Must try harder, Education Secretary

The headmaster of one of the best comprehensives in the country was once asked the following question by Tony Blair: ‘If you could do one thing to improve state education in this country, what would it be?’ ‘Oh, that’s easy,’ he said. ‘I’d line up every civil servant in the education department and machine gun the lot of ’em.’

No prime minister has ever asked me that question, but my answer would be more diplomatic. It would be to insist that every incoming education secretary memorise the serenity prayer. This is the prayer that members of Alcoholics Anonymous recite at the end of their meetings: ‘God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.’

Phillipson is at least trying to address a serious problem in our schools, which is persistent absenteeism

Had Bridget Phillipson committed that to memory, there’s just a chance she wouldn’t have made a speech last week in which she said schools shouldn’t focus exclusively on ‘exam results’ but give equal weight to children’s ‘wellbeing’. She cited research by the OECD showing that one in three 15-year-olds in England doesn’t feel they ‘belong’ in school – a higher figure than 12 years ago. Henceforth, she wants schools to teach children ‘a sense of belonging’.

That was a disappointing speech from an Education Secretary who boasts of being ‘led by the evidence’ because there’s no evidence that ‘a sense of belonging’ can be taught. Maths, yes. Reading, yes. Which is why, with a focus on driving up standards in numeracy and literacy since 2010, England’s schoolchildren steadily climbed the international league tables when it comes to maths and reading. But ‘belonging’? How are schools supposed to teach that?