Ofstedisation of state secondary schools?

[PiqueABoo]

Are they all Kafka-esque box-ticking bureaucratic nightmares now?

We had our very first Y7 parents meeting wotsit where in the first instance you meet the form tutor, then follow up with subject teachers on another day if required.

Shortly before we received a lifetime's supply of bullshit bingo source material accompanying a grid roughly 15 (subjects) by 10 (levels and various behavioural attributes etc). Despite thinking we might be able to talk about something useful, it turns out that the entire purpose of the meeting was for everyone to pretend that the data recorded in the grid was highly accurate and get (squirming at every question put to her) DD to hastily write a fixed number of vague box-ticking targets for improvement in her planner.

There are only end-year and end-KS3 target levels for maths and English: maths is as good as it can get within the usual limits, but for DD the English targets are an un-aspirational crock. All the ratings for the learning attributes in that grid use the Ofsted rankings e.g. 'outstanding', 'good' etc. None of the data tells me anything much about my child, but it does tell me something about a few of the subject teachers.

We also get handed a sheet to complete which is a replica of the questions on Ofsted's ParentView site.

It's not just this occasion e.g. on reflection DD has spent far too much time scribbling useless notes in exercise books about how they think they did and what they think they could do to improve blah-blah-tick-tick-tick. DD is clearly just playing the game and writing what she thinks they want to hear. When I've raised an eyebrow she tends to excuse some vapid nonsense with a truth I accept: "Yeah... well... I had to put something".

This school is apparently Good and so was primary. With hindsight I'm pining for primary.

Or a time-machine.

[Biscuitsneeded]

It makes you want to cry in frustration, doesn't it? Sorry, nothing helpful to offer except that you speak sense and the world has gone mad.

I'm a teacher, by the way.

[superram]

Data targets are sort of made up, I would much rather talk about your child but I have to talk numbers. Tis rubbish.