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It's not just about the grades

3 replies

snoozepedlar · 14/11/2024 10:37

Just read this article about kids education and how it can be not just about the grades. I find most schools focus on grades and tests and not actually developing other aspects of our kids.

Breaking Free from Academic Pressure

www.libertywoodlandschool.com/news/breaking-free-academic-pressure

OP posts:
twistyizzy · 14/11/2024 10:39

Thats what league tables + Ofsted creates a culture all about grades.
Our independent school focuses on all round education but then they aren't tied to performance because they aren't state funded.

If you want to change it then you have to scrap league tables and targets.

SamPoodle123 · 15/11/2024 07:32

Not all schools are like this. My dd's school made a point of this in the first parent introduction meeting at the school. They stressed the importance of not focusing on the grade and instead to ask what they learned from it and what could be done better. I think many schools are trying to change so it is not so much pressure on the dc. Dd's school is known to be an academic one, but they don't put pressure on the girls at all.

OnlyTheBravest · 15/11/2024 13:29

There are a few issues that hamper some state schools nowadays from providing an all around education.

Firstly, it depends on the facilities that schools has available. There is no standard that schools are built to so whilst one might have a swimming pool, another has no field.

Then their is parental preference. The parents that are invested in their child will seek out the 'best' schools. They are more likely to engage with the school and support PTA's or make voluntary school donations. Therefore no matter how much money you chuck at a school the gap between the best and worse schools in a borough keep growing.

Also student satisfaction is not one of the required measurements that state schools are judged by. The subjects that create well rounded individuals such as performance/creative arts are not valued as highly as the traditional subjects. Quite often the way GCSE options are timetabled it makes it impossible to for children to take what really interest them (or it is not offered at their school) and unless the parents can fund activities out of school hours, many children drop these subjects from Year 9. There is little surprise that by the time a child finishes year 11 that they are buckling under the academic pressure and are suffering from burnout. You can see this in the increasing levels of mental health being reported in young adults.

Finally, there is the increase in low level disruption and lack of personal responsibility. If you have a class that can not behave appropriately it takes twice as long to teach them anything and the 'fun' aspects are stripped out in order to focus on the basics.

The solution is far more tricky because it will require a combination of the radical review of secondary schooling, decent funding for SEN/CAMHS/child social services and some parents/children changing their mindsets and take greater responsibility for their actions (including the consequences).

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