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AIBU?

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Original poster

to be absolutely horrified by Educating Essex

358 replies

spiderpig8 · 22/10/2011 14:32

i would stick pins in my eyes before i sent my kids to a place like that!!
I was watching it woth DS1 who is 16 and he was absolutely speechless at the lack of discipline and the immaturity of the pupils.
Where to start?

Why aren't they all seated in rows facing the front? They seem to be sitting clustered around tables like infants, .No wonder they don't concentrate and are disruptive.
The girls look like hookers with thick make up and very short skirts
If that was top set maths?? At 16 learning how to work out the area of a circle?? The teacher was uninspiring and unenthusiastic. And I had t laugh when it zoomed in on Carrie's so-called 9 GCSEs.She had b in English and |C in maths and that was it.the rest were btecs , functional skills, citizenship and crap that isn't worth the paper it's written on.

The head and deputy are twerps.Skating about in swivel chairs in the corridor, allowing the kids to snowball them.They try to be the kids mates rather than their role models.How can they command any respect?
Most of all allowing their pupils to appear on national television , making serious false allegations against staff, and sending abusive bullying texts.
And this is an ofsted outstanding school!!

OP posts:
TalkinPeace2 · 23/10/2011 18:02

charbon
what will your school do when Gove moves the ebacc goalposts again (and again) to make grammars look better than (true) comps - which is his real aim?

Bear in mind that these will be (as always with politics) retrospective changes....

twinklytroll · 23/10/2011 18:06

Talkinpeace that is exactly why I don't think schools should not give much attention to league tables and the latest government fad. Instead they should focus on doing what is best for its pupils.

TalkinPeace2 · 23/10/2011 18:11

so will you ban all the MN threads and newspaper / websites about it ?
get real
the heads get PAID based on results .....

Charbon · 23/10/2011 18:19

The school leadership team was extremely opposed to the EB, especially because like you say, it was a retrospective measure and it gave schools very little time to ensure they had sufficient teachers in the right subjects. However, they had no choice but to offer it because as a non-academy 11-16 school, local sixth forms admitted they would give preference to applicants with the EB, plus the school will be measured in future on the % of students achieving this standard.

They confidently expect the goalposts to change yet again.

twinklytroll · 23/10/2011 18:31

I don't need to get real, there are schools which carry on doing what is best for their pupils regardless of league tables and government initiatives. We have not changed anything since the introduction of the ebacc, some parents have but that has not come from us. We have always guided students to courses that suit them, that remains the same. We have not chased BTECS or diplomas for a quick gain on the league tables. Of course we work within the law but that is as far as it goes. We cannot and would not want to control what parents read, but governments change their minds with the wind. Schools need stability and change driven by evidence that is relevant to their setting.

Often schools like us do well in league tables because what we do works, but we are not driven by them.

TalkinPeace2 · 23/10/2011 19:09

twinkly
if that is the case, could you name your school please.

and to set the ball rolling, mine is Mountbatten

ALL schools jump through ALL the hoops to get to the top of the tables

overthehillnfaraway · 23/10/2011 19:13

Didn't you read about what happened at Bedales - sex in the sandpits with 13 year olds? My child at state comp got better gcses than friends at private schools. There are good and bad teachers in every school.

Xenia · 23/10/2011 19:24

All grammar and private schools know that employers expect the taerditional 8 GCSEs in proper subjects. Comps are full of children over 50% of them with IQs under 100 who cannot pass those subjects so they need different subjects but the children who are brighter need to know that they need a full suite of GCSEs in subjects like French, maths, English lit, lang, history, geography, 2 or 3 sciences. We have always known it.

These were the subjects of the school certificate in the 1940s. No one should be surprised. These are the subjects employers haev always looked for on the CVs of the educated. If state schools have spun a yarn that your travel and tourism GCSE is well regarded then they are not being very fair on the pupils.

twinklytroll · 23/10/2011 19:26

No they don't.

Some schools jump through some hoops
Some jump through all hoops
Some jump through the hoops that suit them at that time.

I have worked in different types of schools, from special meaures to outstanding. The ones in special measures or notice to improve were the ones doing all the jumping through hoops as were the ones that go from 30 per cent to 75 per cent A star to C. The two schools I have worked out which were just solid performers did their own thing. If the government suggested it and it fitted with their vision they took notice otherwise little notice was taken.

I have not worked in every school so cannot possibly comment on every school and neither can you.

twinklytroll · 23/10/2011 19:29

Xenia good schools have always guided students to the GCSES that suit them , they didn't need the ebacc to do it for them.

TalkinPeace2 · 23/10/2011 19:41

twinkly

DH visits up to 200 schools per year - his total tally is nearing the 2,000 mark
therefore name your last three please
so we can prove that they are not influenced by league tables

Original poster
spiderpig8 · 23/10/2011 19:44

Xenia I think that is the problem.How is a 13/14 Yo supposed to know that BTECs , and GCSEs in soft subjects are worthless, with all the PC 'all subjects are equal' crap spouted in schools to protect the feelings of the 'meeja studies' teacher.They can't!

OP posts:
twinklytroll · 23/10/2011 19:44

I have no intention of naming where I work . If your dh is an inspector of some kind he is assessing schools on their ability to jump through hoops, so he is going to think schools are driven by that much more than they really are.

Of my last three schools two were driven by league tables and ofsted - that is why I left.

TalkinPeace2 · 23/10/2011 19:47

he is not an assessor - he sees schools as they really are - which is more interesting
but has seen "outstandings" that are anarchic and "special measures" that are just lovely

twinklytroll · 23/10/2011 19:55

I am sure there are . One of the schools I left was an outstanding precisely because it was so good at jumping through hoops and presenting itself in a way that bore no resemblance to reality.

If we are lucky and good at our jobs teachers get to choose a school that reflects our beliefs about education. It is therefore not surprising that I have chosen to teach in a school that is not interested in jumping through hoops. Believe me it has it's faults and I know some would view it as archaic or overly strict.

missymarmite · 23/10/2011 20:21

I remember when I first started working as a TA in a secondary school. A mostly middle class, rural secondary school. I was utterly shocked and outraged by the behaviour of the kids, even the younger ones in year 7. What shocked me the most, was the low-level disruption, which is constant and unrelenting. Even the most competent teacher has to have the patience of a saint to deal with chatter, unwillingness to work, forgetfulness and inability to follow even basic instructions without a barrage of ?Miss? I don?t understand? even when they have been told clearly several times what has been asked of them. How they can possibly learn anything is beyond me. I used to say to myself, ?why don?t they discipline the kids? Why do they let them behave in that way?? Until I realised; they can?t discipline the kids, when the kids aren?t disciplined at home. Most kids are good. Most are well-behaved. But some aren?t. When they respect and fear their parents, they respect and fear teachers. But what can you do if you say to them, ?If you carry on with that behaviour, you will have a detention.? And they simply don?t come to detention. So you give them and afterschool detention. And they don?t turn up to that. You send letters home. No response. You call home, and the parents either don?t give a shit, or even actively become abusive towards you for daring to discipline their darling child.
And schools are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Many kids with behaviour difficulties are on the SEN register for some kind of special need. If they have a statement you virtually can?t kick them out. Even when it is possible to do so, expelling a child from school is a serious matter, and the school is penalised for doing it, even when they have just cause. Most kids are aware of this, and so they know they can pretty much do as they like without consequences. Plus most conscientious teachers don?t want these kids to end up on the scrap heap, with no education. So there is no alternative but to patiently, calmly, and constantly nurture and cajole. I have seen what happens when teachers try the authoritarian approach. Often it doesn?t solve anything, in fact, it just escalates the confrontation into a full blown attack.
I think the teachers at the school in Educating Essex do a sterling job. I think it is pretty true to life in many schools, although of course not every class, every day is as intense. The most shocking parts have been shown, it is a TV show after all. I actually think it is a good thing this school has done, and I think they have been very brave. The general public?s eyes need to be opened to the reality. Most schools are like this. If you don?t believe it, go and volunteer to be a TA for a week.
Those of you who criticise the school, the teachers and the management of this school; if you really think they are doing such a bad job, if you think you could do any better, why don?t you train as a teacher and improve the nation?s schools!

ElaineReese · 23/10/2011 20:27

I'd be thrilled for my daughters to go to that school, where the teachers are passionate about the kids, genuinely bothered about their welfare and properly engaged with their lives.

That's how it is when you don't bar anyone who isn't rich or clever from your doors - some of them might have a few issues.

MigratingCoconuts · 23/10/2011 20:35

Those of you who criticise the school, the teachers and the management of this school; if you really think they are doing such a bad job, if you think you could do any better, why don?t you train as a teacher and improve the nation?s schools!

here, here! well said!

Original poster
spiderpig8 · 23/10/2011 20:37

and will you still be thrilled when they are qualified for nothing better than stacking shelves?

OP posts:
ElaineReese · 23/10/2011 20:42

'meeja studies teacher' Xenia? Not heard of one of those in recent years, I must say.

Spiderpig, that's really rather offensive. If my children went to that outstanding comprehensive, I don't suppose they'd be the kids who made it to the documentary, because they're quite dull in that sense.... but I'll bet there are kids at that school, as at my children, who are taking 11 academic GCSEs and doing very well at them. It just wouldn't make quite such a good show to film them, would it?

ElaineReese · 23/10/2011 20:43

Oh sorry - not Xenia, that was you too, wasn't it Spider?

How old are your children, if you don't mind my asking?

ilovesooty · 23/10/2011 20:44

The school I taught at in my last 10 years of teaching was much, much worse.

missymarmite · 23/10/2011 20:46

Sorry but if someone is qualified for shelf stacking, I respectfully suggest that they aren't qualified to judge the competence of teachers.

ElaineReese · 23/10/2011 20:50

Who is qualified for shelf stacking?

MigratingCoconuts · 23/10/2011 21:04

spiderpig, that is just plain rude and also it demonstrates a level of ignorance that I would not be proud of if I were you!