Well – education is certainly alive and well at Coleridge School. I went there on Friday to let year 5s grill me on the coalition, parliament and Crouch End!
Whenever I go to a school (and I do go pretty often) I can always tell if the children have been taught well. This applies to all parts of the constituency – from the leafier parts to the areas that are more deprived – the children match the teachers.
Clearly, from the level of enthusiasm to the intelligence of the questions – these children were on it! For an hour they grilled me on politics, the coalition, equalities, extraordinary rendition. You name it – they asked it.
When at the end I asked if any of them wanted to go into politics – a whole host of hands shot up. Fantastic!
Lynne Featherstone 
I am sure that the teachers at Coleridge School are absolutely superb. The old adage that those who cannot “do” become teachers is long gone. It is clear that those people who cannot do now become MP’s instead.
You fail of course to mention it, so for the sake of out of towners, Coleridge is in one of the most privileged parts of the borough. I don’t know much about the school but it’s a fair bet that the pupils generally come from favourable socio-economic backgrounds. Not a huge shock to find it’s a good school then and not something any parent would have a problem with.
But the biggest single thing missing from your post is that it’s a local authority school isn’t it? A Haringey school.
You are so quick to blame the council for any perceived shortcomings- mainly I believe because you really thought the council was going to go Lib Dem (or Tory as it is now known) if you kept it up.
So what is the problem? Well, you cannot bring yourself to give Haringey any credit at all for being part of providing an excellent school because it is your government’s policy via that odious creep Gove to privatise it and any other schools like it.
Bit Harsh Adam, though true. But i would comment that she focused more on her re-election then on the local election otherwise the council would have gone Lib Dem.
You do tend to go to Coleridge school a lot though Lynne. Perhaps the more deprived areas would benefit from inspiration, rather then the more privileged who can use their own parents experiences in life.
An entire class wanting to become politicians =O more parasites to join the rest
Did you explain to them your plan to take away their parents’ child benefit?
Jamie – not true. Have been to schools all over the constituency – and that was the point I made – the same is true of schools in Wood Green as in Crouch End – despite the probable differential in parental income.
Don’t really know what Adam’s problem is – have always been a great supporter of our schools.
In fact, Adam forgets, that it is Labour who underfunded our schools for the last 13 years – with our children getting £1300 less per head the children in Camden and Islington. That’s why the pupil premium which will come on stream shortly will bring funding into the schools that need it most – meaning that funding will be targeted on need and deprivation.
But Adam prefers not to mention that.
As for acadamies – Adam also seems to forget they started under Labour!
Sorry Lynne but where in my posting or any other posting that I have made do I mention Labour? I am virulently opposed to Tories and to your alliance with them, that should be pretty clear from all the things I have said- so well spotted for that. Doesn’t mean I like academies or think the past Labour government was fab does it?
You do make a lot of broad based assumptions about people so we should all be grateful you went into politics rather than counselling- mind you your reply looks like you may be suffering from low level stress so perhaps some of the latter would come in handy.
“The old adage that those who cannot “do” become teachers is long gone. It is clear that those people who cannot do now become MP’s instead.”
Nonsense. How many teachers have been dismissed over recent years? This may well be a good school but the profession has almost as many bad apples as you’ll find in Parliament and it is severely failing many, many children. The school in quesiton might be fine but t fat is that there’s about as much chance as getting rid of an awful teacher as there is getting rid of a corrupt Labour MP sitting in a safe seat.
Dear Harriet
First, if you took the quote seriously it only demonstrates that you have buzz all sense of humour or sense of irony. Duh!
Second, your post on female rapists elsewhere on this site is virtually the definition of nonsense.
No answer on your plan to cut the child benefit for these children we note.
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A few years ago Coleridge was a two-form entry school and a plan was put forward to expand it to a four-form entry school (using new and refurbished premises across the road) to cope with the rising number of children in the area.
Lynne met with the group which opposed this plan and made supportive remarks, including having the all-important photo op for the local paper. She then corresponded with the group which supported the plan – and offered them plnety of supportive remarks as well.
Fast forward to May this year and Lynne is saying one thing to her constituency …
Sounds familiar Helen.
In 2005 Lynne and her pals were four square opposed to the federation of Bounds Green infant and junior schools.
It wouldn’t improve the quality of education in their view. It was all about saving money in their view.
“We are calling for the merger plans to be scrapped” they said.
“The disruption of merger could well encourage some experienced and expensive members of staff to move on to be replaced by younger cheaper teachers. But this would not necessarily benefit the pupils and their attainment”.
No mention there of asking the parents what they thought. No mention how the two schools were doing academically.
So then as you are a “great supporter of our local schools”- five years later we have:
1) A massively oversubscribed school.
2) A hugely improved Ofsted rating and continued direction of travel towards excellence.
3) A spectacular head teacher and staff.
4) Parents clamouring to get their kids in.
5) A group of people who have always boasted about how good their grasp of local politics is but cannot even get that right.
6) An MP who is so confused that she is unable to avoid internal contradiction in the space of two postings. One second the quality of education is all about the standard of the teachers regardless of where and then within a heartbeat it is back to funding and how that is the route to nirvana and the evil other lot are all to blame. I know it can be tricky but could it be down to both at all do you think?
You were so wrong about Bounds Green school but I guess the beauty of being a politician is never having to admit to it.
Not sure you will be so welcome at Coleridge after entirely removing child benefit for the single parent on £44,000, while keeping the full allocation for dual income families earning up to £88,000.
Absolutely shocking piece of regressive taxation.
I suppose this is another of those “Coalition” decisions where it would be wrong for you to comment, let alone condemn.
Lynne, the academies programme started under Labour and the Academies programme rail roaded through parliament by Gove are two entirely different things. You cannot use that ‘Labour started it’ chant on this one. As your conference showed there is little support for Coalition education policies amongst your members and you would be silly to ignore this.
Also, I am one of those people about to lose child benefit. I know your friends in the Tory party will find this hard to believe but when I look out of the window I don’t actually see people who won’t work recieve more income than me in benefits, but soon I will be looking out of my window and seeing houses with £30,000 more income than mine who will still recieve their child benefit.
Please come and visit my daughter at her school and you can explain the justice of this to her face.
Also can you comment on Tory MP Mathew hancock ‘apologising’ for the Equality Act to business leaders at a fringe meeting at Tory conference today?
Perhaps you shouldn’t have accepted that invite to the opening night of ‘Made in Dagenham’ after all?