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.

Pretty much hate everything about the ethos of that school.

It will do well because it makes a massive fuss, parents who support their ideas will come, and because it's intensive.

I suppose the rule about eating non-Michaela supplied food would also be subject to exemptions? I would hate a school that didn't allow me to choose packed lunches for my DDs.

A lot sounds like Michael Wilshaw's school before he became Ofsted head. That's a genuine comp in Hackney, gets 80+% of kids achieving 5 'good' GCSE's A-C. It's hugely oversubscribed, etc, etc. The kids have to be silent between lessons, detentions are handed out for virtually nothing and they have to chant a pledge at the start of each lesson. It's a 'no contact' school, so the kids aren't allowed to touch one another, or stand in groups of more than a handful. The pluses are obviously that teachers can teach (so long as they teach according to the plan) and your child is virtually guaranteed to get good results. The negatives are I think huge - mostly for me the fact that the results are gained because the kids are stood over and drilled in how to pass the exams. I know this is hugely common nowadays, but this school seems to take it to extremes. The kids struggle to become independent learners, as they never do anything other than at school (long school day and all homework done at school with teacher supervising). A friend who teaches at a local sixth form college told me recently that they don't relish pupils joining from that school to do A levels, as they have no idea how to structure their thoughts or work without supervision. I would far rather my child became self sufficient, learnt because they wanted to and were motivated by good teaching, etc, etc. Even if they did slightly less well I'd prefer that then them being stood over in a boot camp for 5 years.

I'd take that figure about 62% being below expectation in maths with a pinch of salt. It's not entirely clear what they are basing that on.

It doesn't sound very plausible given some of the other things they've said.

No pointythings there are no exceptions

"We are a vegetarian school. All pupils attend family lunch daily. There are no exceptions. There are no packed lunches at Michaela. No food or drink is to be brought on to the school site. This includes all sweets, snacks, drinks and chewing gum. The school provides a morning snack for all pupils as well as a two course lunch.
Pupils sit at allocated tables of seven for lunch. Each table is led by an adult or a pupil who has been awarded the status of “Future Leader”. Each pupil has their own specified role at lunch. Each day a topic for discussion is set. Each day we celebrate acts of kindness as a whole school community. At the end of family lunch pupils have around thirty minutes in which they may do homework or spend some time socialising in the school yard.
At all times pupils are closely supervised by adults. This helps foster our central message that pupils should be kind to others. This also helps ensure that bullying does not occur.
Family lunch is squarely focused upon building strong common values and a sense of school community. W We pride ourselves on being a school with strong morals at our core. Family lunch, where all pupils come together for the duration, is a key part of this moral focus. We rigorously endeavour to avoid any potential for sectarianism in school. Instead we actively create systems which ensure all pupils, regardless of race or religion, mix fully throughout the school day."

That is scary.

all homework done at school with teacher supervising
How do I sign up?

Sorry FrLuke but

" Homework
At Michaela pupils in Years 7 to 9 do one and a half hours of homework per night Monday to Friday. They read their library book every night (30 minutes), complete a daily entry in their practice book (30 minutes), and revise maths on uk.IXL.com daily (30 minutes).
Many pupils do in excess of these daily basic requirements. We reward hard work with merits, praise in assembly and postcards and phone calls home.
Reading
All pupils are expected to have a book from the Michaela library, which they should read for at least 30 minutes each evening. Whilst we do not test pupils to check to see if they have done their reading each day, we strongly encourage parents to remind their children of the importance of reading daily. Reading is an important habit that will help your child to become successful. Studies show that pupils who do not read daily are less likely to achieve the best grades at GCSE, A levels and beyond, and are less likely to access the best job opportunities in the future. Pupils must read a book from the Michaela library. Other books are not allowed in school unless agreed in advance with a senior member of staff.
IXL
All pupils have a login to uk.IXL.com and have been shown how to access the website. Every day, they are given a topic to work on that evening. They must answer at least 30 questions on the topic correctly, and must write their workings on a piece of graph paper, which will be provided to them by their maths teacher. You can read a more detailed explanation of IXL homework heree*.
The school computer rooms remain open and are supervised until 5pm Monday to Thursday (until 4pm on Fridays) in order to help pupils complete their homework.
Self-Quizzing in Practice Books
Pupils complete a minimum of one page in their practice books each day according to the following schedule:
Year
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
7
English
Humanities
Science
French
Maths
8
Humanities
English
French
Maths
Science / Art / Music
9
French
Science
History
English
Religion
Pupils must not leave any gaps in the page of self-quizzing, and must check carefully for errors in green pen. (Please note that green pen is not necessary for French). To optimise the effectiveness of self-quizzing, pupils must write out knowledge from memory and must not copy.
On bank holiday weekends pupils return to school on the Tuesday having completed entries in their practice book for both maths and English/Humanities over the weekend. Pupils complete a minimum of 30 minutes maths revision each weekend, including bank holiday weekends.
Holiday Homework
Over half term holidays and Christmas and Easter breaks, pupils must:
• Complete 40 A5 pages of self-quizzing in their practice books.
A failure to complete the minimum required holiday homework will result in a Saturday Detention.
It is essential that families support their children with their homework. Here are seven steps that families must take to support their child.
1. Check your child’s practice book entries daily to confirm that a minimum of two pages have been completed carefully and legibly.
2. Orally test your child on the content of their “Knowledge Folder” daily.
3. Ensure that your child reads daily for a minimum of 30 minutes when at home. Where possible, read with them out loud.
4. Ensure that your child completes a minimum of 30 minutes maths revision daily.
5. Provide a calm quiet space to complete homework, free from distractions such as TV, mobile phones or the internet.
6. Ensure that your child is asleep by 9.30pm and that they have no access to electronic equipment in their bedroom."

The control of Reading for pleasure is quite scary to me.
Some of it sounds like homework for the sake of homework which has little educational benefit.

I was joking, hence the

Doctor...surely you give assigned readings as a teacher??

I don't think Michaela are saying kids can ONLY read what they say, just that they have to read 30 mins an evening of a particular book, not so different from the assigned English reading homework I had 3x a week at my school..

Gosh that so scary. Prescribed reading books for 30mins. 30 mins quizzes very single nigby. it really is like boot camp. Where's the joy in learning?! Or time for hobbies or reading for pleasure...

I can't recall ever having assigned reading of a library book at grammar school.

also Michaela haven't just gone in willy nilly with the homework...they admit they got it wrong at first and are still tinkering with what works best.

I think their original idea was that there would be no homework!

From an article when the school first opened "But now Michaela’s assistant headteacher, Joe Kirby, has explained that the school has decided to “replace…setting, chasing, checking, marking and logging homework with revision, reading and online maths”."
Which sounds suspiciously like setting homework that isn't marked

Magna has all it's homework available to view online - months in advance apparently.

I looked at a few and it suspiciously looks like "self quizzing" and "notes on" and work set for the sake of it. Online maths videos and exercises. And a lot of it!!

I didn't know exactly what Id set each week as I responded to the class/how the lesson was going.

It probably makes teaching a lot easier though.

All pupils have a login to uk.IXL.com and have been shown how to access the website. Every day, they are given a topic to work on that evening. They must answer at least 30 questions on the topic correctly, and must write their workings on a piece of graph paper, which will be provided to them by their maths teacher

God help the dyscalculic.

From an article when the school first opened "But now Michaela’s assistant headteacher, Joe Kirby, has explained that the school has decided to “replace…setting, chasing, checking, marking and logging homework with revision, reading and online maths”."
Which sounds suspiciously like setting homework that isn't marked

I think that they are on to something here. Teachers' workload is ridiculous and at least they are doing something about it. My department sets homework every other week in key stage three - only one piece per term is marked by us. The rest is marked online or is prep for a test at the start of the lesson.

I've come to the conclusion that marking homework is a waste of time in terms of assessing what the class can do in maths at least. Some kids have so much help from their parents that they might as well have not done it (even seen mum's handwriting). Others have dashed it off on the bus or at breaktime and some others have copied their mate.
You set the homework, then they have to do it, then you collect it in. By the time you've marked it and handed it back, they're onto a different topic.

Why set homework it seems rather pointless

mrz excuse the language but... fuuuuuuuuuuck!!!

I would rather die than send my children to a school like this. It's some fascist dystopian nightmare. No freedom of conversation at lunch?

I have no words to express how I feel. These people hate children. The sad thing is that their parents appear to feel the same.

I think it's awful that so many people appear to believe that children are so inherently bad that they need this sort of regime. Kim Jong-Un would just love it.

I have no problem with not making homework, by the way. I went to school in Holland - homework was not marked, it was reviewed in class. Took 10 minutes. If you were called upon to answer an item and you hadn't done the homework, you either got it right on the spot if you hadn't done it (me in a lot of subjects) or you gave it a good shot if you'd done the homework but had got it wrong (me in maths), or you got in trouble if you hadn't done it at all. (not me)

Oh, I've got no problem with setting homework, or making kids do homework - there isn't enough time in school for kids to get as much practice as they need in maths. But having a teacher mark it isn't a good use of teacher time. Computer-based homework can be a good tool for instant feedback, but shouldn't be used all the time as they don't encourage clear written methods which are also necessary.

@Alyosha - no I do not set 30 minutes specified Reading 3 times a week. I encourage reading for pleasure! That means free choice which may or may not be from our library. The students are also allowed to recommend books to our librarians. I occasionally (depending on the text we are studying) set a chapter they need to read to by a specific date. Most English teachers think that reading should be fun not a chore.
There are many many many ways for a school to become a reading school without homework like this. There are a lot of resources to support this.
I do indeed issue a recommended reading list at KS 3 but I doubt Michaela would approve of it!

I really will need to find an alternative to Magna when the time comes...