Fear for your children's education under the Tories

I am really nervous about education under the Tories. They want more faith schools, and they also want to expand the academy program to primary schools. While some academies are amazing, the lack of accountability is horrifying - christian fundamentalist groups with enough money can open up a school, dictate large parts of the curriculum, admissions criteria, governing body, appoint head, etc, and then push homophobia and the maintenance of dangerous ignorance among our children about STIs and teen pregnancy.
For the person who wrote 'vote tory if you want to keep your rights as a parent' - I really have to wonder! Labour more than trebled child benefit since it came to power, brought in family tax credits, subsidised nursery places for 3 year olds, the right to pay for your child care out of your gross as opposed to net salary, the cash incentive for 16 year olds to stay on in education, raised teachers' pay, built and improved many many schools and tried - though failed thanks to the Tories - to bring in compulsory sex ed for primary age kids. Friends children have this sex ed in their school already (enlightened head teacher) and it is age appropriate, informative and brilliant - gets them talking about body parts from early age, removes taboos so kids are able to be relaxed in really important conversations about their well being. You have got to be joking that the tories will shore up your rights as a parent. They will only benefit you if you are so rich you don't need the state at all to help you and can just buy in whatever you need yourself.
That comment is completely bonkers!

It matters that England and Wales are performing badly in international tables, particularly as New Labour has put so much money into education. They have proved that you can't solve a problem by throwing money at it. And don't blame the teachers. They have had successive non-specialists telling them how to suck eggs in a new way. A lot of school buildings are PFI, which means they have to be paid for in the future.

I would welcome a poster who was in the Conservative party and knew about Conservative Educational policy to clarify their position on Home Education.

In 2011 onwards there will be a very high number of people retiring, spending less and collecting their state pension. The early sixties baby bulge are turning 47, the age at which people traditionally stop spending and start saving. This means less money coming in in indirect taxes, and more money going out to pay pensions, etc. Whatever party wins, there will be belt-tightening all round.

Glinda, I actually thought you might have been a Labour plant on an AIBU thread last night.

I like the idea of making the student loan payments for teaching graduates but only for as long as they stay teaching.

I think we are going to be playing "spot the party activist" for the next few weeks.

Perhaps we need a new smiley ... Now what would that look like?

'Offsted is over-rated'

Totally agree that its not focussed on the important aspects of school and is very much results focussed. For teachers an inspection becomes a jumping through hoops exercise and my concern is that the Conservatives seem to want to take a stronger approach in this and have more inspections for 'weaker' schools.

The Tories draft education manifesto

glinda, which new names do you mean? I'm seeing fairly regular ones on this thread. We'd be naive to think party trolls of all colours are not registering fresh and posting, but you seem to be saying only Labour supporters should be on here Mumsnet and anyone who doesn't love Labour must be from CCO....it's a tad insulting to those of us on here who're having open discussions about policies and track records.

Incidentally, I change my name periodically. I have been here for ages. I definitely don't work for the conservatives. (But I do hope they win... for the sake of my children's education among other things)

The Conservative policy does not say 'all 6 year olds in UK should be able to read, and are going to introduce a reading test at age 6'. Please only use quotes when you are actually quoting what someone has said.

What they do say is:
"Every child who is capable of reading should be doing so after two years in primary school, and evidence from Scotland has shown that there are teaching methods that can make this possible."

And then go on to say:
"...And to provide parents with
the reassurance they need that their child is
making progress, we will establish a simple
reading test at the age of six."

rofl Glinda, I'm wondering that about people posting on politics on both sides.
(I am a recent name-changer btw - have been here since 2005 or 6, honest!)

In the case of our school it was because they couldn't score higher than their SATS score so they effectively got no credit at all for the fact that the school has so many strengths.

Has the entire Conservative central office joined Mumsnet? You would think that they had better things to do...

Seriously there are some new names about with strong conservative views. Are they really fighting the election on Mumsnet?

Good article here, in the Guardian about parents who want to set up schools.
I thought it was a silly idea at first as well and I still think it won't help the poorest children with the parents least interested in education, but there will be a lot who could potentially benefit from it.

Ofsted is over-rated imo - the kids' school NEVER does very well in Ofsted inspections, and we are all at a loss as to why - it is a lovely school, the kids come out happy and well educated, and they have gained a love of learning. But Ofsted don't seem to 'get it'.

I think what they mean is more effective testing rather than more of it.
I agree with you about how lovely it would be to have more freedom and flexibility. The school my dd is at used to be more like you describe but they're currently having it beaten out of them after a poor Ofsted

And as far as 'setting up your own schools' goes - that's just a crap idea imo. Because WHO as a busy parent has the time and experience to start a new school from scratch? Seriously.

Our area has HUGE problems with secondary schools, and there is NO WAY parents could start setting up their own schools effectively. Isn't that what we pay taxes for? To provide a state education for the kids, not to have to establish the schools ourselves? We already have other children to care for and, shock horror, JOBS to do!

I'm not suggesting that any of them have it right! But the conservatives do seem to be focussing on 'more rigorous testing' in their policy.

I won't be voting Labour either!

But it's Labour who have forced schools in this country into obsessive focus on SATS Lily!

I thought I read that the Tories were going to let parents and teachers set up their own schools and that they already had plans to get this going within weeks of getting into office (if they do). I would have thought that Home Edders would be interested in this. In fact, I think that Home Edders would appreciated a government that would leave them alone.

The Conservative education policy is scary imo.

They quote countries like Canada, and then say that 'all 6 year olds in UK should be able to read, and are going to introduce a reading test at age 6'.

Well I have family in Canada, and at age 6 they aren't even doing full days at school, and certainly haven't started reading! And I have seen children (particularly summer boys) who just aren't ready to read in YR/Y1, and as a result by the time they start KS2 (round about the time children start doing academic stuff in Canada), they are thoroughly disillusioned with school, and labelled as 'less able children'. When in fact they're just later developers.

I would love to see an education policy that allowed kids the freedom to learn through outside play, didn't have a 'sitting down learning by rote' from day 1 element, and was imaginative in teaching. One of the things I love about my kids' school is that there are no 'lessons' as such on Wed afternoons, and instead they do a rotation programme of enrichments activities, which might be cooking, sewing, gardening, forest crafts etc etc. They learn SO much from it, and yet it won't get them many marks in SATs exams. But I know which I prefer.

My family's always been pretty left-leaning and more likely to vote Labour than Conservative. That said, both my parents & a good number of family members worked as teachers in the state sector; the one thing they trust Labour on least of all is state education.

Then I wonder if education is one of the Tories' stronger areas. Because I am not noticing unanimous support for the Conservatives all over the site.

Because even on the left leaning Mumsnet people are running to the Conservatives to get us out of Labours' mess. And if that doesn't scream out a forthcoming Conservative victory I don't know what does.

Why is this thread near-unanimous - how did that happen? Is it because most of MN is fed up with what Labour has done to education or is it that there is another thread somewhere else where everyone thinks it is great and is agreeing with each other?