Council leader challenges education secretary over Lancashire's 'failing' primary schools (From Lancashire Telegraph)

It certainly has taken tremendous courage to oppose his own Party Whip. Lancashire has some of the most deprived areas in the country yet the performance of schools rise year on year by the dedication of County officials and the teaching staff.
The challenges faced by Head Teachers continues as more children are placed in main-stream education and more and more children are faced with poverty and deprived conditions at home.
It is the Governments Social Policy that needs to improve to raise standards in education.

Well done Geoff Driver. Lancashire's interests before Party Politics - that's what we want from our Council Leader. I suppose we should expect him to have some bottle - he is an East Lancs lad.

Sajdin wrote:

shytalk wrote:
Many primary schools might be able to do better if pupils were able to speak some english..

Wow, you such a closed minded individual. Grow up.

I blame the parents for not teaching, or not being able to teach, their kids English!

Far from being a brave move it is political gesturing at it' worst. The government will do whatever it decides, the remonstrations of a county council leader won't make a blind bit of difference. I see the ladder climber from Pendle supports the government, no surprise there. I am afraid the pawns will be sacrificed.

Let's wait and see mavrick - Geoff Driver sounded pretty determined to me on NW Tonight and Radio Lancashire yesterday. If he wins, or goes down fighting, will you then say well done or are you just dead against all Tories whatever they do?

Rumpole wrote:

Sajdin wrote:

shytalk wrote:
Many primary schools might be able to do better if pupils were able to speak some english..

Wow, you such a closed minded individual. Grow up.

I blame the parents for not teaching, or not being able to teach, their kids English!

That I agree with !

This must be a first! I actually agree with Andrew Stephenson on this issue that RADICAL changes are needed.
For far too long the poor working class children have received a sub standard education. This has been in part to schools within working class neighbourhoods mostly atttracting:-
1) Poor quality teachers
2) Poor headteachers
3) Poor quality governors
4) Poor support from local councillors

Too often the headteachers of schools have failed in their duties to raise standards through inadequate and poor governance which is a sad reflection of the people who sit on governing bodies for ALL the wrong reasons. All these issues need to be tackled BEFORE we see an improvement in standards. Gove has suggested a speeding up of the process to sack incompetent teachers which has been long overdue for 50 years almost!
Local councillors have failed in their duties of "corporate parent". schools have not been held to account by local councillors as well as county councillors who have failed in their duties on far too many ocassions.
Some schools in Nelson have not raised standards in over 10 years. As a result hundreds of children have been given an inadequate education which will decrease their life chances dramatically.
Walter St to be turned into an Academy
Walverden School should have been turned into an Academy as should Marsden School.
These schools need radical change and i hope that radical proposals are taken as promised.

What a load of rubbish gm - have you been smoking extra strong?

ganja man wrote:
This must be a first! I actually agree with Andrew Stephenson on this issue that RADICAL changes are needed.
For far too long the poor working class children have received a sub standard education. This has been in part to schools within working class neighbourhoods mostly atttracting:-
1) Poor quality teachers
2) Poor headteachers
3) Poor quality governors
4) Poor support from local councillors

Too often the headteachers of schools have failed in their duties to raise standards through inadequate and poor governance which is a sad reflection of the people who sit on governing bodies for ALL the wrong reasons. All these issues need to be tackled BEFORE we see an improvement in standards. Gove has suggested a speeding up of the process to sack incompetent teachers which has been long overdue for 50 years almost!
Local councillors have failed in their duties of "corporate parent". schools have not been held to account by local councillors as well as county councillors who have failed in their duties on far too many ocassions.
Some schools in Nelson have not raised standards in over 10 years. As a result hundreds of children have been given an inadequate education which will decrease their life chances dramatically.
Walter St to be turned into an Academy
Walverden School should have been turned into an Academy as should Marsden School.
These schools need radical change and i hope that radical proposals are taken as promised.

Interesting that you convenientlly mention the major cause of the poor progress of many of these children - very poor parenting!

ganja man wrote:
This must be a first! I actually agree with Andrew Stephenson on this issue that RADICAL changes are needed.
For far too long the poor working class children have received a sub standard education. This has been in part to schools within working class neighbourhoods mostly atttracting:-
1) Poor quality teachers
2) Poor headteachers
3) Poor quality governors
4) Poor support from local councillors

Too often the headteachers of schools have failed in their duties to raise standards through inadequate and poor governance which is a sad reflection of the people who sit on governing bodies for ALL the wrong reasons. All these issues need to be tackled BEFORE we see an improvement in standards. Gove has suggested a speeding up of the process to sack incompetent teachers which has been long overdue for 50 years almost!
Local councillors have failed in their duties of "corporate parent". schools have not been held to account by local councillors as well as county councillors who have failed in their duties on far too many ocassions.
Some schools in Nelson have not raised standards in over 10 years. As a result hundreds of children have been given an inadequate education which will decrease their life chances dramatically.
Walter St to be turned into an Academy
Walverden School should have been turned into an Academy as should Marsden School.
These schools need radical change and i hope that radical proposals are taken as promised.

1) Poor quality teachers 2) Poor headteachers 3) Poor quality governors 4) Poor support from local councillors .
How about adding Poor support from parents. Many of whom insist on not speaking English when at home.

rilistic wrote:
Let's wait and see mavrick - Geoff Driver sounded pretty determined to me on NW Tonight and Radio Lancashire yesterday. If he wins, or goes down fighting, will you then say well done or are you just dead against all Tories whatever they do?

rillistic, wake up and smell the coffee, Geoff driver knows what is going to happen, he is simply distancing himself from the government, so he can say he spoke up for the schools. As for being against all Tories whatever they do, I suggest you tell me something they have done to help ordinary people, Then have a look at how they have looked after their rich friends.

A great number of people on here are either deluded or falling for the mantra of the "teaching and chattering class".
Independent research has shown that where poor children from very deprived backgrounds( according to the various Indices of Deprivation) are provided with GOOD QUALITY teaching then the educational outcomes, ie results are improved and children do well. This is NOT dependent on the quality of the parent who could be the worst parents imaginable.
Gove has latched on to this and will take RADICAL steps to recruit over 5000 high flying top graduates from the likes of Cambridge and Oxford University and other leading universities to teaching in the MOST challenging schools in the most deprived areas to provide the GOOD QUALITY teachers who WILL improves the educational outcomes and life chances for these poor children irrespective of their family backgrounds.
These top teachers are recruited from a pool of TOP CLASS graduates who undergo ASSESSMENT and ONLY 12% are chosen!
If that was applied for the teachers we have in primary schools locally then there would be a great deal of people signing on for JSA! On the positive only people who are very good would enter teaching resulting in much better results from the excellent teaching offered.
As for teachers and chairs of governors of local schools it is easy to "scapegoat the poor parents" when in reality the evidence is that good quality teaching from well led and managed schools are the best way in which to improve educational outcomes.
TOO MANY white working class boys have been failed by the schools. This is a fact.
As for "rilistic" put that in your pipe and smoke it!!

How sad and narrow minded you are mavrick - let's wait and see what Geoff Driver does. Too deep for me gm - you must be on really strong stuff

'RADICAL steps to recruit over 5000 high flying top graduates from the likes of Cambridge and Oxford University and other leading universities to teaching in the MOST challenging schools in the most deprived areas to provide the GOOD QUALITY teachers who WILL improves the educational outcomes and life chances for these poor children irrespective of their family backgrounds.'
First point - I think you mean 'improve' not 'improves'.
Second point - I had a 'high flying, top graduate from a top university, training to be a teacher in my class...extremely well spoken, first class degree and from a good and very privileged background, however when it came to teaching, the student definitely lacked both ability and basic knowledge & understanding of the primary curriculum...needles
s to say, I failed the 'high flying, top graduate'! Just goes to show, a 'high flying, top graduate' will not necessarily make a good teacher!!!

Mr Driver says
"But the proof of the success of the partnership between Lancashire's schools and the county council is amply demonstrated by the fact that nearly three quarters of the county's schools are rated good or outstanding by Ofsted."

Good, But what about the other quarter, or nearly a third, that aren't. What have the unions and council done for and will do for these other schools apart from whinging about what the Government may do. If the Council and Unions can turn these schools around, stop whining to the press and get on with it. Do something positive about improving these schools.