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I survived sink school, by YI chairman

Tuesday, 30th November 2010

WHEN people think of Cambridge they contemplate superb academic triumphs: big buildings; grand occasion; fine achievement; excellence in education, writes YI Chairman Michael Heaver.

Unfortunately if you go down the road from Cambridge’s fine buildings and pretty landscapes you find a sight not unfamiliar nowadays: state schools that are failing the poorer parts of a city, especially the poorer kids.

While David Cameron went to elite Eton College and Nick Clegg attended exclusive Westminster School I went to a failing state school. Coleridge Community College is located in Cambridge.

My experience as a pupil right through to where I am now as a final-year university student has convinced me beyond any shadow of a doubt that Britain’s widening gap between rich and poor will continue until we bring back what Tory MP David Davis called the “greatest instrument for social mobility ever created”: grammar schools.

Keep reading this article from today's Daily Express and leave a comment about it here.

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Your Comments

Posted by David Curtis on 06/12/2010 at 15:03

I agree about Grammar Schools. Its not the childrens' fault, but all those on free school dinners, which the rest of us pay for in taxes, so they are not really free, like the NHS, why when I collect my grandaughters, do I see mothers of kids on free dinners, waiting with ciggy in mouth, yet they say they cannot afford to send the child an apple for lunch, or find a couple of pounds for a school trip?

Posted by C J on 06/12/2010 at 14:56

I agree wholeheartedly with virtually all comments on here supporting the need for Grammar Schools in our education system, one thing however that I think people have missed in all of this, is to mention the crucial part, the individuals who passed through these schools, played in industry and commerce once they entered into the employment arena. They were the lynchpins of the work place; they spoke the language of the general workers and understood their needs, yet also understood the aims and requirements of the directors. They made excellent managers and communicators, they were REAL managers, as opposed to those bearing the title today, which it appears is applied to anyone who has worked in a supermarket, nail parlour, tyre bay or call centre for more than three months! These people could be found in manufacturing industries, commerce, transport and just about anywhere else where management and communication with the workforce was needed, they to my mind, helped keep the wheels oiled throughout industry and commerce. If you look back at the dates that things generally started to slip in this country you might find that it all began to change at the point we ran out of new Grammar School leavers entering the employment arena, because from then on it once again became 'them and us' with no one to mediate or hold the middle ground. If you doubt me, just go into a bank, supermarket or anywhere else for that matter and asked to speak to a manager, you will then soon be made aware of the fact that could have a more constructive and intelligent conversation with a soccer player!

Posted by Ann Storey on 06/12/2010 at 15:01

Through my experience of being educated in Essex, there was not a fair system in place and it all depended on the Primary education that a child received. If this wasn't up to standard for the 11 plus, then children had no hope of attending a Grammar school, also there wasn't enough Grammar schools in the area where I lived and I am sure the number of 11 plus passes were fixed to one of our local schools on an estate with more private housing. How can this be a fair system for any child, like my brother, who was always top of the class and failed his 11 plus!

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