Last week we had great news on the economy with better growth than the US, France, indeed most developed countries. Beyond these numbers, with construction picking-up, inflation down and the UK now the 4th largest exporter globally there is a lot of positive economic news that is arriving with the summer!
To sustain, long term, advances in living standards and public services – one of the most important investments for Governments to get right, alongside ensuring taxation doesn’t stifle the economy, is education.
We have seen huge improvements in the last 14 years.
90% of schools are now rated “good” or “outstanding”, a substantial improvement on the past.
Nationally, we have the 4th best primary school readers in the world. Igniting a passion for reading from a young age is hugely important. Reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success and brings improved life chances.
We’ve also seen great improvements in the performance at secondary level. In the global academic comparisons secondary school students have risen from 27th to 11th in maths and 25th to 13th in reading.
For decades our international rankings in education were on a downward spiral. That has been turned around. This progress is due to the hard work of our teachers (of which we have 27,000 more than in 2010). It is also driven by policy choices: the figures cited are for England, in devolved (Labour run) Wales and (SNP run) Scotland, both of which once had a proud record, educational outcomes have continued to fall.
Education means “to lead out” and it is about profoundly more than academic achievement but education matters to each individual child and to our society as a whole: attracting the high quality jobs which are being created in the new technological revolution.
Having the right support for students with Special Education Needs is a critical part of this. The announced new specialist schools are positive news but we need ongoing focus on SEN to benefit all pupils.
Getting the schools we want locally and nationally engages us all. West Sussex County Council has launched its public consultation on whether Millais should become co-ed (https://yourvoice.westsussex.gov.uk/millais). The consultation closes on the 12th June everyone with views on this important decision should consider making a contribution.
