Hundreds of screaming Bermondsey schoolgirls mobbed David Cameron this morning when he made a surprise appearence at Harris Academy in Southwark Park Road.
The Prime Minister was meeting students involved in the school’s mentor programme, before stepping outside for a breather during the mid-morning break.
Hundreds of stunned pupils rushed to take selfies and talk with Mr Cameron, who could hardly be seen in the mass of pupils as ‘Cam-mania’ took hold.
The school’s mentoring programme sees high-flying business professionals matched one-on-one with pupils as they prepare for their GCSE exams.
Following the visit, a government spokesperson commented on the lack of secondary school places available in Southwark.
They said: “We are creating an education system in which all children, regardless of their birth or background, can thrive. We are investing billions of pounds into providing additional school places across Britain with almost half a million more places under this Government – at the same time as protecting the schools budget.
“And in Southwark there are 4,022 more school places and 15,291 more children at good or outstanding schools compared to 2010.
“But of course there is more to do. And that’s why over the past six years, we’ve opened 12 academies and 6 free schools in Southwark and across the nation we are investing an additional £23 billion up to 2021 in school buildings, creating 600,000 new school places, 500 new schools and carrying out essential maintenance.”
The real pity is that Cameron should manipulate children in this way. I note that he almost never visits a community school, neither do his Ministers. Perhaps that is because they are scared that the myth that academies improve education will be shown to be just that – a myth. I doubt also that he will not visit all those schools which converted to become academies and are now rated by Ofsted as requiring improvement or inadequate. Of course, he can’t visit all those ‘free’ schools which were given millions of pounds in this age of austerity and are already closed because they couldn’t find either a building or the pupils! What a mess this Government is making of the education system.
the one time they should’ve kept the gates locked, eh?