provision and those who so often get left behind by society, as well as those who should have access to education which develops their vocational or technical skills..
This is interesting. The Church of England is perfectly content to foster new schools for the few if those few are (say) behaviourally challenged or require intensive learning support, or if their talents are suited to laying bricks, welding pipes or developing designs to improve aviation engineering. New vocational schools – or University Technical Colleges – have moral virtue, it seems, despite manifestly not catering for all. But new grammar schools.. well, they’re a regressive, elitist ‘Tory ideology’, and we can’t be seen to be promoting that, can we? Good Lord, no.
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