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.

Dd is going into y6 and some of our local secondaries are based on a similar boot camp model. I've come full circle in my feelings towards them! I was originally appalled, would not consider it for dd, but now I think it's the best option.

Dd experiences a lot of low-level bullying. Constant touching, flicking, name-calling. Really hits on her self-esteem. She has a challenging home environment with siblings with ASD, and I'd really love get her to love school. But she's clever and studious, I'm sure this model is right for her. (Eg, boys in her class touch their willy then other kids). I remember at high school lots of low level sexual bullying - I can see a 'no touching' rule being relevant).

However, dd2 with ASD would probably not suit the environment. Her anxiety would probably be heightened by having to follow the rules so closely (not so stereotypical), she's going into y5 and I really have to consider this carefully.

three local schools follow this model and three don't. It's a lot to consider but I have amazed myself to have done a full circle on how I feel about them!

I was a studious but stroppy teenager and I suspect that the Michaela model would not have suited me at all (and I did fine without it). I can see how it might be the best option for kids who lack good support at home for a number of reasons.

The thing I do really like about Michaela is that they have made workload a priority and have made a concerted effort to slash things which waste teachers' time while doing little or nothing to boost pupils' actual learning. We really need to be looking at these things and taking notes, because right now workload is the No. 1 thing driving good teachers out of the profession.

"I can see how it might be the best option for kids who lack good support at home for a number of reasons." I don't think those are the type of kids whose parents will choose Michaela. I think we've seen from the media and Twitterstorms that those who don't fully buy into the Michaela way don't stick around long.

I'm really keen on the homework policy tbh, again it doesn't fit all. Dd would be able to do most homework at school, away from the constant violent meltdowns of her sister. I think it levels the playing field for some to do homework at school away from distractions ( small house, busy families, unsupportive families). Some dc in dds class are nice kids, but live on estates where knifes are brandished regularly/face massive social problems. I like the the idea that they have a safe place to do homework, and to learn.

Dd will be starting sixth form at a school which has a reputation for being as strict at this in Sept. school is a comp with a 99% gcse pass rate at grades a-c.

I work with some young women who recently left this school and they said it's unbelievably strict. Girls regularly were made to wipe their faces with make up wipes to make sure they weren't wearing even tinted moisturiser. Files were kept for people who were guilty of make up transgressions. I don't mean just girls who looked like the make up was an inch thick were told to take it off, but even if you don't look like you're wearing any you have to wipe your face to make sure!

One of the women said she was put in detention because a teacher saw her holding a boys hand at break time!

I tell them about the awful behaviour which goes on in the school Dd has just left and they're horrified. Say that that would never have happened.

DD went to a school where most of the pupils were diagnosed dyslexic. DDS school was so laid back. The teaching was excellent there were few rules and detentions amounted to a few pupils each week. A lot of the teachers were called by their first name. DD came out of there and got scholarships to every college she applied to as did most of the other children.

@imip many schools have their libraries open after school so that homework can be done safely. Our computer room is also open after school.

Yes, but I think it would be more effective when compulsory....

Doctor - what if you worked in a school where children never read books, not even for pleasure?

And surely you expect your pupils to read the set texts they are studying? What happens if they don't?

Why set homework it seems rather pointless

I don't think homework is pointless and for a subject like mine with limited curriculum time it is important. We simply wouldn't get through our GCSE and A Level courses without homework. At key stage 3 we need the time to get students to add both depth and breadth to their subject knowledge.

Research shows ( as far as I know) that homework has little impact at primary level but does have impact at secondary level although admittedly we are not entirely clear on the reasons why it promotes progress. The Sutton Trust says that providing a variety of tasks with different levels of difficult is important and so once a term ours do a takeaway homework which is given written feedback - again Sutton Trust points to the importance of feedback for homework but we couldn't provide meaningful feedback more often than this. Research also suggests that you have to be very clear on the purpose of the homework and we do this.

For us and I suspect most subjects - the new GCSEs require much more subject knowledge and so much of our homework is designed to get students to learn stuff, we then regularly test that knowledge and step in at an early stage when we can see that students aren't learning "stuff". Hopefully if we can get them regularly revising and retaining material by the end of key stage 3 they can hit the ground running for key stage 4.

Aside from exams I also think that to enjoy and flourish in a subject you have to know "stuff" and I think this is something that the Michaela school has got right.

I've said I expect them to read set texts. I operate under the assumption they will follow my instructions and in both practice schools and post-qualifying that has in general been true.
There are several good books about encouraging reading for pleasure including Don't Call It Literacy and (hate the title) Getting The Buggers To Read. Enforced reading from a set list does not foster a love of reading; it turns it into a chore.

Is there a set list or is it just any book from the school library? If it's the latter I don't really see a problem with the expectation of daily reading.

The more I think about it I'm not sure I have an issue with the concept of self-quizzing for homework either. I'm just not sure I like the way Michaela do it.

Even it's just 'from their library' that is the same as it being from an approved list. I don't like that one bit. Also, I don't know about theirs but the vast majority of school libraries are exceptionally underfunded and not up to date in their contents. There is a lot of exceptions contemporary writing out there for young adults that a lot of parents and schools like Michaela think isn't good enough for their children. They're wrong. I'd rather they read a Carnegie Award winning book and loved it than were turned off reading by a dry 19th Century Novel. I love literature and didn't enjoy Dickens until degree level. Reading for pleasure should be that pleasurable and preferably not involve any 'quizzes'. The in depth analysis can be saved for class readers (and yes, I do cover the full range from Beowulf to Ian McEwan in class readers!)

The other thing worth noting with these types of schools, is that they filter out the kids they don't want. I'm not saying Michaela does as I don't know it at all, but it does sound v.similar so this feels worth feeding in. The school that I do know near us who run this sort of model tells parents of kids who have problems/ complain, this is how we do it - if you don't like it take your child elsewhere. I'm not just talking about kids with bad behaviour here - I know of a fair few who have just got severely stressed by the level of discipline and can't cope with the regime. They lose quite a few kids in the early years and bring in others from the waiting list, until they have the cohort who do conform. Of course that makes it far easier to get the good results. It's anecdotal, but a friend of my son's who got a place in year 8 at the school near us, started at Easter. On the day he started, he was one of 6 new kids. Now I know London's a fairly fluid environment, but this is an oversubscribed school, so for 6 places to come up, 6 kids must have left. Which is at the very least interesting..

Their library of far from underfunded and fairly wide ranging from what I understand. It includes good quality contemporary fiction as well as classics and 19yj century.

And they don't quiz on the books they read from the library. Only the ones they are studying in class. Unlike the schools using accelerated reader.

With that homework policy it's just cherry picking the children of highly supportive families who have the time, space and knowledge to support their children.

And what traalaa said about them also filtering out the children who don't fit into their boxes or who don't have supportive families.

It's not going to help children from dysfunctional families. It will help children from not very affluent but educationally ambitious families, which is obviously a good thing, but I'm not sure how broad reaching it is. And I think it sounds awful in lots of ways, though good in others. The French lesson is impressive, but it is, like the verbose English essays, regurgitation. Whether that's required before understanding, and whether understanding and independent thinking will naturally follow will be interesting to see. Reading for 30 minutes a day can't be a bad thing.

"I don't think homework is pointless and for a subject like mine with limited curriculum time it is important. " if you don't mark it (as it appears some schools have this policy) how do you know they are learning or just reinforcing misunderstanding?
I once worked with a teacher who did all of her children's homework (including GCSE course work) and when I say did it I don't mean helped them to do it. She actually wrote every single essay and project. How did that homework help?

if you don't mark it (as it appears some schools have this policy) how do you know they are learning or just reinforcing misunderstanding?
They have different types of homework .
Revising for spelling and subject tests- if they don't meet their target they have to resist until they do ( exceptions made for certain students).

They do homework on Sam Learning - tasks we have created so they suit us and our curriculum. We spot check as they can cheat on this. Again if they don't meet their targets they redo the homework with us.

They have to so research and planning for assessments. They have to hand this in. The teacher will give it a quick check but we will know whether their research has been accurate or relevant from their assessments which are given formal written feedback.

They complete a differentiated takeaway task - this is given formal feedback.

My department is considering not marking homework (maths) but self/peer-marking in class (still checking it has been done) and teachers marking regular mini-tests done in lessons instead.
The amount of kids I've taught who have perfect homework score but do badly in tests is huge. It gives a false impression.

That's your school but we're talking about Michaela

But it's not a problem with Michaela homework is it? Because of the tasks that are being set.

It's low stakes 'quizzing' of facts/formulae/definitions. Marking it would be a waste of time, and would probably be less effective than pupils self-correcting it at the end of the work.

And they are regularly (possibly daily) tested on that content as well.

"Our pupils are all expected to have a library book with them every day. They read this in silence in morning tutor time and at home in the evenings. This gives kids the flexibility to choose anything they want to read. Interestingly, pupils often choose books related to the topics they are studying in lessons; so we see lots of kids reading about Ancient Egypt or Astronomy, for example. Tracy Beaker is still popular, but lots of our pupils challenge themselves to read more widely and push themselves out of their comfort zones. We have been careful to select good-quality books for our pupils to read….This does not mean that our library is filled exclusively with dusty old copies of Silas Marner and Middlemarch, but rather that titles such as Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants fail to make an appearance. We like to think that we are somewhere between the two extremes, encouraging pupils to read great teen fiction titles such as The Fault in Our Stars and Noughts and Crosses, and challenging grown-up tomes such as Life of Pi and The Blind Assassin."

For a year 7 struggling Captain Underpants might be an excellent choice. Diary of a Wimpy Kid is also popular. If you can include shit like Tracey Beaker why not Captain Underpants? Why the judgement? It's important they read and read as widely as possible. Loads of our year 7 love Asterix. I don't mind, it uses excellent vocabulary.

"It's low stakes 'quizzing' of facts/formulae/definitions" which seems pointless