Minister attacks schools which could do better

CHILDREN'S Secretary Ed Balls today declared war on hundreds of "coasting" state schools.

Headteachers and governors face the sack in a crackdown on secondary schools in suburbs where results are satisfactory - or even good - but "should be better".

Mr Balls has ordered councils to draw up a hit list of schools where "complacent" attitudes let pupils down.

Grammar schools could find themselves under scrutiny in the drive.

The announcement marks a major shift in the Government's approach, from focusing on failing schools to those with decent results but which have not improved for years. Officials said one in every seven children does not make enough progress between the ages of 11 and 14, the crucial first three years of secondary education.

Ofsted has warned that half of England's secondary schools are failing to provide an education that can be judged any more than "satisfactory".

Mr Balls warned that was not good enough. He said: "We want a world class education system for all. Coasting schools could and should be doing better.

"They are schools that get results which can look acceptable or even good, but which are not fulfilling the potential of their pupils. Sometimes they are not stretching their most able pupils, sometimes they are not meeting the needs of their pupils who face difficulties, and often they need to be more ambitious."

He said local authorities must identify schools in their area which need to improve by the end of January.

Schools will face action if they display one or more features of "coasting":

lChildren who do well in primary school fail to keep up at GCSE.

lSchools have "complacent" leadership and "relatively poor quality" heads of English and maths departments.

lChildren from the poorest homes fall significantly behind their classmates.

The initiative raised the prospect that grammar schools with a record of good exam results could be targeted. Many of these academically selective schools score good results but have low "value-added" scores - which measure how far a school helps pupils make progress.

But headteachers warned that "naming and shaming" would not help improve school standards.

John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "Schools that are being told that they 'could do better' may be under-performing for many reasons."