| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Mr. Dominic Grieve (Beaconsfield): An avalanche will descend on the Government's shoulders judging by my experience with primary schools in my constituency, some of which are the best in Buckinghamshire. Parents are writing to me about that very matter. Years 1 and 2 are being mixed up to meet totally barmy criteria. Sometimes, three or four children are being moved from classes when there was no difficulty in teaching 33 or 34 children previously.
Mrs. May: My hon. Friend is right. Yet again, it is due to the fact that the Government will not allow schools to decide what is best for children at the local level. Schools that have been providing good education for their children are having to disrupt themselves and move children around in that way. Some parents are finding that their parental choice is being taken away.
Dr. Howard Stoate (Dartford): May I clarify the Opposition's policy? Is she telling my constituents that it is all right for classes to be greater than 30? My head teachers tell me that the Government's policy of 30 children to a class is working and is giving more diversity and better education to their children. Is the hon. Lady saying that it is Conservative policy to increase class sizes and to have more than 30 in a class?
Mrs. May: It is important to have flexibility at local level to decide class sizes. That is the policy that we adopted during the passage of the School Standards and Framework Bill. Unfortunately, the Government have set their face against that flexibility. As a result, schools such as those in the Buckinghamshire constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Beaconsfield (Mr. Grieve) have to turn children away, move them between classes or introduce mixed age groups when they had not had them before, all of which could disrupt children's education. That is the reality of what is happening and I suggestthat the hon. Gentleman considers what is happening
throughout the country as a result of the Government's policy. It is a question not merely of disruption in the classroom, but of potential teacher losses.
Again, I am about to do something that will cause laughter on the Labour Benches because I am going to quote another teacher trade union, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, which surveyed a number of schools in England and Wales. The results showed expected job losses of 2,051 teaching posts nationally. A member of the ATL from Sefton borough council said:
The Government may well say that it is all right because they are putting much more money in to reduce class sizes. However, it is not as easy as that. In The Times Educational Supplement last week, Mike Baker wrote an article about the problems of his local primary school. He said:
Mrs. May:
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Mr. Baker continued:
Today, I heard of another problem resulting from the class size problem. In the village of South Marston in Wiltshire, we have a school with 96 pupils. Because of the class size pledge to reduce classes to 30 children, the school needs an extra teacher and an extra classroom. The Government have given it money for an extra teacher, but have turned down its two applications for an extra classroom. What is the point of having an extra teacher if there is nowhere for them to teach?
It is in rural areas that so many of the problems are now coming to the fore. Indeed, the Local Government Association is mounting a three-phase campaign to
highlight the difficulties encountered by rural schools, many of which are faced with closure. In March 1998, the then Minister for School Standards, the right hon. Member for Tyneside, North (Mr. Byers) announced on television that he was introducing
Mrs. May:
I suggest that the hon. Gentleman tells that to the residents of Potter Heigham, where their school is closing.
The Government simply do not understand the needs of rural areas, such as the high cost of school transport and the necessity for many parents to use their cars to take their children to school. Funding is an issue in rural areas. It is not only shire counties and shire unitary authorities that have done badly from the Government's funding settlement.
Mr. Blunkett:
Just to show that we all know exactly what we are doing, perhaps the hon. Lady will tell me how many children attend Potter Heigham school, which she has used as an example of how badly we are doing?
Mrs. May:
The Secretary of State will know that the impending closure of Potter Heigham school and the impact of the Government's decisions on it caused considerable concern in the village. [Hon. Members: "How many?"] In fact, such concerns--
Mr. David Prior (North Norfolk):
Potter Heigham school is in my constituency. The failure of the Labour and Liberal Democrat-controlled local education authority to support that school led many parents to take their children away from it. [Hon. Members: "How many?"] The school has almost closed thanks to this Government's
Mr. Blizzard:
On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Is it in order for hon. Members to conceal the truth from this House that Potter Heigham school has three pupils?
Mr. Deputy Speaker:
That is not a point of order for the Chair; it is a matter for debate.
Mrs. May:
In rural areas, funding has always been an issue, but the Government have never understood the funding problems faced in many of them. That is why the Minister for School Standards wrote to North Yorkshire county council to explain that Hull gets more funding per pupil because of social deprivation--as if rural areas have never suffered from deprivation. Rural areas face particular challenges, but they differ greatly. That is why flexibility is especially important.
Mr. Gordon Marsden (Blackpool, South):
Will the hon. Lady give way?
"Class size reduction policy has given huge amounts to two primary schools to build extra classrooms and reduce the intake . . . of all other schools. The result is that the two . . . schools now take over 900 pupils while the rest crumble."
Again, that shows the reality of what is happening at the grassroots.
"the schools where I live have a very high proportion of primary classes of 30-plus pupils. Under pressure from the Government, the council plans to reduce class sizes . . . If my daughter's school cuts class sizes it would be turning away even more children from a good and popular school."--[Interruption.]
Mr. Deputy Speaker:
Order. We must not have these exchanges--in particular the sedentary exchanges between those on the two Front Benches.
"It has no space to expand and has too many 'temporary' classrooms which have been there for decades."
The school had a policy to deal with that problem: the junior school would move into the infant school and a new infant school would be built. However, the infant school was to be built on a playing field and the Government's playing field policy came into play. So, as Mike Baker says:
"you can see why this issue has become a spaghetti junction of contradictory national policies: class sizes, popular schools, playing fields".
He continues:
"It is sobering to realise that as Whitehall and Westminster increase their centralising power over education, it is local education issues which most excite parents. At a time when some question the role of local authorities, it is interesting to see how it is often locally-elected councillors who feel the heat generated by conflicting national policies."
That is a view with which Sir Jeremy Beecham might, I suspect, agree.
"tough new protection for village schools".
The Government, he said,
"have put in place safeguards and measures that will protect rural primary schools".
He should try telling that to the parents of children at Berkley Church of England school in Somerset, or the nine-year-old who has written to me about the closure, saying:
"I was shocked and upset to hear the proposal of the closure of my school . . . I can't see how Somerset county council can shut down our school that has just had an excellent Ofsted and Distinction in our last Choral speaking Exam. We put on plays and concerts in St Mary's Church and each time extra seats need to be provided.
Dr. George Turner (North-West Norfolk):
Before the hon. Lady continues as the new champion of rural schools, will she say something about the 500 that her party closed when it was last responsible for the governance of schools? Will she particularly say something to those in my home county of Norfolk about the 100 schools that her party closed? The £2 million that this Government are investing to reduce class sizes is helping rural schools in my environment, as is the building work that is going on. For the first time in 20 years, there is a feeling of optimism in our Norfolk villages.
I have had a great time and Education at Berkley and all other Pupils will say the same, another thing we all agree with is that we are PROUD of our School and won't let anyone Close it."
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |