Richmond Borough Schools Chat 7

[muminlondon2]

Lots and lots of discussions on local schools and education issues preceded this thread, including Richmond Borough Schools Chat 6.

Anyone who wants to carry on that discussion, and offer information and opinions (without being moderated by any particular individual or interest group, bearing in mind all the usual mumsnet guidelines about respect and not getting personal, etc.) - feel free.

Just wondering how to understand the results from RPA. I always thought they didn't get good results because they had lots of low achievers but I am concerned that their results for high achievers are not good. Does this mean that they aren't teaching the kids well or are there other possible reasons?

Leadership skills are transferable in certain situations but not where professional skills are concerned and not when those skills concern the complex needs of human beings at different stages of their development. The head who can gain the respect of, inspire, care for and control teenagers whilst managing the finance and strategy of a what would be in business a medium to large enterprise is rare on the ground and certainly needs different leadership skills to a Primary Head, where it really is about setting the ethos, values and strategy for the equivalent of a small enterprise when most of the pupils won't even know who you are. Equally important and rewarding but why would you be in Primary teaching in the first place if it wasn't the early learning that interested and motivated you? As a parent who has been through all this it would scare me to see a Primary Head put in charge of a West London Secondary with all the problems that are common in West London teenage society, drink, drugs and exclusive and dangerous sexual behaviour. Many experienced secondary teachers and Heads struggle with the issues but at least they do understand the scale and possibilities. MrsSalvo you rightly have a lot of respect for Maggie Bailey but do you really think that a Primary Head would truly understand the issues that can prevent a teenager achieving their potential in this way www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6086606

Richmondteddy I am sure mum will be along soon with links and a sound explanation of the methodology and issues but overall the intake at RPA has been more mixed than at other schools and the leadership did inherit cohorts in which there were fewer higher attainers. if there is an issue it is that on the face of it from the figures it appears the focus in improving results has benefitted higher attainers but lower attainers have not faired so well. But as always there are issues with the benchmarks that affect the figures; whatever you try to measure, your methodology isn't going to be perfect.

Heathclif makes some really good points about children/teenagers and different stages of social development. There's a mass of data but you really have to talk to people on the inside to understand it. That 2014 GCSE cohort was small (around 90), they had twice the average on FSM, two-thirds were boys, and girls don't seem to have done well - much lower Ebacc pass rates, etc. Could be linked to prior attainment but girls could simply have been put off by disruptive behaviour in that year group. The school admits it has room to improve in science and this year more were entered for single sciences than previously, though not many A grades. That would take time to build on (recruit good staff and literally build labs). Humanities do show good results. There could be lots of other reasons and explanations.

I still don't see why having more lower attainers would mean that the higher attainers don't make expected progress unless that means that their educational experience is being impacted by the presence of lower attainers.

I mean I can imagine how that could be the case but I was hoping the streaming system at RPA would mitigate against this.

The above sounds extremely selfish but my child is going to get only one chance at getting a good education and the results they get at secondary school will affect their future.

Having looked at the results I am concerned that perhaps the teaching isn't very good. I should probably go to an open evening and ask the headteacher myself.

Also it could be that the results are suddenly going to get much better.

Sorry cross post with mum. Those are all reasons for poor attainment but unless there has been dramatic improvement they put me right off.

My DD wants to be a surgeon at the moment. If she is with disruptive kids and the science teaching is poor then she would have no chance really.

This is RPA's view on 2014 GCSEs, in which it suggests the 2015 cohort is quite different and results will reflect that:

sites.google.com/a/aetinet.org/richmond-park-academy-website/news/headteacher-blog/examresults2014

I will be watching with interest. I think if they can improve the results then they will become a very successful local school.

How is higher attainers classified by the way?

Simple definition is those at Level 4 in Key Stage 2 tests. But they take English, Maths and Science KS2 tests and add up points:

High attainers = "For the KS4 tables, where we are looking at KS2 prior attainment, we calculate the pupil’s average points score for English, maths and science and classify those with a points score of less than 24 as low; those between 24 and 29.99 as middle, and those with 30 or more as high attaining. Where teacher assessment is used as a proxy for test results, we take the whole level and allocate the appropriate points relating to the mid-range of the level."

This is going to be a bit inconsistent now that they have been tinkering with the SATs curriculum and tests. Much more emphasis on spellings and grammar, perhaps - there are more tests for English than for Maths and Science.

RPA's gender balance is much more even for the next few years so that should show up in results, and may have made a difference in the classroom, too.

those above Level 4 I mean.

Mum, thanks for the explanation. The average point score for my children's primary school was well above 30 last year and they are just an ordinary group of kids albeit fairly well taught.

So I suspect high achiever actually contains a wide ability band.

Gosh, you are right - the average point score for the LA is above 30 so the majority of schools in that category. Nine schools have an average of 32-34 points which is 5B. There is so much creaming off to private, Tiffin and within the state sector from Barnes/East Sheen yet the half that sign up to RPA are still above average. In Wandsworth Granard and the Alton are very average (around 27 - 4B): they're feeders as well. Even if 75% of Barnes and East Sheen primaries transferred it's still only half the secondary intake. Darrell, Kew Riverside, Queen's, Sheen Mount and Marshgate do have Christ's as an option (and some have Waldegrave too) so it needs to attract them too. The MAT idea is slightly off-putting - a bit of a club, maybe?

Does anyone know how long it takes for Ofsted to publish their reports after inspection? (bluestars on 25 June)

It took three weeks for the Good report to be published for St Mary's Hampton CE Primary but two free schools that have just been judged Inadequate (a secondary in Herefordshire and a primary in Gloucestershire) have taken five and six weeks respectively.

And four weeks for an Outstanding primary free school sponsored by its local council, FE college and university.

The King's one is out now here. Good with Outstanding features, Outstanding for Leadership and Management with a clear call out to the expertise and support of RET. Looking at the other secondary schools in Brighton I think this is the best Ofsted amongst them. A really positive report that should reassure TH parents.

RET is proving to have a good track record.

RET has circulated the Kings and St Andrew Ofsted reports to TH parents. St Andrew has been given Outstanding across the board. Quite honestly one of the best Ofsted reports I have ever read. I’ll link to it when it appears online...

This is from an electoral campaign email I got today, looks like it's not a done deal...

"Our latest information is that Imperial continues to discuss with developers a sale of the site, but critically any developer will need planning permission before they are likely to complete a purchase. It is therefore vital that we keep up the pressure on Imperial to think again and ensure the sports ground is protected for community use."

St Andrew Ofsted Report here

Looks like Geraldine Locke is the new councillor for the Hampton Wick ward. She's a Collis school governor and supports community use for Udney Park sports ground.

twitter.com/Geraldinoe

News item on Deer Park School in the Richmond and Twickenham Times today - the site issue is going to be debated in a council meeting next week:

[[http://pages.cdn.pagesuite.com/c/a/ca9cff5a-8594-44a0-b278-0f2ee91bbaa3/page.pdf 1,000-signature petition
against free school site]]

Here's the agenda for the council meeting on Tuesday.

Ward concerns include 'Primary School Places for families in St Margarets and North Twickenham'. And members' questions include Turing House, Deer Park again, and approaching St Stephen's for a bulge class.

Sadly you can predict the answers to the questions and concerns. I don't think there will be any surprises. Councillors earn brownie points by expressing their voters concerns, Council carry on regardless, and to be fair on the site issues, they can't just magic up a site in Fullwell or East Twickenham. Councillor Elliott in particular is being disingenuous since Turing have said they will change the admissions criteria. The Riverside Councillors are noticeable by their silence on the St RR planning application and the traffic and parking concerns of residents, in spite of being approached by many local residents. Funny dat

Councillor Elliott in particular is being disingenuous since Turing have said they will change the admissions criteria

Yes, that's true, but we only know that because it was in a letter to TH parents and posted on Facebook - worth hearing that publicly. The stock reply may be that it's for the school not the council to propose its own the admissions policy and the council expressed concerns about that policy during consultation. But the Whitton site hasn't been officially confirmed yet either, to which the policy relates, so they may have to admit that they knew about the site when they commented on the policy. And I think councillors can ask supplementary questions, can't they?

There's a map in Schoolsweek of all free schools whose opening has been delayed by a year or more - of 53 schools, 30 are in London and Turing House is one of them. This is estimated to have cost £12 million.

More than 1000 LBRUT residents cannot be wrong about the dreadful site proposed for Deer Park School on the A316 at Manor Circus. There is also plenty of support from other people who live in neighbouring boroughs and know the site. But Richmond council would not accept the views of these people. The petition will also go to the Department of Education who shamefully selected the site - they would not know the area like local people.