First Conservative education secretary to send child to state secondary

[BananaChoccyPancake]

Of course, not your average run-of-the-mill state secondary ....

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/10674662/Michael-Goves-daughter-wins-place-at-state-school.html

Lucky for them they weren't caught out by the adjudicators admissions ruling.

I wonder if that was one of the schools he was offering to show Simon Cowell round.

I thought it operated "fair banding". How does this fit with the faith criteria?

there are plenty of very impoverished areas in Westminster, believe me. But those kids get sent to the large sink academies.

Nice article by Ms. Vine

"I did have a brief spell at a fee-paying boarding school in Sussex, but due to a misunderstanding involving a night-club in Piccadilly, a 4am trip on the milk train from Victoria and the theft of some Penguin biscuits, that association was swiftly and ingloriously terminated.

After that, it was state schools all the way. Some of the ones I attended were far from idyllic. ‘Scary’ would be a better way to describe them. ‘Blood-curdling’ would be another."

Ah yes dead ordinary me, I only went to ONE £30k/year boarding school.

"Although the school does have banding, with only 25% of places going to high achievers."

Well if you look at the actual stats, it's actually 52%:

www.education.gov.uk/cgi-bin/schools/performance/school.pl?urn=138313
I guess their assessment tests don't accord with the ones used by the rest of the country.

Plus 10% of the intake is straight super-selective on 'language ability', which I presume is a euphemism for 'we'll take the brightest from Westminster's prep school'.

"I'm not an out-and-out Michael Gove fan, but can the man win? If he'd sent his dd to a private school - well, that would have been suicide. And to a poorly-ranking comprehensive? Would any other middle-class parent do this if they had any choice in the matter? Of course not. "

He chose an exclusive school that discriminates not only against non-Christians, but even Christians that have unstable backgrounds and can't comply with the requirements for five years of church attendance.

a University Training School (very different)

Not different at all. Any new school in England is a free school. That is what the IoE wanted to set up. The "University Training School" aspect meant that the IoE wanted to use this secondary school as a training ground for new teachers. But it would still have been a free school.

girls will only get in if they and their parents have been going to church weekly for at least five years

Not true. Out of 151 places 15 are awarded based on aptitude for languages and a further 28 places are awarded without reference to faith criteria.

Martorana - They use the faith criteria (and other criteria such as LAC and distance) to determine who to admit from within each band.

Well if you look at the actual stats, it's actually 52%

That is the percentage of their intake that scored above level 4 at the end of KS2. Fair banding tends to use non-verbal reasoning tests which can give different results. A child may get a low score on NVR but still achieve above level 4 at the end of KS2 (and vice versa). Also if they are basing their bands on those applying rather than the local or national population it will naturally skew towards the top end if parents of lower ability children think this school is not for them.

If they are not operating fair banding correctly that would be grounds for appeal by those who miss out on places. It could also lead to intervention by the Schools Adjudicator and/or the EFA. So if they are fiddling the results in some way they are playing a dangerous game.

which I presume is a euphemism for 'we'll take the brightest from Westminster's prep school'

If it is that is a breach of the Admissions Code. The tests must be for aptitude in the subject. They must not be for ability (i.e. what the child has already learned) nor can they cover any other subject.

Fascinating that there seem to be so few low attainers and children with statements among Christian families- it's almost like divine intervention........

"That is the percentage of their intake that scored above level 4 at the end of KS2. Fair banding tends to use non-verbal reasoning tests which can give different results. "

Well their results seem suspicious at best.

Compare Mossbourne, which operates fair banding without religious selection:

www.education.gov.uk/cgi-bin/schools/performance/school.pl?urn=134693
vs.
www.education.gov.uk/cgi-bin/schools/performance/school.pl?urn=138313

"If it is that is a breach of the Admissions Code. The tests must be for aptitude in the subject. "

Maybe so, but it's still still 10% straight selective. The aptitude tests appear to be a form of IQ test.

To be fair to the odious man, I don't think he is being hypocritical at all - he has chosen a state school that clearly fits with his ideals: he wants state schools to be more like private schools; and he is quite happy with the idea of state schools being run by religious organisations and similar special-interest and corporate groups etc, etc.

His poor, deluded wife, however, needs to revisit her view that a single sex school which singularly fails to attract all sorts, even if it claims to try (within the half of the population it has limited itself to catering for and after it has been allowed to give special consideration to several specific groups...), is providing her child with the comprehensive education she claims to be seeking. I just love her writing in the Daily Mail that, "Beatrice will receive a far more comprehensive education — in every sense of the phrase — than at any private establishment." The unspoken bit is, of course... "but still not too comprehensive."

Martorana, that's why our local Catholic primary always gets 100% Level 4 SATS - they've got the Big Guy on their side...

I'm not even sure what that means about 'far more comprehensive'.

If she went to St Pauls Girls (private) she could study Italian, Russian, Greek and Chinese. She can't do those at Grey Coat.

In what sense is it 'more comprehensive'? Because there are more black people there? Or because there is a set somewhere hidden away doing BTECs rather than A Levels?

I can't see the problem with this.

His priority should be his children rather than his career, I'd think a lot less of him if he used his daughter to score political points than I would of him making use of his parental choice for the benefit of his daughter. And I can't stand the man.

Their SEN figure is not particularly low - 5.3% against a national average of 7.1%. Indeed, at KS4 their figure is 9% against a national average of 9.7%. Their low attainer figure is 9% compared to a national average of 15.3%. This is a little on the low side but not unusual for a faith school. These schools tend to attract parents who value education and are prepared to jump through hoops to get their child into the school of their choice.

But doesn't fair banding mean there should be 25% low attainers? Or am I misunderstanding?

Compare Mossbourne, which operates fair banding without religious selection

Hackney has a lower proportion of high attainers amongst the general secondary school population compared to Westminster. Mossbourne's figure is well above the average for the LA. Also, as per my last post, faith schools will tend to attract the kind of parents who are likely to have high achieving children. I am not saying this is how things should be, just that the high figure for high attainers at this school does not necessarily mean there is any wrong doing.

The aptitude tests appear to be a form of IQ test

If they are that is wrong. The fair banding test will be a form of IQ test but the test for languages should be different. This must test specifically for aptitude in languages, not general intelligence. If you are sure of your facts please refer this to the Schools Adjudicator.

Create a complicated admissions process and lo and behold, you mainly attract people intelligent enough to understand it.

Actually many of the best performing schools that use fair banding operate like Grey Coat Hospital - you didn't really think fair banding was fair when it comes to league tables did you? Thomas Telford, Colston Girls, Cardinal Vaughan, even Harris Crystal Palace operate the same way. Their intake reflects the quality of the applicants sitting the banding tests so if 60% of the applicants are clever mc kids who travel half way across London/Bristol to sit the tests then 60% clever mc kids will be admitted. Add to this 10-15% admitted on aptitude for music/languages etc then you get a very selective comprehensive. It seems to be quite common though when individual schools run their own banding tests.

But doesn't fair banding mean there should be 25% low attainers

No. England as a whole has 15.7% low attainers. If the school had 25% low attainers it would have significantly more than average.

Suppose they base the bands on those applying (which I suspect is what this school does). If 600 children apply they would put 150 in the top band, 150 in the bottom band and 300 in the middle band. They will admit 75 from the middle band and 38 from each of the other bands. If every single one of the children applying is a high attainer by DfE standards they will end up with 100% high attainers in the intake despite using fair banding correctly.

The other important thing to remember is that the terms "low, middle and high attainers" and fair banding are measuring different things. Fair banding measures potential. The various levels of attainment are about performance. So a child with limited potential who has been well taught may be a high attainer according to the DfE (based on their KS2 results) but would still be in the bottom band for fair banding purposes (based on their NVR test score). Similarly a child may be in the top band despite being a low attainer.

Create a complicated admissions process and lo and behold, you mainly attract people intelligent enough to understand it

Very true!

Their intake reflects the quality of the applicants sitting the banding tests

Not necessarily. Some schools use bands based on the local population or the national population, so even if their applicants are skewed to one end of the scale they will still end up reflecting the general population. Of course, however it is done, if there are no applicants from the bottom 10% of the population there will be none admitted.

Add to this 10-15% admitted on aptitude for music/languages

Most schools using fair banding also band those admitted on aptitude and adjust the numbers from the bands accordingly. It is not clear whether or not this school does this.

Thank you, prh- I understand now!

Some schools use bands based on the local population or the national population

Should have added that I suspect this school is not one of them so the intake does indeed reflect the quality of applicants.

Thomas Telford, Colston Girls, Cardinal Vaughan, even Harris Crystal Palace operate the same way

As do many other schools. Not all of them occupy high league table positions. And if any school is using fair banding as a disguised form of selection to get only the brightest pupils they are clearly in breach of the law and should be referred to the authorities.

So, how are the bottom band chosen in fair banding? Is it the x% with the lowest scores in that band, or those scoring the highest in that band? And what about those in the middle? Is it those scoring in the middle of the middle band? And those scoring at the top of the top band? Or is it a "random" selection from each band? Or those who are the most religious in each band? Or those who have the most linguistic aptitude?

Or do they have bands within bands?!

Is it the x% with the lowest scores in that band, or those scoring the highest in that band

No. The score can only be used to place the child in the appropriate band. It cannot be used to determine which children get admitted from that band. Some schools use a random lottery. Others, including this school, have admission criteria with distance as the tie breaker. So a non-faith child will go into the pot with other non-faith children of the same band. Looked after children will be admitted first, then siblings, then in-catchment children attending a feeder school, then other in-catchment children, then out of catchment children. For the faith places different criteria are used with the level of commitment being part of the process - this is what the Schools Adjudicator objected to.

Presumably selecting without reference to faith criteria doesn't actually mean you won't be selecting more Christians. I see prh47 mentioned earlier than within the bands they do choose with reference to their little preferences (linguistic ability, faith), then distance, etc.