Putting teachers and heads in charge has consistently allowed schools and pupils to excel. We must continue to put our trust in them.
It’s not hard to find reasons to be frustrated with the Government, but we are still delivering for the British people.
England achieved its highest ever score in reading in 2016, moving from joint 10th to joint 8th in the PIRLS rankings.
I was glad to see the Prime Minister and the Education Secretary doing so recently – particularly now that Rayner is clear she will scrap the programme.
Rayner’s new proposals would mean that the progress we have seen over the last eight years would be sacrificed – and it is our kids that would pay the price.
Families and teachers deserve some details on what is being proposed in place of free schools and academies.
At the local level, there is also good news in the successful reform of Great Yarmouth Charter Academy.
Tailoring teaching to children’s needs and interests works in every type of education. Why restrict the benefits of selection?
While Hinds’ grammar school announcement was welcome, his U-turn on the cap on faith-based free schools is simply baffling.
Today’s announcements are extremely cautious. Some of this is justified, some less so, but it makes a stark contrast to the Gove era.
Where outstanding primary schools do not have attached nursery classes, in Wandsworth we will be looking to work with them to see if they can expand.
Even in an age of austerity, government has plenty of power and assets, which it could on a small-scale, experimental basis transfer to the control of community groups.
We need to renew that belief, that self-belief, and that optimism – about people, about society, about freedom and about human life – more than ever.
Free schools and academies have found that setting improves standards. It’s time to stop giving huge public funds to academics who disregard this evidence.
Rayner’s hostility to academies runs against both the interests and preferences of parents and pupils alike.