First Conservative education secretary to send child to state secondary

[BananaChoccyPancake]

Of course, not your average run-of-the-mill state secondary ....

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/10674662/Michael-Goves-daughter-wins-place-at-state-school.html

Lucky for them they weren't caught out by the adjudicators admissions ruling.

I wonder if that was one of the schools he was offering to show Simon Cowell round.

Yes, the supplementary information form is itself very dodgy IMO. They should be banned.

It all rather helps explain why Gove undermined his own Free School Strategy to make sure that the way stayed open for new schools to be set up as Voluntary aided schools so they can have exclusive admissions www.theguardian.com/education/2012/nov/28/cable-accuses-gove-over-faith-schools

Whatever the diocese is saying we are seeing a tendency for C of E faith schools in this area to become more exclusive rather than less. The Catholic Schools are already highly exclusive even of practising Catholics. The result being that for a parent with a first child who is not able to meet the faith criteria there is a 1 in 5 chance they will not be offered a primary school place at all, let alone one that is inaccessible. Many do not get places in their six closest schools. So not surprisingly the churches are busy

Actually only a few years ago, GC didn't have the best reputation amongst parents. Back then it was all about St Marylebone or Lady Margaret's ( though I suspect they featured somewhere on their list of preferences) I think Lady Margaret now have a more inclusive admission policy and have 50% open places which has made it less desirable. I do think it's very possible she legitimately got in on a church or linguist place rather than daddy's job, so in that sense she has much right to it as the next child. I detest her father, but on this occasion, he doesn't give me anything to pistol on facebook about!

I think people are falling into two camps on this thread:

1.Pleased that he chose a state school and happy to leave it at that.
2.Pleased that he chose a state school, but wanting to highlight that it is an exclusive state school rather than an inclusive one.

Within that second camp we have:
2a) People who feel strongly that banding doesn't necessarily lead to comprehensive admissions.
2b) People who think that faith-based admissions lead to socio-economic segregation.

I'm in the 2b camp. The Coaltion Agreement specifically said:

"Pledge: We will ensure that all new Academies follow an inclusive admissions policy. We will work with faith groups to enable more faith schools and facilitate inclusive admissions policies in as many of these schools as possible."

So, now that Mr Gove is sending his daughter to one of the most exclusive faith schools in the country I hope he will persuade them to increase their proportion of open places to at least 50% to match the new faith schools that have been created under his leadership.

2a and 2b are not mutually exclusive. They're both ways of skewing intake and leaving the trickier families to be clustered disproportionately in the other Westminster schools (tho doesn't gove live in k&c anyway?)

Personally I think it's a pity he didn't choose a CoFE school 5 mins down the road from him - Burlington Danes an Ark Academy.

banana given he has sanctioned the creation of two new exclusive faith schools (it was in my link) I think that unlikely......

2b) People who think that faith-based admissions lead to socio-economic segregation.

It isn't really an opinion, a quick glance at the GCSE league tables available from 2011, rather established this as a fact. With regard to banding - had it actually been introduced when the 2013 Y11 leavers were applying for secondary?

I think I fall into your second category; I am pleased he chose a state school but couldn't imagine him choosing just any school, so I guess this is a good compromise.

"2a and 2b are not mutually exclusive"

No, I agree. I guess I was just trying to make it clear to the people in category 1 that the rest of us weren't necessarily disagreeing with them - we just expect a bit more.

"It isn't really an opinion"

True. I'll rephrase it to:
2b) People who recognise that faith-based admissions lead to socio-economic segregation, and feel strongly that policy changes are needed to make faith schools more inclusive

"given he has sanctioned the creation of two new exclusive faith schools"

Yes, thankfully they were the exception and (I hope) most Local Authorities are too sensible to go down that route.

Banana Yes I was told by a Board Member of another LA that the creation of a new exclusive Faith School would be regarded as a strategically unsound by most LA Officers because it will not meet the needs of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged members of the community, and that should be the guiding aim of local government planning and strategy.

One of the most ridiculous perceptions in politics by ‘the people’, in my view, is that ‘class’ dictates policies. To me any notion that the Conservatives are ‘out of touch’ and only the Labour Party knows best for ‘the people’, finally had been blown away by the last Labour administration i.e. open immigration and (lack of) new housing.

So it is therefore not surprising that with Education, policies and class is scrutinised by the electorate, when MP’s from both sides of the aisle, follow different choices for their own children than the core policies of their own party.

Personally while I don’t care where any MP sends their own children, but I do care passionately that our State education has deteriorated and that something needs to change, and gauged it first hand have sent my own children to a (very good) state school that also offered the consistent International Baccalaureate, needing better GCSE grades in order to take on IB subjects.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/politics/1990838-UK-education-what-is-the-REAL-problem

Labour’s Lord Adonis some time back, seemed to think that by sending their own children to state schools, our MP’s would both ditch blind ideology and be better able to practically understand the standards themselves. While I can agree that counterproductive ideology has no place within such an important subject, having had our three go through the system, I’m not sure I’d be better equipped to understand either the ongoing stands required, or end results, to ensure children are best equipped for the work place.

But it does appear (within the mumsnet post above) that generally our children are NOT equipped for work, and both the Conservatives and Labour understand we have to improve ‘the basics’.

“Lord Adonis: MPs Who Send Their Kids To Private School Are 'Politically Bankrupt'”
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/09/07/lord-adonis-private-school-_n_1864138.html

“Politicians who send their children to private schools should not be allowed to have any say over Britain's education system, says a senior adviser to Ed Miliband.”

“Lord Adonis, who was Tony Blair's education guru before becoming transport secretary under Gordon Brown said that ministers need to "live and breathe" the public services that they expect the public to use.”

"It’s not a left or right thing. It really matters because too much of failed education policy since the war has been the result of ideological ministers who don’t use the institutions that they expect the general public to use and that has been true of the Labour side as well as well as the Tories.”

“Shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt refuses to rule out sending his three children to private school”

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/10408383/Labours-new-education-spokesman-would-consider-private-school.html

“Labour’s new shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt has revealed he may send his own children to private school.”

“Son of Lord Hunt of Chesterton, the TV historian-turned-MP was himself educated at £15,465-a-year University College School in ¬Hampstead, North London, which is part of the Eton Group of 12 independent schools which make up the most elite in the country.
The 39-year-old, whose full name is the Hon ¬Tristram Julian William Hunt, went on to study at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was a member of the Footlights alongside David Mitchell and Robert Webb.”

“He claims he wants to restore traditional values to the classroom in order to drive up standards and would sack unqualified teachers.”

“He told the Daily Mirror: “A bad teacher can damage a kids’ life chances exponentially and one in a school with disadvantaged pupils has an even worse impact.”
“So there’s room for allowing a failure of teaching when it comes to disadvantaged teaching.”

I love the way that the papers always report that Blair, Clegg, Gove etc "chose" to send their children to the Oratory or now GCS, I dont feel that I chose the secondary school that my DS will go to, more that I listed preferences and was then given a school and my DS is 140 on the waiting list for the school I would have chosen for him. Surely these politicians had either a back up private school in case they were given number 6 on their list of 6 preferred schools or, more likely, their children were given preferential treatment? I don't believe that they would have "chosen" to send their children state if they had been given a less desirable state option. I am not arguing that Gove should necessarily send his children to state school as Tories are not against private schools but more that the reporting of it all is disingenuous.

Apparently Nancy Cameron will also go to state school.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2577091/SamCam-PM-send-daughter-state-school-Friends-say-PMs-wife-keen-children-normal-education.html

"Being in a state school is a nice antidote to that. You get to meet normal children from normal houses whose fathers don’t go off and spend the weekend with Angela Merkel. The children can be socially fluid."

Funnily enough, none of the parents at my children's private school spend the weekend with Angela Merkel. At least, not so far as I know.

Anybody got some names to chuck into the 'posh state schools' hat for DC to choose from?

Anyone want to lay odds on him choosing a 'bog-standard comprehensive'?

It would be good to see the Camerons going a step further than the Goves and choosing a free school.

"the reporting of it all is disingenuous" because the art of politics is disingenuous, and newspapers are politically biased. Most of what we read in the newspapers in disingenuous drivel.

I would like to see the Cameron's applying to the nearest non-selective comp - can't see that happening - there will some weaselling about faith schools, like Gove, Blair, Clegg et al.
It's the utter hypocrisy I can't stand, especially now from Sarah Vine, who I did have some time for before.
If all schools, 'faith' or not, operated a ballot and any child who can get there in no more than 40 mins by public transport could apply, then we would see a shake-up, and truly comprehensive schools. Until then, the state/state divided if far greater than the top performing state/indie divide.

From today's Telegraph: "Polishing wine chalices and learning the Gospels: how I got my children into the perfect school" by Lisa Brinkworth.

My impression of Mrs Cameron is that she would prefer one of the private schools - perhaps her own, Marlborough, but obviously can't due to her husbands job.

I think they will pick Greycoats - very near to Downing St and she is good friends with Sarah Vine. Marylebone is considered the nicer school for some reason by parents I know who have had the choice! Holland Park is too far to get a place from their house even if they move back to North Kensington. Frankly I don't think any child of Gove or Cameron would last two minutes there.

Worth Googling that journo's history. She churns out a lot of over-embroidered shite.

Last claim was she left London because of gang violence:

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2111729/Lisa-Brinkworth-children-caught-gang-war-school-run-Maida-Vale.html

Hmm, I see what you mean Aga.

Don't you just feel soooooo sorry for the staff of Greycoats School! I shall be watching very carefully what happens in two years time: common entrance exam, anyone?

For what it is worth Gove is NOT the first Conservative Education Secretary to send their child to state schools. That was Gillian Shephard who held the role from 1994 to 1997 (when the Conservatives lost power). Both her stepsons went to state schools. Her husband was a headmaster in a state school. Both boys continued at state schools after she ceased to be Education Secretary.