Choosing a school

Choosing a school is one of the big parental worries - though, as we know, the school itself is only one of several factors affecting young people's achievement. And it's certainly the case that some popular schools are less 'good' than they ought to be and vice versa.

The choice of school is particularly challenging for politicians. So we have Maria Hutchings, Conservative candidate for Eastleigh, saying of her son: "William is very gifted, which gives us another interesting challenge in finding the right sort of education for him – impossible in the state system. He wants to be a cardio-respiratory surgeon." We then had, in short order, wide-based criticism that state education could provide a perfectly suitable education leading to a career in medicine, with Grant Shapps and Nick Clegg both defending her. It will be interesting to find out what Clegg has chosen for his son – with the long odds on private.

And now Maria Hutchings has taken one foot out of her mouth only to replace it with the other – saying that she didn't mean now, she meant when William was five, and she lived in Essex. (And just to declare an interest, I was educated at Saffron Walden County High School in Essex and I have managed reasonable well.)

Those in the public eye, such as election candidates, councillors and MPs, surely have a duty to themselves and their parties – and more importantly, their children – to have thought out their position on these difficult questions in advance, so they are able to give consistent responses. If they have not troubled even to consider how they might respond to the electorate, they do not deserve to be elected. Furthermore, the notion that any national party might select someone who has such limited self-analysis seems more than odd in itself.

In this case, I fear that her dithering reveals that her first response was sincere – she really does not believe that state education can provide properly for her son.

Worse, Maria Hutchings has revealed some deep ignorance about child development – genuine giftedness is rather rarer than parents believe, and to try to categorise a child as a future cardio-respiratory surgeon at age 11 is simply (I shall be generous) naive and potentially damaging.

But I wish William Hutchings all the best for his future schooling – I hope it is in the state sector, and that he succeeds in his ambitions.

 
 
John Freeman CBE is a former director of children's services and is now a freelance consultant