GCSE rate at dd's school has dropped from 65% to 41% over 4 years.

Viva, my dd is also year 8, but at a very good comprehensive. She was level 5s in her ks2 Sats. By Christmas, she had gone up 3/4 sub levels according to her report, so I think you are definitely correct to question why your dd hadn't progressed.

Too right .... three of the Kent grammars have VA of 969

then again the VA for the sec mods is scary !

"Fair enough. I assumed that selective schools would have high achievers across the board and so it would be more difficult for them to 'add value.'"

It is. Many grammar schools have VA less than 1000.

are you comparing like with like ? Some other Level 1 /2 qualifications used to be counted as GCSE, some BTECs as equivalent of 2, and may not now.

as a comparison, here are the VA figures for the secondary moderns in Kent
www.education.gov.uk/cgi-bin/schools/performance/group.pl?qtype=LA&superview=sec&view=aat&set=6&sort=ks4_13.b8vamea_fsm&ord=desc&tab=100&no=886

Have a look at the Value added scores for the selective schools in Kent ....
www.education.gov.uk/cgi-bin/schools/performance/group.pl?qtype=LA&superview=sec&view=aat&set=6&tab=100&no=886&sort=ks4_13.b8vamea_fsm&ord=desc

Fair enough. I assumed that selective schools would have high achievers across the board and so it would be more difficult for them to 'add value.'

In your position I'd look at the "good" comps that you're not in catchment for and if you agree with their reputation then get on the waiting lists. Children do move away, leaving gaps, and people are reluctant to shift them once they're settled so there's always a chance that a place will appear which you can pounce on.

The results only started to be expressed as 5 or more A-cs including Maths and English a couple of years ago. Before that it was any 5. I wonder if the 71% figure reflects the old measurement and so hasn't gone down as such but has always been lower if you include Maths and English. iYSWIM!

Curlew. I do apologise. I was wrong re the benchmark comment. I expressed myself awkwardly. I meant the percentages fluctuate from school to school and were not nationally set percentages. Hence schools having no low attainers or few high attainers. Benchmark was the wrong word!

Havant. No it is not hard for a grammar to get a good VA scores, well above 1000. All the grammars in my area have. I have just checked. Don't forget the tutored ones may not be as bright as they first appear and the 11+ is VR so not based on the NC so there is often room for improvement.

Viva. Are the better comps actually full in the year group you want? I do agree you do not want to boomerang between schools as this is extremely disruptive too but, for an alleged comprehensive school, the results are poor. Are there any other parents who care enough, like you, to lobby the Governors for improvements? Usually a group of parents can find out what is going on. The Governors should tell parents what the plans are for recruiting a new Head. Are there any dynamic Governors who want change and improvement?

Also, look at the points score per pupil in the statistics and then compare with any grammar school in Bucks. They have no lower performing children of course but have a handful of middle children. You can see there are big differences in the points scores per child in that a middle ability grammar child is equal to high ability in a lower performing school so this can give a false sense of achievement too. If your child is a middle attainer at your school, then they are probably making poor progress. Can you find out if your child is considered a high attainer? Level 5 in SATs would indicate she is but even then there is 1-5 chance she is not making expected progress, let alone good progress! Oh dear.

my local school has 5% high attainers
DCs school has 39%

I believe the ideal is 25 : 50 : 25

so you can tell how skewed intakes are

"Higher attainers just means this school, and is not a national benchmark." I don't think that's right, is it? If it was, all comprehensive schools would have similar % of low, middle and high attainers. Which they don't.

I don't think that's a bad option. You need to make sure that you and she know what she is capable of, which isn't necessarily what the school think.

Surely it's really hard for a selective Grammar to get a good VA score.

Do you have other options nearby?

It is clearly the middle attainers that have the problem because if the VA is below 1000 there are grades being dropped at GCSE. Also very many of them are not making good progress judged by your stats. Looking at the percentage of GCSE passes A-C, I can tell you that these are below the secondary schools in my County which has county-wide grammar schools taking at least 30% of the best pupils. Also as it is a rich county, plenty go independent too. Therefore your school, as a comprehensive, is bad. I would also say there are very few higher achievers. I would try and find out how many As and A*s were gained in each subject. I bet very few. Top set means nothing if everyone is just average. Higher attainers just means this school, and is not a national benchmark.

The features of a failing school are usually poor teaching and poor learning with a lack of progress in many aspects of the education on offer. Also failing to secure consistent good teaching, ie over reliance on supply teachers, is a big red flag. I would also say that the top management is leaving the sinking ship, or they have been removed by the LA or Sponsor. The school seems rudderless anyway. I would leave immediately, and definitely if your child is making no discernible progress as level 5 in year 8 is hardly brilliant progress, and also because turning a school round is often a 2 year job. Do you have the time to see if the new Head can do anything? It is also a feature of a poor school that no-one is accountable so they do not speak to parents unless through a manager of some description.

I also believe there are not enough good Heads to go round. Often replacing a Head is tricky due to lack of quality and even good Heads are difficult to replace in order to keep a school moving forward and guarding against complacency.

Worrysighworry. Every time I read one of your posts I worry too. Why cannot we get to the situation where all children get a truly good school?

Viva level 5 at the end of KS2 would put your dd in the high achievers group.
Do the school publish a breakdown of GCSEs by subject anywhere - it's in the prospectus for new parents for my dds secondary school. This may give you information about how many pupils obtain A/A as well as A-C for example. This will show up whether the high achieving pupils are stretched academically.

VA of over 1000 for high attainers is better than most Grammar schools!

but there is clearly a problem in maths .... but if its rising, the problem may be historic.

In answer to your other question, academies are also inspected by OFSTED and reports published. However sometimes there are shorter progress inspections done by HMI which may not be published. The fact that both Head and Deputy are going suggests to me that the leadership of the school has been rated inadequate and usually replacements are found fairly quickly to turn the school round.