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Michael Wilshaw's remedy won't help poor pupils Michael Wilshaw's remedy won't help poor pupils
(3 months later)
The focus on the poor attainment of low-income pupils in the suburbs is long overdue (Ofsted chief calls for troubleshooters in schools failing poor children, 20 June). But the remedy suggested by Sir Michael Wilshaw will do nothing to assist those children. On the face of it, the suggestion that a school would lose its status of "outstanding" if it was failing its poorest children is an attractive one. However, we believe this will simply lead to an increase in the practice of "easing out" low-income children. The perception of Harrow is that of a wealthy borough with excellent schools and few social problems. The reality is that it's among the most ethnically and culturally diverse areas in the country, with both settled and new migrant communities. Harrow Law Centre regularly represents children from low-income families who are "eased" out of the borough's best schools.
Pamela Fitzpatrick
Director, Harrow Law Centre		The focus on the poor attainment of low-income pupils in the suburbs is long overdue (Ofsted chief calls for troubleshooters in schools failing poor children, 20 June). But the remedy suggested by Sir Michael Wilshaw will do nothing to assist those children. On the face of it, the suggestion that a school would lose its status of "outstanding" if it was failing its poorest children is an attractive one. However, we believe this will simply lead to an increase in the practice of "easing out" low-income children. The perception of Harrow is that of a wealthy borough with excellent schools and few social problems. The reality is that it's among the most ethnically and culturally diverse areas in the country, with both settled and new migrant communities. Harrow Law Centre regularly represents children from low-income families who are "eased" out of the borough's best schools.
Pamela Fitzpatrick
Director, Harrow Law Centre
• Sir Michael Wilshaw wants to parachute superteachers into schools to help the poorest children. I suggest he looks at how many poor children are "taught" by teachers' assistants as a cheap option in many schools. Some of the "poor, unseen" children in our secondary schools can go for days without coming into contact with a properly qualified teacher or even an unqualified graduate. Seemingly, in these days of academic rigour, qualified teachers can't be wasted on the less able. They need to be focused on the targets thrown up by league tables in schools serving children in poor areas.
Rosina Purnell
Essex		• Sir Michael Wilshaw wants to parachute superteachers into schools to help the poorest children. I suggest he looks at how many poor children are "taught" by teachers' assistants as a cheap option in many schools. Some of the "poor, unseen" children in our secondary schools can go for days without coming into contact with a properly qualified teacher or even an unqualified graduate. Seemingly, in these days of academic rigour, qualified teachers can't be wasted on the less able. They need to be focused on the targets thrown up by league tables in schools serving children in poor areas.
Rosina Purnell
Essex
• Michael Wilshaw needs to have the courage to speak out against a government that ignores the importance of inequality in the educational performance of children. He cannot go on blaming teachers and schools en masse for failing to raise attainment when it is government policy that is causing the problem.
Richard Stainer
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk		• Michael Wilshaw needs to have the courage to speak out against a government that ignores the importance of inequality in the educational performance of children. He cannot go on blaming teachers and schools en masse for failing to raise attainment when it is government policy that is causing the problem.
Richard Stainer
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
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