Another chance to fail.......

I have always found that the best way to judge a school is by what parents say about it, albeit, not always realising it.

When DC started school we lived in the catchment area of what was considered the best primary school in the area. Several people told me how wonderful it was, how well their children were doing there and then would tell me a story of something that indicated that the school was very strict and rigid and made no allowances for any problems a child might have. There were places available at another school in the area, that was more child-orientated. My DC went there, were very happy there and did very well.

Most teachers do a brilliant job, a few do not and some are just worn out!

Most parents really support their children's learning & progress , a few parents don't care much about school and some are too distracted by other things to prioritise their kids' progress at school.

Some parents are wealthy enough to give children opportunities that broaden experience, a few do what they can on limited resources, and some, rich and poor, don't invest enough time in their children.

Many kids have a carefree childhood, a few kids are abused , some kids are ill/carers/ disabled.

Many kids live in a stable and secure family, some have a disorganised and muddled family and a few have their lives disrupted by bereavement, war, poor housing & hunger.

My point is it is NOT all about the teachers!! It is a wider society issue if we want all children to be literate and numerate to a life functional level.

Idealising teachers is as dangerous and demonising them. There are brilliant and exceptional teachers, there are poor teachers and in the middle the bulk are good and adequate teachers. It is ridiculous in any profession to expect most to be outstanding. It is the law of averages.

I don't think the government understand the word average!
Ofsted turned 'satisfactory' into a dirty word and then dropped it.

SATS were originally a way of assessing schools and whether they were making progress. Inevitably schools started pushing individual children to get their levels.
They were never meant to be used as a pass/fail test that children had to aim for. Many children with special needs would be stigmatised if they were.
The Tories seem to be totally confused about maths, use of data etc Gove wanting all schools to be average. Morgan refusing to answer easy maths questions asked by a child and Cameron now getting completely confused about something that was only ever meant to provide management statistics for heads, governors and LAs. I feel like that little girl who apparently banged her head on the desk in despair.

We need to abolish league tables- they cause the problems.

This wonderful post by a parent of three adopted girls explains exactly why the re-take forever idea is deluded. https://disidealist.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/mediocre-failures/

Yes indeed! - well said that lady!! If only the outcomes of these ridiculous policies were not so serious - how very sad it all is.

Thanks so much for that Pamish it is wonderful. I remember "Every Child Matters", now it seems the purpose of education is to humiliate children as much as possible, what could be worse than failing a test once, why failing it twice of course.

I remember college insisting that my DD went on taking her maths GCSE with the aim of turning her D into a C - I lost count of the number of times she got a D. In the end I went to them and said "She is D standard in maths - she is happy with that - I am happy with that - leave her alone please!" She went on to get a degree and an MA.

Wow what a fantastic article - passionate and heartbreaking in equal measure. I agreed with every word she said.