"I Canny Dae That!"

This is a phrase I hear a lot as a teacher in Scotland, for those of you not fluent in our version of English they mean "I cannot do that."

I am so relieved that here in Scotland we have avoided any suggestion to follow the example in England and Wales of a return to grammar schools.

To divide pupils at age 11, as has been suggested, is cruel and writes off a huge proportion of the population at a point where they have so much development still to do.

It seems this decision is based on old fashioned and outdated logic.

Current thinking states there is no such thing as bright and less bright children.

The pupils who perform well at the ages of 5 or 6 in school are the ones who have been parented best, there can be over a one year developmental gap at this point between advantaged and disadvantaged pupils. This gap then continues and even grows every year.

And guess which cohort will be the ones who perform the best in any test at age 11? those with the most supportive home environment.

Therefore, those who have had the disadvantage of having been poorly parented have the double whammy of a poorer education.

Which means even more people growing up believing they cannot do anything. Their confidence shattered at aged 11.

Makes me sick

Cheers