Richmond Borough Schools Chat 9

[ChrisSquire2]

This thread follows on from Richmond Borough Schools Chat 8 starting February 2016.
News and opinions on all the changes to schools in Richmond borough.

See also:

Richmond Borough Schools Chat 7 starting May 2015

Links to earlier threads (1-6), starting in February 2011

Goodness a friend has just told me about the appalling 2017 GCSE results of Turing House partner school Bristol Free School. Am shocked. Listed on that gov comparison site as below national average and well below national average in many areas. As they use the same educational body for their teachers and curriculum etc I hope this does not suggest the same standards for Turing.

I've got a niece and a nephew at Bristol Free School so have heard some local views on it. They say it wasn't full from the start and took a couple of years of being open before confidence grew and it was oversubscribed. That means its first 2 year-groups have had a lot of kids transferring in from other schools, often kids who have a lot of issues, and haven't made as much progress as the kids who've been there from Year 7 - they've even had kids transferring in halfway through their GCSEs. So I think it's worth keeping an eye to see how the results change of the next couple of years.

Tiggy On the last thread it was highlighted that St Richard Reynolds are not expecting great results from their first undersubscribed cohort either.

DDQueen From experience it is difficult to get the right support for pupils with SpLDs (Specific Learning Difficulties) whatever school you send them too. There is such a spectrum of issues, and if your child is bright they will often have developed coping mechanisms that mask their true nature, so their needs vary so much. If pupils are bright it can be especially difficult to pursuade even the schools with the most effective SEN support that they need help to achieve their full potential.

I would advise gearing up now. If you can afford it it is worth every penny to get a full Ed Psych assessment, I recommend the Helen Arkyll centre in Farnham. You then get a full picture of your child's challenges and talents and needs (if indeed they have special needs, contrary to popular myth an Ed Psych assessment does not automatically mean a diagnosis) and can use the assessment to add weight to your lobbying for extra help. I gather that state schools will often argue that they do not have the reources to support children with SpLDs if they are achieving above the average in spite of them.

Private schools are not necessarily well geared up either, some locally have a disgraceful record of actively avoiding or sidelining pupils with SpLDs and actually it is the most selective (because 10% of the population have some forms of SpLD regardless of ability) that tend to offer the best support (and have selection methods that spot ability and potential in spite of shortfalls in attainment)

It is now npmore difficult to get extra time and other support with working in timed conditions in public exams. Ofqual tightened up the regulations in a way that was devoid of scientific rationale so that only pupils whose processing and working memory fall in the bottom 14 % of the population qualify for extra time. This is regardless of ability so discriminates against the able who might still have a big gap between their actual scores and the sort of processing and working memory scores you would predict for their level of ability and so face a considerable disability but just not in the bottom 14 %.

This will all sound rather pessimistic but I would say that ironically it becomes easier to cope with your disability and show your ability the older you get. After GCSE ideas and the quality of your thinking starts to become more important than cramming and regurgitation. Universities provide much better support than school as well because they value those thinking skills and the diversity it brings to academic thinking.

Our youngest has an EHCP (he is still a few years away from secondary school) so am keeping an eye on all SEN provisions at all schools. My experience of looking round secondary schools for my eldest and discussions with other parents is that Turing is particularly good but this may change when it gets bigger

@Tiggywinkle25

Yr 5 now. Teddington was our first preference... No idea what to do now. We're in the admission radius for Turing House and Grey Court. TH doesn't appeal to us. GC commute is awful and I'm not convinced it's that much better than Tedd despite the glowing ofsted. I did like the visit and the HT - she seems great.

We have until Oct to decide.

@tw11 I wouldn’t worry about the Ofsted, which will prob only improve the school still further. The new head seems to be well-liked and impressing across the board. In the Evening Standard’s recent London performance table, Tedd is listed second behind Waldegrave in the Richmond borough table, based on its 2017 GCSE results. And every parent I know with kids there is very happy. Ofsted often have their own agendas unfortunately....

The Bristol Free School progress 8 and attainment 8 scores are below average, but this news story is more worrying.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/school-bristol-black-free-school-naomi-davis-a8075906.html

Yeah, that was an own goal. Looks like they dealt with it well though.

Did the headteacher resign over it? An acting head seems to have taken over around the same time, from what I can see.

No idea - will ask next time I see them. They've always been very pleased with the school though.

Goodness gracious I cannot believe they asked children that! Totally disgraceful.

I remember doing diversity training at work about 15 years ago and being asked that sort of thing. We also had to stand at one end of the room or the other depending on how we felt about gay people. It was all very awkward. They don't do it that way now though thank goodness.

@tw11 and for anyone else worried about the Teddington Ofsted, a bit of a reality check. This Evening Standard performance table from this Jan was mentioned by a parent at the school's parent forum the other day, and shows Teddington second behind Waldegrave, on actual results.
www.standard.co.uk/news/education/secondary-school-league-tables-2017-gcse-and-alevel-tables-for-every-london-state-and-independent-a3750671.html

I went to a meeting at Teddington school this last week regarding the Ofsted (my DC is in Y7). I thought the Head of year, Kathy Pacey, spoke very well, she has plans to turn the school round and I hope that parents give her a chance. It's definitely not an easy time to be running a school, with budget cuts and teacher shortages.

@Tiggywinkle25: that's only by Maths and English GCSEs gr 5 or higher that they are ahead. On both progress 8 and attainment 8 score they are behind Grey Court and Orleans Park. So that means the school is relying on the fact that these kids are already at a high level when they come in, and on the fact that the parents will do everything they can to help their children achieve, and that most likely includes tutoring...

Look, I know results aren't everything, especially averages. However, the fact that the Ofsted report came back as "requires improvement" it's a big flag. The main criticism of the school, the way I read it - is complacency - that they get a great intake of children and they are unable to support the children achieve their potential. And that's due mainly to the way the school was managed. To me, it's very clear that Mr Wilkinson has to go. He joined the school in 2014 right after the school was graded Good and he had everything in place to turn it to outstanding. Results have improved but there is a lot of tutoring going on, isn't there? And behaviour CAN be managed and they should have corrected that a long time ago (since low level disruption and chatting was already mentioned in the last report).

To be honest I believe that if this school was in a different area it would have been rated Good. But because it's in one of the most affluent areas of greater London, it's not good enough. And parents are more critical of the school (which shows in those online Parent View reports) because they do have higher expectations of attainment.

I'm going to be attending the Collis meeting with K Pacey - she's coming on the 26th of March to speak to prospective parents about where the school is headed next. She didn't make a lasting impression on me when I went to the open day in October, but I believe I was measuring her against Maggie Bailey, the Grey Court HT, and also the TH headteacher. (I didn't like Philippa Nunn either, she was too arrogant imho - no effort to answer any questions from parents, just went on and on about Ofsted and results greatness, and media mentions).

I haven't ruled out Teddington School and I'm going to be looking for reasons to list it first, as I really want my child to go to the local school. I will go and visit the schools again in October, and I believe provisional results will be available before 31st of October. But one thing I will say, if Wilkinson doesn't go away, that means that the school has very weak chances to be turned around. I find it very odd - the whole "he went on sick leave the day after Ofsted" - that is an appalling reaction on his part and it tells me what I need to know. Also, when I visited all schools last October, he completely failed to impress - I ranked him lowest out of all HTs for all the schools we visited - so my intuition about him was right.

Perhaps that external body should recommend bringing in a new head - one with proven results (Wilkinson didn't have proven results when he joined). A Maggie Bailey inspirational type, preferably. Teddington could be outstanding with the right management.

@tw11. No, if you look at the Evening Standard performance league it’s based on 5 or more GCSEs at a*-c/4-9. It’s true though that their Maths and English are particularly outstanding, also I gather modern languages. Progress 8 is a new assessment which was affected by the school’s refusal to steer kids to certain choices. The Ofsted rating reflects an agenda more than anything else. Any head who has experience across a range of schools will tell you this is not a ‘requires improvement’ school.

@tw11 Nb therefore I imagine you can expect the GCSE progress scores and attainment 8 scores this year to be similar to last year, as the children cannot change their GCSE subject choices half way through. The same goes I suspect for 2019 results as the kids have already embarked on their GCSE studies. So it’s the actual hard GCSE results you need to look for. I don’t know how tutoring will affect stuff but a friend who has looked into the data tells me that low prior attainers and disadvantaged children also do well at Tedd in Eng/Maths.

@tiggywinkle25: yes that's right, it is "5 or more GCSEs at a*-c/4-9" but there is virtually no difference between GC, OP, and Tedd. One percentage point is nothing, statistically speaking.

However, to me, it's the % of grade 5s that gives the measure of a great school, not the % grade 4 - but from what I see on the dept for education site, you can't filter for that anymore. Only Maths & Engglish is shown at grade 5 or higher. Schools might have published it on their website though, not sure.

RICHMOND UPON THAMES

Key: A = No of candidates; B = % passing 5 or more GCSEs at A*-C/9-4 including English and maths; C= % passing English Baccalaureate; D = Progress 8

School: A, B, C ,D
Waldegrave School (ACC/M) 202, 91%, 60% , 0.78
Teddington School (ACC/M) 237, 81%, 42% , -0.03
Grey Court School (ACC/M) 225, 80%, 58% , 0.59
Orleans Park School (ACC/M) 193, 79%, 61% , 0.3

PS. Grade 5 is strong pass and grade 4 is standard pass, am I right?

Yes 5 is equiv roughly to a b and 4 to a c

Does anyone know when the second lot of secondary school offers go out? Just wondering as the cut off for accept/ decline was Thursday...

Last year it was two weeks after the first round

@rainbow55 thanks. The cut off for accepting/ declining was two weeks from the date we found out about places, so I’m guessing two weeks from now?

I think it was just a few days after the two week deadline. Good luck with whatever you are hoping for

Is there really that much tutoring at the state secondaries round here in academic subjects, apart from concern for those who have clearly fallen behind? At primary level there’s tutoring for selective entry, but that pressure surely eases off by secondary (never considered it myself). Music and performing arts are a different category - they’ve been squeezed off the curriculum. Teenagers have a pretty packed week as it is with clubs, sport, DoE, regular homework, etc.