Can some one please explain what near identical intake means

[pud1]

I have been sent a letter home from school that has come from David laws. It is congratulating the school for being in the top 105 schools in England in the performance tables. It goes on to state that the tables compare schools with near identical intakes and that we were ranked number one in our table.

The bit I don't get is the identical intake. What does this mean.

I hope someone can clear this up for me

It's measured against other schools whose intake a similar level of (eg) FSM, EAL, SEN and ability on starting reception.

...ie the children who go to them have a similar profile.

AFAIK it means they have compared similar schools in terms of fsm etc. so they aren't comparing a school with 60% fsm with a school with 6% fsm

Ok. I think I get it. According to the ofted report

Try again

According to ofsted the school has slightly above average numbers on free school meals so it would be graded on the same footing as schools with the same amount of children on fsm.

Basically, yes. I would hope that they would try to balance the profiles with a little more sophistication than the % of children on FSM, but they may indeed be that simple. They are saying that like-for-like your school is doing best, and the only schools that have better results are doing so with an "easier" intake of children.

It does sou d like a very blunt way of dividing the tables. I have just compared the results with schools that are known as been good schools in well off areas and the results of ny dds school is much better. There is a lot of postcode snobbery in my area. My dd school is on a large council estate and there are a few children like a boy in dds class that was sent in without a uniform and he told the teacher that his mummy did not want to buy him a new one so they gave him a uniform out of lost property. We also have a policy of not excluding any child on any trip due to financial difficulties. The pta PAY for any child who's parents can't afford it. I pass 2 well off schools to get to my dds school as I just loved the whole ethos of the school when I looked round. Some neighbour's thought I was mad when I chose the school. I am pleased that I am now able to prove them wrong

Not sure why pay came out in capitals

Our school is in top 105 too. Also very happy we chose it. There are 50% on FSM. But also lots of middle class parents send their children there. The behaviour is exceptional. I love it. And yet there is still that same snobbery from parents whose children go to nearby schools in more well off areas. I overheard someone at the doctors surgery talking about the school and the 'kind' of parents who go there and how dreadful it was etc. I met a couple of parents who were devastated it was their allocated school and not the middle class school - they seemed to think the parents would be doing drug deals and drinking special brew at the school gates ... Honestly! Do they seriously think that a school gets 100% Level 4 SATs, an outstanding ofsted, and a whole pile of awards by accident?

You have just described our school and the snobby attitude towards it perfectly. It makes me wonder if we are talking about the same school. I am in the north west btw