Examination of Witnesses (Questions 340
- 341)
WEDNESDAY 7 DECEMBER 2005
MR MICK
BROOKES, MS
KERRY GEORGE,
DR JOHN
DUNFORD, MS
SUE KIRKHAM
AND MS
CHRISTINA MCANEA
Q340 Chairman: The last little bit
now right across the piece very briefly, what would you put into
the White Paper and what would you definitely take out?
Ms Kirkham: I would take out trust
schools and I would put in more emphasis on collaboration and
follow-on from the education improvement partnerships with more
incentives to collaborate.
Mr Dunford: Those would be exactly
my two.
Ms McAnea: I would take out trust
schools and I would put in some sort of national structure for
school support staff, which at the moment they do not have.
Mr Brookes: I would take out the
derogatory language and I would put in ways to direct funding
into the classroom.
Q341 Chairman: What derogatory language?
Mr Brookes: "No longer will
it be possible for any school to hide its low or mediocre standards
or to argue that parents should not play a fundamental role in
their child's education." That is a complete travesty.
Ms George: I think trust schools
are obviously the favourite for being removed, so I am happy to
go along with trust schools as well. What I would like to see
in there is a complete look at education, a look across the piece.
I would like to see not just a sector approach but actually looking
wider. I mentioned the Foster Report earlier. I think if we were
to exploit all the resources we have throughout the education
system in a collaborative fashion we might have some decent chances?
Chairman: In the spirit of cooperation you are
going to go away and write your alternative White Paper! Thank
you very much for your attendance. I am sorry we have rattled
through it but I thought we had a good session. Thank you.
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