What problem is the Education Secretary trying to solve?
by Katharine Birbalsingh, Spectator:
An open letter to Bridget Phillipson.
Dear Education Secretary,
I am worried your time in office will destroy the huge gains made over the last decade and a half in helping disadvantaged children across England. I don’t know if you are being ideologically blind and therefore ignoring the obvious negative impact of your decisions – or perhaps you just don’t understand the harm your changes will cause. I am hoping it is the latter and I am writing to offer my advice and help so that you might see that the road you are taking will have catastrophic consequences for the poor in this country.
Cutting funding to schools just before the GCSE exams
I say this as a headteacher who has chosen not to offer Latin to our pupils at Michaela Community School in Wembley, North London. Why would you cancel the grant that allows disadvantaged children across the country, including very deprived areas in the north, to access Latin GCSE? Why would you cut their grant, upon which these schools entirely depend to employ Latin teachers, just months before these children take their GCSE exams? Presumably you could have waited until the summer, instead of pulling the rug from under countless heads, who are doing their utmost to give their disadvantaged kids a chance at competing with the kids at Eton?
I cannot for the life of me, understand it. What was the problem you were trying to solve?
Freedom over the curriculum
Some headteachers and their senior teams, consulting with their staff, and supported by their governors, chose Latin. Others did not. Schools have different intakes across the country. Allowing us as school leaders the freedom to do what is best for our children is not just a sign of respect and trust for us as teachers, recognising that you, as a politician, might not know as much as we do about what is best for our children whom we see daily and whom you have never met. It also shows respect for their families, who are able to choose the school that is right for their child. Do you really believe you know better than all of us?
Clearly there needs to be a broad academic core for all children. But a rigid national curriculum that dictates adherence to a robotic, turgid and monotonous programme of learning that prevents headteachers from giving their children a bespoke offer tailored to the needs of their pupils, is quite frankly, horrifying. Anyone in teaching who has an entrepreneurial spirit, who enjoys thinking creatively about how best to address the needs of their pupils, will be driven out of the profession. Not to mention how standards will drop! High standards depend in part on the dynamism of teachers. Why would you want to kill our creativity?
Read here (£)
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