11+ Yes/No - the wrong arguement

The idea of scrapping the 11+ has been resurrected yet again and already the banners are being unfurled and the war drums warmed up.
 
This is an issue which won’t lie down and die and, as with all conflicts, the opposing sides must eventually negotiate and reach a compromise if a final resolution is to be achieved. So let’s forgo the skirmishes, avoid a war, and put forward some constructive suggestions for consideration and improvement.
 
Assuming the role of peacemaker I’ll try to identify some assumed common ground between our opposing sides.

    •    We all value learning and want a good education for the children of Guernsey.

    •    We agree that the parental, social, and peer pressures surrounding the current 11+ system leaves an appreciable number of children with a sense of failure when they don’t make the cut. (We may disagree as to whether this is good or bad but we should all recognise that it happens).

    •    We would like all schools to teach to the same high standards.

    •    We should also be able to acknowledge that every child is different; learns differently; develops at a different rate; but is equally important and should be allowed to fulfil their potential during their education.

 
The success of a school should, I believe, be measured by the degree of an individual’s improvement during their time at the school measured against that individual’s expectations based on past performance. Jeremy was always going to hit the tape first but he cruised for the last fifty yards whereas last place Johnny achieved a personal best.
 
So, who got more out of the race training and who had the better trainer?
 
Is it possible to prepare both of these individuals with the same training regime and if so, how do we get them both to achieve PB times?
 
We should understand that they each need different challenges and to be pushed to different limits. Can this be done in the same school? I’m not yet persuaded why not but I do appreciate that it might be too wide a gap to teach both in the same class. But with excellent teaching all pupils will benefit and improved results will flow naturally.
 
How do we ensure this excellent teaching?
 
We can’t.
 
Not all teachers are excellent nor should we expect them to be. 

After all, neither banking, building, medicine, nor any other profession is made up of only excellent practitioners.
 
We should aim for good teaching with increasing bursts of excellence.
 
Most teachers can do a good job; as teachers and if left to get on with it.
 
The problem is that society is forcing them to be parents, social workers, emotional psychologists, and enforcers by gifting them some children who are not fit for school. Teachers are not trained for such jobs and if we want excellent teaching then we should recognise the problems which take teachers away from their primary function and solve those problems outside of the classroom and possibly outside of the school environment.
 
This is the biggest elephant in the room and whether we have testing and academic segregation doesn’t persuade it out of the corner let alone banish it from the building.
 
Stop castigating schools for the number of exclusions they are forced to put in place and instead do something to address the root problem. If we can trust heads and teachers to educate our children then we should also trust their judgement when they say that a child needs to be removed from the classroom and from the school.
 
With these disturbed and disturbing children removed for specialist attention, teachers can concentrate on their day job, schools should flourish, and results should improve substantially.
 
If this is not the outcome, then something is wrong with that school or teacher and intervention is called for. The problem is no longer masked and a solution can be put in place.
 
None of this will give us a perfect education system but it is an attempt to put something constructive into the argument towards building something better.
 
All of our secondary schools already teach the same curriculum and with all pupils focused towards learning there seems little reason to segregate provided that all have that willingness to learn and want to get the best from their education.
 
But perhaps I’m wrong; I don’t know yet but I hope to stimulate a more constructive debate than some of the warmongering I have seen so far.
 
Destructive sniping and building barriers to strengthen positions will not solve this problem. Instead, we need to reach out to establish some common ground and from there explore what else can be agreed.
 
By all means disagree with my attempts at building this common foundation but please amend the plans rather than setting fire to them.
 
Now it’s your turn.