[ Post New Message | Post Reply to this One | Send Private Email to Cathy | Help ]

Oliver Letwin/Lilian Baylis

from Cathy (cathyvpreece@aol.com)

South London Press

News

Tory MP apologises after controversial comment

Oct 14 2003

...But is Oliver Letwin right?

By Vicky Wilks

TORY politician Oliver Letwin has apologised after making his controversial comments that he "would rather beg than send his child to his local school".

The Eton-educated Shadow Home Secretary said sorry to the headteacher of Kennington's Lilian Baylis school - which he did not mention by name but which is the nearest state school to his home.

Despite his apology, he has stuck by his statement that children in inner-city schools do not have the same chances in life as pupils of other secondaries or private schools.

Today, in our phone poll, we ask readers of the South London Press:

WOULD YOU SEND YOUR KIDS TO YOUR LOCAL SCHOOL?

If you think YES call 0901 562 8793
If you think NO call 0901 562 8794
(Calls cost 10p each)
The poll results will be published in next Tuesday's paper.

'Oliver beggars belief'

By Education Reporter Vicky Wilks

LAMBETH'S Conservative education boss has defended an inner-city school after Shadow Home Secretary Oliver Letwin said he would rather beg on the streets than send his kids there.

Eton-educated Mr Letwin told the Tory Party Conference in Blackpool: "In Lambeth, where I live, I would give my right arm to send them to a fee-paying school.

"If necessary, I would go out on the streets and beg rather than send them to the school next to where I live."

Soon after, Lilian Baylis School - which, in terms of GCSE results, was the worst performing secondary in the borough last year - found itself in the spotlight.

Tory Central Office was quick to point out that no individual school was named, despite the Lollard Street secondary being the nearest to Mr Letwin, a weekday Kennington resident.

Lambeth Conservative councillor Gareth Compton said Mr Letwin's words were misplaced.

"I don't think Oliver should be too critical," he said.

"The standards at Lilian Baylis in the past were unacceptably low and still are but are improving very quickly.

"I think he, like many other people who live in Lambeth and around the area where Lilian Baylis is, probably haven't appreciated the enormous changes that have taken place in that school in recent years.

"It does take time for changes to become widely known in the community in a situation like this where a school did have difficulties for very many years and only in recent years has started to turn a corner and make such significant progress."

Referring to the school's GCSE pass rate, which has leapt from six per cent to 17 between last year and this, he added: "To [almost] triple results is really a very significant achieve-ment."

The school is neighboured by several deprived sprawling Vauxhall housing estates.

Its last Ofsted report in 2001 showed 63 per cent of pupils were eligible for free meals and nearly half of pupils spoke English as a second language - with the most common first languages being Portuguese, Yoruba, Bengali and Vietnamese.

But last year, the school was among the top five per cent in Britain in terms of its value-added score - which shows how much progress pupils have made relative to their starting point.

Labour leader Steve Reed described Mr Letwin's words as "a slap in the face of our teachers, children and parents who have worked so hard to achieve better results in Lambeth's schools".

Meanwhile, Cllr Compton plans to invite Mr Letwin to tour the school with him. Lilian Baylis headteacher Gary Phillips said: "It is a very successful school and it is hard to understand why Oliver Letwin would want to make such comments without having visited the school.

"We would welcome him to visit and have left a message for him but he has not responded."

Mr Phillips highlighted the school's 300 per cent rise in GCSE pass rates at A*-C, its top value-added score, and other achievements including being awarded an Arts-mark Gold certificate and the Achiever's Cup Challenge at Cambridge University.

FACT FILE

* Number of Lambeth students scoring five GCSEs at grades A-C rose from 28.6 per cent in 1997 to 40.1 per cent in 2002

* A measurement showing how pupils improve, taking into account their ability on entering Year 7, shows Lambeth is above the London and national average

* Lambeth is one of five boroughs set to get cash to improve schools through the Government's London Challenge

* Lilian Baylis was built in 1962 to replace outdated 19th century accommodation

* In 1997, it was placed on the Government's special measures list and stayed there for a record four years.

* Ofsted inspection in 2001 identified weaknesses in standards in national tests, English teaching, attendance and punctuality, use of computers, provision for foreign languages and involvement of parents.

* In 2001, it was ranked 512th of London's league table of 536 secondaries.

* In 2002, the truancy rate was slashed in half by the introduction of pastoral officers.

* This year, the LEA has found improvements in foreign languages, attendance, parents' involvement and upgraded science labs.

* The school is due to be inspected again in November.

* Lilian Baylis will move into a £20.4million new building, pictured above, in Kennington Lane in January 2005.

'Courageous words'

RICKY Rennalls, who has a 13-year-old son at Lilian Baylis, has no complaints about the school but said he admired Oliver Letwin's honesty.

He said: "If you look at the kind of private schools that many of the Labour party luminaries send their kids to, then, in effect, they are agreeing with him, but haven't got the courage to come out and say it."

Self-employed Mr Rennalls lives close to the school on neighbouring Ethelred Estate and is a parent-governor there. The family applied for fourschools for Amadeus but chose Lilian Baylis because it was close to home.

Mr Rennalls said: "I accept Lilian Baylis does a very good job under difficult circumstances.

"My son is making progress. He is happy there - there is a real sense of community. I am expecting him to do okay.

"If he doesn't do well it will be difficult for me to say how much is down to the school and how much to external factors."

Regarding Mr Lewtins's subsequent apology to the school, Mr Rennalls said: "I admire his humility and honesty again."

(posted 7470 days ago)

[ Previous | Next ]