Richmond Borough Schools Chat 5

[BayJay2]

Welcome! This is the latest in a series of threads about Richmond schools, which was first triggered by the council's publication of its Education White Paper in February 2011.

Please do join in the chat. There’s a bunch of us who’ve been following the thread for a long time, and we sometimes get a bit forensic, but new contributions are always welcome, and if it’s something that’s been covered before we can always direct you to that part of the thread.

We generally talk about local education policy, the impact of national policy, the performance of the borough’s schools, and admissions-related issues. We began by talking about Secondaries, but tend to talk a lot about primaries too, so the title of the thread has evolved this time to take that into account.

If you have a few hours to spare and want to catch up on 2 years of local education history, then below are the links to the old threads. We have to keep starting new threads because each only hold 1000 posts. The first two threads run in parallel, as one was started on the national Mumsnet site, and another on the local one:

1a) New Secondaries for Richmond Borough?: Mumsnet Secondary Education (Feb 2011 – Nov 2011)
1b) New Secondary schools for Richmond!: Mumsnet Local (Feb 2011 – Nov 2011)

1. New Secondary Schools for Richmond 2: Mumsnet Local (Nov 2011 – May 2012)

1. New Secondary Schools for Richmond 3: Mumsnet Local (May 2012 – Nov 2012)

1. New Secondary Schools for Richmond 4: Mumsnet Local (Nov 2012 – Oct 2013)

1. This thread: Richmond Borough Schools Chat 5: Mumsnet Local (Oct 2013 - ????)

Finally, to find out how to add links, as well as smilies and emphasis, see these Mumsnet guidelines.

Good luck to those waiting for news.

London offer stats similar to 2013 for those interested.

Well in our case we're 5 minutes walking from Sacred Heart, in that sense we got lucky - at least we didn't have to deal with a painful school run. It was and is frustrating - we bought here and our offer was accepted mid-March but the council accepted our registration only after completion date which was end of May. So we went straight to the waiting list, and stil on it.. And it's still frustrating - I set reminders in my calendar and I check with the in-year admission lady once in a while :)

Lightplay I do sympathise I would run a mile from a catholic school (well hopefully not literally with a toddler in buggy). Have they ever offered other alternatives out of interest?

If the writer of that Telegraph article were to go and talk to all the hoody wearing binge drinking yoofs in Marble Hill and Radnor Gardens (and Richmond Green, Park and Wimbledon Common) Recreation grounds of a summer's evening he might be surprised to learn that they know exactly how to order from a menu without pictures and indeed what to raid Daddy's wine cellar. Orleans, Teddington, Oratory, Hampton, LEH, they all mix there and so probably will those fictional Catholic and non Catholic little boys that featured in the soap opera that ran in the letters page of the RTT I may have retrieved a revolting DD from there, and her Oratory friends, during the terrible Year 9s

But there were a couple of sets of parents near the Green with real children who couldn't get to Heathfield, because of working parents, siblings in buggies etc. One was kept home and one went to a private school as a temporary measure, but it wasn't affordable long term. Presumably they were eventually sorted out with places?

If the writer of that Telegraph article were to go and talk to all the hoody wearing binge drinking yoofs in Marble Hill and Radnor Gardens (and Richmond Green, Park and Wimbledon Common) Recreation grounds of a summer's evening he might be surprised to learn that they know exactly how to order from a menu without pictures and indeed what to raid from Daddy's wine cellar. Orleans, Teddington, Oratory, Hampton, LEH, they all mix there and so probably will those fictional Catholic and non Catholic little boys that featured in the soap opera that ran in the letters page of the RTT I may have retrieved a revolting DD from there, and her Oratory friends, during the terrible Year 9s

But there were a couple of sets of parents near the Green with real children who couldn't get to Heathfield, because of working parents, siblings in buggies etc. One was kept home and one went to a private school as a temporary measure, but it wasn't affordable long term. Presumably they were eventually sorted out with places?

The mumsnet glich strikes again, apologies

We were a late admission case, that was the only place offered. I don't drive so I only put her down for Collis and Hampton wick, both walking distance. SH was not on my list. After starting in Sacred Heart we were told we were 2nd on the Collis wait list and so I removed her from Hampton Wick Infants which is a 15-min walk. I thought... well out of 90 kids somneone will move. Almost two years later we're lower on the wait list, families are moiving in, older child gets in, younger has sibling priority. There are two more families in our class who are in the same boat, except they have younger kids as well - and those younger ones won't get sibling priority for SH, not being Catholic. I don't have that problem.

My daughter seems happy at SH, teachers are good, school is fine, but I know I'll move her when and if we get offered Collis. Unless the new Collis headteacher fails to maintain the school standard, which seems unlikely. From what I know the current headteacher is retiring this year.

Ps. Sacred heart is a 1-form school so not many places for non-Catholics, if any.

The 2012 admission year is the most pressured in the borough . Several schools in Teddington area were forced by the council to go over admission number of 30 pet class because a number of children did not have a school place at all . (This was 2013/2014 academic year year 1)Therefore some schools now have 91/92 students in the year group . These children were given precedence over waiting list children I believe . Hence an additional 2 children have to leave before waiting list children accepted .

Interesting news here about a military-run free school in Oldham whose bid was approved but has not been allowed to open. The school's SEN policy was controversial (e.g. ADHD 'isn’t a disorder at all', and 'teachers waste huge amounts of time ‘differentiating’ lessons for illiterate pupils'.

The latest news on the military free school is here.

Am I just being hopelessly optimistic in hoping they couldn't find a Head with military experience and any sort of professional educational qualifications who subscribed to that outdated view of Specific Learning Difficulties.

It had to be illegal - outright discrimination. The lack of principal is just face-saving flannel.

mum I have heard those sorts of views from teachers, indeed the Head at one local Prep. It is shockingly common. The quantity and quality of training on the issues is very patchy indeed. It was a NQT from a military background who judged my dyslexic dyspraxic DD incapable of meeting the demands of one of her A level subjects after an interview. She got 100% of the AS UMS marks

This won't help either www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-26360655

OFQUAL just tightened up the regulations on extra time in exams in a way that has little scientific basis and discriminates against bright dyslexics according to the Educational Psychologists, Charities etc who have lobbied them<a class="break-all" href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/www.ofqual.gov.uk/how-we-regulate/90-articles/864-extra-time-in-qualification-examinations-and-assessments-for-learners-with-dyslexia-or-other-specific-learning-difficulties" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/www.ofqual.gov.uk/how-we-regulate/90-articles/864-extra-time-in-qualification-examinations-and-assessments-for-learners-with-dyslexia-or-other-specific-learning-difficulties I know of a lot of bright pupils who will not get access to the extra time that would enable them to show their potential on a level playing field in public exams as a result, and my own DD nearly lost hers, and would have done if we had not had the resources and knowledge to challenge it. I know that in a lot of state schools those resources are very hard indeed to access especially for a pupil who manages to achieve above the average (albeit not their potential)

It all seems to be guided by prejudice and the misperception that the advances in educational strategies and increasing diagnosis we have seen in recent years is all down to pushy parents trying to gain advantage, or in denial that they have stupid children, rather than getting better at identifying and supporting the 10% of pupils affected.

All of this in spite of the evidence of what people with SpLDs can contribute to society. Ironically it is the MOD who go out of their way to provide working conditions that suit those with SpLDs in certain departments where their skills make them especially effective (intelligence, code breaking etc.)

So forgive me if I am about whether anyone would get anywhere challenging those attitudes via the anti disability legislation. Most of those parents with children with SpLDs are just busy getting them at least some of the support they need on an individual level.

Your personal experience sounds terribly stressful. There are very clear rules on complying with the SEN Code of Practice, having a SENCO, etc. which apply to all schools including academies. The proposed school expressed views that do seem to be against the law and it should never have been approved.

mum yes all schools have to have a SENCO but their quality, and the level of access they have to specialist resources, especially Ed Psychs who will give a full diagnostic report, help with coping strategies, access to extra time etc etc etc especially for an above average child is extremely variable. I gather Richmond is one of the better LAs but I still know many parents with far worse experiences than ours. As I said we have the advantage of the knowledge and resources. It is an area of extreme unfairness between state and private provision, in the wider sense of SEN support.

I suspect many SENCOs in state and private schools battle against similar attitudes, even if they are not made explicit.

Richmond council Secondary school admissions states:

. . Online: If you have applied online you will be sent an email with the outcome of your application during the evening of Monday 3 March 2014. Please wait until you have received the email before logging on to the eAdmissions website. The availability of results for viewing will be staggered to assist demand, so precise timings cannot be guaranteed. . .

https://www.eadmissions.org.uk/eAdmissions/app states:

We are currently experiencing a problem with Yahoo and AOL not releasing emails. We hope that this will be rectified in due course. Please login to your eAdmissions account if you wish to view your outcome. We apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause . .

Anyone who applied online and may have missed the email would also have received a letter.

For info - Council Press Release on Secondary Admissions is now online.

The RTT has: First choice secondary school for 70% of Richmond children:

More than 70 % of Richmond primary school pupils received offers for their first choice secondary schools. Almost 1,700 pupils - up from 1,500 last year - were offered year 7 places for September, with 72 % receiving their first choice. In total, 89 % received an offer for one of their top three school preferences and children not allocated a place at one of their preferred schools have been offered an alternative place within Richmond . .

Richmond Council cabinet member for schools Cllr Paul Hodgins said he was delighted with the number of children who received their first choice offers. He said: The standard of education within Richmond is high, with three of our secondary schools now rated as outstanding by Ofsted, which is why it is difficult to offer everyone their first choice. Yet standards in education in Richmond are continuing to rise further. The latest results show the borough’s schools achieved the second highest baccalaureate results in the country while the number of pupils who achieved five or more GCSE passes in English and maths is now among the top 20 across England . .

In . . Kingston, only 67 % of pupils received offers from their first choice schools . . in Hounslow the figure was 72 % . .

Cllr Gareth Roberts, Liberal Democrat spokesman for education, said: I would like to offer my congratulations to council officers for, once again, doing an excellent job in the face of limited resources. It is interesting to note that the number of applications rose by 200 in just one year, from 1,500 to 1,700. Obviously this is largely due to the primary school bulge now beginning to work its way through the system but is also testament to the popularity and improved performance of our secondary schools which is thanks, in no small part, to the secondary school improvement and investment programme put in place by the previous Lib Dem administration.

Waldegrave made it into the Standard today in an article following Michael Gove's acceptance of a state school offer.

Oh the irony of living round the corner from highly sought after Waldegrave but having boys... At least if times get hard I can sell up or rent to some desperate rule benders! ??

Today's RTT has two letters: Good luck, but record is poor (p 20) from Cllr Paul Hodgins, Cabinet member for schools, and Access for all children (p 22) from Helen Clark of RISC

Cllr Hodgins Defends the Tories' record re extra primary places. Helen Clark responds to A Robert's letter last week re the exclusive admission policy of St Mary's & St Peter's Teddington.

Two stories from the Kngston Guardian on the difficulties faced by councils that need to expand places.

Free school group have had great difficulty looking for a site

Concil scraps building plans for Surbiton schools in expansion u-turn

Last weekend's eNewsletter from RISC links to this Comment from Rev Dominic Stockford (Pastor, Christ Church, Teddington) on th eRISV website.

. . I think it wrong to take state funding for any school, and then prevent those who pay for the school from their taxes (in vast part) from attending. Also, logic would state that if church attendance is so important then the schools should focus on those who do NOT attend church for entrants, in the hope of bringing them into church influence and encouraging their future church attendance! . .