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

namenic no the student would have separate accommodation for exams, as do the ones who type or who need a scribe. Are you suggesting that the student I'm referring to should be made to be taught in a separate room as well?

Are you suggesting that the student I'm referring to should be made to be taught in a separate room as well?

Again, here we are with conflicting rights.

@rainuntilseptember - or taught in a system where kids are ok with that. We shouldn’t assume that some kids are not negatively impacted by it. Some kids work better where there is a bit of noise allowed. Other kids do better in a system where you require silence.

There is a right to an education. There is not a right for that education to be in silence. Children do not need to be in complete silence to learn. I don't want to post about this again as I am becoming increasingly upset about how disabled children are viewed by some posters. I have chosen a - I would have thought - relatively uncontroversial example of a pupil who is in all way the same as the next pupil, but who at times has a verbal tic. If a school can't cope with that level of SEN something is seriously wrong. I don't care about Michaela existing anymore than the many private schools, but I do care when people suggest that because of their apparent success we should all be following their strategies.

I agree that there is a right to an effective education.

Rainuntilseptember

Do you have any evidence that Michaela would not make reasonable adjustments? Any at all?

Again - are you saying they pick and choose their SEN?

rain I am getting upset too, there seems to be a view of 'out of sight, out of mind' when it comes to pupils with AN. Shove them off somewhere else. What is worse is the implication that it is only the pupils with a SEN that are causing the trouble in a classroom.

Remember as well the definition of SEN is very broad and in a school of this size, even having an average number of pupils with SEN, still only means half a dozen or so pupils per year.

Compare that to my school which has a higher percentage and a higher pupil intake and it is then 30 odd children.

Raw data means little, you need to look into the whys and how's.

What is worse is the implication that it is only the pupils with a SEN that are causing the trouble in a classroom.

Who implied this? Where?

TeamUnicorn

Are you upset with Michaela or with posters here.

No one has presented any evidence that Michaela has an attitude of “out of sight..” for SEN children. It’s not fair to suggest it has.

Perhaps there should be a legal requirement that this kind of zero tolerance school is not the only school in the area. Just like grammar schools.

Posters. And yes it has been implied.

But as I said previously, I purposely avoided a zero tolerance school knowing it was not the right environment for my children.

Perhaps there should be a legal requirement that this kind of zero tolerance school is not the only school in the area. Just like grammar schools

Yeah, it would be completely awful if every school in the area supported its kids to reach their potential. Awful idea.*

disclaimer: I do* see that there is a need for a variety of approaches, but I’m finding the demonisation of a school that has done really, really well for its cohort of children a wee bit frustrating.

And yes it has been implied

With no evidence.

name I think there has possibly been concerns raised about how many schools are run by the Outwood Grange Trust in some areas. I am not sure where the tipping point should be though.

The funnelling into office work etc is down to their curriculum. Very narrow curriculum. Everything academic.

As I have said I have a friend whos DC went to a similar school to this and university is their goal for all the children.

Devil's advocate: I'm autistic and I went to a state school, and I had a fucking nightmare a lot of the time because of noise, people screaming and shouting, the class being collectively punished, not being able to do my work because of other pupils messing around, plus I got very badly bullied. I was an A* student and I got a lot of shit for it. I'm just glad social media wasn't around then because if it had been, my life would have been hell. I wish my school had been more like Michaela.

The funnelling into office work etc is down to their curriculum. Very narrow curriculum. Everything academic.

What do you mean by office work? I think there’s a bit of a leap from an academic curriculum to being funnelled into office work tbh.

They don’t teach my subject at Michaela, so it’s hard for me to do comparisons with what I know! But considering many academies are dropping the subject because it is too difficult, I would have liked to have seen how Michaela would approach it. This was one of the questions they didn’t like or answer, when I visited last year.
However, it is part of the national curriculum and I am surprised OFSTED thought they had a broad a balanced curriculum because of it but I suppose free schools can largely get around this, just like academies.

RafaIsTheKingOfClay

It is hardly the curriculum that is going to encourage a BTEC or C&Gs type work.

You really expect a child who has been discussing Homer in their lunch period, the narrow curriculum, and no talking to other children unless supervised by a teacher for careers in plumbing, acting or hair dressing and beauticians to crop up and be encouraged as perfectly good career paths

I am trying to figure out what that is now! German?

They really do not have a broad curriculum, and this will especially be the case in their sixth form. They probably won't get an Ofsted for a while, now, though. They really have made nothing available there for the students who are not at the very top end of even their own year 11 achievement and, even then, don't offer much of a range. Maybe that will grow over time. She has bemoaned that she can't find a classics teacher, for example.

What irks me more is Gibbs and co's unbridled love for Michaela and its methods without any real acknowledgement that other methods are also successful. KB and others really have the ear of the DfE and are influencing quite significant education and curriculum policy. This really has been controversial in English where the advisory panel was drawn almost entirely from 'trad' schools.

You really expect a child who has been discussing Homer in their lunch period, the narrow curriculum, and no talking to other children unless supervised by a teacher for careers in plumbing, acting or hair dressing and beauticians to crop up and be encouraged as perfectly good career paths

A child with a solid range of passes in academic subjects can be an actor or a beautician if they want. A child without can’t go to university.

It’s about choice. Teachers are responsible for providing the best possible education for each child, not for social engineering.

A child with a solid range of passes in academic subjects can be an actor or a beautician if they want. A child without can’t go to university

Why would you need university to do any of these careers. Is there any career advice given or is it university focussed.

Sorry Piggy! It’s Computer Science/Computing or any form of technology really!

Oh, how silly of me; now I look again I can see they don't offer that! I know their buildings aren't conducive to a lot of stuff , in common with a lot of free schools, but I also always sense that KB really is not interested in any subject she takes a dim view of much like quite a lot of mumsnetters

Why would you need university to do any of these careers. Is there any career advice given or is it university focussed.

I don’t know, but I do know that 16 year old children have better life chances if they have good exam results than if they don’t. 🤷🏻‍♀️