"GodalmingYellow" wrote:"scooter" wrote:I've had three kids in the state education system since Labour came to power and I have to say my experience is that particularly at primary school level it is worlds ahead of where it was in 1997.
Also the limited experiences we as a family have had for the NHS have generally been good.
I still overall feel that I am better off under Labour than either of the other two main parties, but when that choice comes with GB it becomes a very close call.
My experience is somewhat different to that.
On the NHS: I had to wait 2 years for a knee operation. My wife needed treatment for an eye problem, but was told by the GP that the NHS in our area no longer provides medical treatment for eyes, except for acicdent and emergency cases. We were told that she had to private to get treatment.
If my neighbour, who is unemployed, needs a prescription, he has to pay for it, because his wife works more than 16 hours per week, irrelevant of the amount she is paid. Whereas someone on benefits gets the same prescription free.
The N in NHS stands for National, meaning a nationwide service free at the point of need. We don't have that anymore. We now have a multi-tiered health service in which where you live and the number of hours you work determines if you get treatment and the length of time that you wait.
I have 2 children in school. I have experience of both primary and secondary education. Class sizes are well over 30 in both and the effect is insufficient one to one teacher pupil time. SATS are a complete waste of time. There is virtually no physical education at primary level. There are no resources for capital expenditure to improve equipment, books and buildings. This money is largely raised from parents own pockets. Teachers have no power to deal with disruptive pupils, and the entrants policy means the wealthy move into areas covered by the best schools, putting huge pressure on those schools and preventing local children getting into local schools. Little is done to improve the failing schools. School lunches are very expensive, unless you are on benefits. School uniform policies enable schools to insist on very specific items of clothing irrelevant of cost. Teacher parent meetings are rare and last only a few minutes each and tell parents nothing. Oh and by the way, this is what is happening at the best schools, not the worst schools.
Any more examples you wish to discuss?
Our local primary is rated outstanding in the most recent OFSTED report.
Class sizes are generally around 30 and each class has a teaching assistant as well as a teacher to ensure one on one time.
Each child has access on a daily basis to a laptop and most homework can now be done on a computer and either emailed or taken in on a memory stick.
Each class has an interactive whiteboard.
Children needing learning help are identified early and assisted discreetly and effectively.
Each kid plays sport weekly and there are many representative sports teams. PE consists of touch rugby, football, quick cricket, netball, rounders, basketball, dance and athletics.
The school opened in 2001 relocating from a different site, has a large playing field and is well maintained with regular upgrades to equipment.
Parent teacher meetings are twice a term, one is on an informal drop in basis where you view the kids and the class work and have a chat about any issues with the teacher, the other is a formal review with 15 minutes allocated, when one of ours was slipping we had access to teachers on a daily basis if required.
Our kids are vegetarian so take packed lunches as they don't like the veggie school meal options, neither we or they have a problem with this.
None of them have been freaked by the SATS, they may well not be the perfect way of measuring progress, but in my mind there is no harm in puttting kids under a bit of academic pressure occasionally, I had to sit the 11 plus which really was a defining moment in your education.
School uniform comes from Asda for a few quid apart from the badged sweatshirts which aren't that expensive.
I accept that others experiences will differ, we are very lucky, but most of the excellence in the school is down to a visionary and superb head teacher who motivates her team and makes excellent use of the resources available. Yes there is still PTA fundraising etc, but that has allways been the case since I was at school in the sixties.
Maybe new labour just don't like Surrey
As for the NHS as I said we have had ( thankfully a limited need for it
childbirth, GP ( normally same day appointments available
and the occasional A&E trip for sprains etc, all of these experiences have been OK and I would suggest would have been less good under a tory run NHS.
