Postby The NSC » Tue Mar 07, 2017 5:13 pm
BP1
I said equality of opportunity not equality for all. They are two different things. That aside, I don't disagree with you. No one wants a race to the bottom. So what if we introduced a 'grammar stream' to existing state schools? Following in a recent press article by a governor from Swindon Academy where they have introduced this. Point is no segregation, its all done in the same local state school.
"Good schools all stream their pupils to some extent, at least for the big subjects like maths, English and science, and this isn’t regarded as an insult to comprehensive education.
Back to Swindon Academy where they do stream their pupils but where they have also just introduced a ‘Grammar Stream’. This allows children who have put Swindon Academy as their first choice the opportunity to take a test to be entered into the Grammar Stream. Those that are successful, have a regular academic and EBacc curriculum including Latin lessons at Marlborough College which partners and supports the school.
Sport, music, drama and other extra-curricular activities are undertaken with the rest of the school, as are meals and assemblies.
Having a Grammar Stream as part of a comprehensive offer seems to me to offer the best of both worlds. There’s no cliff edge exam at 11-Plus, and the Grammar Stream is porous with pupils able to move in and out of it where progress dictates. There’s no segregation on the bus routes, no segregation by school-blazer, just streaming with an aspirational flavour."
Forget the specifics about Latin, Marlborough etc, why couldn't that generic model work to the benefit of all local kids? Why segregate them?
Theresa May and her unelected SPADs are harking back to their own education experience decades ago. But the country has changed. The re-introduction of grammars will for example leave white working class boys falling even further behind. And so the Poverty Cycle grinds on. Its wreckless.