Exclusive: Clement Attlee backs Michael Gove’s free schools

Great news for all progressives: a private school has been effectively been nationalised. Queen Elizabeth Grammar in Blackburn, founded in 1509, is to enter the state sector as one of Michael Gove’s free schools. Education that had previously been affordable only by the rich will now be open to all in Blackburn. It’s one of 104 free schools expected to open in 2014, bringing choice in education to a total of 130,000 pupils.

This policy stands  firmly in the progressive tradition. Clement Attlee put it clearly:

‘There is plenty of room for pioneer work and experiment. The Working Men’s College, Morley College, the Polytechnics and the University Extension Lectures,

Attlee: the original free school advocate

all owe their inception to the voluntary work and zeal for education of a few. New methods of teaching can be best proved by experiments on a small scale. If, for instance, the Montessori system were to be tested, it could hardly be done by a local education authority ; it would not be fair that parents who were obliged to send their children to school should have to submit them to experiment.