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CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
Jacqui Smith MP
Minister of State for Schools and 14-19 Learners
IPPR Event
Parental choice and school autonomy: kill or cure?
8 February 2006
Introduction
Thank you for inviting me here today. Education is once more centre stage – exactly where it belongs – and it’s vital that we continue to debate how it should be accessed and how it should be delivered. As Minister for Schools, I am committed to developing a world-class education system that is fit to meet the challenges of the 21st century. However, as a parent, I know that – when it comes down to it – what matters most is the progress of individual children. The plans set out in our Schools White Paper aim to make a difference to each and every child. Whether it is through greater choice for parents, greater autonomy for schools or greater flexibility for pupils, we are determined to widen opportunities and improve the life chances of all children and young people. We cannot afford to leave anyone behind.
Achievements
We are not starting from scratch. Last year saw the best ever results at ages 11, 14, 16 and 18. There are fewer failing schools than in 1997. More teachers and support staff. And schools are benefiting from unprecedented levels of funding. We are tackling problems with the school infrastructure through our capital investment programme and we are radically transforming the educational opportunities of our young people through the new 14-19 qualifications system. There is plenty to celebrate and plenty to be excited about.
Need for Further Reform
But we are well aware that there is still room for improvement. We can’t yet say that every child is in a good school or receiving the best possible education. Despite record numbers of young people going on to further and higher education, staying-on rates at age 16 are still low: the average in OECD countries is 83%, in the UK the figure is only 75%. There are still too many failing and coasting schools. And 44% of pupils still don’t achieve 5 good GCSEs. For poorer children the figure is 7 out of 10. I am not prepared to accept a situation where your economic or social background decides your chance of a good education. And I can’t accept a situation where some leave school lacking even basic skills to give them a fighting chance in later life.
The Schools White Paper is about giving every child access to a high-quality education that is tailored to their specific needs and interests. It’s about ensuring every school is a good school. And it’s about building on existing work to achieve higher standards across the board.
Personalisation
The Schools White Paper rightly places a strong emphasis on learning that is tailored to the needs of individual children. Yes, it’s important that we carry out much-needed, wide-ranging reforms to the education system but the success of those reforms will be judged on the basis of what difference they make to individual children. Many schools have realised that the one-size-fits-all model of teaching doesn’t work and have already introduced measures like extra lessons for those who are struggling or falling behind.
But in the future I want to see all schools identifying children’s needs and meeting them appropriately. So, yes, that will mean catch-up lessons and feedback. But it will also mean more stretching opportunities for those who have a particular talent or aptitude for a subject and want to take it further. And it will mean allowing greater flexibility and space in the curriculum so that pupils can learn at their own pace.
Increasingly schools are recognising the powerful impact that comes from encouraging young people to exercise choice and control over their own learning. That’s why last year over 75% of secondary schools said that implementing Assessment for Learning was their mainwhole-school developmental priority – a programme which helps teachers provide pupils with structured feedback and a more personalised approach; which makes a reality of student voice in the area it matters most – fulfilling potential in the classroom.
I know teachers have the appetite for this new style of learning, but I also recognise that funding and training them to deliver it will come at a cost. That’s why we have set aside £335m of the Dedicated Schools Grant for secondary schools, and £230m for primary schools,to ensure that schools have the appropriate resources. As many schools have already discovered – if you place a premium on finding out what type of learning best suits an individual pupil, it results in increased confidence, greater motivation and improved standards. That’s why flexible, tailored learning is the learning style of the future.
Behaviour
However, we know that children need more than the right learning style in order to achieve; they also need the right learning environment. Contrary to what we tend to hear, the majority of pupils are well-behaved most of the time. Indeed, Ofsted reported improvements in behaviour in our schools last year.
But it takes only a handful of poorly behaved pupils to make life difficult for teachers and disrupt the education of other pupils. This is why our White Paper proposes to take forward the recommendations of Sir Alan Steer to provide teachers and support staff in lawful control of pupils with a clear legal right to discipline.
This will ensure that staff can insist on order confidently and without fear of challenge, for example when confiscating inappropriate items from pupils – it will mean an end to the ‘can’t tell me, Miss’ culture.
It will also take discipline beyond the school gate, allowing schools to punish pupils for unacceptable behaviour on the way to and from school – to tackle bullying and ensure pupils are positive ambassadors for their schools when travelling on buses or trains.
Good Schools
Sharpening our focus to ensure that every child achieves and enjoys a safe environment doesn’t mean thatwe will lose sight of the bigger picture. In fact, just the opposite. We are committed more than ever to tackling failing schools and challenging under-performance. We want to have more good schools, and therefore more good school places. We want every school to be a school which parents are happy to send their children to. Every school to be a school which pupils are proud to belong to.
Though there have been disagreements about how we can guarantee fair admissions, there has never been any argument about what we are trying to achieve – a system where the link between poverty and underachievement at school is finally broken and where every child, regardless of background, has the same opportunities, the same chance to succeed.
So we will give the weakest schools a year to improve or face closure. And we will give local authorities new powers to act swiftly when a school is failing.
We have also seen the energy and drive for school improvement that comes when school leaders hold their schools’s destiny – and the means to influence it – in their own hands.
Devolving as much day to day decision making to schools as we can, within a clearly established framework, is the guiding principle of the White Paper. We want schools to have the freedoms to link with external partners, other schools and educational bodies, and to have the flexibility to develop the most appropriate governance arrangements for that purpose. That is the essence of our reform – one that links the freedoms of foundation schools, with the governance of voluntary aided schools and the external partners that have brought new support to specialist schools and Academies.
Trust Schools
Collaboration between schools is a powerful driver for improvement. But, breaking the link between poverty and under-achievement is a huge task and it will demand every bit of our energy and expertise – and when I say ‘our’ I mean all of us: politicians, teachers, education experts, parents, sponsors, employers. Our specialist schools programme has demonstrated the value of working in partnership with private- sector and voluntary partners. The expertise and challenge that these partners have brought have seen standards rise faster in specialist schools than in non-specialist schools. It has also meant a richer curriculum for pupils – sponsors can provide specialist teaching; mentors and work placements. We know these partnerships work so it is our responsibility to ensure every school and every pupil benefits.
That recognition – pure and simple – is the driver behind the Trust schools proposal. Trust schools are not a leap in the dark or a change in direction. They build on what we’ve learnt in the last eight years, they build on success. And, crucially, we believe that the strong governance and increased autonomy that Trust schools will enjoy will be of particular benefit to those that need it most. Last week Trevor Phillips expressed surprise that Trust schools could be the very tool for addressing under-achievement among black and ethnic minority pupils. He shouldn’t be surprised at all – our plans are specifically targeted at those who so often lose out, at those who feel they don’t have a voice.
For example, I can’t believe that anyone – for ideological reasons – would really want to turn their backs on the opportunity opened up for ThorpeBaySchool in Southend. Under the strong leadership of its Head, it has just left special measuresafter6 years.A Trust arrangement offers the school the chance tocontinue this improvement and transform itself. The partner, ProspectsCollege, is a leading vocational provider, also in Southend. The College and the new school will be located on the same site, in modern buildings designed to provide an inspirational learning environment and a wealth of new opportunities for students.
But as our programme for children states – every child matters. And it is for that reason that as we drive higher standards, we are determined to build both equity and excellence into the system.
Choice
Butmany parents currently feel marginalised, unable to choose the school they want for their child and then unable to contribute or have a say in the way it’s run. Choice and access go hand-in-hand. Yes, parents want their local school to be a good school. But we want to go further and present them with a choice of good schools so that they can decide on the most suitable one for their child. At the moment choice is often only available to those who can afford it – those who can move house into their preferred school’s catchment area or who can pay up for a private education. But I am determined to give more choice to those parents who can’t afford these options.
That is the impetus behind our proposals on transport and choice advisers. The advisers are in no way intended to be patronising – instead they will be there to offer independent, unbiased advice and to empower parents to make the right decision for their child. Similarly providing transport for less well-off children to attend the school that is best for them is not a cosmetic measure. Indeed – with the introduction of the new specialised diplomas – it will mean young people can be free to choose the subject that most interests them and be confident that they will be able to access the best facilities and the best teaching for that particular subject.
Admissions
There has been a good deal of controversy over admissions in recent weeks so it’s right that I take this opportunity to explain our position. Trust schools will work under exactly the same rules on admissions as other schools do now. That means working within the law. And that means no selection by ability. We will also make clear – through primary legislation – what is already clear in the Admissions Code: that there should be no interviewing of parents or pupils. Both the Church of England and the Catholic Church welcome this step – indeed they supported the decision that there should be no interviewing under the 2003 Code. We have noted that the Education and Skills Select Committee has expressed concern that the force of the Admissions Code may have been weakened by recent legal judgements so we are going to strengthen it. New, tighter wording will ensure that – in future – admissions authorities must ‘act in accordance’ with the Code, rather than simply ‘have regard’ for it.
The White Paper makes it clear that we have no intention of cutting out the local authority from the admissions process. They will still be involved – although they will not have an exclusive role. Instead, we are giving new powers to strengthen Admissions Forums so that the responsibility for policing admissions is shared between local authorities, schools and other partners.
By remaining firm on our policy of no selection by ability, by having more good schools in the system and by extending meaningful choice to all parents, we will be able to put an end to a situation where money is the only way to obtain freedom of choice. If not, then we will have failed.
Conclusion
The Schools White Paper – at its simplest – is about transforming the classroom experience for every child and young person. That’s why we are strong on discipline, strong on parental engagement, strong on providing learning opportunities which engage and motivate. But what happens in the classroom is also driven by the way schools are governed, the partners they can engage and their empowerment to succeed. All these are key to improving standards, all these are key to our goal of building a world-class education system. When we combine them in the next stage of education reform, I believe that we will achieve that transformation of lives and opportunities that education is all about.