Justine Greening Briefings

Thank you very much, Francis. Good morning everyone. It is a pleasure

to be able to join the here today. I would like to start by thanking the

University of Saint relays for welcoming us. When we looked at

where we wanted to do this speech, it seemed like a great place to

come. -- sent me these. You are teaching the -- training the

teachers of the future, and doing brilliantly, but also doing research

that looks at the education outcomes of young people in schools.

Especially those young people who are coming from families that are

struggling to make ends meet. This is one of the things I wanted to

talk about today. The backdrop to all of this is that this is a

Government that it responding to a fundamental truth. But our people

have voted for change. They voted for a fairer society, one that works

for everyone. I think too many of us felt that the link between the work

that we put in and the awards that we receive, was somehow weakening.

Too many people felt that this country, the country was not working

for them. That feeling did not happen overnight. I do believe that

the referendum was a catalyst, a moment of clarity for our country.

And whatever you might think yourself, the bottom line is that

the old status quo did not work for enough people. And it was not

sustainable. That is why we needed changing. Following that referendum,

we are months into a period of national change as Britain leaves at

the European Union and we will build a United Kingdom that rises to that

challenge. Most importantly, one that that grasps the opportunity for

our new future rings true. I believe we can be successful, I believe we

will be successful but it won't happen. We need to have the plan and

we need to have the means. And the Prime Minister has set out our plan

for Britain. A strong economy. The foundation on which everything

depends. Providing the tax receipts that our public services rely upon.

It is a strong economy. Our unemployment rate is less than half

of the euro zone area. We want to be a global Britain, playing powerful

role on the international stage. Being a voice to the values that

British people have fought and died for, even on our own soil as the

tragically saw a few weeks ago. The values of democracy, equality, the

rule of law. And at home we want a united nation. We are a unique team

with no match anywhere in the world. Saw as I have travelled all over the

world in the last four years as International Development Secretary.

The unique combination of a United Kingdom. The way that has led our

country and democracy the way that together we have had to adapt to

change, to become greater than the sum of our parts. That is why we

have succeeded and this is part of library will succeed in the future.

The final part for the plan for Britain is a fairer society, a

society based on merit. And delivering a fairer society must

start with education and other schools. Making sure that our

children and young people can do their very best and reach their

potential wherever they are growing up. That is the means by which we

build a better country. It is how we deliver the plan for Britain. In

short, we are the means, the people of the country, each and everyone of

us. Some of the most vivid memories I have in my life are about

opportunities. There is one of the Andy Reid telephone box in Devon. It

is still there, it looks pretty normal, but it matters to me, that

phone box, because it is the phone box I rang from to get my A-level

results. I remember screaming with delight when hearing I had got the

results I needed to to go to university. I was the first in my

family to go to university. We went across the road to the public House

and had a drink. As he sat as a family, nobody knew what the next

stage of my life would be like. We knew it would be important. I knew

it would open up the world to me and it would transform my chances in the

future. I believe that we can build our education system in Britain but

in the end, it falls around opportunity. Opportunity is about

how we translate hopes and aspirations into something real.

Something concrete. For me, opportunity is the most precious

commodity in this world. Our strong economy is vital because it is the

opportunity engine of our country. We know truly need to make it a

country where everyone has an equal short of taking advantage of those

opportunities being created. This is a Government that wants more

opportunity for more people, and more equality of opportunity. That

means unlocking our children's potential. I think back to those

countries that I spent so much time visiting over recent years. The

people that I met, the talent that I saw unlocked by education. No single

country had it right. It is not one country that has found the formula

to unlock every talent of every person. If the country could do

that, if it really could build an education system to realise the

potential of every one of its people, if it had an economy and the

businesses that could fully harness that potential, then what a country

it would be. It would be unbeatable. That is what this country wants for

our country. In doing so in creating that country, we would be a country

that reflects the values of the British people. And I hope to be a

beacon to the rest of the world. And I believe we can build that

education system that unlocks the talents of other people here in

Britain. We have got the right ingredients, expert teachers

determined to unlock every young person's potential. I have spent so

much time with them over recent months. A society that believes in

fairness and businesses that no more than ever understand how education

and skills drive growth. We can unleash a wealth of latent talent

that we have on this island and become a powerful, modern, confident

country. A country that works for everyone. Our country has been on

the long journey on education, not just on improving the quality of

schools but giving parents real choice when before there was none.

When I was growing up, there was no real choice at all. You got what you

were given. I went to my local comprehensive school in Rotherham

because everybody did. I went to Junior school and then another

school. That is what children in my area dead. Some people got a good

education and I was lucky with great teachers who taught me. They

encouraged me and inspired me. They were the people who got me to that

red phone box in Devon years later. And people never forget great

teachers because of the impact of the hammer on our lives. -- the

impact that they have on our lives. But some people in some places have

been left behind. And the schools that some children have been too and

are going to are not good enough. We can never accept the randomness of a

postcode lottery in education. That is why we are going to keep pursuing

our ambitious reform on what children are being taught. On making

sure that we know how to teach it well. On how schools are making sure

that they provide our young people with the knowledge and skills that

are me and the businesses need for success in a modern Britain. That is

why we are pursuing a new gold standard in the curriculum and in

assessment, together with an expectation that the vast majority

of young people will study the EVAC Oost objects. We are steadily

strengthening the teaching profession. The high quality

qualifications and standards. An increased focus on continued

professional development of teachers. Supported by a new

professional body, the chartered College of teaching, to bring the

profession together. We want all of our children taught in good and

outstanding school so we have and academies programme that hones in on

inadequate and coasting schools to make sure they improve. It is

working. 1.8 million more than outstanding school places for

children since 2010. 1.8 million more children getting a better start

and a better chance to realise their potential. Treated all over the

country to benefit children from all backgrounds. We are also continuing

to introduce different and better options for parents as well.

Overwhelmingly, we believe it is parents who are best placed to make

the right decisions for their child. We also believe that parents are

better able to get the right schools for their children. It is part of

how we improve the system as an entirety. We want schools that work

for everyone. That is what we are already delivering. Yesterday's

announcement of our latest wave of new free schools, they will be built

across our country creating extra school places that children will

need. And beyond that, it is real choice and diversity of schools. In

the future we will have comprehensive schools and grammar

schools, schools that focus on mathematics, music and other

specialisms. Schools for young people that want to develop the

technical talents. This free schools programme is vital to make sure that

parents continue to have the education choices that they want for

their children. We do know that there's more to do. And alongside

creating a real diversity of schools, we rightly have focused on

the most disadvantaged children and young people. I believe that all of

them have got talent that potentially they could succeed and a

great career. Look at the gap in attainment. Less well off children

into school behind the wealthier peers already. Once they get to

school the fall further behind because they are less likely to go

to a good school. They are less likely to go to university as well.

Even if they get to university, they are not than the advantage peers,

even if they are in the same top jobs. Yet they are more likely to do

further education which we believe has been neglected and underfunded

for decades. We should never accept an education

system that is so tilted against the disadvantaged. So we remain

absolutely committed to supporting these children and young people, not

least with transformational, long-term policies like the pupil

premium and opportunity areas to increase and drive social mobility.

But we believe it's not just disadvantaged children and young

people that our education system can deliver much more for. Because this

Government will not lose sight of other children, from ordinary

working families. This Government believes we've not done enough to

support them. Partly because they don't qualify under our existing

measures of disadvantage. The danger is they've ended up off the radar.

We are determined to also have them at the heart of our thinking and at

the heart of our plan for Britain. The Prime Minister's been clear - if

we're to build a country that works for everyone, we need to do more for

young people from these families, families on modest incomes, who are

being let down by a shortage of good schools. Statistically, they're

families who tend to live outside the inner cities, of course it's

been the inner cities that have been the focus of many of our education

initiatives. They live in the suburbs, in the coastal areas,

mostly outside Greater London. Man why are in towns in say the north of

England, but if these young people can do better, then our whole

country does better too. If these children receive the same grades as

their wealthier peers at the end of secondary school, we'd have

thousands more pupils better equipped to do well in later life.

At primary school, we'd have thousands more reaching the expected

standard in reading, writing and maths, gaining the knowledge and

skills that privileged groups take for granted. If the schools were as

good as their wealthier peers, we'd have more than 100,000 outstanding

school places for them. As well as disadvantaged young people, those

furthest away from the level playing field of opportunity, we need to

help these children achieve their potential too. When I was growing

up, there was a phrase I often heard, "make do". I absolutely hated

that. Because I didn't want to just make do. I wanted much, much more

than that. This is a Government that believes that every day ordinary

working families shouldn't have to make do. We believe that they

deserve better than that because ordinary working families are the

back bone of our economy and our country. They so often embody our

national trait and values, hugely generous, fair by nature, passionate

about family, community and country, and as I know from my own family, in

Rotherham, hard working. Not working hard for recognition but because of

instinctive pride in having independence, for the means to take

care of your nearest and dearest and a cast iron commitment to do

whatever you can, whatever it takes to make sure that the prospects for

your own future generations are brighter than your own. That's what

matters. These families work hard and sometimes, as I know from own

childhood, there's so much stuff day to day that needs to be done that

they don't have time to ask why there isn't more help. There isn't

time to have a say about what should be better or write an e-mail to your

local MP. My earliest memories of politics are of my dad shouting at

the TV, when the news was on. That was him having his say. But you know

what, these families shouldn't have to grow sharp elbows to get the

public service that's they deserve. From the country that they support

and serve day to day. This Government knows that. This

Government knows that we need to repair the link between the hard

work that these families put in and the rewards that they receive. We

want to build a fairer society for them. That's the national change

that we will pursue as Britain leaves the European Union. That's

part of the plan for Britain. But when it does come to their children,

we currently don't have a good way to identify them within our

education system and to track whether they have access to good

school places or whether they have good educational outcomes. We don't

have the nuts and bolts, the information that we need to make

sure that we can be a Government for these families. And there's an old

adage, what gets measured gets done. This Government is focussed on

getting things done. So yesterday, my department launched a technical

consultation about how we can systematically understand a wider

but still battling group of people, where they are, how they do. To be

clear, this isn't about creative brand new labels for our families

and children. It's not about singling out some for support whilst

leaving others alone. We know that families are different. Not just

materially and financially, but in the way they identify themselves and

their own perceptions. We do want to start to provide a clearer analysis

of the situation of how these children of ordinary working

families are faring in our education system and for measuring how wider

reforms can do better for these families and so better for the

country. These families face day-to-day challenges, all the

children, though, in these families, will have talent. I believe that

talent is spread evenly across our country, no one area or group has a

monopoly on this country's talent. But you wouldn't know that from

looking at our education results. Nearly a million young people still

attend inadequate schools or schools that require improvement. This

represents a million young people who still don't have the same

opportunity to find their talent as well as their counterparts in better

schools. Children from ordinary working families are more likely to

be amongst this million children. Fundamentally, these children need

more good school places. That will be at the heart of the forth coming

white paper, schools that work for everyone. For the first time, we

want to properly knit together the different parts of our education

system so that its constituent parts can work together to raise

attainment as a whole, collectively. We believe that universities,

independent schools, faith schools can have a real role in creating

better options for parents. I believe that selection in new 21st

century state grammar schools will add to the options available to

young people to truly help make the most of their talents. I don't

accept the arguments from those who critique gram oars on selection and

simultaneously ignoring the views of parents. On the one hand calling for

no new grammar schools, but nothing to say about the grammars that we do

have. They certainly aren't listening to the choices of parents

when we know how oversubscribed grammars are. We are listening. Many

parents are ordinary backgrounds believe in the chance to send their

children to a grammar school. It's the kind of school they think suits

their child. So they get a great start. And you don't make this

country better by taking away opportunities from children that

deserve them. You do the opposite. You level up. You extend

opportunities to those who haven't got them. That's why this Government

believes it must be parents and communities who have the final say

on whether to have a grammar school in their area. Grammar schools

should not just be for one better-off group in society to

attend. We want to see more children from disadvantaged families getting

into grammars. That is absolutely vital. I welcome that many grammar

schools are now changing their admissions codes to give a priority

of places to these children. I want all of them to follow this example.

We certainly will not lose sight of the fact that we want grammars to

achieve more for disadvantaged children. But we also shouldn't lose

sight of the fact that many young people from an ordinary,

working-class background already attend our existing grammar schools.

In fact, as our technical consultation shows it's already the

same proportion of them that attend non-selective schools. It reinforces

the ordinary working families do value this choice of education for

their children. Grammars do work for other groups in our society, not

just the wealthy. So the new schools that we will create will support

young people from every background, not the privileged few. Young people

on free school meals, those eligible for pupil premium, young people from

ordinary working families struggling to get by, I want these new schools

to work for everyone. This will be a new model of grammars truly open to

all. We will insist on that. It will reflect the choices of local parents

and communities and we will ensure that they support and partner with

other schools in their communities reaching out and playing a role in

lifting standards well beyond their own school gates. Just as we want

our universities, our independent schools to provide even greater

support and partnership in the communities that they're part ever

too. That's -- part of too. That's how we will build capacity through

the school system. We should never accept that education is a zero-sum

game. Great heads, great teachers, great schools can and are raising

performance for the whole community not just for their own schools. And

they do it by sharing expertise by providing support so that young

people in all schools can benefit from a stronger, closer knit

education system. Young people from all schools can have a good

education with an academic core to unlock their talents. There is then

space for everyone to succeed in this system and this is not a whole

education approach by any means. We're reforming education post 16,

lifting the cap on university places with the help of top employers,

we're reforming our technical education approach, injecting

investment, standards and quality, so that young people who are

technically gifted have a world-class route it a great career.

That's why the CBI called our March Budget a breakthrough Budget for

skills. In Britain there will always be room for talent. Unlocking talent

is how we build all of our futures. We will build an education system

that unlocks that talent in every one of our young people. This is a

bold plan. A transforming education in Britain. Everyone needs to play

their part. Not just our education sector, our teachers, school

leaders, lecturers, our schools, universities, but also our

employers, top businesses, this Government. This is not an easy

mission. But the potential gains are huge for young people and for

Britain. If we unlock the talent of every young person, it would have a

huge impact on productivity and the economy. That's why education is

such a crucial part of our industrial strategy. It's why

education is at the heart of our plan for Britain, a true

meritocracy, opportunity as the glue that brings our country together, a

strong, modern country, facing out to the world, a global Britain that

leaves up to its values, and when we recognise that the potential of

every person is there we recognise the potential of our country. When

we can finally capitalise on every talent, Britain really will be a

country that works for everyone. Thank you.