DS's School has gone down in GCSE tables

[ForestryTrees]

The school DS is due to start in September has published this years GCSE results. They're down from 57% (from last year) to 51%

I'm starting to worry that the school is rapidly going downhill. Would this worry you?

which year is your ds?

Schools can have a blip year. It might be the intake year, it might be one dept that are letting the side down a bit, maybe they've moved to taking GCSEs a year early etc etc. Most schools publish a newsletter either on paper or online and usually heads comment in the first one about the summer exams.

A drop in results can trigger an Ofsted inspection and I can't imagine a school not analysing the data and taking action on this.

PixieOna Leaf I do so hope you are right.

My DCs school has just had dreadful results. It's the 3rd year running the results have declined and DS1 is just about to go into Y10.
When we chose the school it was top of the league, it is also our local, rural school, so alternatives all a considerable distance away.
Both DCs are very able and well motivated. Also settled and happy there. Other schools are oversubscribed (I know as I sit on appeals panels).

I am panicking that my children will be doomed to failure because I sent them to a rubbish school.

I would be more concerned about a year on year trend, rather than a one off. You simply can't make a valid judgement on that. As cat64 says, a blip can make a huge difference statistically. I teach in a large school; however, a friend of mine in a small secondary said that in Yr 11, the staff had drilled into them that there were 6 key students to watch - because those 6 were borderline and could sway the school's place in the league tables hugely, either for good or bad. That's quite a scary thought, because at the end of the day, unless you're the parent of one of those 6, are you really going to be worried? If your child is going to get all top grades, they'll get them regardless of whether those 6 pass or fail. But unfortunately, it's the prospective parents who get sucked into the league tables nonsense and worry.

I think private tuition might be the way.

DS1 excels in Maths and science but finds English and French much harder. I suspect he isn't up to scratch on those but when I've questioned both his English and French teachers they have told me he is doing well and on target. The thing is these results make me question the quality of teaching. I just don't think they push him very hard because he will probably get a grade C in these subjects without any trouble.

The school doesn't have a sixth form they go to one in a nearby town.

Rather than looking at the % A* - C grades find out what the school's VA (value added) score is. As long as this isn't a negative number you don't really need to worry. A positive number is a strong point for the school.

If you think about it a 6% difference on a 180 intake of pupils is actually 11 pupils not achieving the required results, which can easily be explained with a year group that is less able.

You need far more information before you make the assumption that the school is going down the pan. Firstly what are the actual results for the last 3 years. If they show a gradual decline over the 3 years, then yes more cause to worry.

Are the quoted results including english and maths or just 5 A* to C grades. If it is the latter then the school is not particularly high performing but that is were the CVA score is important. If this is over 1000 then this is positive if it is below 1000 then this suggests that the pupils are not reaching their expected potential. However the smaller the cohort of pupils the more potential for error there is in the results, so for again the results need to be considered with care. Also the CVA results will not be out for a few months yet.

I would let your child get on with making that important transition into a secondary school education. As others have said if they apply themselves at school then they will achieve.

If you have specific concerns, then I would see about getting some tutoring help, at least some kind of assessment from someone outside the school. Ask your friends etc. if they can recommend a good Tutor. For instance I now a good German and French one, and have friends who have a good Maths one. We probably need to get DS an English one (and he goes to a fab school).

A one off blip is not a worry, intakes do vary when they arrive at a school. A trend is more worrying.