See me! Grammar trouble for new Education Secretary who dismissed spelling tests at school as ‘ridiculous’
New Education Minister Lucy Powell, who once described primary school spelling tests as ‘ridiculous’, has been ridiculed for her own spelling mistakes.
The Labor deputy leader tweeted that he was “thrilled with his appointment as Education Minister.”
The Tories published a version of his piece with corrections in red ink, pointing out a typo in the first line and criticizing the grammar in the second line.
The fake marking comes after comments Ms Powell made as an understudy in a 2019 interview with Tes magazine, formerly the Times Educational Supplement, resurfaced.
In it he described spelling assessments offered by the Conservatives as ‘ridiculous’ and claimed they were being used to ‘micro-manage’ children.
He also said students should not be at risk of failing English, maths or science classes because they spelled ‘a few things’ wrong.
New Education Minister Lucy Powell, who once described primary school spelling tests as ‘ridiculous’, has been ridiculed for her own spelling mistakes.
The Tories published a version of his piece with corrections in red ink, pointing out the typo in the first line and criticizing the grammar in the second line.
He added: ‘Nonsense went too far with Spag [spelling, punctuation and grammar] exams in primary schools or students who write a few things wrong fail the exams.’
He added: ‘If you’re a teacher who’s judged by the number of children who pass a Spag test or a really tough new GCSE, but you know those children aren’t actually being fed or clothed properly, then it’s not a great atmosphere and it can feel a bit harsh.’
Ms Powell said Labor must ‘ensure’ fee-paying schools with charity status no longer receive tax relief.
Keir Starmer’s government introduced VAT on school fees and more than 100 independent schools have since closed.
