May 23 2007
David Willetts tries to kill Aunt Sally
When David manfully plunged his dagger through the heart of the policy of building new grammar schools in places that do not have them, did he realise this policy was long since dead? The Aunt Sally of grammar school building was dead under Maragret Thatcher and remained dead under all the subsequent leaders of the party. There is no need for a murder investigation to trace the hand of Willetts, as he was attacking a corpse.
The most contentious thing David Willetts said was that the gramnmar schools?? no longer helped children from lower income backgrounds get on in the world. He did not explain that is predominantly because there are no grammar schools left in the poorest parts of our country, nor did he temper his critique by saying it is good news that some do get on through grammar schools. Their parents may be in?? his eyes "middle class" but they are not usually rich or privileged, in the way the parents of Public School children often are.
My advice to the party is to calm down about all this. The leadership agrees with the majority of us who think many excellent grammars should remain. A future Conservative government will not be in the business of abolishing them, as many in Labour would like to do. More importantly, a future Conservative government would turn its attention to the plight of many students in?? comprehensives which are not offering them a demanding and interesting education.
Putting grammar streams into comprehensives will make things better for the academically gifted of all backgrounds. Changing the way English and Maths are taught in primary schools should equip more to get something out of their secondary schooling.
The Conservative party needs to speak for the aspirations and realities of the many, but it should never let it look as if it is against the few excelling through effort and hard work. Labour are the jealous party – jealous of those whose parents bought them a good education, and jealous of those who earned themselves a good education by competitive exam. We must be the party of social advancement by all these means. Above all we must hold out the hope of a better life to all those who are stuck in poor state schools without the skills they need.
5 Responses to “David Willetts tries to kill Aunt Sally”
John Redwood has been the Member of Parliament for Wokingham since 1987. First attending Kent College, Canterbury, he graduated from Magdalen College...
Grammar School issue was a red herring. The big announcement was the ban on academic selection. Why?
I have yet to hear a rational case for banning selection on academic ability but allowing it for location, religion, music, sport, and so on. And yet you say academic selection is good, but only within a school – that’s just irrational.
If selection is bad why do you allow universities to select?
On a simple logistical issue. To provide a grammar stream in every comprehensive will require huge schools or would be prohibitively expensive and inefficient.
One final point. If people could choose what do you think they would want? This question is easy to answer – just look at the private sector. Selection, selection, selection. Choice, choice, choice. Which is the only way to provide education, education, education.
Well said John.
Absolutely – thanks for some calmness amid the turbulence this issue seems to have unleashed on what passes for Britain’s political right.
Do you think Cameron is prepared for the massive fight he will have on his hands with our education establishment even to achieve his more modest goals: better discipline and streaming / setting throughout our school system?
To have a grammar school stream in every school brings us back to Kit’s point. How will they be selected?
“How will they be selected” There is partial selection going on now in my children’s school, in Maths children are streamed mid-way in Year 7 (1st year secondary school) via local unswatted for tests , by the start of Year 8 they are streamed in English I assume by teacher recommendation and in science after a series of modular exams they’ve taken I think. There are only three sets the middle one being the largest but split into the relevant number of classes to keep the children in correct teaching ratio. I’m not sure whether children ever get moved through the groups though for example retested say in Year 9 at 13/14.
There is no setting or streaming (I’m never sure which to call it) in History (or the other humanities subjects), Modern Languages, and other subjects like art or music.