Comments on: Education, Education, WAR!

by: Gavin Ayling at Gav′s POLITICS » Education, Education, War (Part 2)

Thu, 16 Mar 2006 22:08:36 +0000

[…] “Sheena” has commented on that post and I thought I would bring the debate to the front of the blog so that it can be continued. Read her comment. […]

by: Sheena

Thu, 16 Mar 2006 13:05:39 +0000

I tend to disagree with the idea of streaming. It places waaay too much pressure on kids to make it into that top group rather than end up with the “latebloomers”(nicely put by the way). It inevitably favours some groups by giving them more opportunities to learn. You see cases of it on tv all the time, like how bart simpson got placed in a lower stream class n asked ‘how r we supposed to catch up by going slower?’ - he was pretty cut up. What the world needs is a public education system which caters for all groups by going at a standard pace while offering support to kids who feel that they r either ahead or behind target, so that no one feels left out, everyone has the chance to learn the same things, and so that no one is in segrated classes with little chance of breaking into that higher class if theyr not already in it. (by the way, Im not worried bout my puncuation coz Im in a hurry, so dont judge me). You can’t say smart kids bully coz they’r bored, all kids bully coz of their own psychological issues that have pretty much nothin to do with curriculum, and these psychological issues need to b delt with separately.

by: Gav

Thu, 01 Dec 2005 19:16:01 +0000

Hi MarkE, Thanks for the comment. I’m glad your daughter is on the positive side of that story. Comprehensives have been failing our children and this isn’t a tragedy - it’s far worse than that - it’s a travesty.

by: MarkE

Thu, 01 Dec 2005 16:28:49 +0000

My daughter went to the local state primary school, where she consistently came second in class to another girl. I was able to send her to a selective, fee paying school (thanks to a grammar school education myself), while the other girl’s parents couldn’t. My daughter is now studying for A levels, after excellent GCSE results. The other girl just left school at 16 after years of bullying as a “boff”.

One girl was betrayed by the state system, which would not allow her to be educated with her equals, and wouldn’t protect her from her peers. I am relieved I was able to protect my daughter, and furious to see a life thrown away.

by: Gav

Sat, 26 Nov 2005 15:37:18 +0000

Nicky, You’re right of course - crime has reduced but only while violent crime has increased… Policing should focus on genuine crime and stop its infatuation with the 3,000 deaths per year caused by cars - that’s really a small fraction of the population and cannot be reduced by squandering police resources. Those traffic police could be far better utilised walking the streets in crime-ridden areas or investigating crimes other than murder.

by: Once More

Sat, 26 Nov 2005 05:32:20 +0000

Conservative Bloggers Weekly 7

Another week gone, another round up. Its not easy finding a decent number of posts each week, and readers would be most welcome to help me by nominating themselves or their friends. This week we really have a great deal

by: Nicky

Sat, 26 Nov 2005 00:53:58 +0000

I think he failed pretty much on the first quote too….

by: Gav

Fri, 25 Nov 2005 23:23:16 +0000

Neil, Streaming by subject is an excellent idea and is not done enough or to a high enough standard. Your sister’s experience highlights the benefits of concentrating on people’s relative abilities. In at least one school in the 1950s and 1960s streaming was done across the board regardless of the relative ability in any particular subject.

Unfortunately I do not believe Comprehensive streaming can be done sufficiently well to ensure that those who get bored with easy lessons and non-challenging curriculum are entertained sufficiently that they are not disruptive. And I certainly do not believe that a child who fails the 11+ should be considered a failure. Also, someone who excels in a comprehensive should be allowed to move to a Grammar school easily.

The whole ethos of a Grammar school is/was entirely different to that of a Comprehensive. The focus was on university which was an achievable goal for all the students in the school. In the current system schools have started focusing on university despite the fact that more than half are never going to be able to manage at that level. This mixing of abilities makes those that are not academic feel like failures. If they are separated in different schools I firmly expect this emphasis on the unrealistic to stop and students of Comprehensives to feel that they can contribute to society despite not having an (increasingly worthless) degree.

by: neil

Fri, 25 Nov 2005 18:00:56 +0000

Gav,
why shouldn’t streaming take place in comprehensive schools? I’ll admit to being the benefactor of a scholarship-funded education (which I hated because I was labelled as “the poor, but swotty kid”). My younger sister went to a comprehensive which streamed “1950’s style” (in the late 80s, early 90s), hence she was put into the highest stream for maths and somewhere middling for English, where she received the challenge/support required acording to her abilities. Also, there was (as children develop at different rates) a sort of league table system where children who were over or underperforming were promoted/demoted at the end of each year.
I must admit, I thought all comprehensive schools operated a streaming system, am I horribly ill-informed? I should probably also point out that the school my sister attended is always at or near the top of league tables of LEA performance and yes, is a former grammar.
I’m not sure that seperating children to different schools is necessarily the right thing to do, especiallly on a one-off, decide for ever test at the age of eleven, but the current comprehensive system might care to look at the idea of streaming if it’s not already used.

by: leanne

Fri, 25 Nov 2005 13:58:42 +0000

school for children ages 7-11, (elementry school.- then it goes to middle school- then high school. i dont know what we call what you are talking about - prep school maybe.