Michael Gove - Conservative Shadow Schools and Families Minister - live on Mumsnet this Thursday 29th, 1-2pm

[JustineMumsnet]

Michael Gove is the shadow secretary of state for children, schools and families and a key part of David Cameron's Shadow Cabinet team, responsible for Conservative policy on education and child protection. He is the Tory candidate in Surrey Heath.One of the centrepiece's of the Conservatives election manifesto is allowing parents and other providers to set up schools with state funding, about which there's been lots of discussion on Mumsnet. Other pledges include 10,000 extra university places, allowing state schools to offer the International Baccalaureate and a moratorium on the closure of special schools.Born in Edinburgh in 1967 and brought up in Aberdeen. Before He's married to Times' writer Sarah Vine and they have a son and a daughter, both of primary school age.Please post advance questions for Michael here (and do please read our webchat guidelines if you're not already aware of them).Many thanks.

Dear Michael - surely one of the problems in many of the "not-so-good" schools is that children are entering them disadvantaged by economic and social factors impacting on homelife.

Simply improving discipline, increasing emphasis on academic achievement (which are not bad things, in themselves) is, simply, not enough.

Do you see a role for increasing the provision of more "wrap around care" in (some) schools?

Would that be the role of academies?

Would there be "free schools" for middle class, non-disadvantaged children, and academies, with more "care"-style intervention for disadvantaged children?

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With respect, Mr Gove, I would expect you to know there is a bias for inclusion based on FACT. I would not expect a Schools and Families Minister to make important decisions based on feelings and suggestions

Dear Mr Gove - thanks for your comment. From what you have said the US model sounds like it is being done by teachers - that makes sense as they are the professionals. What worries me is that the Conservative proposal as I understand it is that groups of parents can club together to create independently run state schools. I am a parent of 2 school age children and while comfortable that I am ( so far!) doing okay as a parent I just don't know how as a well-intentioned layperson could presume to understand what it takes to be in charge of educating children.

Also will all schools be entitled to the pupil premium or just the new ones?

SATS decision - based on sample size of............1

Fabulous

Dear AnimulaI agree that we can't rely on what happens between 9 and 3.30 alone. That's why we need better support in the eearly years (particularly through better parenting advice) and schools which are ready to offer breakfast and after-school clubs, extra-curricular activities and Saturday schools. Academies like Mossbourne alreday do this...

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So by taking the children into scholl from 8-6 this will get children away from parents and let the sate take over? saturday school aswell getting the children out of any type of family life..

I took my DS's out of one Primary School, there were a lot of reasons, but the main ones were class size they wanted ds1's yeargroup to form one big class of 39 children.
And Bullying. The school did nothing about it I got fed up with the dayley heartache to get him to school. The other school in our area is a faith school and we could not get them in there as we are the wrong religon. My dh and I dont drive so we pay for a taxi to get them to school and back. We asked for assistance from the LEA but were told no as there Is a school within walking distance.Yet if my son had been the bully we would hvae got transport for them. How is this fair?

Dear WWFThere are some great chrater schools (and free schools in Sweden) which parents agitated for and helped set up but I expect the KIPP model - or equivalent - to be the predominant model here.And our plan on the pupil premium is to restructure all funding across England to ensure all state schoools get more cash for their disadvnatged pupils

Hi Michael,
What's the worst political gaffe you've made in your career so far? (And do you have any sympathy for Gordon Brown over his?)

As a parent of 3 (soon to be 4), with 2 in primary school, 1 to start in September, I have SERIOUS concerns about your education policy. Specifically;

i) The 'return to traditional values' you cite, including 'sitting in rows, learning dates by rote' and 'rewriting the National Curriculum from Day 1'. Surely teachers should be allowed to adopt the methods MOST SUITED to the class AT THE TIME rather than having some edict from Whitehall, constructed on the whim of some 'return to traditional teaching'. For what it's worth, my children (Year 4 and Year 2) spend a good amount of time learning tables/facts etc, but are also INSPIRED by creative and imaginative teaching and cross-curricular work, which would be impossible under your scheme.

ii) The use of so-called 'celebrities' to advise - Carol Vorderman for example is not 'one of the greatest minds of our generation' and I fail to see how she is qualified to advise on the education of our children. It feels like sensationalist headline grabbing, and I would be VERY concerned if this was to happen.

iii) The idea of parents setting up their own schools. Firstly, WHERE are these schools supposed to be? In our area there is a chronic shortage of primary school places, but no sites suitable to set up a school. Also, it would inevitably lead to parents setting up schools specifically aimed at THEIR children, and would not help the neediest in society - as the TOday programme put it, it would help 'middle class parents with the sharpest elbows'.

Could you comment on these 3 concerns please?

I totally symptahise. Teachers at the moment don't have the tolls they need to deal with bullying. We'd reform the rules so bullies can be dealt with more quickly and effectively.

Dear Michael,

Thank you for responding. Yes, Mossbourne was the model I was curious about. I suppose I was hoping for a little more information on how "warm" you might be towards that model, about funding, and about how admissions policies might have to change in order to "let a thousand flowers bloom". (!)

Rather jealous that you get to worship Justine in such proximity - am confined to admiration from afar.

Could you put a bit of meat on the bones?

What does more freedom to discipline mean? Corporal punishment? Detentions? Exclusion in primary? What do you mean by this?

Do teachers want to do the budgets or would they prefer 'bureaucrats' to do them? Have you asked them?

Teaching by ability emphasised - from what age? How do you define ability - is it just Maths and English? Who measures, how?

These are the things that people want to know - you give no detail ?

What rules about bullying? Again - what does that mean? What would you actually do about bullying?

Micheal - firstly where did you learn to spell like that? Although I note with interest that someone is sweeping along behind you clearing things up

I would like to know what research your policies are based on. Hunches and gut instincts and parading the views of a few celebs, do not make for a convincing basis for policy setting. It is most off-putting, indeed.

I am most interested in your instinct, gut or otherwise, that overwhelmingly parents who can afford to go down the private schooling route, choose a traditional setting for their children. I am one such parent, and I do not know of ANY parents in the same situation who wish for a return to traditional teaching methods, with children sitting in rows, chanting out the names of the long dead aristocrasy. Where does all of this rubbish come from and why have you no research based evidence to support your policies? Why is there no one filtering out the stupid ideas?

As a new teacher who struggled for 4 years to find a job on completion of training I find it very demoralising to read about how you will bring in lots of new talent to improve teaching and learning when there are so many NQTs struggling to find work (particularly in humantities and MFL)
What provision (if any) would you make for existing teachers who want to develop but who have seen CPD funding disappear and cannot afford to fund it (plus their cover costs) themselves?

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Michael, it would be interesting if you could respond to Kewcumbers question on adoption.

Are you aware that the system in the U.K. is dreadful and in dire need of a total overhaul?

Re SATs. I know how my kids (and their schools) are doing by asking them what they learnt at school, by reading with them and doing times tables and looking at the homework they do. I lived in Scotland until recently and they do not do SATs there. I have not noticed any discernible change ( better or worse) in the quality of the education systems or my kids engagement. I don't know what more the SATs will tell me. My daughter will be sitting them next year and is already aware of them as they are coming up in classroom and playground discussions!
Maybe your best friend ( and Justine's) just needs to talk to his/her kids and ask how school was for them today.

Do the Conservatives have any plans for Home Educators?

I personally support your idea for small scale education and parent run schools. Where parents wish to do so this should be an option which receives funding to support it.

Likewise, I would like to know your thoughts on reversing the trend in this country to schooling children at an early age, especially given your recent observations of the Scandenavian models where schooling begins at age 7 and is very successful.

Thank you

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What would you do about teachers who bully autistic children by not accepting their diagnosis or their disability and who think that it is OK to say nasty things about the child that the rest of the class then think is an acceptable way to treat their autistic peer?

Did you see Carol Vodermann on Question Time?

She may be passionate about Maths. But so what?