May 17 2007
Grammars are good because they stretch able children, giving them a chance to compete with public school pupils.
I have always supported grammar schools - and ??the old direct grant schools, and assisted places in independent schools. They represented opportunity for children from lower income backgrounds to go to an academically demanding school, giving them more chance of a good university place.
All too many parts of the country no longer have them,thanks to Labour’s educational vandalism from an earlier era. It means in many parts of the country the ladder of opportunity has been kicked away from anyone without rich parents.
I hope David Cameron’s approach of creating a grammar stream in every comprehensive represents a quicker and easier way of giving opportunity to children in all?? parts of the country, because we need to do something rapidly about the declining social mobility in Brown’s Britain.
I don’t want to live in a country where half the students going to a top university come from independent schools when only one in 12 of all pupils goes to an independent school. Nor do I want to live in a country which seeks to close down the good schools because the bad schools are unable to compete. I want them to sort out the poorly performing schools, and allow new better performing schools to be established. I want parents and pupils to have more choice, to drive standards up.
John Redwood has been the Member of Parliament for Wokingham since 1987. First attending Kent College, Canterbury, he graduated from Magdalen College...
“Creating a grammar stream in every comprehensive” - Appending the word “grammar” to the top stream will not fill not fix our state schools. We need to get away from Whitehall (and LEA’s) dictating how schools are run.
Deregulate. Scrap the SAT’s and the national curriculum. Make schools independent. Remove restrictions and limits on private schools. Dare I say introduce Vouchers or Tax Credits?
p.s. The Conservatives did their fair share of “educational vandalism”;)
Reply: I have advocated everyone going to an independent school,by asking all state schools to set themselves up as educational trusts, not for profit educational companies and other suitable structures. The state would offer to pay fees up to a reasonable level, so all who want and need a “free” place will still enjoy one. In the previous website contribution I was confining myself to official Conservative policy.
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I am truly saddened that old Etonian Cameron wants to send my kids to comprehensive schools or city academies. Unlike ‘Dave’ I went to a large comprehensive in the 1970’s and saw them at work first hand. I can say for certain I will never, never send my own children to one, while my heart still beats.
So how about tax relief for the fees I’m going to pay for my own kids education, as well as making class sizes smaller for those who choose to trust ‘Dave’
PS Anyone for a wager on where ‘Dave’ ultimately sends his own kids when they reach high school ? No? thought not.
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