Michael Wilshaw tells private schools to do more for the state sector

[muminlondon]

www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/oct/02/ofsted-michael-wilshaw-independent-schools

He's not afraid of being disliked, is he? He gave a speech to the heads of private schools telling them to sponsor academies in deprived areas - only 3% do so.

My favourite quotes are:

'... think less globally and more locally, "less Dubai and more Derby"'

'What might you say to parents who think that noblesse oblige is the latest perfume from Chanel?'

'Your pensions, many of the public may be surprised to learn, are subsidised by the taxpayer. Most of your teaching staff were educated at public expense. The independent sector gains 1,400 teachers from state schools every year.'

I'm not crazy about private hospitals, no, especially since the NHS effectively underwrites them by training the doctors who work in them and doing the emergency medicine when things go wrong.

I care not about big cars, although I think they should pay more road tax, which they do for the most part.

But neither of these things creates an unjust society, limiting social mobility in the way the private education sector does.

OH yes, I totally acknowledge that about Oxbridge: don't know the stats on RG universities, tbh, and have to go to Aldi so I've not got time to look it up. I don't, however, agree with a solution that is effectively taking bright kids into posh schools and sending them from those schools to Oxbridge etc, thus ostensibly demonstrating that the posh schools are Better.

Fay, agree with you.

Er...rabbit, I'd probably send her to a different comp.

Fayrazzled
My DP is severely disabled and the care he needs is badly underfunded and undervalued by the NHS. Frankly he wouldn't be able to walk if it wasn't for the private health sector. It doesn't please me that we have to pay for it but he, and our family unit wouldn't be able to function normally without the intervention of the private sector.
It must be wonderful for you in your idealistic, ivory tower to pass judgement on the likes of us but you have no right whatseover to pass moral judgement on us

iseenodust- a genuinely comprehensive model was not possible in Hull because grammar schools, single sex schools and independent schools remained. You cannot have a fully comprehensive system with these schools in the mix.

Sadly though, if you are judging schools on result 'posh' schools are in fact better

Private education doesnt limit overall social mobility nearly as much as you think, as only 7% of children have access to it anyway.

It is the lack of a good state education, that is not available to children born in some parts of the country, that really limits social mobility.

It my area less than half of state primaries are rated by ofsted as good or above. That is the real problem than needs to be tackled, not the education of a tiny minority of children elsewhere. The focus of politicians and others such as Wilshaw on private education, is a massive distraction from the real problem

'results'

Regarding setting: my comp did it 30 years ago, my sons' comp does it now, I don't know any that don't.

Kid's that turn out to have SEN or be less than bright are often "managed out" or not allowed to sit exams in case they fail. This has happened to several friends of mine.

I didn't know they'd done that in Hull - just trying to google it, does anyone have any useful search terms?

I want Fayrazzled to be minister for education!

Jonicomelately- you know nothing about me or my family or our medical history so I think it is you who is being judgmental. I don't live in an idealistic, ivory tower and I'm passing no moral judgment- I haven't suggested that at all. I am, however, allowed to say that the NHS unwrites the private health sector in this country. It is a fact.

Lucky for you you could fund the care you needed, I don't have a problem with you doing that. But what about the families who can't? It's the structural unfairness of the system I am unhappy with.

motherinferior - how lucky for you that you apparently live so close to so many available comprehensive schools.

Why is that when anyone says they're perfectly happy with their local state school, everyone rushes to say the school must be exceptional, or to make up a hypothetical situation in which they're not perfectly happy with it?

elastamum, it's not just private schools- it's selective state schools and grammars too. Together that is a significant enough proportion to made stabilise the state sector. And while the percentage may be 7% nationally, it can vary hugely by geography. in some areas the comps are effectively secondary moderns as so many children are creamed off to the grammar and private sectors. Parents then become anxious about the poor results of the state 'comps' left and a negative spiral is created whereby parents (with the money or the wherewithal) will do many anything to get their child in a grammar or independent. And so it continues..,

FayRaz Grammar schools haven't existed in Hull for decades. Just the name lived on. Not sure 2 small independents were enough to say they caused a skew in the results. It was just a dire experiment in social engineering.

Sorry about the typos. That should say, 'to destabilise the state sector' above.

Fayrazzled
Being able to pay for private healthcare has absolutely nothing to do with luck, believe me. DP and I were born and brought up in two of the most deprived towns in the Uk, state educated , parents on the dole in the eighties etc. You seem to believe that anybody with the money to pay for things privately are lucky and entitled. You are so, so wrong and so yes, I am judging you

There's at least one girls' comprehensive in Hull, and an RC school. There are at least two independents (is Tranby still going?) but many parents with cash in Hull send their children to Pocklington School, miles away.

And of course many people just move out of Hull, or don't move in, when their children are small.

Joni, I don't think it makes you entitled. People bandy that expression around, I'm not even sure what it means? But compared to a lot of people, it does make you lucky. There are lots of families in the UK, who have worked hard all their lives but will never have the money to pay for private education or healthcare. And I could live with that, except for the fact, that in the case of education it destabilises the state sector and reduces the opportunities for social mobility for all children. (Private healthcare is often thrown into the argument about private education, but it's a red herring, I think- it's not really analogous). I certainly don't agree wi private education or healthcare being subsidised by the taxpayer.

iseenodust- there's Hymers and Hull Collegiate, not small independent schools in a city the size of Hull. Plus, C of E and RC state schools and a single sex girls school. the combination of those factors means that a genuinely comprehensive system is not possible.

So, the NHS has a long waiting list, you DC needs and operation to prolong their life. The NHS refuses. Do you stick to the pricinples and allow your child to pass earlier or do you find the money to do something about it.

Its funny that the better decisions and the harder you work the luckier you become. Some people make crap decisions, they are not academic. Instead of thinking what they can do they try and blame everyone else.

I class myself as non academic tbh. Why dont we make trades equally as important as lots of A's at A Level? i dont mean in the monetary way. Would I get my hair cut by someone running a FTSE. No, I would find a fab hairdresser. If water was pouring through the ceiling I would look for a great plumber. Academic achievements arent always relevant in life.

If we are looking to pay everyone the same then that would be a communist state and parts of Korea and China will welcome you with open arms.

Fayrazzled

Please don't describe me as lucky. It offends me. DP and I have never been given any advantages in our lives. We have a lot of problems to overcome. I saw DP walk to the train this morning in utter pain and I cried for ten minutes. It is hard, so please do fuck off with your 'lucky' comments.

What reduces the opportunities for social mobility for children is poor quality education. The fact that 7% of kids are privately educated is an irrelevence.

FayRaz Facts: this year approx 3000 pupils entered yr7 in Hull so the two independents are about 7% of intake in line with national figures. The girls school is a true comp. The RC school is now an Academy specialising in sport.

However this is now not the 70's and early 80's when said experiment was being trialled. The number of children going to Pocklington from Hull in those days would fit on one hand.

Handcream, I'm not sure of the point of your post. I haven't criticised Joni for paying for private healthcare. I have just said I don't like the system the way it exists and that plenty of good, hard working people can't afford to use it. I'm not sure why that is controversial?

Joni, we'll have to agree to disagree. But it was you who first used the word 'lucky' you put words in my mouth not the other way round. I wouldn't wish pain or illness on anyone's family. I wouldn't suggest anyone was lucky in that situation. The point I am simply trying to make is that someone who can at least pay to use the private sector, whether in health or education, has more choices than people, (many of whom are decent, hard-working people too) who don't have the money. The structural unfairness inherent in British society in the 21st century offends me.