Wycombe Liberal Democrats

Education, always a hot potato in this constituency, is under the spotlight again. With David Cameron appearing to support most of Blair’s education reform plans, Liberal Democrat Shadow Education and Skills Secretary, Edward Davey MP says:
“Labour’s education reforms are in a mess. Ministers’ plans don’t just fail the most disadvantaged, they could make their prospects worse.

“By focusing on structures not standards, Labour is ignoring reforms that could really make a difference. To close the education attainment gap between the haves and have-nots, we need more radical reforms, that are based on evidence and proven to work.

“Liberal Democrat reforms build on best practice here and abroad, and will empower young people with choice, encourage schools with incentives and free teachers to teach. Our reforms are about re-engaging disaffected pupils, paying schools to admit more challenging pupils and freeing teachers to do their job.”

Labour – their record and the evidence against their reforms

Education achievement gap is worse under Labour than the Conservatives

• The achievement gap between the haves and the have nots is growing rather than shrinking.

• 77% of 16 yr olds with middle class parents get 5+ good GCSEs compared to 32% of kids “with parents in routine occupations”.

• The gap therefore now stands at 45%, when in 1992 under the Tories, the gap was only 42%. (Source: ONS report Focus on Social Inequalities, Aug 2005)

• At age 11, using the Average Point Score method, the average pupil eligible for free school meals made LESS progress in English (1 point) than the average pupil not eligible for free school meals (1.3 points) (Source: DfES July 2005)

Over 50% of pupils leave secondary school without 5+ GCSEs including English and Maths

• In 2005 only 44% of 15 year olds got at least 5 GCSEs or equivalents including English and Maths.

• At GCSE in 2004, 56.1% of children NOT eligible for free school meals got 5 A* to C, compared to 26.1% of pupils eligible

• Participation in full time education at 17 is strongly linked to performance at GCSE. 93% of those with 8 or more GCSE grades A*-C were in full time education at 17 compared with less than a 1/3 of those who achieved fewer than 5 GCSE grades D-G. (Youth Cohort Study, DfES Nov 2005)

England has one of the highest post-16 school leaving rates in the developed world

• 31^% of England’s 17 year olds are not in fulltime education or training. (PQ answer 21^st Nov 2005)

• In the measure of keeping 16 year olds in full time education, Britain ranks sixth from the bottom in the OECD league table – above Greece, Portugal and Mexico but way behind Japan and Germany

• 17 yr olds whose parents were in higher professional occupations were more likely to be participating in full time education (81 per cent) than those from routine backgrounds (51 per cent).

(Youth Cohort Study, DfES statistical release 24^th Nov 2005)

Truancy remains a major problem for Britain’s schools

• The government has spent £885 million on initiatives to combat truancy since 1997 but unauthorised absences did not decrease and in fact increased in 2005. (Committee of Public Accounts report, Jan 2006)

• In 2005 583,859 primary school pupils and 774,347 secondary school pupils played truant at least once (PQ answer 6^th Feb 2005)

The evidence says Labour’s plan – schools choosing pupils – hits the most disadvantaged

• Where schools set their own admissions policies, social segregation is worse, meaning the poor lose out the most.

• The Education Bill wants more schools to set their own admissions policies. Ministers now say they will include new safeguards and protections, but it is not clear they go far enough

• Three recent studies and the Audit Commission back up fears that the disadvantaged will be failed a second time by Blair

“High-achieving comprehensive schools are socially exclusive. The research also shows that those schools which are responsible for their own admissions take a low proportion of pupils on free school meals (FSM) which is an indicator of a school’s overall social mix, compared to the postcode sectors in which the schools are sited. This suggests that without adequate safeguards the Trust schools proposed in the White Paper could become socially selective”.

“The Social Composition of top Comprehensive Schools” Sutton Trust, Jan 2006

“Where pupils are sorting themselves into a non-proximity school, it does tend to increase social and ability segregation between schools, relative to underlying residential segregation.”

“There is clearer evidence that grammar schools and own-admissions authority schools are associated with greater levels of school segregation, measured using free-school meals eligibility as an indicator of low income.”

“Allocating Pupils to their Nearest Secondary School: the Consequences for Social and Ability Stratification”, Institute of Education report by Rebecca Allen, Jan 2006

“The poorest children are 40 per cent less likely to get into high-performing schools even if they live the same distance away from them”

Simon Burgess, University of Bristol, author of a survey of over half a million school children, Feb 2006

“We have reservations about the consequences of schools making autonomous and unchecked decisions about admissions arrangements. Such decisions are more likely to work against the interests of the most disadvantaged, least mobile and worst informed parents and children.”

Audit Commission Response to the White Paper, Jan 2006 Section 5, page 3

Liberal Democrat Alternatives to the Education White Paper

The Liberal Democrat alternative reforms gives schools the incentives and freedoms they need and choice to the people that matter – pupils – to drive up standards for all.

Pupil Premiums in primary and secondary schools

• Pupil Premiums for disadvantaged and underperforming children – schools to get new financial incentives to admit certain children, like those eligible for Free School Meals or assessed with low attainment at foundation or primary.

• A radical funding reform, based on a Dutch model, to re-direct the existing deprivation funding based on schools in programmes like City Academies and Specialist Schools, towards funding based on individual children, providing real incentives for all schools to admit low-attaining pupils.

Pupil Choice for 14-19 year olds

• Pupil Choice to re-engage and motivate 14-19 year olds, allowing them to benefit from a wider range of learning opportunities at one or more local schools, colleges or work-based learning providers. Pupils empowered so that funding follows their course choices.

• An independent personal career adviser to help students build a practical timetable, at one or more local schools, colleges or work-based learning providers. All pupils to study Maths, English and ICT at their main school.

• Every pupil from 14 to have funded Learning Entitlements, where a young person’s choices of subject and course is funded, whether they learn at their main school, or at a nearby school, college or employer.

• Pupil choice to offer students more options and to drive a focus for low attainers on higher attendance pre-16 and higher staying-on rates post-16.

Freedom to teach

• Freedom to teach for schools, with a deregulated national curriculum and reduced interference from Whitehall, so schools and teachers can tailor their lessons to the needs of individual classes and pupils

• A national diploma, based on the Tomlinson proposals, where students can study a range of subjects both academic and vocational, recognising that young people should leave education with both knowledge and know-how.

Schools collaborating, not just competing

• Community Learning Trusts, as a new model for local schools, colleges and employers to collaborate to share best practice and resources and deliver a wider curriculum for pupils.

• Confederations – where local schools and other learning providers “loosely” federate to co-ordinate timetables etc, but keep their own Governing Bodies.

• Learning Networks – where local schools form stronger federations jointly managing budgets, staff and wider services devolved to them from the local authority.

Local Authorities as commissioners

• Local Authorities as strong commissioners, with greater funding powers over education for pupils up to the age of 19, stripped from Whitehall and the Learning and Skills Councils and passed to the local level.

In view of the recent announcement from Charles Kennedy, the High Wycombe Liberal Democrats would like to pay tribute to Charles and to the fantastic job he has done as the leader of our party over the past six years.

He has led us through two general elections where we have increased our number of MPs on each occasion. He has won support for our party at local and national level in particular with his principled stance on the war in Iraq.

We are deeply saddened to hear that he has been battling with a drink problem which affects so many families today. We hope that he and his family will now be granted the privacy they deserve.

We would also like to thank those who have called us from other political parties giving their support and understanding to the problems he has faced.

We our proud to be part of the most democratic of all the political parties and we thank Charles for giving us the opportunity to elect his successor in a free and open process.

We would like to extend to Charles and his family our best wishes for the future and hope that he will continue to play a major role within our party.

Wendy Guy, Chair, Wycombe Liberal Democrats