Michaela Academy given outstanding, is it the way forward for education?

[Gettheleather]

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/education/2016/dec/30/no-excuses-inside-britains-strictest-school

This is the school I'm talking about. I've read a lot about it and I'm almost persuaded it could work. It has recently been awarded outstanding by ofsted. What does everyone else think? My only concern is that if it was nationwide we'd have a whole generation of academics and there are other valuable skills we need in the workforce.

Sorry but has she ever taught in another school.

I actually couldn't understand her acertions about other schools and that all children are horrible.

Only got to that point.

Is she just trying to drum up business by saying that all children will be horrible unless you go to my school.

Can't understand why not one has sent their children their from other schools if it is so amazing. Why doesn't it have a 6th form. Presumably they have teachers qualified to teach A levels who won't be for a few years. How will that work out.
The school I presume is able to take many more pupils but atm is not even half full.

I think anyone who has had a bad time at secondary school would understand and appreciate her ethos.

Oliversmumsarmy

Why doesn't it have a 6th form. Presumably they have teachers qualified to teach A levels who won't be for a few years.

This is always the case when a new school - any new school - is set up. They start with Year 7 only and only reach full enrolment after 7 years. Otherwise every new school would have to find sufficient pupils willing to leave their friends to move to a new school just to make up the numbers, something that would be very difficult. Also, parents will only be willing to send their children to a new school for A levels once it's proved itself via its GCSE results.

But surely there are people moving into the area not just those that got given the school when leaving primary. If parents only send their children to schools that have a proven track record at A level does that mean it will never have a 6th form.

Dd was not one of the cool kids at secondary in fact any other child would have been bullied but she decided to make her own group of friends from those that were considered to be the weird kids. Those that didn't have the cool gene.

It started off as just her and another friend then grew. Anyone even those that weren't in her year let alone their class who looked a bit lonely or were the new kids they took under their wings.

In this school I think dd would have been awfully lonely and felt completely stifled

But surely there are people moving into the area ..

Maybe - but there are also people moving out as well. I think that generally in some areas of the country, especially London, there's been an increase in the primary school age population that hasn't yet hit the teenage years yet. But anyway, it doesn't really matter - that's how the Department of Education does these things, logical or not!

Yes, such a school might not suit some children, but all the blogs I've read from visitors to the school (and there are a lot of them) really do stress that the children seemed very happy, even if the people writing the blogs are sceptical about other aspects of the school. I think it's to do with the school's ethos of 'Kindness' and the measures they take to prevent bullying.

'I think there is a distinct danger in their very rigid discipline and uniform policies of serious disability discrimination. '

I was wondering about that. How they they make adjustments for pupils with Tourettes or ADHD/ASD/sensory processing difficulties who may need to make noise when walking between lessons?

Their policies won't help children to learn to regulate their own behaviour.

It would be interesting to ask the head that. Maybe people just avoid sending their kid there in the first place as they sense they wouldn't have their needs met?

aayla - I'm sure you know much more about this than I do, but why would a child with ADHD, ASD or sensory processing difficulties "need" to make noise?

Some people with ASD do something called 'stimming' as a coping strategy. It could count as disruptive.
I think it sounds like a soulless school to me. There is a middle ground between this and a Borstal.

My dc's comp got outstanding in all categories this year and couldn't be more different rom Michaela. It's eccentric, noisy, arty, lots of older staff and higher than the average number of dc's with SEN. My 2 would have hated Michaela and my third would have been excluded as she can't conform (she's mentally ill). Actually I think my youngest wouldn't last 10 minutes as he has ASD and has a problem with impulse control when he's agitated.

Doctordonna - perhaps you should visit. Most people remark on how happy the kids seem!!

Are there other coping strategies that don't involve noise? I am very ignorant of this issue, but it does seem that it could be really stigmatising as you got older.

Personally I am considering moving in catchment for future children. I think they are probably a little too sure of themselves, but it seems a great education and superior to my private school. The proof will be in their results & post 18 destinations though.

Doctor, that's not my experience re supportive parents. No idea how many schools you've worked out or how many different areas of the country but it's certainly not the case here.

Having said that I don't support the idea of this school either - there's definitely a happy medium.

@Alyosha no need to visit. I am in a perfect fit school for me. I like working somewhere where students can disagree with me in my lessons. A Level English Literature would be boring otherwise. And it would destroy my love of my subject to mark the rubbish they think is good essay writing! My school works for me and my students. I had a fantastic student who turned things around between years 12 and 13 going from a C to an A* in my subject. We had revision sessions for resits sat cross legged on tables. Another student had tea and cake club with me (and occasional others) in my class room before her lessons. This was actually a mentoring session. It does not sound as if caters for individuals in any way. The students they have may well be happy there. I, however, would be a very UNhappy teacher there.

"Are there other coping strategies that don't involve noise?" It's an involuntary behaviour to provide sensory input that the child can't control.

@EveningShadows all schools in South East. Placement schools in training were a supposedly 'difficult' school in Hayes and Harlington (lovely department, supportive SLT, was fab) following that a school in Tolworth that was not as good as the Head thought it was (department crap, students lovely, one dreadfully behaved student without parental support). Since then my experience is more niche. Boys grammar. Two of them. One each side of London. In both there have been parents who queried school actions. The thing that really makes a difference I've found is having a supportive SLT and department.
I think most teachers could give examples of ineffective or unsupportive parents (just like parents can give examples of rubbish teachers). However, I maintain that the majority of parents are supportive of school. It's important not to equate volume with numbers.

I'm halfway through listening to a 3 hour interview with their head of maths. It's very interesting, tbh, how having a half-full school has really given them something lacking in other schools, namely time to think about what they are doing. Their maths curriculum seems to be designed with lots of thought about what goes where and why, and prescribed methods for teaching each topic. I wish I could say as much thought went into my school's schemes of work, but the truth is we just can't. They've been able to concentrate on KS3 for 3 years while the rest of the country has been getting to grips with the new GCSE which will be more established when they start it. Schools are now getting to grips with A-level with last minute syllabus sign-offs meaning everything's a mad rush. Again Michaela doesn't have to worry for a couple of years.

I teach in a department which is not prescriptive. The SOW basically says 'teach solving equations' and it's entirely up to teachers how and which resources to use. I prefer this, but it is way more time consuming. In Michaela they have a booklet for each topic containing examples, questions and everything needed for that topic for all pupils.

I don't know how their pupils actually get on at maths, but I think it gets more curriculum time than at other schools, and the students also do more practice outside of lessons so I suspect they will do well.

Good point @noblegiraffe. We are also quite a free department. Up to each teacher how they teach things and choose our own texts at GCSE and A Level. Can't see that happening there.

I understand the different between volume and numbers - my point is, as I said before, that the smaller number of vocal but unsupportive parents cause teachers untold stress as their lack of support (and sometimes disruptive behaviour towards teachers) can be deeply unpleasant and ongoing.

I'm guessing from your post that you're a secondary teacher - you would have a totally different experience of parental involvement/difficulties from those of us in the private sector.

If one thing drives me out of the profession it won't be the paperwork or the kids or the constant moving goalposts - it'll be the parents.

I teach at a grammar. Many of the parents also have children in the private sector.

Maybe people just avoid sending their kid there in the first place as they sense they wouldn't have their needs met?

With only 360 pupils in the school so far, it's statistically unlikely that a child with Tourette's or even that level of ASD would end up in the school, even if places were randomly assigned. So I don't think it's necessarily the case that parents are avoiding it, although it's certainly possible. On the other hand, the very calm and ordered atmosphere would probably be very beneficial for children with ASD. The lively and noisy classrooms of today dont seem to be advantageous for them.

@kesstrel our KS3 is a similar size. We are a superselective and have several students with ASD, one diagnosed ADHD (would be considered disruptive by many) and other SEN students. I too am quite suspicious of their attitude to SEN.
However, I agree that well communicated, consistently implemented rules are good for ASD students. You don't have to be as extreme as this school to achieve this.

I think you need to remember that while some children with ASD are highly sensitive to noise others are "under sensitive" and need noisy places and will bang doors or other objects or even make loud noises to stimulate themselves. Without this stimulation they often fail to communicate effectively and may not acknowledge certain sounds.

Behaviour is one of an increasingly long list of things making teachers leave the profession. Probably the only reason it's not cited by almost all teachers as their reason for leaving is not that it's got better, but that other things have got worse faster. It's still a big problem that most 'normal' schools don't seem to be able to sort out.

From what I've heard, Michaela isn't the only school with a 'no excuses' behaviour policy, they just bang on about it more publicly.

This one in Bournemouth was in the news recently for hiring a detentions director similar to Michaela:

www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/15360437.School_where_pupils_are__named_and_shamed__in_the_hallway_wants_to_hire_director_of_isolations_and_detentions/

At the moment it appears they are coping because they are 1/2 full and appear to have no one who has a SEN.
What happens when the are full. How will they cope then.
Both of mine have never had a detention but I think both would have to take up residence in the detention room if they went. Ds and DD ate both badly dyslexic, ds has scruffy illegible handwriting and ADHD. DD is also dyslexic and part of her dyslexia means she forgets everything. It wouldn't matter how many pens she bought each morning they would have been lost by the time the bell went for first lesson.

How does everyone know that all the pupils are happy if they are not allowed to speak