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Ann Widdecombe calls for more grammar schools

Last post 08/02/12 at 23:13 by Burndenpark, 721 replies
Post started by bonkers 704 on 06/01/11 at 18:07

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  • bonkers 704 avatar
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    Posted by: bonkers 704 06/01/2011 at 18:07
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    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8241633/Ann-Widdecombe-lift-ban-on-grammar-schools.html

    Miss Widdecombe, a former Conservative minister, said grammar schools offered bright children from working class families the chance of a rigorous education that would prepare them for Oxford and Cambridge.

    But too many children from less affluent homes are consigned to “large, incompetent and seriously disruptive” comprehensives, where they fail to gain qualifications, and can end up in prison, she said.

    Miss Widdecombe , a darling of the Tory Right who has gained a wider following since appearing on Strictly Come Dancing, represented the constituency of Maidstone in Kent, the county with the largest concentration of grammar schools in England.

    After winning power in 1997, Labour banned councils from opening new grammars and four years ago David Cameron provoked a backbench revolt by announcing that his party would no longer support an extension of academically selective education.

    Speaking as she opened the North of England Education Conference in Blackpool, Miss Widdecombe, a former Home Office minister, said the closure of grammar schools had been “totally wrong”.

    Is she right?
  • cosmos avatar
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    Posted by: cosmos 06/01/2011 at 18:20
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    Much as I loathe Ann Widdecombe, I am inclined to think she is right. The demise of the grammar school prevented bright children from any background gaining a half way decent education.

    academically selective education is the only hope for the future  - IMO.

    I would probably support whichever party pledged to reinstate them.
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    Posted by: soapboxgirl 06/01/2011 at 18:24
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    Yes for more grammar schools, it's what most parents want. Particularly parents of Eastern/Asian origins.

    Don't believe that you'll end up in prison just because you go to a comp though!
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    Posted by: moonpenny 06/01/2011 at 18:33
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    I'm afraid I do not take anyone who allows themselves to be used  as a  human vacuum cleaner seriously and to be thrown around like a sack of spuds.

    There is a grammar scohol near me in Kingston - Tiffins but apparently even if I had considered it for my son (which I didn't mainly because of the  jouney involved) the competition for places, is immense. There is also  an entrance exam which means that  parents who coach/pay for private tuition for  their kids are the ones  most likely to get the places available.

    I say  distribute those resources fairly to the schools which need them  rather than placing it all  into certain grammar schools where only a few (usually already advantaged pupils) benefit.
  • PaulDG avatar
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    Posted by: PaulDG 06/01/2011 at 18:41
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    moonpenny:

    I say  distribute those resources fairly to the schools which need them  rather than placing it all  into certain grammar schools where only a few (usually already advantaged pupils) benefit.

    It depends what you mean by "fair"

    Grammars receive no more than comprehensives and will tend to miss out on social deprivation funding.
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    Posted by: cosmos 06/01/2011 at 18:47
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    distribute those resources fairly to the schools which need them  rather than placing it all  into certain grammar schools where only a few (usually already advantaged pupils) benefit.

     

    distribute what resources? comprehensives already have among the best teachers there are. What more do you want?

    "Placing it all into certain grammar schools" - placing what exactly?

    What we are talking about is creating schools where the expectation is that pupils will work, will behave and ensuring that they get a good education. You can throw as much money as you like at comps but until the day comes when you can refuse to accept undesirable students you will never be able to guarantee that each child will get the education it deserves.
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    Posted by: moonpenny 06/01/2011 at 18:49
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    PaulDG:

    It depends what you mean by "fair"

    Grammars receive no more than comprehensives and will tend to miss out on social deprivation funding.

    I have no problem with the continuation of existing grammar schools and funding should be fair to those schools as well.
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    Posted by: Serdinya 06/01/2011 at 18:59
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    cosmos:
    until the day comes when you can refuse to accept undesirable students

    I'm not too sure about the term 'undesirable', but there is no doubt that kids with severe emotional and behavioural problems should not be included into mainstream schools. That experiment did not work - as all teachers are well aware.
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    Posted by: cosmos 06/01/2011 at 19:09
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    Undesirable in the sense that they are not wanted because of aforementioned emotional and behavioural problems...
  • bonkers 704 avatar
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    Posted by: bonkers 704 06/01/2011 at 19:21
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    I think a much bigger issue than grammar schools is that of technical schools. I was just reading the obituary of England and Northants wicketkeeper Keith Andrew. He went to a technical school before getting an apprenticeship in a drawing office. I was thinking how impossible it would seem nowadays for that kind of thing to happen. Where is the provision for the academically less gifted, but for those with technical aptitude and a willingness to work hard? Are there any jobs in our modern service economy for them, even if we did revive that kind of education? 
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