Conservatives break promise on smaller class sizes as the number of infants taught in large classes soars
Andrew Dismore, Labour London Assembly member and parliamentary candidate for Hendon has revealed that no fewer than 1,343 Barnet infant school children are now in classes of over 30.
Mr Dismore said:
“In May 2010, when I was still Labour MP for Hendon, there were no infant school age children in Barnet sitting in oversized classes. New figures out today show there are now 1,343 children trying to learn in less than ideal overcrowded classrooms at a time that is vital to their future development and progress .
“Before the General Election, David Cameron promised “small schools with smaller class sizes”. This is yet another broken promise from Barnet’s Conservative MPs.
“Hendon’s MP cares more about awards for working with dogs than he does for infant children in overcrowded places, about which he has been as usual characteristically silent , like he is on all the big issues affecting Hendon. He should get his finger out and deal with this problem.
“Nationally, these new figures show that the number of infants taught in classes of over 30 has tripled since 2010 – now nearly 100,000 infants are being crammed into large classes. The number of “titan” primary schools is also soaring – there are 5 times the number of primaryschools with over 800 pupils than in 2010.”
Tristram Hunt MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, said:
“David Cameron and Michael Gove promised small schools with smaller class sizes. Yet ingovernment their decisions have meant thousands more children are being crammed into overcrowded classes, threatening school standards. They have created a crisis in schoolplaces, spending hundreds of millions of pounds on Free Schools in areas that already have enough schools places – and children are paying the price.
“A future Labour Government will have the right priorities for driving up school standards. We will prioritise new school places in areas where there are shortages, have rigorous local oversight of schools and ensure that all teachers have or are working towards qualified teacher status.”
ENDS
Notes to editors: sources
DfE, Schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2010, 13 May 2010
https://www.gov.uk/government/
DfE, Schools, pupils and their characteristics: January 2014, 12 June 2014
https://www.gov.uk/government/
In their 2010 manifesto, the Conservative Party promised to create “small schools with smaller class sizes“.
“A Conservative government will give many more children access to the kind of education that is currently only available to the well-off: safe classrooms, talented and specialist teachers, access to the best curriculum and exams, and smaller schools with smaller class sizes with teachers who know the children’s names.”
Conservative Party Manifesto 2010, p. 51
David Cameron said in 2008 that it was “important to have small schools” so that children don’t “get lost”:
“…the more we can get class sizes down the better. It is also important to have small schools. Some schools have got so big that the children get lost in them. …What I want most in a primary school is one where the headteacher knows my child’s name and they’re not part of some enormous mass. You want your child to go somewhere where they can feel warm and safe and loved and identified.”
David Cameron, Yorkshire Post Q&A, 18 April 2008
David Cameron has created a crisis in primary school places. Two-thirds of all the places created by the Free Schoolprogramme (aggregate figure for both primary and secondary) are not in the areas most in need of primary places.
NAO, Establishing Free Schools, 11 December 2013, http://www.nao.org.uk/wp-
Last month, it was revealed that Michael Gove had diverted £400 million away from areas in need of new primaryplaces to fund his Free School programme.
The Guardian, 10 May 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/
In 2012 Michael Gove relaxed the rules on class sizes and the 30 pupil limit introduced by Labour.
“Schools can breach the limit in exceptional circumstances for 12 months on the proviso that numbers are brought down the following year.
But that requirement has now disappeared from the School Admissions (Infant Class Sizes) Regulations – quietly introduced a year ago – in a move that gives heads more freedom to maintain 30-plus lessons for a number of years without having to employ more teachers.
School leaders have admitted that growing numbers of heads were preparing to take advantage of the rule change to increase class sizes.”
Telegraph, 7 April 2013, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
