Sir Keir Starmer pledges speaking lessons for children as he promises education overhaul under Labour
A Labour government would provide speaking lessons for children, with its leader saying an “inability to articulate your thoughts fluently is a key barrier to getting on and thriving in life”.
Sir Keir Starmer made the pledge in an article in The Times, promising to put oracy at the centre of his party’s plans to overhaul the education system.
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“The ability to speak well and express yourself should be something that every child is entitled to and should master,” he wrote.
“But the curriculum doesn’t allow us to provide this. This is short-sighted. An inability to articulate your thoughts fluently is a key barrier to getting on and thriving in life.
“It’s key to doing well in a job interview, persuading a business to give you a refund, telling your friend something awkward. Oracy is a skill that can and must be taught.”
The article comes ahead of the Labour leader’s launch of his fifth and final mission for government, due to take place in Kent later today.
Sir Keir will promise to break the “class ceiling” with a goal of half a million more children reaching their early learning targets by 2030 and with a target to recruit 6,500 more teachers into shortage subjects.
To help reach the 2030 target, the party will double the number of health visitors, provide further mental health support for parents, as well as early years speech and language therapy – which would be funded by scrapping the VAT exemption on private schools.
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Starmer sets out Labour’s five missions
Labour will also set out plans for annual Ofsted inspections and an alternative grading system as part of its mission to overhaul education, Sky News has been told.
Inspections will move from happening every four years to every year and will also assess the wellbeing of the school.
And instead of a one-word rating – such as outstanding, good or inadequate – there will be a more complex dashboard in which different aspects of the school are graded to give a fuller picture.
The reforms will also see Labour carry out a review of the curriculum to include more music, art and creative subjects. There are not expected to be any changes to GCSEs as part of the review.
In his speech, Sir Keir is expected to say the “pernicious” class ceiling acts as a “barrier in our collective minds, that narrows our ambitions for working-class children and says, sometimes with subtlety, sometimes to your face: this isn’t for you”.
“It’s about economic insecurity, structural and racial injustice – of course it is. But it’s also about a fundamental lack of respect,” he will say.
“A snobbery that too often extends into adulthood. Raising its ugly head when it comes to inequalities at work – in pay, promotions, opportunities to progress.”
The Labour leader will add that children must be prepared for a future of artificial intelligence, genomics, and further advanced technology.
The National Association of Headteachers (NAHT) union welcomed Labour’s proposals but warned they must be matched by “significant additional investment” not only in education but in community support and social care.
Paul Whiteman, NAHT general secretary, said: “A child’s background should never determine their opportunities in life, but inequalities have been exacerbated over the last decade by funding cuts to schools and other public services, the pandemic, and now the cost of living crisis. It is therefore positive to see that Labour will put tackling inequality at the heart of their education policy.
“There is no doubt that schools can play a vital role in helping children to thrive no matter what their background, but they need the appropriate resources to do so.
“Fixing the current recruitment and retention crisis has to be an urgent priority and it is essential that the next government makes teaching and school leadership an attractive proposition once again and gets to grips with the factors driving so many out of the profession.”
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The role of Ofsted has faced renewed scrutiny after Ruth Perry, the headteacher of Caversham Primary School in Reading, took her own life in January while waiting for the body’s assessment of her school.
Campaigners have called for Ofsted to abolish one-word assessments, which have been defended by Education Secretary Gillian Keegan as clear and easy for parents to understand.
Caversham Primary School was found to be “good” in every category apart from leadership and management, where it was judged to be “inadequate”.
Following Ms Perry’s death, Ofsted introduced its own set of reforms but stopped short of banning the single-word ratings.
Ruth Perry died in January
The reforms include the launch of a formal consultation on changes to the complaints system, which the watchdog believes could help resolve complaints more quickly.
Schools will also be given more information about the timing of their inspections. Although the watchdog will still turn up with only a day’s notice, there will be “more clarity” about the year schools are likely to be inspected.
Inspection reports will also refer to the school, rather than individuals, when discussing areas of weakness from September onwards.
Of Labour’s planned proposals, current education secretary Ms Keegan said: “Labour’s empty words are easy – delivery is difficult. Under Labour we had worse standards in schools, poorer outcomes for kids, and skills training that promoted pole fitness and balloon artistry.
“Labour offers nothing but flip flop after flip flop, from tax hikes to tuition fees – showing there is no guarantee that they will even stick to their word.
“Keir Starmer’s track record shows he will have probably changed his mind by the start of the summer holidays. So there’s no way parents and teachers can rely on anything he says.”
World
Egypt: Two Britons believed to be among 16 missing as tourist boat sinks after being ‘hit by large wave’
Two Britons are believed to be among more than a dozen people missing after a boat sank in the Red Sea off the Egyptian coast.
The yacht, called Sea Story, had 44 people on board, including 31 tourists of varying nationalities and 13 crew.
Authorities are searching for 16 people, including 12 foreign nationals and four Egyptians, the governor of the Red Sea region said, adding that 28 other people had been rescued.
Preliminary reports suggested a sudden large wave struck the vessel, capsizing it within about five minutes, governor Amr Hanafi said.
“Some passengers were in their cabins, which is why they were unable to escape,” he added in a statement.
Survivors rescued from the Sea Story in Marsa Alam. Pic: STR/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
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Passengers rescued from sunken tourist boat
The people who were rescued only suffered minor injuries such as bruises and scrapes with none needing hospital treatment.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development office spokesperson said: “We are providing consular support to a number of British nationals and their families following an incident in Egypt and are in contact with the local authorities.”
The foreign nationals aboard the 34-metre-long vessel, owned by an Egyptian national, included Americans, Belgians, British, Chinese, Finns, Germans, Irish, Poles, Slovakians, Spanish, and Swiss.
Sea Story had no technical problems, obtained all required permits before the trip, and was last checked for naval safety in March, according to officials.
The four-deck, wooden-hulled motor yacht was part of a multi-day diving trip when it went down near the coastal town of Marsa Alam following warnings about rough weather.
Officials said a distress call was received at 5.30am local time on Monday.
The boat had left Port Ghalib in Marsa Alam on Sunday and was scheduled to reach its destination of Hurghada Marina on 29 November.
The Sea Story had 44 people on board. File pic: Dive Pro Liveaboard
Some survivors had been airlifted to safety on a helicopter, officials said.
The firm that operates the yacht, Dive Pro Liveaboard in Hurghada, said it has no information on the matter.
According to its maker’s website, the Sea Story was built in 2022.
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The incident comes after the Egyptian Meteorological Authority issued a warning on Saturday about turbulence and high waves on the Red Sea.
The organisation had advised against maritime activity for Sunday and Monday.
Some tourist companies have stopped or limited operations on the Red Sea due to the potential dangers from conflicts in the region.
A motion has been filed to drop the charges against Donald Trump of plotting to overturn the 2020 US presidential election result.
Mr Trump was first indicted on four felonies in August 2023: Conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and an attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
The president-elect pleaded not guilty to all charges and the case was then put on hold for months as Mr Trump’s team argued he could not be prosecuted.
Special Counsel Jack Smith. Pic: Reuters
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On Monday, prosecutors working with special counsel Jack Smith, who had led the investigation, asked a federal judge to dismiss the case over long-standing US justice department policy, dating back to the 1970s, that presidents cannot be prosecuted while in office.
It marks the end of the department’s landmark effort to hold Mr Trump accountable for the attack on the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 when thousands of Trump supporters assaulted police, broke through barricades, and swarmed the Capitol in a bid to prevent the US Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory.
Mr Smith’s team had been assessing how to wind down both the election interference case and the separate classified documents case in the wake of Mr Trump’s election victory over vice president Kamala Harris earlier this month, effectively killing any chance of success for the case.
In court papers, prosecutors said “the [US] Constitution requires that this case be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated”.
They said the ban [on prosecuting sitting presidents] “is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the government stands fully behind”.
Mr Trump, who has said he would sack Mr Smith as soon as he takes office in January, and promised to pardon some convicted rioters, has long dismissed both the 2020 election interference case and the separate classified documents case as politically motivated.
Trump supporters try to break through a police barrier at the Capitol in Washington. Pic: AP
He was accused of illegally keeping classified papers after leaving office in 2021, some of which were allegedly found in his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida.
The election interference case stalled after the US Supreme Court ruled in July that former presidents have broad immunity from prosecution, which Mr Trump’s lawyers exploited to demand the charges against him be dismissed.
Mr Smith’s request to drop the case still needs to be approved by US District Judge Tanya Chutkan.
No date had been set for a trial.
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At least 1,500 cases have been brought against those accused of trying to overthrow the election result on 6 January 2021, resulting in more than 1,100 convictions, the Associated Press said.
More than 950 defendants have been sentenced and 600 of them jailed for terms ranging from a few days to 22 years.
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