County needs pressing on Boston education matters

Unusually for Google, our alarm clock failed to ring to remind us of the most recent council council meeting on 18th June.
Not that it matters, as our local “newspapers” never bother to attend and let us know what’s going on.
At the meeting County Councillor Ramonde Newell had an interesting question for the county’s education supremo, Councillor Patricia Bradwell - and the answer he received raised cause for concern.
Councillor Newell is a somewhat better egg at County Hall, where he theoretically sits as an Independent, rather than a member of the Boston Bypass group.
He began by reminding Councillor Bradwell that Boston has the poorest performing school in the whole of England and Wales. Not only that, but the borough has a large primary school in special measures but progressing well, and in one of Boston’s primary schools over 50% of pupils do not have English as their first language.
“As a qualified teacher and linguist I realise that teaching an English curriculum to pupils whose first language is not English can be extremely difficult
“Could you tell me what is the actual number of pupils by school in Boston whose first language is not English and what resources, strategies , and information have been provided to schools, parents teachers, and pupils to ensure that education in Boston has not been compromised and will that continue to be guaranteed during the cuts.”
Councilor Bradwell’s response was not helpful.
“I‘m not going to reel off the number of children in each school in Boston. I actually do believe though that the facilities we do now provide to families coming to the county where English isn’t their first language is really excellent .”
Councillor Bradwell is one of the senior cadre we have mentioned before, who - whilst they may have the all answers - are not especially skilled at articulating them.
She tends to croak a little and to ramble, but the drift of the reply was that - whilst a few years ago 30 children whose first language wasn’t English arrived at a school on the first day of term, that is not now the case.
Lots of help is now available - so much so that pupils can learn English “within two to three months.”
She went on: “We are doing a lot. A couple of years ago this was a problem but it isn’t now.
“Obviously if you've got a problem in Boston then you need to let me know ....” - but she added
“I don’t believe that is an issue there”
Future help for schools will depend on how many are left under local authority control under the proposed academy system, and at the moment nothing was clear.
Boston Eye thought Councillor Bradwell was unfairly dismissive of Councillor Newell’s question.
The last thing that Boston needs is a slipshod schools system - and to expect local councillors to be the eyes and ears of the education department is lazy and wrong..
A good education is the cornerstone of a quality life, and the county should continue to be pressed to make sure that the borough’s young get the best possible start and not allowed to fob off people who have genuine concerns..
To make matters worse, we have since heard of the cuts in funding for major building projects for Haven High Technology College and the Boston Grammar Schools Federation school building in Boston - which makes the need for the best possible education more important than ever.
You can see the Councillor Newell’s question and Councillor Bradwell’s lacklustre response by clicking here .... then advancing the timer to 56.40.

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