Bring back grammar schools.
They haven't gone away in Southend.
Bring back grammar schools.
They haven't gone away in Southend.
Good idea. Or changing it to something more useful. You can get on in life by learning to read and write and learning how numbers work. Knowing who was the fifth wife of Henry 8th, or the capital of Katmandu might be useful in a pub quiz but these sort of subjects should be downgraded to "interests" and can be studied/learnt in your own time. RE? If you are interested, go to Church. Art? Practise at home.
You can't make someone cleverer than they are. Teaching them stuff will not make them smarter.
Trim the curriculum down to include loads more maths, plenty of English - forget English lit you can learn that for yourself - include PE or some sort of sporting activity - cooking ( mainly for girls obviously), and money management which if done properly would teach people not to get themselves into a **** load of debt.
Save History, Geography, Biology, RE for people who want a career which needs knowledge of those subjects and teach them at University. Foreign language? Pointless, everyone speaks English.
Teach kids the basics and whilst at it teach them some discipline and respect. If they can't behave kick them out of school and let them get on with it.
What's far more important is learning to think for yourself. I learnt this through subjects like history.
More's the pity.
I disagree, but as this thread is about Private Schools I'll stop there.
(Since the original article on which this thread is based was written by Alan Bennett,an ex-grammar schoolboy,I think grammar schools have some relevence to the discussion)).
The argument against Grammar schools was won back in the 60's.
Boroughs like Southend, (and elsewhere which retain them,especially in Kent), are anachronisms.
A Labour government with any guts would have ablished them completely,a long time ago.
What's even more important is learning to skive, and I did that in every subject.
(Since the original article on which this thread is based was written by Alan Bennett,an ex-grammar schoolboy,I think grammar schools have some relevance to the discussion)).
The argument against Grammar schools was won back in the 60's.
Boroughs like Southend, (and elsewhere which retain them,especially in Kent), are anachronisms.
A Labour government with any guts would have ablished them completely,a long time ago.
Would those Labour politicos be the same lot that send their kids to private schools?