Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by John Mellor on October 18, 2012 at 11:07

Mark,

Whilst I accept your opening premise that there is a shortage of Primary Schools in north London, (indeed in many places across the UK) I fundamentally oppose your proposed solution.

Education should be provided as a public service available to all. It is too important to each individual family – and to whole communities – to be taken apart and delivered piecemeal by well-meaning amateurs.

The ideologically driven Free School approach has seen several high profile failures in Bedford, Bradford, Newham and across Suffolk. I hope north London is not added to the list. I note also that the Swedish experience of free schools so recently held up as a shining light – is no longer promoted as the beacon, having seen a reversal of fortune once tested over the longer term.

Competition is often cited as the reason why free schools should be set up … but this is false reasoning. Whilst it is perfectly acceptable to choose to do your grocery shopping in Waitrose, Sainsbury’s or Lidl; education should not be at the whim of the market – and nobody will choose the lowest common denominator “cheap” education for their children. By creaming off an elite self-selecting bunch of pupils you are potentially adding to community segmentation and division.

By taking resources out of local authority education you are weakening the whole system for everyone. Where will your free school turn for support on educational psychology, safeguarding children services, Special Educational Needs, behaviour support, governance training, reading recovery training and headship mentoring for example? There is a well-established qualified and professional infrastructure surrounding collective education which supports schools and protects the most vulnerable students.

I see you are looking for experienced people to support the team – presumably these will be people who have acquired their skills, knowledge and expertise within the system you are opting out of?

Opting out is not the answer – far better in my view to get involved with the current system to make it work as well as it can – there are numerous opportunities for parent and community involvement in schools as governors; in friends’ associations; one-to-one mentoring; reading support; help on trips; attending and organising school/community events etc etc … and perhaps most fundamentally of all – not publicly badmouthing the state education system which will, after all, be providing quality education to the vast majority of our local community.

Good luck with your cause – but I don’t think a self-appointed group of well meaning amateurs is the answer to the problem.

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Permalink Reply by Claire Vale on October 19, 2012 at 10:06

I wanted to add to this, but I don't think there is much, if anything I can add that is anymore sensible to what  John has already said in his response.  Opting out is not the solution.  I wouldn't trust my family's healthcare over to well-meaning but inexperienced amateurs and I don't see much difference with their education.  We do need to lobby our councils, local and national governments to invest in our children through our schools, and as parents, we should try where ever possible to support our schools and teachers in whatever ways we can.  But I do not believe, nor is there good evidence to suggest that the free school idea is the way to go.  Sorry Mark.  I admire your endeavor, but not for me.

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Permalink Reply by Susan Cole on October 20, 2012 at 17:17

I'm with you John Mellor, glad to see that so many others are.  Most primary schools are now pretty good and provide a massively wide-reaching curriculum ensuring all children get a fair start.  Not sure why anyone would want to give themselves the headache of investing hours of work, not to mention their child's future, in something that could go very pear-shaped.  Unless of course it is because they don't want their children educated alongside their neighbours of course in which case a free school will be just perfect!

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Permalink Reply by MrsBaldwin on October 19, 2012 at 13:44

I'm not sure it's entirely true there's a shortage of primary school places as such at the moment, is it, just a shortage of primary schools that middle class parents (like me and presumably the OP) want to send their kids to. 

I can see the attraction of this whole Free School thing in principle but I am afraid I'm out, as they say on Dragon's Den.  There is a perfectly good, yet currently failing primary school, at the bottom of Bounds Green Road (formerly Nightingale now renamed Trinity Academy).  And there are probably more like it in Palmers Green and Enfield.  Instead of expending a huge amount of energy on setting up a new school, why not try to improve the ones we've got?  If and when they get better some of them will be able to expand entry so that future demand for places is covered.

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Permalink Reply by MrsBaldwin on October 19, 2012 at 15:55

On the bulge classes: yes numbers are going up overall it's true and there is a predicted shortfall across London in the next few years. But, when you start to look at it a bit more locally the picture becomes much more nuanced.  For example, anecdotally, I heard that middle class parents allocated Nightingale switched to Bounds Green as soon as a bulge class there was announced.  

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Permalink Reply by Jackie Morten on October 19, 2012 at 21:57

I'm with John Mellor on this one!

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Permalink Reply by Mark Barrett on October 25, 2012 at 0:06

Hello Everyone

Well the post certainly got a response!

It really is a testimony to the power of the micro-site, because aswell as the generally negative comments listed here I've had some really positive responses - a call from the Enfield Advertiser who just did a story on the project http://www.enfield-today.co.uk/news.cfm?id=37367&headline=Mark’s making plans for a school of living history

.. aswell as an invitation to participate in an outreach project for young people through https://nationalcitizenservice.direct.gov.uk/

About the negative comments : I will endeavour to reply properly as soon as get a moment free, but in the meantime the main thing i wanted to say was i take my hat off to Richard and all the others who made this site happen. Great work all ! 

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Permalink Reply by John Mellor on October 27, 2012 at 13:53

Mark

I'd be very keen to hear any substantive response to the  criticism of your scheme voiced here ...  I also note the lack of any evidence of widespread parental support in the comments (...or elsewhere?), which is I believe a pre-condition of a new "free" school.

You counterpoint the "negative coments listed here" with  "positive responses" including local newspaper coverage. I hope you would agree that a local newspaper report, in effect reprinting your press release without comment, is at best neutral rather than positive. Unless of course you subscribe to the X-Factor/reality TV view of media that "fame is equivalent to success".

It also feels somewhat desperate to call an approach from the beleagured National Citizen Service positive. Characterised as "young unqualified people doing the jobs for free of highly skilled public servants who've been downsized" this flawed scheme comes from the same ideological place as the Free Schools plans. It was initially presented as part of the much derided "Big Society" agenda; now a toxic brand which even the Tories were keen to avoid mentioning at their recent party conference.

Criticised at its inception as an exclusivley middle class scheme and also as a Cameron Vanity Project the now scaled-down and hastily relaunched NCS is no doubt proving beneficial to its participants - but so was engagement in professionally-run youth clubs in Enfield and Haringey ... before they were shut down just before the riots in summer 2011.

Again I'd argue that what we need to do as committed citizens is to support and defend the public institutions we already have - not create a new layer of amateur-led and fragmented ideologically driven schemes which are representative of narrow sectional interests rather than collective endevour and progress.

I'm keen to hear your thoughts

John

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Permalink Reply by MrsBaldwin on October 27, 2012 at 14:51

I agree with John Mellor.

I didn't think this thread was 'negative' at all, as such - actually I thought a number of posters put up considered and well-argued responses to your original post (obviously my own post was especially considered and well-argued LOL).  The gist of what people said, I think, was 'why not use the energy and resources it would take to set up a free school improving the schools we already have?' 

I'm afraid interest from the local paper doesn't really count as positive endorsement - they just report new initiatives, events and controversies locally. Next week's headline could even be 'talkboard says no to free school proposals' :) 

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