Hunt calls for probe into deaths of babies at NHS trust
GOVERNMENT PLANS to lift the ban on new selective schools will increase the options for young people “to truly help make the most of their talents”, the Education Secretary has vowed.
Outlining her vision for a new model of state grammar schools in a speech in London, Rotherham-born Justine Greening, who was educated at a state comprehensive, stated the system should work for everyone, including children from “ordinary working families”.
Her pledge coincided with the release of a Government consultation, which reports that pupils in grammar schools are as likely to be from lower income households as children in non-selective schools.
But the proposals have been attacked by teachers unions and opposition MPs, who see the expansion of grammars as an attempt to “distract” from the wider challenges facing the country’s education system.
According to the new Government figures, 36 per cent of children currently attending grammar schools come from so-called ordinary families compared to 35 per cent in non-selective schools.
Speaking yesterday, Ms GreenIt ing argued that grammars “do work for other groups in our society, not just the wealthy”.
“The new schools we will create will support young people from every background, not the privileged few,” she said. “Young people on free school meals, those eligible for the pupil premium, young people from ordinary working families that are struggling to get by – I want these new schools to work for everyone.
“I welcome that many grammar schools are now changing their admissions code to give a priority of places to these children – I want all of them to follow this example. I believe that selection – in new 21st-century state grammar schools – will add to the options available to young people, to truly help make the most of their talents.”
The speech comes ahead of the publication of a new Government white paper looking at how the different parts of the education system can “knit together” in order to raise attainment and boost social mobility.
is understood this will set out further details of plans to create closer ties between schools and universities, and to relax admissions rules for faith schools.
Ms Greening’s comments were welcomed by the campaign group the Sutton Trust, which has previously criticised grammars for undermining social mobility.
Founder Sir Peter Lampl said: “Research has shown that existing grammar schools are socially selective. This is mainly because of the extensive private tuition and prep schools for those who can afford them.
“Through outreach, test preparation and contextual admissions this could be radically changed. It is vital that Government focuses its white paper on ensuring that these steps are taken.”
The Social Mobility Commission also welcomed the emphasis on ordinary working families. However, chairman Alan Milburn went on to argue that it remains “very unclear how new grammar schools will be more socially representative”.
“The focus on grammar schools is, at best, a distraction and, at worst, a risk to efforts aimed at narrowing the significant social and geographical divides in educational attainment that bedevil England’s school system,” he said. “As they stand, these proposals will not address the fundamental problems that divide our school system and may well create further divisions.
“The commission’s greatest concern is that the positive gains for the few that attend a grammar school are and will be outweighed by the negative effects for the majority of children in selective areas that go to other schools.”
The Government’s plans were also criticised by the liberal conservative think tank Bright Blue, with director Ryan Shorthouse describing the grammar policy as a waste of “precious fiscal resource and political capital”.
While Labour Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner claimed lifting the ban on new selective schools “will do nothing to help the overwhelming majority of working families”. HEALTH SECRETARY Jeremy Hunt has asked for an investigation into the deaths of a number of babies at an NHS trust amid claims it did not meet the standards of care in a “number of tragic cases”.
The deaths of seven babies in less than two years at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust were reportedly deemed to be avoidable.
A failure to properly monitor the baby’s heart rate was a contributory factor in five of the deaths, according to the BBC.
A Department of Health spokesman said: “Earlier this year, the Health Secretary asked NHS regulators to undertake an investigation at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust in light of disclosures that in a number of tragic cases standards of care fell far below those that parents would expect.”
The BBC reports that the trust said improvements have been made, and that their mortality rates are in line with the national average.
Richard Stanton and Rhiannon Davies’s daughter Kate StantonDavies died shortly after delivery at Ludlow Community Hospital in Shropshire.
A major review by NHS England last year found mistakes were repeatedly made and clinical notes retrospectively altered by one midwife.
The report concluded her death was avoidable. Kate’s parents have written to the Health Secretary calling for a public inquiry into the alleged continuing failures at the trust.
The medical director at the Shrewsbury and Telford Trust, Dr Edwin Borman, told BBC News the trust was no worse than anywhere else.
He said: “When I look at the perinatal mortality rate at our trust compared to the rest of the NHS, we are at an equivalent level to the rest of the country.”