Friday, May 25, 2007

Keep The Faith ...

The Guardian continues the slo-mo dripfeed of anti-faith school propaganda.

"People would rather see places at oversubscribed faith schools decided by lottery than by religious judgments, a poll for the Sutton Trust education charity revealed today."


They're weeing off Beachy Head into a Force Nine south-westerly. Even this government isn't likely to be stupid enough to attack the faith schools, which are generally the best-performing non-selective schools. Far from it. My information is that instead the DFES are continually trying to divine their magical secrets, in the hope of replicating their success in more godlesss environments. So you see they're pretty damn stupid. They think it may be posssible to chuck away the religious bathwater and magically retain the academic baby.

Not just academic success either. I've noted before how the majority of Asian (mainly Muslim) parents in the nearest town prefer the Catholic comp to the non-Catholic alternative. From a Muslim parental viewpoint its a no-brainer to send their kids to somewhere where the school nurse is unlikely to be dishing out the morning after pill and where fisting is still off the curriculum.

This preference is apparently a national one, and the DFES are wondering why (see previous paragraph for their lack of intelligence). Not only that, but (a/c/t the DFES) the Asian kids report less conflict and bullying in left-footed schools, and get better grades.

The government has more things to worry about than picking a fight with the most successful non-selective schools in the country. And in a few years the babies of the lovely Anna and all the Danutas and Zofias will be in reception class. I don't think we have to worry just yet.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

non-selective

Not exactly non-selective though are they.

And not all of them are that great. Not really at liberty to say more alas.

James G. said...

I can say that my daughter has experienced a CofE-aided school that did her no good whatsoever academically, but then it was not as selective as the one we live near now.

Unfortunately, the one we live near now is so good, that almost everybody who has children there attend one of the churches in the parish. There is a waiting list for her year.

Anonymous said...

Sir, The majority of Church of England (CofE) schools do not control their admissions policies – the local authority does (“Sneaky, unfair, divisive: welcome to church schools”, May 23).

Alice Miles suggests that all church schools only select those who are the most advantaged in their catchment area. She cites one London church school with a privileged intake (whose admissions policy has changed) as if it is typical of all church schools.

Much more typical of the 147 church schools in the London diocese are those in Tower Hamlets, where the majority of the pupil population are from a Muslim or Bangladeshi background, or the 37 church schools where English is an additional language for more than 50 per cent of the pupils – or, indeed, the 68 church schools where more than 30 per cent of pupils are eligible for free school meals.

Church of England schools in the Diocese of London take the same proportions of white and ethnic minority children, as well as deprived and privileged, as is true of London as a whole.


The real agenda here is not about admissions policies in church schools; it is about the views of those desperate to deny a place in the education system for any schools which explicitly recognise faith and the religious approach to life as being of value.

Must secular liberalism be the creed for all schools? What then for those unfortunate children whose only fault is to have religious parents?

DR RICHARD CHARTRES, The Bishop of London

Laban said...

nothing like keeping on topic, is there ?

Anonymous said...

Now, No-Brains Willets wants selection by race.

Bye, bye, Tories and don't let the door hit you on the arse.

Anonymous said...

verity said...

Now, No-Brains Willets wants selection by race.

Bye, bye, Tories and don't let the door hit you on the arse.

11:57 PM


The Observer

The position in Bradford, scene of race riots in 2001, is not much better. Of 28 secondary schools, 10 have 90 per cent or more pupils from one community.

Bradford's population is 62.8 per cent white and 32.7 per cent Asian



Unless someone at Guardian Towers has made a big arithmetic error I shall be packing my bags and heading for Manchester Airport

Laban said...

I think that's the percentage of schoolchildren. Which will be the percentage of the population thirty years on.

ba ba said...

Laban, OT does mean of topic. I hope you didnt mind to much.

Anonymous said...

I think that's the percentage of schoolchildren. Which will be the percentage of the population thirty years on.

We shouldn't have to interpolate - The Observer should be 100% accurate so as not to inflame tensions