Secondary schoools achieving <30% at GCSE facing closure - this is the MAJORITY of schools in our area!

[tortoiseSHELL]

We live in Bristol, and this news report about which schools are facing possible closure due to not achieving the minimum benchmark says that the MAJORITY of secondary schools in Bristol are on the list!

The education has always been bad here at secondary level, and it is very very stressful thinking about where the kids will go!

No, of course they can't. They can hand them over to part private initiatives and end up with academies. I doubt that will improve anything.

Agree OrmIrian, It seems wrong to me to set an arbitrary cut-off like 30% 5 GCSEs for all schools regardless of intake. They should really be looking at the value add - perhaps threatening to close all schools with a VA less than a set figure. If you look at the list they've come up with there's a big range with plenty above 1000 which presumably are doing a good job with the kids they have.

Well certainly not in Bristol with 11 schools under threat of closure! It says that is 63% of schools but that can't be right. Surely it is a higher percentage than that?

my local school is on that list - needless to say, I'd rather stick him in front of te telly for the next 6 years than send him there. he'll learn more...and won't get bullied!

Where can I find the list please?

list here

Thanks

This is a vicious circle isn't it? The more schools fail the more parents will be pushed into faith/private/selective schools thereby making failure in the mainstream state system more likely. These headlines are unhelpful IMO.

I'm pleased to see MB's post - what is the point of forcing lots of children through academic subjects they are not interested in and will not profit from? It forces disengagement ...

Most people can't afford private schools. There aren't enough selective ones and many parents can't or won't use faith schools. The alternatives proposed aren't much use to most people.

at our local in-crisis school for example, children achieving a-d grade gsce in a science (ie a subject which is not complusory, so presumably the children opting to do a science are vaguely interested) is only 29 per cent

The school has a reputation locally for 'problem' kids and families, but those results can only be down to bad teaching, surely?

Mind youm it's no wonder if teachers are demotivated at such schools which have been limping along for years and years - that's a vicious circle...

I thought science was compulsory.
The idea that it's only one thing whether it's students, or the head or the teaching isn't really true. Schools are complex and I mistrust anyone who says they have a simple answer whether it's academies or money or whatever one line solution is being proposed.

I doubt it's just down to bad teaching fmf.

If only 29% of the class want to learn, the rest are arseing about and disrupting everyone else, the very best teacher is going to struggle surely. Added to which if parents don't encourage and support the children there isn't much hope.

Well I'm off for a family interview with my DS#1 at one of the school on the list. He's due to start in September. Don't know whether to mention this list or not. I did know before it came out anyway but wondering what they'd have to say about it.

Is there anywhere else he could go OI? I guess not or you would have done that.

No. I'm very happy with the school tbh. It's very good in many way and improving dramatically. There were 3 others to choose from, 1 of which was also on the list, and 2 that wouldn't have suited DS at all. I think he will do well. After all the only results I care about are the ones my DS gets and I have confidence in him and in the school.

Tell me about it! Where do your kids go now TS? You live nearish me I seem to recall....

My SD goes to Colston primary at the mo and her mum is hoping to get her into Cotham grammar (fat chance, they live in St Werbs)

I work at St Michael's and the Children's Hospital. They're not that bad!!!!!!!!

good lord that list makes for unhappy reading. Better start saving. My nearest secondary would be the academy coming in at a whopping 21%.

Thankfully I have dual nationality. They've got 8 years to sort it out or Australia beckons.

Don't want you to pack just yet OB, but the situation has been bad for longer than 8 years and isn't likely to improve that quickly either...

I agree re the children's hospital, but maybe as an employee there, you are bound to say it is ok?!

No - more likely to say it's horrid! I'm a sec. my boss is the Head of Division. Bows and scrapes.

OB - our local gets 23%. Hurrah.

It's pathetic really.

Well I obviously was reading the article wrong. They have to get 30% at least 5 good GCSEs results including maths and English. School DS is going to actually got 39% with 5 A-C grades but just under 30% incl maths and english. Apparently it used to be any subject. Nowt like moving the goal posts.

DS was interviewed by a maths teacher. V young and rather lovely... why weren't they like that when I was at school?

And it's over-subscribed for the first time....ever I think. So clearly some parents can see past the govt statistics.

As usual the assumption is that everyone is capable of achieving 5 A-C grades. If you backtrack a bit, when I was young these grades would actually mean 5 O levels. Completely discounting all the kids getting CSEs. 5x O levels was always the way In to the civil service/ banks "higher level" jobs, so wouldn't it always have been less than 30%?

I was a "bright" child and my children are "bright" so I assumed all children were like that. Then I went to work at one of the schools on this List and was shocked to realise that actually a lot of children aren't like my kids. The boy I supported was predicted Es and Fs but actually got mainly Ds with a couple of Es. I was thrilled for him, he'd done so much better than we all expected. Yet the Govt says he (and kids like him) has failed because he didn't get 5 A-Cs.

Some of the failures were fantastic artists, skilled athletes, excellent craftspersons. But the only marker is A-C.

Perhaps they should be looking at where the pupils go after leaving that school and count as a failure only those that have a leaving cohort less than 90% gainfully employed?