"A child is not and should never be classed as a failure at 11 years old"

He states “to separate children at 11 into those who want to work and achieve, from those who do not, cannot be a bad thing”.

Does he really believe that children who don’t go to grammar schools, have no ambition or desire to do well, and non-grammar schools are failing their pupils? 

I find this to be very insulting to our secondary schools, their parents and children.

Grammar schools should naturally fly high in the academic league tables, but that does not necessarily mean that their children have progressed or have achieved any more than children that have attended other Trafford secondary schools, which incidentally also fly high in the academic league tables.

Perhaps our secondary schools are working harder for our children.

Regardless of a child’s ability, any school, be it grammar or secondary, that allows a child to coast through without reaching their potential is a failing school.

Fortunately Trafford offers many good schools, and a child is not and should never be classed as a failure at 11 years old, if they do not attend a grammar school.

Parent of children who have attended both Trafford Grammar and Secondary Schools