Michaela School and behaviour - AIBU

[herculepoirot2]

AIBU to think that you might read this behaviour policy and think it is authoritarian and unnecessary, but to also think that, with results four times better than the national average, these people might have a point about the benefits to young people of being expected to work hard and behave well?

mcsbrent.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Behaviour-Policy-11.02.19.pdf

I couldn't follow the link but googled. Very interesting. I wonder what the pupils and parents think of the school? How do they instil the values of kindness and gratitude? I was initially horrified by the image of silent children moving in lines between lessons but actually her reasoning is sound. My kids hate the corridors and toilets of their secondary school. It IS where bullying and fights occur.

On the flip side, I have a friend who moved house at great expense to be in the catchment of a very good secondary. Her son hates it and is struggling with the pressure. Is it like that at the michaela school I wonder? Are those fantastic results due to excellent teaching and discipline or are the pupils put under a lot of stress?

Well it's mostly the discipline and behaviour that allows excellent teaching. It makes everything so much easier when you have well behaved classes who are expected to work hard and get on with it.

The parents have it seems been supportive after initial concerns but after those results then I think there's little to argue with. This is not a middle class area. There were many kids in that first cohort with behaviour issues who've done really well.

I was horrified by SLANT, silent corridors, no snacks(!) as well. Initially. And then I thought how much more pleasant it’s going to be for the little Year 7s turning up in September, confident that there won’t be corridor rioting, shoving, screaming, swearing, kids filming each other, kids arguing with teachers etc.

And just how much more they are going to know and be able to do, in five years’ time.

I know children that have gone here and even though I did baulk at many of the seemingly outdated behaviour policies (scratching your hand in class? Demerit!) , they are consistent and the children learn. Many of the problems with teaching where I am in London come down to very poor behaviour, lack of support from management and/or parents. Michaela don't have this problem so can focus on teaching. Children I know who have gone there found it hard at first to settle in to the regime but children like routine and seem to flourish with the opportunity to focus on learning. I wish our school were more hardline on behaviour! Our cohort is very similar to Michaela.

It doesn't sound very inclusive, so not sure personally. However, I do like they way they approach meal times:

We are excited to offer pupils a different eating experience. Rather than canteen provision, pupils at Michaela sit at tables, eating together and engaging in conversation. Children serve food to their classmates, clear each other’s plates and eat the food that they are given.

It doesn't sound very inclusive

I do wonder how they balance their expectations with students’ SN. But on the other hand, how much easier is a very predictable environment going to be to navigate for lots of students with ASD, or BESD?

We used to do that at my (girls independent) school.

It's just old fashioned teaching and values.

It's not trendy. But that traditionalsystem evolved over years..... evolution often better than revolution I think.

It had huge faults like corporal punishment. But there seems to be a lot we can learn from the Michaela approach

Agree quiet, consistent approach great for many kids with SEN.

Chaos is far, far more damaging.

I intend to implement as much as possible in their style next term. I am sick of the low level of disrespect we are forced to put up with and sick of the time wasted dealing with a minority of students.

I am sick of the low level of disrespect we are forced to put up with and sick of the time wasted dealing with a minority of students.

Hear hear.

I do wonder how they balance their expectations with students’ SN. But on the other hand, how much easier is a very predictable environment going to be to navigate for lots of students with ASD, or BESD?

My daughter would be good with the quiet, ordered side of it, but struggles with sitting still and often needs something to fiddle with. Also, she can hyper-focus or not focus at all. I do wonder whether the strictness of the setup has an influence on the types of families that feel that the school is a good fit for them, which could also explain the good results.

Results may be one thing, but it’s not the be all and end all.

Learning by rote is one of their approaches to teaching. That doesn’t foster critical thinking skills.

Without the discipline and structure of this school, I wonder how the alumni fayre at college and uni?

I also wonder how resilient the pupils will be when they enter the wider world.

I do wonder whether the strictness of the setup has an influence on the types of families that feel that the school is a good fit for them, which could also explain the good results.

It will do, especially in an area of London with so much choice of where to send your child to school. But also lots of gang violence, drugs and underachievement, so parents are very incentivised to send their children here.

I have a friends who’s Dd went to a similar school.

Her problem has come at uni.
She is out of her depths on the social side of things and she is struggling

*Results may be one thing, but it’s not the be all and end all.

Learning by rote is one of their approaches to teaching. That doesn’t foster critical thinking skills.*

I think you have to know stuff before you can think critically about it. What are you thinking critically about otherwise? Cheese?

I think that life isn't all about exam results.

I was an extremely quiet and well-behaved student and I'd have hated this sort of school because I'd have been constantly anxious about getting in trouble for very minor things. It teaches obedience and conformity. I'm not surprised that this leads to better exam results. I don't believe, however, that it leads to better people.

The mealtime description sounded nice until I got to 'eat what they're given' at the end. That's about the exertion of power - why not give children a choice over what they eat? It's also a way to exclude children who eat limited diets, which is often due to special needs (which could be undiagnosed, as mine were at that age).

I think that life isn't all about exam results.

Exam results are just a demonstration of learning. I can’t think of many things I would prefer for my child (after health, kindness and a reasonable degree of happiness) than that she be informed.

I was an extremely quiet and well-behaved student and I'd have hated this sort of school because I'd have been constantly anxious about getting in trouble for very minor things. It teaches obedience and conformity. I'm not surprised that this leads to better exam results. I don't believe, however, that it leads to better people.

Perhaps not. Or perhaps it leads to people who are able to show respect for others, and are going to have easier lives as a result.

Without the discipline and structure of this school, I wonder how the alumni fayre at college and uni?

this is one of my big issues, that this approach simply doesn't prepare them for life outside this draconian atmosphere. All the great results in the world won't help you if you cannot function in the wider world.

The mealtime description sounded nice until I got to 'eat what they're given' at the end

same. I went to boarding school and we had mixed age tables, which were arranged from LVI to first years. The two first years had to fetch and carry, the LVI portioned and served everything up. Result: the first years ran around like blue arsed flies getting everything, begging other tables for spare stuff etc. And if the food was nice and the LVI girl was horrible the younger ones got tiny portions, or if it was horrible they got giant portions.

Making children eat what they don't like/want is awful. But i agree that learning good table maners and how to make polite conversation is a good life skill. OTOH: lunch breaks are just that, a break. I don't eat with my colleagues and have polite conversation sometimes because i want to be alone. I think children might also sometimes need a break from each other.

I didn’t see anything in the policy about forcing them to eat. Where was that?

Frankly it sounds far more inclusive than the shit that most children have to put up with at school these days. At the moment it seems that if you want to have a reasonable expectation of decent behaviour at secondary, you need to pay for private where they will just get rid of you if you can’t behave, or to one of the selective sources where the same happens. Children should not have to put up with crap behaviour.

And that's what PARENTS are key for.

School is, if we are being honest, about learning your subjects.

Yes the social side is there but it's primarily for LEARNING. It's not a youth club, sports club etc.

Parents have to do their bit in teaching the social sides by getting kids to youth clubs, sports, whatever outside of school time.

Schools cannot produce fully rounded beings in 6 hours a day.

I think people focus a lot on the seemingly draconian, punitive behaviour policy.

But it's only one aspect of the school. There is a lot of emphasis on kindness and respect which the teachers mirror to the students.

It's not for everyone, but good on them for having a vision and the stubbornness to see it through.

I think you have to know stuff before you can think critically about it. What are you thinking critically about otherwise? Cheese?
I agree, but you also have to understand something before you can think critically about it.

Drilling students can make them pass tests, but it doesn’t provide them with an opportunity to make sense of the material.

*I agree, but you also have to understand something before you can think critically about it.

Drilling students can make them pass tests, but it doesn’t provide them with an opportunity to make sense of the material.*

These kids clearly do have understanding, though. 37% of exams taken were passed with 9-7. Top grades!