suspicious of school "sales pitch"....

[tricot39]

I went to a school open evening and was very impressed by the way in which pupils were supported. Also that the young people who spoke were impressive. However they had a slideshow with a handful of high achieving pupils and my cynical streak started thinking that schools with lots of high achievers wouldn't need to focus on individuals so much. There are 4 forms and 4-5 kids got 10 a/a* this year. They have 40 exclusions per year and pupils are locked in at lunchtimes for safety. Exclusions normally forverbal abuse or violence between pupils and ocasionally involves violence involving an adult. About 50% get 5 a-c gsces. No 6th form. Deprived area with high FSM and EAL. They stream off the top pupils but otherwise classes are mixed so if your dc are middling they will get less help/peer support. I came away thinking that the school seemed ok but over time am worrying that i have been unduly influenced by a good sales pitch...... I cant shake off that all 4 kids who spoke were enthusiatic about the school way beyond what pupils were like in "my day"! they were so enthusiastic and full of jargon that i have begun to wonder if bribery was involved...! Also all of them were well spoken without a london or fake jamaican accent, which in our area is a rarity! Any thoughts to help me get my brain sorted?

You need to arrange a visit on a normal school day, it will tell you all you need to know.

And if they won't let you, or won't let you see it all, that also tells you all you need to know.

I think you are right to be cynical. Like SatinSandals says, if they won't let you visit on a normal school day and see ordinary non-handpicked students, steer clear.

DD1 is going to visit her old primary school this week, to help promote her secondary school. She has been given a script, which she has rehearsed. I'm sure the four who spoke would have been given similar.

The lunchtime lock-ins would freak me out and I would be very suspicious of the focus on a small number of individual high-achievers. I agree with others that you need to visit on a normal day and see whether what you see matches the spin you have been given.

Catch the bus from the bus stop nearest the school at the end of the school day. That this the real test - you will see how the pupils treat each other, and others and get a real impression of the school.

it sounds like the secondary school I went to :) in which case yes there probably was quite a lot of bribery involved and the students will have been very carefully chosen.

I would suggest walking past the school at school finishing time as this will give you a very good idea of the behaviour and visit on a normal day and ask to see ALL the year 7 classes as otherwise they could just choose to show you the best behaved class. Lunch time lock-ins and the mixed classes sound worrying to me, also 40 exclusions seems quite high (although I don't know what the average for other schools is)

Is 40 exclusions, 40 different DCs and for how long.

It sounds a lot, but if it's just odd days for a few repeat offenders it may not be as bad. Some schools try really hard to avoid permanent exclusions.