Lovely area, great school teachers coached her for Oxford.. why IS Liz Truss talking our home down?
FRONTLINE DISPATCH FROM THE MEAN STREETS OF, ER, ROUNDHAY
It’s annoying. I dispute what she says. The teaching was absolutely fine there DAVE HENDRY WHO WAS YEAR BELOW MS TRUSS AT SCHOOL
FORMER pupils and teachers from the school Liz Truss attended have hit back at her claims it let children down with poor standards.
And they accused the PM hopeful of rewriting history in a bid to make it look like she came through grim educational adversity to reach the top in politics.
But one ex-teacher at Roundhay School pointed out that the Tory MP was given special coaching in the sixth form at a building surrounded by 22 acres of grounds in a smart suburb of Leeds where houses can sell for up to £2million.
Bernie Hayes, who taught there when she was a pupil, branded her comments on the school as “unfair” adding: “It was a challenging school to teach at but it was a good school with good staff.
“She was personally tutored in the sixth form to get into Oxford.
“[Her comments] denigrate the efforts of some really good people, not just her but all the rest of the students we used to teach.”
Laura Parker, 51, was a few years above Truss at Roundhay, a state comprehensive. She said: “I think she’s trying to rewrite her history, so she can pretend she’s from the wrong side of the tracks. We lived in a very nice, middle-class area. Our dads were university lecturers.
“Liz was not the only one from the school to go to Oxford.
“It’s a great school which had some exceptional teachers. It has a wide catchment area with many kids who didn’t come from the nice leafy area we did. Liz had friends who lived on my cul-de-sac, one of their dads was head of the Crown Prosecution Service. The notion it was a bad school is just wrong.
“If I could point out one thing, it would be the material condition of the school but you cannot blame the school for that. We had a Tory government and a Tory MP in Roundhay at the time. The school had an orchestra, cricket fields and our sports teams held their own against private teams.”
Dave Hendry, 46, was a year below Truss. He said: “It’s annoying, she’s just trying to score points but that’s not right.
“I dispute everything she says.
She’s trying to rewrite her history to look like she’s from wrong side of the tracks LAURA PARKER FORMER PUPIL AT ROUNDHAY SCHOOL IN LEEDS
She is using it as a political stick. I think the teaching was absolutely fine and now it’s a fantastic school.
“The fact she went to Oxford shows it fulfilled all her educational needs.
“Everyone wants their kids in there, people are buying houses in the area just to go there.”
On July 14, during a Tory leadership debate, Truss said of Roundhay: “What I saw at that school is lots of children being let down by low educational standards, by a lack of expectation and a lack of opportunity.”
On July 17, in a clash with privately educated PM rival Rishi Sunak, she added: “I saw kids in my school being let down in Leeds.
“I saw them not get the opportunities, not get the proper educational standards that you might have got at your school, Rishi.”
While Roundhay takes people from the large council tower blocks, less than a mile away, Truss was in a top set and would not have experienced any of the hardships others faced.
Charlotte Spence, 71, whose two children and two stepchildren went to the school, said: “They’ve all done very well for themselves. The school was on it for discipline and social support for the kids. They thrived. I was very surprised when she said she felt let down.
She added: “Roundhay is a lovely place to live.”
Aisha Farooq, 27, who runs schoolwear specialist shop Rawcliffes, told how pupils from Roundhay are “really well-behaved when they come in”. She added: “Residents are very proud of the school. It’s garbage what she has said because it’s an outstanding school.” Estate agent Sharon Backhouse-Jones, 62, said the “excellent” school makes it a popular place to buy a home. She added: “Parents want to move into the area for the junior and the senior school. It keeps property prices more stable than most.” Truss has also suggested that Roundhay was located in England’s red wall of diehard Labour supporters during her time there. But Leeds North East had a Tory MP from 1955 until 1997, when Labour’s Fabian Hamilton took over.