Not including is easier and works

Very occasionally I have to go the doctor. Fortunately it is a rare event. However, I find that I have to wait for an appointment because the doctor is so busy. When I go to the appointment the waiting room is full of old people, children and the long-term ill. If I could have a medical service where such people were not allowed to stop me getting to the doctor immediately then surely that would be better as the majority of people are like me and do not place significant demands on the service. We pay plenty of taxes to fund the NHS and why should we have to suffer because others cause more problems than we do? That would be easier for me and would work for me and others like me.

If my house was to be burgled I would need to call the police. However, there are lots of other people who seem to have more need of the service of the police. People who have been victims of much more serious crimes would doubtless be given priority over me. People who have immediate needs of the police would no doubt be prioritised over my burglary. If I could have a police service where such people were not allowed to stop me getting access to police officers immediately then surely that would be better as the majority of people are like me and do not place significant demands on the service. We pay plenty of taxes to fund the police service and why should we have to suffer because others cause more problems than we do? That would be easier for me and would work for me and others like me.

When  I go shopping at the supermarket I buy a fairly simple set of items, I choose very quickly and am perfectly capable of either using the self-scanning tills or bagging up my goods once the checkout operator has scanned my items. I do not need anyone to help me with my shopping. However, my experience is made less efficient and slower because of other people. Some older people go slower round the aisles, are slower to put their goods on the checkout belt, or pack their bags more slowly. Some of them insist on having conversations with the person scanning their goods, further slowing down the experience. There are also parents with young children. They often make noise, show poor navigation skills in the aisles, put goods on the belt slowly and then take ages to pack their goods once they are scanned. My personal experience is clearly being unnecessarily hampered by these people. If I could have a supermarket where such people were not allowed to slow down my shopping then surely that would be better as the majority of people are like me and do not place significant demands on the shop. We buy plenty of goods that provide profits for the supermarkets, so why should we have to suffer because others cause more problems than we do? That would be easier for me and would work for me and others like me.

The same can be applied to so many parts of our lives, including schools. Children and families who make the lives of schools harder can just be removed. The current school system means that the needs of those who are easier to work with can be prioritised at the expense of those who have more complex needs, and as a result schools can be easier places to teach and study in. A simple set of solutions can be pursued which can rapidly lead to the improvement of a school in terms of the data published, the Ofsted inspection outcome and the public image with the community that it wants to work with. The school will fill up, it will be popular with those teachers who wish to work there and it will be lauded by the Department for Education and those who support the approach of the DfE on social media. Any attempt to challenge the school will be met with robust responses which suggest that the critics are in favour of making teachers suffer, making young people suffer and engaging in shaming the school in public based on false reports. Not including is easier and it does work. Of course it is only easier for the school itself and only works for those who are part of the school.

For every school that operates according to this approach, whether they adopt a “No excuses” or “Zero tolerance” approach to discipline, stop children with ‘challenging’ SEND from attending in the first place, illegally off roll students who do not fit, or adopt an approach that leads to high levels of permanent exclusions, there are many more others who suffer as a result. Of course these aren’t the only ways to achieve this. Schools can put in place expensive uniform policies, they can require longer days, or they can increase charges to students and families for supposedly ‘voluntary’ things. All of these actions will put off those who the school deem to be undesirable or likely to make their work harder. Because every child is entitled to an education, another school will have to pick up these students and admit them. As one school in an area reduces its proportion of more challenging young people, others will increase their proportion. This will destabilise those schools who are dealing with the fallout from the first school. However, those in the first school will be happier, more successful and no doubt the staff who choose to work there will report that they feel more valued and cared for. The first school will not face any challenges to its actions because they will just ignore the complaints of the other schools, ignore any negative press coverage, promote their atmosphere of compliant calm learning, and wait for Ofsted to turn up and validate their work.

This is market forces at work in education. Free the schools from the “dead hand” of local council control which seeks to in any way ensure democratic influence on schools as a whole. Celebrate the schools that are doing well in this brave new world, without any reference to how they have achieved this. Ignore the complaints made by young people, families and neighbouring schools regarding how they are affected by this. Encourage schools to operate as businesses which will be measured in league tables which focus solely on exam outcomes. Make sure that you promote the influence and voices of those teachers who agree with the new system and who are willing to ignore the negative impacts of such schools on those who do not fit the vision or who despite their best efforts simply cannot manage to fit exactly into the straight jacket system that has been created.

What is happening in schools is exactly like what is not allowed to happen in the NHS, the police service or supermarkets. We rightly refuse to allow one group to dump those who need more of a service so that we can have better access to the service at the expense of others. What a shame that our current education system is actively promoting social segregation and the destruction of what school communities should be all about.