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| Labour's Lucy Powell: we will fight any Tory revival of selective schools | Labour's Lucy Powell: we will fight any Tory revival of selective schools |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The Conservatives will drag England’s schools into the past by reviving grammar schools, demoralising teachers and cutting resources, according to the new shadow education secretary. | The Conservatives will drag England’s schools into the past by reviving grammar schools, demoralising teachers and cutting resources, according to the new shadow education secretary. |
| Lucy Powell, who took over the education role last week following Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership victory, said Labour would fiercely contest any move by the government to allow the revival of selective schools. A decision on the proposed expansion of a Kent grammar school is expected soon. | Lucy Powell, who took over the education role last week following Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership victory, said Labour would fiercely contest any move by the government to allow the revival of selective schools. A decision on the proposed expansion of a Kent grammar school is expected soon. |
| “If the government agree to this one school, the legal precedent will open the floodgates to a massive expansion of selective education – something that is bad for social mobility and aspiration, for children, parents and the wider schools system,” Powell said. | “If the government agree to this one school, the legal precedent will open the floodgates to a massive expansion of selective education – something that is bad for social mobility and aspiration, for children, parents and the wider schools system,” Powell said. |
| “This shows the complete lack of new thinking on education policy from the Tories. We could have a situation where the legacy of David Cameron is the return of selective education in this country.” | “This shows the complete lack of new thinking on education policy from the Tories. We could have a situation where the legacy of David Cameron is the return of selective education in this country.” |
| Labour would back the legal challenges expected if the Department for Education approves an application by Weald of Kent grammar school in Tonbridge to build a new site in Sevenoaks, nine miles away, which opponents say amounts to opening a new school. | |
| Related: Pupils caught in middle of drive to expand Kent’s grammar schools | Related: Pupils caught in middle of drive to expand Kent’s grammar schools |
| Under a 1998 law passed by Tony Blair’s government, no new selective state schools can be opened, although the DfE may approve expansions of existing schools. Several local authorities are watching the Kent decision with great interest and are expected to launch similar expansions if it goes ahead. | Under a 1998 law passed by Tony Blair’s government, no new selective state schools can be opened, although the DfE may approve expansions of existing schools. Several local authorities are watching the Kent decision with great interest and are expected to launch similar expansions if it goes ahead. |
| Noting that senior Tories such as Theresa May and Boris Johnson are vocal supporters of selection, Powell attacked claims that grammar schools had led to a golden era of social mobility. | Noting that senior Tories such as Theresa May and Boris Johnson are vocal supporters of selection, Powell attacked claims that grammar schools had led to a golden era of social mobility. |
| “Not only is it wrong in principle to select children at the age of 11, but those areas where grammar schools still exist are now dominated by private tuition, and have become a bastion for those who have the financial and social ability to get that tuition,” she said. | “Not only is it wrong in principle to select children at the age of 11, but those areas where grammar schools still exist are now dominated by private tuition, and have become a bastion for those who have the financial and social ability to get that tuition,” she said. |
| “The supposedly golden era of the grammar schools in the 1950s, where children were just taken off one day to sit an exam, has completely gone because of the pressure that families are now put under.” | “The supposedly golden era of the grammar schools in the 1950s, where children were just taken off one day to sit an exam, has completely gone because of the pressure that families are now put under.” |
| No 10 will have the final say on the Kent grammar school decision. A previous attempt by the same school to open a new site was quashed by Michael Gove when he was education secretary. | No 10 will have the final say on the Kent grammar school decision. A previous attempt by the same school to open a new site was quashed by Michael Gove when he was education secretary. |
| “One thing you could say about Michael Gove, in contrast to his successor Nicky Morgan, is that he had an agenda and he pursued it very effectively,” said Powell. “But after what we’ve seen over the last couple of years, Tory thinking on education is dead. They have no fresh thinking, they simply want to define themselves against Tony Blair’s era: they’re not setting their own agenda at all.” | |
| Powell, a former adviser to Ed Miliband, was first elected as MP for Manchester Central in 2012 and was shadow childcare minister before taking the education post. | Powell, a former adviser to Ed Miliband, was first elected as MP for Manchester Central in 2012 and was shadow childcare minister before taking the education post. |
| Signalling a more aggressive approach than her predecessors, Powell said the government’s obsession with academies meant it was ignoring problems within schools, and accused the government of failing the most basic task of ensuring classrooms had enough qualified teachers. | Signalling a more aggressive approach than her predecessors, Powell said the government’s obsession with academies meant it was ignoring problems within schools, and accused the government of failing the most basic task of ensuring classrooms had enough qualified teachers. |
| “These are not technical issues of education policy. These are route one, basic issues: are there enough teachers teaching my kids?” said Powell, arguing that qualified maths and science graduates were “highly mobile” and able to change professions unless they continued to enjoy teaching. | |
| “For too long, education policy has been dominated by arguments about structures. I want to move on from that and get back to first principles of how can we meet the chronic shortages of teachers,” she said. | “For too long, education policy has been dominated by arguments about structures. I want to move on from that and get back to first principles of how can we meet the chronic shortages of teachers,” she said. |
| Related: Lucy Powell: Mancunian streetfighter taking on key role in Labour campaign | Related: Lucy Powell: Mancunian streetfighter taking on key role in Labour campaign |
| Changes to teacher training – switching away from university-based PGCE courses to in-school training – appear to have been less popular with graduates, while attacks on the profession and arbitrary policy changes have caused experienced teachers to leave the sector, according to Powell. | Changes to teacher training – switching away from university-based PGCE courses to in-school training – appear to have been less popular with graduates, while attacks on the profession and arbitrary policy changes have caused experienced teachers to leave the sector, according to Powell. |
| “The Conservatives are stuck in the 1970s where they think teachers are a static workforce with nowhere else to go, so they can treat them badly, cut their pay, change the goalposts constantly over curriculum and exams, and that teachers will lie back and take it. But that’s just not going to happen any more.” | “The Conservatives are stuck in the 1970s where they think teachers are a static workforce with nowhere else to go, so they can treat them badly, cut their pay, change the goalposts constantly over curriculum and exams, and that teachers will lie back and take it. But that’s just not going to happen any more.” |
| Powell said a future Labour government would undo the government’s cap on GCSE grades, which she said made school improvement impossible. “For one school to do better and raise a student up to a C, another one has to do worse,” she said. | |
| Powell said memories of her time as a comprehensive school pupil in Manchester’s Moss Side in the 1980s made her fear a repeat of that era. | Powell said memories of her time as a comprehensive school pupil in Manchester’s Moss Side in the 1980s made her fear a repeat of that era. |
| “If you look back at the 1980s and early 1990s, there were chronic, systemic failures. There was real division between the government and the teaching profession. There was chronic underfunding. | “If you look back at the 1980s and early 1990s, there were chronic, systemic failures. There was real division between the government and the teaching profession. There was chronic underfunding. |
| “When I was at school you were lucky to have a textbook to share. My school experience is partly what politicised me, to be honest.” | “When I was at school you were lucky to have a textbook to share. My school experience is partly what politicised me, to be honest.” |