Comprehensive Future meeting What now for the comprehensive vision? November 23rd 6pm, Committee Room 6 House of Commons, Westminster. Speakers Vic Goddard – Headteacher Passmores Academy, Harlow; Angela Rayner – Labour Shadow Secretary of State for Education; John Pugh – Lib Dem spokesperson on education and Alec Shelbrooke – Tory MP for Elmet and Rothwell . All welcome –please allow time to go through security. To be followed at 7.15 by the Comprehensive Future AGM
More and more articles on why selection is a bad idea have appeared in recent days, from Fiona Millar in the Guardian, Michael Wilshaw in the TES and Jeremy Warner in the Telegraph. Theresa May should be taking notice!
The current debate about grammars is resulting in useful data illustrating how selection does not help social mobility for example from Education Datalab,Full Fact and School Dash.
Fiona Millar makes the case for stopping schools managing their own admissions.
Concern is growing that if Justine Greening is ‘open minded’ about more grammars ways will be found to introduce more grammars as free schools. The Conservative campaign to bring in more grammars is relaunching. But the case against will be set out again and again. If Theresa May is serious about closing the gap, she should end selection not increase it.
Government adviser and one of the architects of Progress 8 has said that despite corrections the final version will still give grammars a ‘head start’. Tim Leunig was speaking at a recent meeting of secondary moderns reported in the TES on 13th May.
The Chief Adjudicators latest Annual Report expresses many concerns about school admissions. More evidence in support of our campaign for a wide ranging review of school admissions.
Joanne Bartley a speaker at our conference writes in Schools Week
Go to the SEA website to hear the excellent speech from Dr Selina Todd about the myth of grammar schools and the opportunity they offered to the working class. Meanwhile David Lammy MP and Boris Johnson want to see selection at 11 continue!
In an article in the Guardian today (7.10.2014) Fiona Millar lifts the lid on secondary school admissions.
Bucks campaigners have shown that tutor proof tests do not help poor children. Better surely to end selection tests, go comprehensive and spend the money saved on schools and all pupils?
Speakers at our fringe meeting at the Labour Party conference on September 21st include Owen Jones and Fiona Millar
Our report on the survey done on admissions criteria of English secondary schools has encouraged debate particularly on banding in the TES,BBC website and the Local Schools Network, although the report has also much more to say about other aspects of admissions and supports our call for a review of admissions.The Conversation in March had a useful post on banding by Professor John Coldron.
Research from the Institute of Education, Bath University and Bristol University has provided more evidence to refute the idea that we need more selection at eleven, which currently only UKIP supports. An article by Professor David Jesson welcomes the evidence. Adrian Elliott on the LSN website tackles the UKIP policy of a grammar school in every town. A post from the Institute of Education gives more background to the research.
The DfE has published guidance for free schools on admissions including a model policy
A report on school admissions by the Children’s Commissioner calls for the DfE to carry out research. Summary on the website.
This week (March 3) parents are getting to know if their preferences for their child’s secondary school are being met. The Telegraph and Guardian some of the media focusing on admissions. The Sutton Trust has published research on the admissions criteria used by schools for the 2012 intake. Comprehensive Future has a summary.
John Major’s speech triggered the usual calls to ‘bring back’ grammars (do they not know about the many areas in England where selection at 11 still has a major effect?). But there have been some powerful arguments against, from John Harris, the Local Schools Networkin two articles and Full Fact.
