County Hall’s education chief has spoken out in defence of the Kent Test, which was recently described as an “abuse” of pupils.
Rosalind Turner has been managing director of Kent County Council’s children, families and education department since May, having previously held similar positions in Suffolk and Brighton.
She told KOS Media the 11-plus exam helps parents decide how their children should best be educated, rather than being part of a “system of rejection” – as it was recently described by Canterbury High School headteacher Phil Karnavas.
Ms Turner said: “I think life always has tests – some people pass them and some people don’t. Some people are good at sports or art, and some people aren’t. We can’t all be good at everything.
“But when it comes to the Kent Test it’s important we don’t talk about children having failed because that’s not what it’s about. It’s about helping them choose the most appropriate form of education.
“For example, kids at grammar schools might not be so good at vocational subjects and sports like those at other schools.
“We’re very keen to liven the debate about education and make people realise there is genuine choice in Kent – a lot more than anywhere else.
“I know of parents whose children passed the test but decided against going to a grammar school because they felt they would receive a more well-rounded education elsewhere.”
Ms Turner’s career in education began in 1983 as a teacher and sixth-form tutor in East Sussex, following which she became a play development officer.
In her eight years working for Brighton and Hove City Council Ms Turner worked her way up to be the assistant director of children, schools and families before leaving to become director of children and young people at Suffolk County Council.
There she led a team of 2,500 staff and had overall responsibility for 10,000 workers in the county’s 356 schools.
Her role at KCC also requires her to run the children’s social services department, and Ms Turner’s arrival in Kent came at a time when the public was still in shock over the Baby Peter scandal.
Every council in the country has been forced to evaluate its practices as a result of the tragedy, and Ms Turner said KCC was no different.
She said: “It’s been a really hard year for the industry. There was a real sense of grief that something like that could happen to a child and it’s had an impact on us all.
“There’s a heightened anxiety of risk now and we are really struggling with the volume of references that are coming through, but the care teams are resilient and very good at their jobs so we are confident we can deal with it.”
Ms Turner said one of her long-term priorities at KCC was to strengthen the links between each stage of a child’s education, from the early years centres up to secondary school level and beyond.
She explained that some youngsters suffered due to the scenery changing “too radically” and not being taught in a way that is best suited to their individual needs.
Ms Turner said: “I think we have some schools that are doing fantastically well and others that are struggling for various reasons, and we need to support the struggling ones.
“What all schools are having difficulty with though is getting good teachers.
“We have some wonderful teachers like Dan Walton, who was named secondary school teacher of the year last weekend, but there is still a shortage.
“There are never enough good teachers so we need to work hard to recruit them to Kent and make sure they know what a great place this is to work in, which it is.
“People can get negative about the education system at this time of year but I just want people to have confidence in it in Kent because there are a lot of good things going on here and, above everything else, the children are very happy.”
POSTED: 01/11/2009 13:00:00
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