Forum Topic

Toby Young's Free School Coming to Hammersmith?

A poster on ActonW3.com has suggested that Toby Young will acquire Palingswick House as the site of his new free school. Don't think this is officially confirmed but if true it would be an interesting development. The obvious conclusion would be that he intends some sort of partnership with Latymer Upper School.

Andy Jones ● 5305d17 Comments

The current Latymer head has apparently announced he is to leave so maybe co-operation could be a possibility.

Paul Corcoran ● 5152d

Any hopes of this being a partnership with Latymer appear to have been scotched according to this article in the Chronicle.http://tinyurl.com/65vqwq6He is worried about traffic as well but I'm sure the issue of competition concerns him.

Ellen Kearney ● 5177d

The reason we have a system rather than the free for all you are advocating is that children without a family who are willing or able to make sure they get a good deal will be left behind. The LEA is there to make sure that we have as level a playing field as possible. The system isn't perfect but it is better to aim for fairness rather than just totally abandoning the attempt.

Karen Cooper ● 5178d

Karen, that's a pretty good description of the system we have at the moment. If I was to make one reform of the system it would be that rather that the best schools are given priority to opt out of LEA control it should be the worst performing ones. This is because I don't believe that schools generally fail because of the inadequacy of the teaching staff and that the LEA should be recognised as the main problem.

Andy Jones ● 5182d

So basically you are willing to tolerate a system which will be inherently unfair and accept that some schools are likely to become clearing houses for problem children?

Karen Cooper ● 5182d

Total fairness and equality of opportunity in education are fine aspirations but in practice impossible to achieve. There will always be schools that a perceived as good and always schools that are perceived as less so. Parents will always do what they can to get their schools into the better schools. This gives a built in advantage in the system to those that can move to be in the right catchment area and a disadvantage to those who are in social housing, are recently arrived in this country or struggle with English. The system guarantees that the school perceived to be the least good locally will be undersubscribed and therefore will be where children expelled from other schools are sent dragging down standards so the perception becomes a reality.I don't doubt that a substantial proportion of people applying to the West London Free School are middle class parents looking to avoid the necessity of going private but there will be a similar, if not greater, number of families on lower incomes who will not be happy with the school likely to be allocated to them by the LEA. Assuming that Mr Young's school delivers on its promises and does become a 'comprehensive grammar' giving their pupils a much higher standard of education it will be unfair on the children who don't get in but it doesn't make sense to deny the children that do the opportunity that is being presented to them.

Andy Jones ● 5186d

It is easy to boost the performance of a school - you just limit the amount of looked after children, those from severely disadvantaged backgrounds, those very recently arrived in this country with limited English and those with special needs and behavioral issues. Any school that can do that is very popular with parents who don't have children like that but it is grossly unfair to then just dump those that do in the schools in the area that are open to all. That is why LEA control is important.

Karen Cooper ● 5192d

Following the debate on ActonW3.com in which Toby Young has participated I find myself becoming more and more sympathetic to his point of view. His opponents seem uninterested in the education of children and are primarily concerned about protecting the interests of the bureaucracy that currently runs many of our schools. Their views on what children should be taught and the environment in which it should be taught is not something that most parents would be comfortable with and parental aspiration for their children is seen by them as a threat rather than an asset.

Andy Jones ● 5193d

I don't believe there is a close correlation between class and how much parents care about their children's education. Working class parents, particularly those from immigrant backgrounds are usually just as committed to getting the best possible education for their kids. The main problem they face is that the tyranny of catchment areas will often give them no choice but a sub-standard comprehensive. Toby Young's school will receive lots of applications from the less well off - the issue is will his selection policy allow them in.

Paul Corcoran ● 5207d

The problem with giving influence to parents is that the parents who get influence are the pushy middle class variety whose children would get on anyway. Just have a look at the background of all the people appointed to Toby Young's free school. Most are from Chiswick.

Karen Cooper ● 5207d

When he first revealed his plans I was very dismissive. He came across to me as a lightweight who was trying to make an issue of something to get some writing commissions. Whether you like him or not getting his project this far will have taken a lot of hardwork and genuine commitment. He does come across as boorish and remarkably unpleasant at times and I too would have reservations about sending my children to a school over which he had any control but his opponents have also cast doubt on their fitness to be responsible for education by the shrillness of their response. Ultimately this is issue boils down to which you think is most important in education - standards or fairness. Most educational professionals who are not teachers say fairness, most parents say standards. Neither side is necessarily right but I don't believe it is a bad thing that more influence is being given to parents currently.

Paul Corcoran ● 5211d

"Perhaps it is time to start taking Toby Young seriously "Perhaps it's time for Toby Young to stop pretending he's some fearless go--getting independent campaigner when in reality he's been given substantial government, media and local authority backing to bring his fruitcake scheme to life?  Or do you think Hammersmith & Fulham council is in the habit of handing out premises to all and sundry if they aren't a high-profile journalist with a lot of well connected friends who shares their barking right wing ideas?I wouldn't send my son to Toby's school for any money for the simple reason that from examining his life and writings he comes across as ignorant, boorish and remarkably unpleasant, and thus any school he's involved with the running of is likely to share some of these characteristics.  I have higher hopes for my son, thanks.

Tom Barry ● 5212d

The rumour now seems to be fact. Perhaps it is time to start taking Toby Young seriously as whether you think it is positive or negative this is undoubtedly a significant achievement. He is hard to like but some of the attacks on him have been ridiculous and counterproductive. By portraying his school as the preserve of the middle class and stuffed with bankers kids his opponents are assuring that every aspirational working class parent in the area will apply for entry. Also the suggestion that the school is responsible for the turfing out of the community groups is a distortion. The way the opposition to his school have spun this makes him look like a principled man battling powerful vested interests.

Paul Corcoran ● 5212d

Think traffic is a bit of a red herring as the proportion of secondary school children driven to school is minimal. The New Schools Network highlighted on the link does look scandalous if the item is factually correct but this has little bearing on the merits of Toby Young's school.

Andy Jones ● 5296d

"Oh great. Congestion in that area is already bad enough. If we had a new set of parents that could afford to buy even bigger 4x4s because they weren't paying school fees then it would become gridlocked every morning."You'll doubtless be surprised to hear thaat the draft planning guidelines specifically exclude Free Schools from obligations to consider effects on traffic (as well as most other planning matters).Also, this:http://politicalscrapbook.net/2010/10/secrecy-over-new-schools/It's a quite shockingly undemocratic policy.

Tom Barry ● 5297d

If the site is suitable for a school and Latymer is willing to share some of its resources to support it why is the Government backing the vanity project of a B-list celebrity designed to help avoid middle class parents sending their kids to the local comp and not a project run by the LEA.Toby Young's supporters mainly come from the Acton and Ealing area and in return he is likely to give them priority for admissions so we would end up with yet another school in the area that local people can't send their children to.

Karen Cooper ● 5298d

Oh great. Congestion in that area is already bad enough. If we had a new set of parents that could afford to buy even bigger 4x4s because they weren't paying school fees then it would become gridlocked every morning.

Ellen Kearney ● 5300d