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.

Do they have a "no excuses, no exceptions!" Policy?

@noblegiraffe

No electronic equipment

Well that rules out a lot of dyslexics and those with dysgraphia.

Did notice on the Michaela website they are still advertising for people to start in September so I presume it still has places going.

I tried looking at Michaela's SEN online info but the pages weren't there.
Weirdly the SEN info was placed under the parents tab and not under general school information.

Michaela like to put stuff in obscure places on their website. It's one of the least intuitive school websites I've ever come across.

They also have a rule that children aren't allowed to use the lifts. But when queried, have said that of course if a child was disabled or had a broken leg an exception would be made. It's very easy to pick out a particular rule in any school, imply that no exceptions will ever be made, including in the case of SEN, and clutch pearls about it. But when you look more closely, you usually find that in fact common sense is applied.

I suspect the same would be true of a dyslexic child who genuinely needed electronic equipment. However, their approach to dyslexia is in line with that recommended as the only way that has been shown to work in scientific studies: intensive tuition in systematic synthetic phonics. This, combined with lots of practice in reading throughout the school day, plus an extra reading session at the end of the school day, is how they've succeeded in bringing all their dyslexic pupils' reading levels up to standard by Year 9. How many other schools can say that?

What do you mean by electronics?

@kesstrel 'up to standard' is vague. We have students with dyslexia at my superselective being national standard would not be an achievement for them!

kesstrel are you on the slt at Michaela/invested in some way? I'm fascinated by their approach.

Doctor Donna But we're not talking about a super-selective here. We are talking about an inner-city school that takes everyone who applies.

From their book:

"55% of our kids are eligible for the Pupil Premium Grant, around 20% arrive with a ‘Special Needs’ label attached to them, 45% speak English as an additional language, 33% read at a standard below their chronological age, and 62% perform below the national expectation in Maths…"

"So far, our pupils on average are making two years’ progress in reading in one year, and on average they make double the normal progress in maths. Some pupils have made up to five years’ reading progress in one year."

They also reported two months ago that all children in Year 9 were reading at their chronological age as measured by the NGRT test from GL.

Pizza No, absolutely not, no connection whatsoever (I live about 300 miles away!). But I read a lot of teacher blogs etc on social media, and I'm very interested in evidence-based educational approaches. So I was naturally very interested in finding out as much as possible about what they're doing. It's not difficult, because their teachers write a lot of blogs, and they also published a book in November, which is a collection of short chapters by all their teachers. I'm not sure about some of the things they're doing, but I think quite a lot of it is good, and it certainly provokes interesting debates!

Are you a teacher elsewhere?

Ok, another example. My dyslexic, dyspraxic sister. Attended a 'normal' school. Reading age was always higher than chronological age. SEN does not mean unable to achieve academically (she has a Masters degree). It means they need a variety of means of support to access the curriculum. The key words being variety and support. I really do not get the sense that Michaela deals with students as individuals. At all.
Back to the original OP though. My school is also outstanding. Is it the future of education? Well Teresa May thought so, but people involved in education (including most teachers at my school) disagree and point out that there is no ONE answer to multiple problems.

No, I'm an interested parent. I got interested 20 years ago, when an article in the Observer flagged up the fact that schools in English-speaking countries were ignoring the evidence about how to teach reading. I started looking into the research on phonics, and the lack of research behind the Whole Language method, and read an enormous amount on the topic. That led to me getting interested in other aspects of education. My older DD has dyxpraxia and other SPLDs, which also spurred my interest. With the development of social media, I've been able to follow the blogs of teachers who themselves are interested in evidence-based teaching. They link to books and research, and I often read those too. If I was actually a teacher, I probably wouldn't have had time for all this!

Back to the original OP

I also suspect that Michaela is not the future of education, for a number of reasons. I do think, though, that some of the things they are doing are worth considering in other schools. And I think it's important to look at what they are doing fairly, with an open mind.

I've seen so much hostility, distortion and misinformation over the years about synthetic phonics - to a level that I would never have believed would come from educated professionals and university academics. It's made me sceptical about 'authority' in education, and about the degree to which people are willing to ignore and deride ideas they don't like in education, or which challenge their preconceptions.

Kesstrel do you know what dyslexia is?

DD has no problem reading so all your intensive reading would just make her a better reader. Part of her dyslexia is that she cant think of more than one thing at a time. So she could buy 50 pens in the school shop in the morning but by lunch time they would all be lost. It runs into £000s the things she has lost. Whilst you can keep an eye on her as a child as a teen and now an adult she doesn't remember where she has put stuff. Only this morning she has lost her purse with £30 in and her Oyster card.
Academically would have ideas for stories but they are so jumbled that she cant explain them let alone right them down. Phonics to her comes out differently I.e. The word AND she would say it and then right down DNA or DAN. Dyslexia isn't just about reading.

Ds is dyslexic. He can read but his writing has never progressed since he wrote his name at nursery. Don't even ask him to write a story he has the same issues as dd. As for Comprehension he understands what a piece is about but he couldn't tell you and definitely couldn't write it down.

DD in a school like Michaela or Magna would have herself set up permanently in detention she just wouldn't remember all the rules. Whilst remembering to hold her pencil case in her right hand she would probably get a detention because she would forget to zip it up and leave a trail of pens down the hallway.

I really do not get the sense that Michaela deals with students as individuals. At all.

How much have you read about their approach? The strict discipline is combined with a lot of one-to-one counselling and encouragement. Pupils write about how much their individual sessions with teachers and deputy heads has helped them in this regard.

Their deputy head has moved on

I don't mean counselling! I mean in terms of accessing the curriculum. Although it is pleasing to hear they take pastoral care seriously that really is a different thing.
I have read quite a bit about the school hence my awareness of their actually awful but good on the surface Year 9 English essays on Dickens (they don't actually analyse the text in any real way).
Don't get me wrong, this school may be the answer for some students but it certainly isn't the answer for ALL students. Nor is it somewhere I would want to teach. I prefer more freedom in how I teach my students.

Oliver's The definition of the term dyslexia is very much open to debate. At its core, it means unable to read well. The other things you refer to are, properly speaking, SPLDs - specific learning difficulties. They are often associated with dyslexia, but not always.

As I say above, my daughter has a diagnosis of dyspraxia, along with other SPLDs. Her organisational abilities were affected, her ability to navigate, lots of other things. She has problems with short term memory.

It runs into £000s the things she has lost. Whilst you can keep an eye on her as a child as a teen and now an adult she doesn't remember where she has put stuff.

My daughter has this problem as well. I remember so well the horrible phone call I got when she left her laptop sitting on the bench beside her when she got on a bus at Uni. Thousands of pounds, as you say.

As I said above, I don't think Michaela is 'the answer' for the future of schooling for all children. I do think they are getting some things right, however, and that there are things that could be learned from them. The approach a lot of schools take to SEN - sitting children with their own TAs, and letting them essentially end up doing everything for them - isn't right either.

I mean in terms of accessing the curriculum. The counselling is about helping pupils to establish the kinds of behaviour that will allow them to access the curriculum. Things like listening, paying attention in class, establishing good learning habits.

One of the most important things they do, in terms of 'accessing the curriculum', as I pointed out above, is ensuring that pupils who are behind in their reading catch up, and are reading at their age level.

I don't think anyone should be forced to teach in a way they aren't comfortable with. And I agree that what is appropriate in a super-selective may well not be appropriate in a comprehensive.

Mrz They have several deputy heads, who also teach - it looks to me like they prefer to divide the responsibilities among several people, as I believe some other schools do as well. I suspect it's a good way of ensuring that SLT remain in touch with the chalkface, rather than sitting on high telling teachers what to do

Sorry, my last post to Oliver's has got me feeling tearful about my DD and what she's had to go through. So I should probably leave the thread for the moment and try to distract myself. And I should probably go and get some other things done anyway.

@kesstrel that smacks of the old fashioned attitude that SEN = behavioural. That is nonsense for many. That would not have helped my sister in the slightest. She had a one to one TA at university actually and it blinking well worked. We have TAs at my school. It doesn't mean they are in every lesson with that student. They work as needed.
I just think Michaela sounds utterly hideous to be honest. But not as ridiculous as the school that gives detentions for the wrong ruler. That's bonkers. Most of my students would be in 'trouble' at both these schools.

I was referring to perhaps their highest profile deputy head