Our journalism needs your support! Become a member
The Bristol Cable

Listen: Bristol Unpacked with Sam Williamson, head teacher on education in one of the UK’s most deprived areas

Children’s futures almost stolen, inequality made worse by algorithm and education in the time of COVID-19 in some of the UK’s most deprived neighbourhoods.

Listen: Bristol Unpacked with Neil Maggs

This week Neil talks to Samantha Williamson, the Principal of Merchants’ Academy. The school is responsible for educating children from Reception to 18 in Withywood and Hartcliffe, areas recognised as among the most deprived in the country.

As the school is operated by the controversial Society of Merchant Venturers, Samantha and Neil discuss how she has felt leading a school connected to Edward Colston’s former club, and their work on creating a new history curriculum to reflect Bristol’s reckoning with its past.

Subscribe to the Cable newsletter below and on Spotify and Apple Podcasts to get the latest from Bristol Unpacked.

(Can’t see this? click here)

Get the latest from the Cable, direct to your inbox

Comments

Report a comment. Comments are moderated according to our Comment Policy.

Post a comment

Mark if this comment is from the author of the article

By posting a comment you agree to our Comment Policy.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related content

Listen: Bristol Unpacked, with councillor Christine Townsend on taking on the Merchant Venturers over educational inequality

Green councillor and education rights campaigner Christine Townsend on fighting discriminatory school selection practices and the prospect of taking power in Bristol.

Funding reinstated for SEND charity at heart of council social media spying row

A charity representing parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities, which lost government funding after Bristol City Council withdrew its backing, has had the money restored in a major U-turn.

Listen: Bristol Unpacked on raising the next generation through a nursery crisis, with local head teacher Sam Williams

Nurseries are key to children's development, but the sector is facing a protracted crisis of funding and stability. Neil asks head teacher Sam Williams how to give kids the best start.

‘Academic and support staff are suffering – it’s time for universities to dip into their rainy day funds’

University of Bristol staff deserve a pay rise after years of real-terms cuts, so why won’t it lift salaries? Recent growth is unsustainable, and investing in pay could help not just workers but local businesses and the city.

Progress on Bristol’s SEND failings but relationships with parents still troubled, inspectors find

Report by Ofsted and Care Quality Commission says now up to government to decide next steps, as inquiry into alleged social media spying looms.

‘Childcare costs prevent countless ambitious women from fulfilling their potential’

Across the UK, mums have been protesting against our broken childcare system. We need urgent change to enable women to work, train and progress in their jobs without constant pressure, a local nursery worker argues.

Join our newsletter

Get the essential stories you won’t find anywhere else

Subscribe to the Cable newsletter to get our weekly round-up direct to your inbox every Saturday

Join our newsletter

Subscribe to the Cable newsletter

Get our latest stories & essential Bristol news
sent to your inbox every Saturday morning