to be absolutely horrified by Educating Essex

[spiderpig8]

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!!

YABVU.

I work as a Head of Y10 in a school in very challenging circumstances, recently out of Special Measures and think that Passmores is fairly typical. I reckon that 95% of the students are delightful, (its about 85% in my school!!) and agree only the interesting situations are shown.

And as for all of you saying my DS school is not like that etc.. I think you are really naive about the intake. Just because your DC and their friends are not like this does not mean there aren't students like this in the school. They are obviously dealt with fairly swiftly though and others learning not impacted.

What struck me most about Passmores is how well the Head and Deputy (I heart Mr Drew) know and really care about their students and their outcomes.

The time that the Head took with the lad who was going to be a Dad was great and when Vinnie was taken into care he was visibly upset. That would never happen in my school, the head wouldn't have a clue.

I would happily work there and send my DC.

Can people who are sneering at the results and the make-up really not appreciate what a brilliant job that Mr Drew and Mr Goddard are doing with those kids?

Well good for you while you were getting your arse kicked you were thinking of the bigger picture

Most people who have had a chid kill themselves

I don't really give a shit what my sons bullies will turn out to be in 10 years and I don't feel I should sacrifice my son or anyone elses child to find out

And more than likey the fact these bullies go unchallenged in any serious way at school just makes the adult bullies that we here about on the work threads

I find it very interesting that in our area, our boys' rugby team detest fixtures at the boys' grammar in the nearest middle-class town; despite the fact that they usually win, they find these boys pathetic, provocational and immature (as do our girls). My friend who works in this school after the early part of his career spent in 'rough' mixed comps has to deal with serious, organised and vicious bullying, drug-dealing and utterly obnoxious parents. He's waiting for a job to become available in our 'challenging' area !

The Head and the Deputy - and all the pastoral team - of Passmores do an excellent job. Pastoral care is a large part of Ofsted.

For the poster who mentioned BTECs - a lot of schools have to bolster results with BTECS, OCR NAtionals and other courses of 'equal' vcalue to GCSEs. That is the price paid for demanding everyone leave with 5 or more GCSE A*-C's. Until it is realised not all puoils are academic, it will remain so.

What does a parent want? A school with a good academic record. How do you achieve this? by bolstering the results. I guarantee none of you would look at a school with a 20% pass rate of true GCSEs - you would deem it awful, or failing, or just not the sort of place you would want your PFB to set foot in. So schools have to find courses for non-academic pupils. And in true 'equality' these courses must be 'equal' to true GCSE courses.

CreepyCaesar good for you but I do believe most think pass mores is what is wrong with the uk and not whats right

Your happy to work their but parents are voting with their feet so what your happy with and want parents want seemed to be different they want the morals or church schools which are mostly oversubscribed they want the rigour or private schools which people bankrupt them selves to sends their children to

Most people don't want pass mores

Can people who are sneering at the results and the make-up really not appreciate what a brilliant job that Mr Drew and Mr Goddard are doing with those kids?

But are they really?

I think they have failed to impose even basic rules such as no mobiles in the classroom, no wandering around in the classroom to talk to your mates etc.

I apprecaite that they have some difficult social issues to deal with but their primary purpose should be to create an disciplined atmosphere within school where the forgotten majority of children have an environment in which they can feel safe and can learn without being disrupted by a small element of their peers.

That doesn't seem to be happing at this school and may others.

maypole, I do think you are right that bullying has to be dealt with. A lot of problems for teachers come from the fact that there is little they can do, short of having someone prosecuted for assault. A lot of the time they come from homes where the parents are completely unsupportive of the school's attempts to discipline them.

IMO it's an average school. It's 26 years since I left my inner London comp and in all honesty it was pretty much like Passmores then! I'm sure some schools are posher and some are infinitely less posh but I would imagine this is fairly tame compared to many.

For me the redeeming feature was that the staff dud actually seem to care about the kids. To be fair I didn't see this weeks but previously the way they dealt with a bullying matter, an anger management issue and a pregnant couple was fantastic. The staff were utterly human and kind. I would be happy if my kids were looked after by these staff.

Most people who have had a child kill themselves what?

Most people who have had a child kill themselves as a result of bullying would be entirely justified in wanting punitive action against the bullies. And I'd be very surprised if bullies who drove a kid to suicide remained welcome at the school. But most children who are bullied do not kill themselves. By your constant references to death, you are setting up a straw man. No one is arguing about death, only you.

Now, at the time I was being bullied, I did not see the bigger picture and wish every success to my bullies. But that's why justice is not and should not be decided by the victims. That's a universal principle, not just confined to school discipline.

I really like it, Mr Drew is an excellent teacher firm but fair and he doesn't blame the youth of today for every of societies ills, which is very refreshing and rare.

YABU to be horrified, come to my old primary school where dinner ladies where shot by air guns by unruly pupils , and trafficking networks pulled up outside our comp every dinner time thats zoo.

I was horrified watching Educating Essex, I am sure that not all comprehensive schools are like that, the one near us has excellent results, and a very disciplined environment. I cannot believe that was top set maths, where the girl did not have clue, exclaiming "what is pi", "where does it come from" , thought it was the bottom set tbh. The teachers seemed not to have any authority and let the pupils dictate the lessons.

I would like to see a similar programme on TV set in an 'Outstanding' comp, Grammar or Faith school. Now that would be an eye-opener for all those who seriously think that their DC are safe from all harm ...

The school is ace, I don't know what you lot are talking about. The pupils are just being normal teenagers :s The staff have set good boundaries, are reasonable and do not make the mistake of being unapproachable, authority figures that maintain discipline through fear alone. The kids RESPECT these adults, actually listen to them and more importantly LIKE them. So some of the pupils fuck up sometimes? At this school, they're still treated with respect and given another chance. Good on them.

Do we have to keep going over "Where does pi come from?" It's not a stupid question at all. Do you know where pi comes from?

Tbh, I think there are bigger issues than mobiles etc and as teaching and leadership staff you need to pick your battles. I think actually the prog is highlighting how much slack the staff have to pick up from parents.

Oh Dear God! ROFL - my son goes to an Outstanding Grammar - Jeez - the tales he comes home with ...... I actually said to his Chem teacher at parents evening "I'm not having this conversation with you - I can't believe you cannot control a classroom and I don't know why you are allowed to teach" that went down like a ton of bricks!

albertcamus yes me to i very much doubt the boys at harrow would be asking what is pi

And I don't think at eaton students would be wondering round in class texting

The mobile phone thing, that should be slapped right down. Total ban. They are the devils own tool in a school environment. That applies to all schools Im afraid.

hollyfly totally agree :)

Enforced 'respect' is meaningless, earned respect by teachers, as shown at Passmores, is critical for students

And I don't think at eaton students would be wondering round in class texting

Well, that much is true - and they probably go to Eton

Actually, I think that the last episode did highlight the issues mobiles create or perpetuate...a very modern phenomenon.

But I thought Essex was an 11+/grammar School area?

Surely this is really a secondary modern, not a comprehensive school?

trois but I bet your son's (ineffective) Chemistry teacher is on UPS + TLR and most parents delude themselves that he is a great teacher for their DC !

NinkyNonker no phones are not a different issue it starts with things like uniform and phones

My sons school has a zero tolerance approach and no coincidence it's the best school in the la

Mobile phones are confiscated and the parents have to make a appointment to get them back they they and the student are read the riot act if they don't make the appointment the phone stays at the school

They have a locked cabinet on display for the pupils displeasure