Let me say a few words in support of Neil Carmichael, the Conservative chairman of the influential Commons Education Select Committee.

Mr Carmichael has come under fire as a result of his criticism of Theresa May’s plan to bring back grammar schools.

He described the plan as an “unnecessary distraction” from the goal of raising standards for all pupils, and said that the scheme could be “gamed” by wealthy middle-class parents.

For his “sins” - although I would not be describe them as such - he was criticised by the broadcaster Julia Hartley-Brewer on the grounds that he had “never sat in a comprehensive school with pupils who have no aspiration”.  All his children have gone to local grammar schools in the Gloucestershire area.

As a result of this flaw in his curriculum vitae, it was presumably being suggested that he had no right to criticise the grammar school plan.

I have immense sympathy for any parent - politician or not - who opposes selection but finds themselves living in a selective school system.

The main reason why they oppose selection is that it, in effect, turns the non-grammar schools into “sink” schools because they cannot attract the brightest children. 

It takes great courage - or dare I suggest, foolhardiness - to send your child to a secondary modern school (said by many opponents of selection to deliver a second-class education) and turn a blind eye to the consequences in such circumstances.

For good measure, the news story critical of Mr Carmichael also threw in the fact that he had attended a private boarding school. So what? I bet he wasn’t the one who decided he should go to such an institution. 

I ended up in one at the age of 7 and that didn’t happen because I went to my parents at that age and said: “I say, mater and pater, I’ve been thinking about this and I really think you should send me to a private boarding school.  It’ll be best for me in the long run, and sod my principles.”

‘We can’t control what school we’re sent to’

By and large, we cannot control what schools our parents send us to and we make decisions on our children’s schooling on the grounds of which is the school that will do the best for them. 

In some circumstances, particularly in Kent which has in the past held the record for the largest number of failing schools in any authority, that will be the local grammar school.

But that should not stop us from campaigning against an iniquitous system which sentences 75 per cent of all pupils in the area to a second-class education (or 90 per cent if reports that Ms May is thinking of recruiting only the top 10 per cent to her elite schools are true).

So don’t worry about the flak, Mr Carmichael, keep up the criticism and I shall join you in the campaign against the proposals.

And I was pleased to see Geoff Barton, head of King Edward VI School in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, elected the new general seretary of the Association of School and College Leaders. And by a landslide, too. 

He won 80 per cent of the vote standing against the executive’s preferred candidate, a man with considerable experience of education as a consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers but no teaching experience.

History shows that heads often prefer one of their own rather than an outsider when it comes to the vote - witness Mick Brookes’ victory in the NAHT elections several years ago. That is not to say, though, that “outsiders” cannot make a major impact - just look at David Hart, former leader of the NAHT, and the NAHT’s current incumbent, Russell Hobby.

But it will be interesting to see what impact Mr Barton has. He promised, in an interview with TES, not to be “the ranty man in the pub”.

There are issues, though, on which he can - and should - be expected to speak out firmly, such as the impact of cuts and greater selection in schools. I look forward to his comments.

Richard Garner was education editor of The Independent for 12 years, and before that news editor of TES. He has been writing about education for more than three decades. 

To read more columns by Richard, view his back-catalogue

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