Saturday 14 December 2013

What if...? Day 14

There is always interest whenever league tables are published.  No matter what they reveal there is no doubt people are curious to see how the thing most familiar to them faired, be it a local town, person, team or in yesterday's case school.   Comparing tables is not easy, there is so much you do not know from the three statistics presented, and they give a very stilted image of school life in all it's fullness.

Yet from the tables local schools, known to me stood out.  These were not the elite category, or the ones you had to gain entry to or pay huge fees, but your ordinary village or town school.  It was good to see particularly some of the schools in my archdeaconry listed in places where there is good partnership between church and local school, and where both struggle with limited resources in the communities they serve.   From Waddesden in Bucks to Colnbrook in Slough, much hard work has gone on to gain the results listed in yesterday's paper.

Of course the humanist society made some comments again about faith schools and their entry requirements, but the truth is that many of these schools are THE local school and have open doors for everyone who lives locally to attend, from all faiths and none.   I do not agree with league tables, but there is a chance here for such schools, who have often struggled against the odds and worked hard to gain such results, to take lots of pride in their achievements.

What if.... We all chose to celebrate hard work rather than discredit it?

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