27th June 2013 9:00
By Blue Tutors
Ofsted chief Michael Wilshaw delivered a speech this week in which he called for an education system which better addresses the needs of disadvantaged children. He said that poor children currently ‘unseen’ by the current system needed support from excellent teachers drawn from around the country. Wilshaw referred to this as a ‘national service’ for teachers, where ‘superteachers’ would be brought into mediocre schools to work with disadvantaged children. The plans came after observations that poorer students in relatively affluent areas were subject to ‘indifferent’ teaching.
The so called ‘national service’ teachers would be managed directly by the government rather than through local education authorities or schools. They would be parachuted into schools throughout the country which struggle to attract excellent teachers. The Ofsted chief referred to evidence from schools in large cities such as London, Manchester and Birmingham which have improved since initiatives to improve standards of teaching were put in place. The issue now, he said, is that there are disadvantaged children living in fairly well-off areas, who are hidden from view.
Under the proposed scheme, schools which have achieved top marks in Ofsted inspections but which are not doing well by their poorest students would be re-inspected. Concerns have been raised that an underprivileged minority in relatively affluent areas such as Wokingham and Norwich are being buried in bottom sets and neglected by teachers. Based on the London Challenge programme, in which successful schools were paired with weaker schools in the capital, the superteacher scheme would see the best teachers from all over the country working in with ‘hidden’ children in school. The scheme has drawn criticism from teachers, who say that the focus should be on improving teaching standards rather than catapulting some teachers into problem areas for short periods.