Education should be the great leveller. However, as league tables and exam results show us, wealth, class, postcode lottery, disability, ethnicity and gender impact the opportunities available to learners.
The government's answer has often been academisation – sometimes in the face of parental protest – but in December 2022 the Schools' Bill foundered. This coincided with an increase in poll ratings for the Labour Party so ministers are likely to be re-evaluating education policies to appeal to the electorate. Research published in December 2022 by Public First may shape their thinking.
Towards a new generation of Community Schools – listening to parents of the Red Wall by Ed Dorrell, Reza Schwitzer and Meg Price surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,000 parents, plus a booster sample of parents from red wall constituencies. They also had ten focus groups of between five and seven parents with a mixture of Labour and Conservative voters from key areas including:
In the foreword to the report, Jon Richards, Assistant General Secretary of UNISON, and Nick Brook, Deputy General Secretary of NAHT, point out that: 'Too often politics is short-termist and forgets to put children and parents at the heart of policy making...That is why we are delighted that Public First has drafted this report, setting out what they believe parents, and specifically parents of the ‘red wall’, want to see from the school system. They have focussed specifically on primary education, though we are sure many of the lessons are applicable more widely.'
What the government advocated
When The Schools' Bill was introduced in Parliament in May 2022, Nadhim Zahawi, the then Education minister, said: 'Education remains at the forefront of the government’s agenda because by ensuring every child receives an excellent standard of teaching in a high-performing setting, they will be given the opportunity to fulfil their future potential and secure the jobs needed to support our economy.' He talked about 'strong schools' 'the ambition for 90% of children to leave primary school at the expected standard in reading, writing and maths by 2030.'
Key points included:
- All schools to join Academy Trusts
- A direct National Funding Formula, to ensure every school receives funding on the same basis
- New fines for absence from school
- New register of home schooled children