Grammar School goes from Outstanding to Inadequate. What next?

[Harrysutton]

My dd attends a grammar school in the north west which has just gone from outstanding to inadequate. The report is a terrible read, the report is on the school website with a letter from the Chair of Governors but no other comms. Would you expect a meeting for parents to allow an open discussion and would you be pushing for more communication?

Thank you @WhiteFire

@sunnydaytoday0 - yes, they had a body come in and do a report on sexual harassment / abuse last November and have not acted quickly enough.

@NEFEHD Wow, put into context I think it makes the inspection report's findings even worse.

I went to the meeting tonight and as someone who is doing a degree in social work understood what was being said. They pointed us to the Ofsted online stuff because that is new legislation that needs to be followed that only came into effect last September. The things he was saying about parenting were because of the sexual abuse worry. Which included girls saying that they'd been asked for pictures on apps like Snapchat in school, that's why they aren't allowed to have their phones on in school anymore. He went through each new rule and told us why. I've had to study all this stuff as it's pretty big and totally different from how it was before. His talk about parenting was to make sure things are consistent e.g. if the school are tackling certain words like "gay" then it has to also be happening at home too. The world is very different than it was a few years ago and adults in care settings have to change how things are done just as we as parents do. In the examples I've already used, we have the internet now and new rules on what is allowed and not regarding sexual behaviour. I could go on but I'm getting the kids ready for school. I hope that helps someone.

I've been at my school for 6 years and there were posters up about the harm of using "gay" and other sexual words as an insult when I started.

It hasn't been OK for years and should have been challenged.

Obviously such a drastic drop is a cause for concern. But one thing I don't understand is that Ofsted seem to keep introducing new frameworks & new rules/regulations but has education for children actually got any better?

It has always been challenged, my son would never say anything like that but things like that aren't acceptable in our home either. That's one of the complaints, that we were asked to keep this consistency at home too, which I totally agree with. It's just that now it has to be logged as well. They are taking more staff on to do all the extra stuff.

But that's the point, it shouldn't extra. Schools should have been doing all of this for years. Sexting, consent, language should all have been taught as routine for ages. My DS1 has been left school for 5 years and all of this was covered while he was there.

And this school appear to have been told there was a problem almost a year ago and are only now starting to take steps to address it.

I’m not sure what your social work degree has to do with understanding the drivel spouted at us last night. I’m an experienced teacher now working in a role that has a major focus on safeguarding. The new guidelines are not so new that the school shouldn’t have caught up. I spoke to another parent last night who is a teacher in another high school and they couldn’t believe how much they’ve dropped the ball.

yes parents need to back up behaviour but they’ve totally missed the point of the report. the report wasn’t blaming the kids. The school is.

No, I agree they should and have. The extra part is the new legislation that was brought in recently. It's great for the kids, and I fully agree with it. The degree I'm doing is actually the first year all this new stuff is being taught, that's why I know how new it is. It means we will be fully knowledgeable where others with the same degree aren't when we graduate. Schools and teachers etc will all have to learn about it and take on the new staff to deal with it. It's great news for the children growing into kind, well rounded adults.

Save us from people who've done a little study and think they know it all.

A colleague's son got into trouble for sending inappropriate images to a peer. The school dealt with it very swiftly and very firmly and that boy's in his 30s now.

The sadness is that the new framework was needed because so many schools have been pretending it doesn't happen there, but of course it should have been deleted with anyway. It's bullying for a start. They shouldn't need telling .

I honestly didn't feel like my son was being blamed or me. I also didn't hear that the children were being blamed. I really think you are missing the point of what I'm saying. Sometimes people are so set on "their point" that they can't see anything else. I think that maybe you should do whatever is best for your children, if you want to move them to your school that's fine, but it seems we heard different points that were made. I've done a lot of safeguarding training in the last few years, including at a primary school, a youth theatre and at university and this all made sense to me. Things are changing and schools and parents are now catching up. Our other children go to a state school and what they tell us is disgusting compared to Brgs. That and where other people's children go to school in 3 different Burnley schools are horrendous compared.

Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. The new framework is very overdue. It is bullying, it's totally what is needed at all settings and I'm very glad it's been brought in. Our children deserve to feel safe. This whole thing is way overdue.

I actually think you’re missing the point. Yes the things they are bringing in are the correct measures BUT they should have been brought in prior to the inspection. They are very very late to the party.

They glossed over the fact that the single central record wasn’t up to date which means a straight inadequate whatever else is going on in the school. They also didn’t explain why the inspectors had to go to the local authority to report and incident the school hadn’t.

Children in the school haven’t felt able to report issues and that is the crux of the matter. I agree behaviour is much better than other schools. One of which I have another child in.

im glad you’re confident in the school. The parents who stayed behind to speak to the governors certainly weren’t.

I said I think you're missing my point, not the point. I'm saying I agree with all these points and I understand what people are saying, but because of my training I can understand certain things. I have got confidence in the school, maybe it's because I've had a lot of communication with them because of my son's needs. My son has joined lots of clubs, has spent most of his time in the library and has lots of LGBTQ+ friends who have also had no trouble. Maybe he's picked so well who to surround himself with that he's kept away from a lot of things that go on. I am only talking from my own experience and my knowledge of a subject. We definitely both know the behaviour is a lot better than other schools, we know that the academic side is good. We know that this report means that the school will, without a doubt be honed in, more than most schools on fixing the problems. I am pleased that we will have better communication and invitations into the school. I was very involved at my son's primary school and have missed this kind of interaction. I'm very happy about the new synergy timetable that shows class behaviour and we're really happy about the new achievement point system. The school are righting the wrongs, and the numerous new rules, I am pleased with, such as no phones in school. I can't discuss the conversation that happened after I had left, I would have loved to be able to stay, but sadly couldn't, because I wasn't there, so I only know what I saw and heard in the meeting and from my notes. I would like to know what was discussed. All any of us can do is comment on our own knowledge and experience, no one is wrong. That's what a discussion is.

Kind of rude to imply to a teacher (who has statutory safeguarding training and lots of experience of this in schools) that you “understand certain things” more as a 1st year student. Schools and teachers know very well what the specific criteria around safeguarding is and have appropriate training. It’s not some secret squirrel guidelines OFSTED are measuring schools against that only they and people on your course seem to know about.

That aside it’s genuinely great your child appears to be doing well. The point of all the safeguarding protocols and OFSTED inspections etc. is so the school doesn’t go “well 80% of pupils are doing alright and not being sexually harassed so guess that’s good enough, my work here is done”. Yet that is exactly what they’ve done.

I honestly think you need to read both mine and Harry's messages. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't want to be defended by someone who doesn't understand what the discussion is about. We are discussing something and you are merely trying to aggravate. Why can't he just tell me what happened after I left without someone trying to force an argument? Please read the messages.

I also have statutory safeguard training and have worked in schools. I'm in my 40s and am changing my career. The things "I understand" are the training I have received and the Ofsted findings I have read? You really need to read what is being said before commenting.

' . . . but because of my training I can understand certain things.'

Oh, boy . . .

It’s a grammar school, the kids will be fairly biddable. It shouldn’t take lecturing parents about consistency for a school to be able to effectively communicate to students that sexual harassment is wrong.

It’s a grammar school, it’s entire reason for being is to prioritise academic results. I don’t know why anyone would find it surprising that so many grammar schools with their selective intake would be coming unstuck at a time Ofsted had been tasked with looking a bit further beyond results.

Have you read it? What year is your child in? I'm accepting that maybe people who aren't teachers don't understand what they can read about it? That's what it looks like to me, just uneducated in that subject.

I really wanted to find out Harry's opinion on what happened after the meeting as I value what he has to say, but to get it I have to be abused by people who clearly don't read before they respond. I'm sorry Harry but this is ridiculous. I'm pretty sure as a teacher you wanted a discussion, with another parent on an important matter. Not this weird flurry of people not reading the messages and trying to twist everything maybe out of boredom? Unfortunately they have ruined this thread. Hopefully I'll be able to find out what happened after the meeting from another source which is a shame because with your experience I wanted your opinion.

Mumsnet has a DM function, @Dannylou. I suggest you use this.

Id be interested to know if this is merely just a push back from teachers around the current pandemic of children declaring themselves trans / non binary / a bloody cat.

If so, I’d be willing to see that as a positive, personally

I would think that's part of it. To get outstanding, the school would have to be seen to pandering to the current social nonsense by asking all the pupils their pronouns.

That’s bollocks.