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Face facts over Pimlico
•PADRAIC Finn needs to be extremely careful in his allegations, and to have respect for the facts (Let’s have ‘pragmatic’ decisions for all please, June 15).
First, I have not moved schools and did not, in fact, withdraw my child from school at any point, though I was at one stage considering taking a place at another local comprehensive.
Second, even had I done so, the option of changing school is open to any parent and many thousands of children do move from one school to another during their school career. (The level of pupil mobility between schools in London is, in fact, so high as to be an issue in its own right).
So far from enjoying any kind of advantage, I failed to get into either of the local comprehensives I applied to in 2005 and, along with hundreds of other parents, had to tolerate a shockingly poor experience at North Westminster and a deeply unsatisfactory start to Paddington Academy over a period of almost a year and a half.
Easier to sling mud, of course, even if it does involve a child, but not edifying, especially from a representative of the teachers’ union.
Mr Finn also states that I “sat on my hands” over Pimlico’s earlier PFI debates, failing to point out that Pimlico is not even in my constituency and, to be frank, I have enough to worry about with the 40-odd schools that are.
What, I wonder, is the point of building a campaign on untruths and innuendo?
And where, in all this, has been the recognition of just how deep the problems have run in some of Westminster Council’s secondary schools?
I certainly did not notice many of my constituents who had children at North Westminster Community School rushing to defend it against change – quite the contrary.
Academy status may or may not be right for Pimlico, and no option is likely to be quick, easy or trouble free, but I think we could do with a little more honesty in the debate overall.
KAREN BUCK
MP, Regent’s Park & Kensington North Constituency
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