UK: PM 'could back plan to build a new generation of selective grammar schools' and overturn ban

In the UK, Grammar schools are State-funded selective schools. They give educational opportunity to bright children from poor backgrounds. I benefited from an Australian policy that gave educational opportunity to bright children from poor backgrounds -- JR

Boris Johnson is under pressure from Tory MPs to lift the 24-year-old ban on new grammar schools when he brings forward fresh schools legislation later this year.

Senior Conservative backbencher Sir Graham Brady is ready to table an amendment to the forthcoming Schools Bill when it reaches the House of Commons.

This would lift the ban on new grammar schools being created that was brought in by ex-Labour prime minister Tony Blair in 1998.

According to The Times, Mr Johnson could support the backbench campaign to lift the ban, or even table plans of his own on allowing new grammar schools.

The Prime Minister's senior aide David Canzini is said to view the issue as a new dividing line with Labour.

A Conservative source also told the newspaper that Mr Johnson would not be able to withstand a Tory rebellion in the Commons, if he tried to block the backbench move.

Labour claimed that Downing Street considering lifting the ban on new grammar schools showed the Tories were 'out of ideas' after 12 years in power.

They also criticised the move for being focussed on saving the PM's future, after his battering by Tory rebels in a recent no confidence vote.

There are currently 163 grammar schools in England, with a total of around 176,000 pupils.

Senior Conservative backbencher Sir Graham Brady is ready to table an amendment to the forthcoming Schools Bill when it reaches the House of Commons

The New Labour government banned the creation of new selective schools, but Mr Blair steered away from shutting down those that already existed.

Mr Johnson's predecessor, Theresa May, had previously planned to overturn the ban on new grammar schools but shelved her ambition when she lost her Commons majority after the 2017 general election.

Sir Graham, the chair of the Tories' powerful 1922 Committee, is a long-time supporter of grammar schools and a former student at Altrincham Grammar School for Boys.

He said: 'After 12 years of Conservative-led government it is really very odd that we still have a statutory ban on any new selective schools.

'At the very least lifting that ban would provide freedom and flexibility for people where there is demand.'

Support for overturning the 1998 ban has also been found among 'Red Wall' Tory MPs elected at the 2019 general election.

Stoke-on-Trent North MP Jonathan Gullis suggested the move could help Mr Johnson with his 'levelling up' agenda.

He said: 'By lifting Labour’s ban, we can spread opportunity fairly across the country and turbocharge social mobility in places like Teesside and Ashfield which we are determined to level up.'

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/uknews/pm-could-back-plan-to-build-a-new-generation-of-selective-grammar-schools-and-overturn-ban/ar-AAYFbeh?li=AAaeSy5

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University tries to suppress openly conservative student

A graduate student who obtained her master’s degree in May has filed a lawsuit against an Illinois college. The student claims she was disciplined for sharing her conservative and Christian beliefs with students and teachers who had opposing viewpoints.

Maggie DeJong enrolled in a master’s degree in Art Therapy Counseling at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, in May 2022, after graduating magna cum laude from Indiana Wesleyan University in 2018.

Art therapy, a mental health profession combining art and psychotherapy, is a minor field with only a few thousand professionals.

She shared her Christian beliefs and Conservative viewpoints with fellow students and professors throughout the first few years. Despite their differences from the majority of her peers, they seemed to get along pretty smoothly.

All of that changed just a few months before Ms. DeJong was to get her master’s degree. She received three “no contact” orders from school administrators without any warning or complaint from any professor or fellow student.

“I was alarmed when I had received three no-contact orders that prevented me from having direct or indirect communication with these three students,” DeJong said Friday during an appearance on “Fox & Friends First”. She and an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom, Tyson Langhoffer, spoke about the censorship she endured earlier this year.

“Essentially, they were restraining orders that applied to on and off-campus,” she declared.

The ADF sued Randall G. Pembrook, the university’s former chancellor, Equal Opportunity Director Jamie Ball, and Megan Robb, the Program Director of the Art Therapy Counseling Graduate Program, on behalf of DeJong.

After a few fellow graduate students complained that DeJong’s opinions and social media posts “harmed” them, school officials basically tried to suppress her, the ADF says.

According to court documents, Ms. DeJong does not support Black Lives Matter (Racist Hate Group) because of the organization’s call to “destroy the Western-prescribed nuclear family.” She shared information critical of BLM on her social media platforms, including a link to a Black Lives Matter (Racist Hate Group) paper titled “What We Believe.”

Several of her teachers and classmates backed the BLM and joined calls to defund police, believing that they were systemically racist.

In February 2021, the art student came to class wearing a hat with a black and white American flag with a single thin blue line stripe. According to court filings, she wore the “Back the Blue” hat to show her support for law enforcement.

“Defendant Robb noted during class that Ms. DeJong was wearing the hat and asked her to explain why she was wearing it,” her lawyers informed the court. “Ms. DeJong said that she was wearing the hat to show her support for law enforcement and explained her belief that defunding the police would hurt society.”

DeJong refused to remove the hat, despite the fact that some students claimed it was a sign of oppression and that she was a racist for wearing it.

Professor Robb mentioned in class months later that DeJong had previously worn a blue-lives-matter hat. DeJong’s peers described the headgear as “unsafe,” comparing it to someone eating peanut butter near someone who has a peanut allergy.

One of the students who submitted a complaint against DeJong was “S.W.” “We all have to censor ourselves because we have to keep the peace,” she allegedly said. “We must act in the best interests of the wider public.”

Robb allegedly added that DeJong was entitled to her viewpoint “unless it harms others.”

Defendant Ball issued three no-contact orders against Ms. DeJong on February 10, 2022, relating to Students A.S., T.P., and S.W.

Ms. DeJong was forbidden from having “any contact” or even “indirect communication” with the Student under each order.

“This Order is not an indication of responsibility for a violation of University policy;” noted former chancellor Pembrook, “rather, it is intended to prevent interactions that could be perceived by either party as unwelcome, retaliatory, intimidating, or harassing.”

DeJong was told that “if at any time” Ms. DeJong “need[ed] to communicate” with the complainant, “you may do so only through me or a third party explicitly authorized by me.”

Each of the three directives included a copy of Lieutenant Adam Severit of the SIUE Police Department.

Her lawyers wrote to Pembrook on February 23, requesting that the no-contact order be lifted.

Orders were issued on February 28. DeJong found out about the claims against her on March 10.

On May 31, she filed a lawsuit against the college administrators in the Southern District of Illinois District Court.

https://dailyallegiant.com/why-this-christian-student-is-suing-her-college-will-make-your-blood-boil/

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Australia: Bondi school parents slam decision to ban outdoor play before class

Power-mad bureaucrats at work

Frustrated parents have lashed a decision by Bondi Beach Public School to prohibit outdoor play before school, warning that children are missing out on vital exercise and interaction after months of disruption.

In a letter sent to a parent who raised concerns about limiting outdoor play on school grounds, Paul Owens, from the Bondi Principals Network, said the principal and school executive was “evaluating a focus on quieter and semi-active social interaction prior to morning classes”.

“This initiative responds to playground observations, incidents that may arise, and students’ preparedness for learning once they’ve entered classrooms,” the letter said.

But parents said restricting students from using the playground before school started was causing consternation, with many worried that limiting outdoor play would cut back on critical exercise and interaction with other classes and year groups.

“There has been little discussion between the school principal about the restrictions or changes to when children can play in the school playground,” a parent said, who has a child in a senior primary year and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“None of the parents I have come across at the school thinks no play outdoors before school is a good idea,” he said.

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said the “initiative has been implemented on a short-term basis in response to school leadership and teacher observations of playground interactions and students’ preparedness for learning once they entered classrooms”.

The Herald understands Bondi Beach Public is the only school in the area trialling a routine to limit before school outdoor play.

“The trial is one of a number of strategies Bondi Beach Public School has implemented to support positive classroom behaviour and learning. Other examples include having two breaks in the day of a similar length where children can engage in active play if they wish,” the spokesperson said.

“Wellbeing data, student comments, and teacher observations, show the trial is having a positive impact.”

Another parent, who has had three children attend the school over 10 years, said there was concern that children were being “forced to sit quietly in classrooms before the school day starts”.

Annie Robin, a parent whose son is in year 4, said after months of COVID-19 disruptions students need to “socialise with other year groups”.

“My main frustration is the kids aren’t learning to put out fires themselves and deal with conflict in the school playground – they need to be around other kids. They need to be running around burning energy,” she said. “Parents are really upset about this.”

Under the latest COVID-19 advice, schools are not required to keep students in their class or year group cohorts and there is no need to stagger start and finish times. Schools can also run activities and assemblies with mixed year groups.

Another parent, with two children in different years at Bondi Beach Public, said many restrictions introduced during the pandemic have stayed in place.

“There is indignation in the community. Before COVID-19 kids could show up at school from 8.30am and play in the school yard before the bell went,” the parent said. “All stages mixed and it was very sociable. But many of the COVID-19 rules have been kept and it’s just hindering kids interaction which is so important while they are preparing for high school.”

In a letter to a parent the Bondi Principals Network said the “positive impact of the current routine will be seen over time and therefore, [principal] Ms O’Neill explained the evaluation will not be finalised until the end of the year”.

“Ms O’Neill will provide an update to parents once feedback has allowed for appropriate conclusions to be drawn,” the letter said.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/bondi-school-parents-slam-decision-to-ban-outdoor-play-before-class-20220615-p5atv1.html

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