@0None0
You need to understand what sort of school ark Greenwich free school is, before you choose it.
Children line up in a straight line with their arms in the air. If their feet are not exactly on either side of the painted line, and their elbow not completely straight, they get a detention. That day. No warning.
They are made to sit by upright in lessons. BOLT upright. ALL the time. Sitting normally =detention. My friend removed her daughter for this reason- last year, the girl is still getting back ache.
Not remaining dead silent in lessons. Once=warning. Twice=detention. Three times=exclusion room. And so it goes on. My friends daughter was ending up with regular one or two hour detentions for things like forgetting a pencil sharpener, or siting normally.
It’s absolutely brutal. And the staff turn over is about 50% a year. I think even staff find the regime shockingly harsh
There are some children who do well in such a military like culture, and you could argue that too much discipline is better than too little.
But you need to know what it’s like before you consider it.
It is notorious. And actually, the value added scores they got in their exam results are not great.
NC'd as I work at AGFS, and you are somewhat misrepresenting the school's approach here.
Children line up each morning and raise their hands to indicate they have noticed the 'be silent' hand in the air from a teacher. They do not have to have their feet either side of a line! They then lower their hands and stand waiting to be read to and then dismissed to lessons.
Children are expected to sit up and not slouch in lessons, so that they are paying attention, and showing respect to the teacher.
Children also understand that they do not speak over others, and are silent when asked to be.
The culture is very strong, and many pupils find it comforting and safe to know that there is no space for others to be unkind or rude to them. Much of the school's ethos is driven by character education to try and address some deficits in their knowledge and education to date and to allow them to compete with children from grammar schools and private schools.
The staff turnover is nothing like 50% (per what? Year? Term? I wasn't sure from your post).
The pastoral team is huge and outstanding, there is an enormous focus on supporting students through challenges they may face. There is a large SEN department who provide outstanding support for students with SEND.
Oh, and the progress 8 score is +0.8, and is approaching +1.
The school is absolutely committed to each child having a breadth and depth of opportunity. Sometimes this is through tough love - ensuring that pupils know how to speak clearly and articulately and carry themselves with confidence can mean pushing students to not retreat into their safe teenage mumble, but the outcomes speak for themselves.