Student Voice (and meeting Michael Gove)

I sometimes wonder who writes the script for Moorside.

Everyone involved with the proposed Consett Academy is expecting to hear this month about the level of funding the government is prepared to offer to build the new school.

But was I alone in being very surprised to learn that Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Education, was going to visit Consett to judge things for himself at first hand?

It was all very hush hush and I didn’t receive an invitation to meet the guy until an hour before he arrived, but it was certainly a memorable occasion. He was en route to Alnwick but called into CCSC on his way. There were a couple of high points. He met with some of the staff from Consett and I thought that they were magnificent. They were professional and assertive in the way that impressed on Mr. Gove that the uncertainty for all of us must come to an end as soon as possible.

He also met with a group of CCSC students and they too represented their school very well. The meeting was at his request apparently, so he obviously understands that if you want to make a decision about schooling, you need to listen to those on the receiving end.

Now I know that there are still some educators who are uneasy about asking the kids for their opinions because they fear that they will take the chance to get them into trouble.

Well I can honestly say that I’ve never known that occur.

However, young people are often disarmingly honest and, when you look into it, are usually right.

I mention all this because the best moment of last week was a long overdue meeting I had with our Student Council. For various reasons, this was our first meeting since last term, but I’m determined that we will work much more closely together from now on. They’re in charge of all fund raising, but they also help with appointing staff and with our self evaluation. They’re a powerful and influential group and have determined important actions we’ve taken on many occasions in the past.

It’s also significant that whenever we are inspected, the inspectors make a point of interviewing groups of students. This happens quite a lot because in Durham, schools are inspected by the local authority very regularly. The inspectors always say that our young people, are immensely proud of Moorside and rate our provision very highly.

But they sometimes suggest improvements too and they should always be given a fair hearing.