Feedback on Grey Court School , Ham (Richmond)

Oh, trust me, it was. They didn't follow the National Curriculum and taught in mixed-age classes. Everyone went to the open evenings, but didn't like what they heard, so voted with their feet. Roles dwindled, money became tight, teachers left. TA's inadequate ofsted report in 2016 is probably the worst I've ever read, but at least it was a catalyst for change.

As far as I can remember both schools were thought if poorly before they attempted the sheepish model. In my view local parents don't care which model schools use, they look at progress 8, attainment 8 and at the behaviour of the pupils. Students from Hampton high and Twickenham school do seem to have much worse behaviour locally. I think they will really struggle to turn around either school as lots of parents in the catchments for those two schools move house or pay to avoid those schools at present, myself included.

It is not like it is a very large travellers site to make any difference. There are less than 4 motor homes there. There are council buildings around that but, honestly, these are everywhere.

@infinitwisdom

So are you saying that the reason why the school went "changes" was that the Swedish style was unpopular among parents? 😂

I remember very well that the changes were brought about by the poor performance of the school and Requires Improvement marking and Inadequate for other school. Definitely the popularity of " Swedish" or non-swedish model amoung the parents wasn't the reason. 😂 https://www.richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk/news/15082106.two-failing-schools-praised-by-government-after-getting-back-on-track/

Some people like to blame the Hampton traveller site for behavioural issues too (if they don't care about being thought of as prejudiced).

Hampton & Twickenham Academies (as they were called then) were part of an experiment with a Swedish style curriculum that didn't go down very well with local parents. It takes a while to turn reputations around after something like that. Like you, people often just hear through the grapevine that schools aren't popular, without understanding the reasons: https://schoolsweek.co.uk/swedish-company-lets-go-of-its-british-schools/

not really. Dec '96 is when I moved to the area. But as I had no personal interest I have not followed how are the schools here.

And yes, I recall the situation with Hampton High being almost written off by Ofsted. Then Rebecca Poole improved it with colab with Teddington school. But now Progress 8 and the results are worse than ever

You're fairly new to the area, yes? So maybe you don't know all the history - the LST/Kunskappskolan years and the turnaround by Richmond Schools Trust? All of the history is relevant. Bourne only took over recently.

Well that's the point - it wasn't. They were just focussing on exams - in a small number of subjects. It got results, but (allegedly) a lot of children got bored, switched off, misbehaved, and were managed out.

I don't see anything wrong with exam factory as long as children receive from school also other education that is not captured through the exams.

No, not a sweeping statement. At the time he was heading up a trust that narrowed the curriculum in order to focus on exam results - the sort of "exam factory" culture that Spielman wanted to tackle.

https://www.bourne.education/432/schools-partners

Hampton High, Teddington and Twickenham School are all under Bourne!

Hampton High is a part of the same trust as Teddington school so logically it should be a better school...

@JustWingItLifeEyelinerEverything I am equally perplexed about Hampton high. Both of the junior schools in Hampton are excellent. But the results at Hamptin High are worse than Twickenham School and behaviour also shocking. I'm not sure what has gone wrong there.

@3WildOnes that is also what perplexes me. In case of Twickenham School the reasons are, as already mentioned here, a lot of children that are managed out are going there. But why Hampton High also suffers from bad reputation and bad behaviour? Hampton High has a small catchment, good facilities, and there are 2-3 outstanding primaries in Hampton/ Hampton Hill area.

Ofsted may have rated it 'Good' but the behaviour is shocking. I really hope they can turn it around but in its present state I wouldn't want to send my children there.

Ofsted rating is only part of a parcel. The grades also matter.

And about the CEO his comment about middle class was a sweeping statement to buy the disgruntled teachers. btw UK consist mainly of middle class.
And it looks like underperforming schools will have even harder time with the new CEO as the end of this article says that Ofsted will do deeper inspections and keep even closer look at them

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/ofsted-hits-back-against-schools-narrowing-education

It's not called Twickenham Academy any more, it"s called Twickenham School, and it is rated "Good" by Ofsted. Children do well there, but they currently have a disproportionate number of troubled kids.

No, I don't think he'll reverse the position on untouchable outstanding schools, but he may reverse the focus on a high quality curriculum and re-peg grades to results: https://schoolsweek.co.uk/leading-ceos-new-ofsted-inspections-favour-middle-class-kids/

I would love to see Twickenham accademy or Hampton high turn around but presently they are not great schools. The behaviour at both is appaling compared to other local schools.

Yeah, so the Outstanding schools will be again "untouchable" for 10 years or more and racist and abusive grammars will not be downgraded as some were in the last few years. Shame. Fictional inspections again.

No, I actually work for one of the schools you like. 🙂 But local schools support each other (perhaps more than local parents do, it sometimes seems). There are good networks between the staff at local schools.

The incoming Ofsted Chief Exec has been vocal in his criticism of the current inspection regime, so unless he bangs his head between now and January 1st, a consultation is likely to follow soon after.

@infinitwisdom and you unsubtly undermine data and Ofsted efforts to gather it.
So what you are actually saying.That I should send to Twickenham School my DC next year instead of Orleans because data doesn't matter? No, thank you.

Abot HH, not what I heard from a person working ther, but you will see in due course.

And that comment about children allocated to less popular schools- Have you noticed that equality is not something typical.to capitalism? For a starter look at the grammar schools, housing prices around great comprehensives.

You don't know if anybody will reverse any Ofsted reports. Thank God they are demistyfing Outstanding schools

Ofsted report is not a rocket science.

I gather you worked for a school that had not the best GCSE scores. i am judging basing on all talk that bad scores are actually not bad 😂

Ofsted reports are ok if you know how to read them, but they are just snapshots from a couple of days - often several years in the past - and the framework they judge schools by changes regularly, with every new Ofsted chief exec. Schools are still getting used to the sweeping changes made by Amanda Spielman in 2019 (which decoupled Ofsted rating from results, focussed on curriculum quality, and made it much more difficult to get an Outstanding grade), but the new guy who will be taking over in the new year looks set to reverse them. So one Outstanding grade (for example) doesn't mean the same as another.

Having been involved in the inspection process muultiple times, I know that a lot also depends on the personality of the lead inspector and whether they have an agenda.

You're not forcing anyone to do anything - you don't need to - you just need to subtly undermine their confidence by suggesting the school their child will go to (whether by choice or not) is inferior to others. Your comment on Hampton High above is an example - a sneaky little gossip grenade.

Fwiw, Waldegrave's head "disappeared" last year too - she had cancer treatment - then she came back. It happens. Schools cope. Hampton High is part of a large academy trust who will swoop in and keep things running smoothly, while the deputy holds the fort.

A few months ago people were worrying about Twickenham School's head leaving but, guess what, they now have another and he looks good.

Some of these schools have been through difficult times and come out the other end, but there will always be pernicious parents, with undermining comments, ready to give them anything from a little poke to a hefty shove on social media. Their kids say the same and worse to their classmates in the playground, which is horrible for the children who are allocated one of the less popular schools.