Any Questions??
I went to the Any Questions at Carshalton Sports College on Friday. Most of it was on national issues.
However the discussion on Education was very relevant to Sutton.
Bob Marshall-Andrews MP was right to say that we need a wider definition of "special needs" that covered all children from those in difficulty to the gifted. Specialisation and setting (not streaming) within a broadly comprehensive framework works. 86% of Sutton pupils already benefit from this whilst 14% of Sutton pupils and a lots of kids from Purley and Epsom take part in a different (selective) system that now has very little connection with this borough or Council.
Polly Toynbee made the important point that at between 2 and 6 years a less bright middle class child is likely to overtake a brighter working class child. It is interesting to note that substantially more is spent by the state on 16-18 year olds than the under 5's yet all the evidence is that the public services can make a much bigger difference on the under 5s than at any other point during the lifr of a child.
Fortunately there seems to a consensus in the borough in favour of Childrens' Centres and Extended Schools and I hope we can continue to develop approaches that increase interventions to assist all under 5's to develop their potential.
However the discussion on Education was very relevant to Sutton.
Bob Marshall-Andrews MP was right to say that we need a wider definition of "special needs" that covered all children from those in difficulty to the gifted. Specialisation and setting (not streaming) within a broadly comprehensive framework works. 86% of Sutton pupils already benefit from this whilst 14% of Sutton pupils and a lots of kids from Purley and Epsom take part in a different (selective) system that now has very little connection with this borough or Council.
Polly Toynbee made the important point that at between 2 and 6 years a less bright middle class child is likely to overtake a brighter working class child. It is interesting to note that substantially more is spent by the state on 16-18 year olds than the under 5's yet all the evidence is that the public services can make a much bigger difference on the under 5s than at any other point during the lifr of a child.
Fortunately there seems to a consensus in the borough in favour of Childrens' Centres and Extended Schools and I hope we can continue to develop approaches that increase interventions to assist all under 5's to develop their potential.
posted by Charlie Mansell at 5:58 pm
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