St Marys Calne

[hoorayforsummer]

Any thoughts on this school? Pastoral care, academic, do the girls grow out of it. My initial view was that it was quite small, but gets good results. Thx

But Returning, academia is also about research to a huge degree. Lots of people don't want to publish or perish, they just want to teach, and that really doesn't exist in most academic fields these days. (Particularly the sciences, and in my experience most teachers with PhDs are scientists.) Ergo, teaching becomes the chosen profession for some of these people.

Also the idea that "anyone who is really good" will be teaching in Higher Ed is quite laughable. I think we have all had terrible lecturers at uni. Teaching ability often doesn't seem to come into it

1. I don't think all teachers with PhDs are rubbish.

1. Appreciate about it being difficult to find decent work in HE.

I would still worry about the aspirational side of things, though, and would still rather choose teachers who have come into the profession via the well recognised routes. I know too many people who took PhDs because they didn't know what else to do and then eventually ended up teaching. However, I don't doubt that some of them have made good teachers.

As someone who hopes to do a PhD sometime I'm not quite sure what you mean about the "aspirational side of things"? If a I did a PhD it would not be because I didn't know what else to do it would for one reason alone I love my subject.
By the way it would be if absolutely no relevance to my current occupation. If at the end of it a job came off it where a I could actually use it all well and good but that is not why Id do it. Having spent all that time on it, maybe I'd look at teaching because it's got to be better than my current shitty profession because at least Id still be in the world where my wonderful subject was being talked about.

What are the well recognised routes? Assume you mean PGCE, because personally I don't think GTP or Teach First are very well recognised, although some would disagree.

I've just looked at our school list - there are 15 PhDs and 7 of them have PGCEs too. The number of other teachers with no PGCE is at least a third though. So some of these non-PhDs probably 'ended up' in teaching as well. And the same can be said of some people taking a PGCE. Or of any job at all, for that matter.

FWIW I don't disagree that you should have a PGCE to teach, but I don't think you should be judged for having other excellent quals too, or previous non-school experience. I don't think it tells you very much about what that person will be like as a teacher.

As a parent of a recent leaver I can tell you that's not true. Lots of girls apply after A Levels every year and 4 of those applying are girls applying to Oxbridge. The A Level results were really good and some of my daughter's friends got better grades than they had hoped and therefore didn't accept their Uni place as they want to try for a better Uni. Gap Years are really popular. I don't think you can beat the teaching and support at St Mary's.

From my investigation and now speaking to parents there, the girls who go to Oxbridge would have got there from a non fee paying school. There were many more girls this year who left with poorer grades than better. Talk of little added value, plus too much private tutors needed. Not easy to set up from overseas. Good for you, but you seem to be in the minority.

Thanks to replies. My questions now answered.

Oh dear George, you do seem to have a bee in you bonnet about this school don't you? Several threads in a month all negative.

You seem almost desperate for it to fail.

Have you any concrete evidence rather than hearsay and assumptions?

Any undated information on St Mary Calne? I have filled up the application form for my daughter from HK but still hesitate to send it out. 2016 exam result still same as last 2 year. Thanks

Anyone with latest on St Mary Calne is very much appreciated. Really looking at this achool and keen to know how boarding and pastoral care is esp with regards academic support and bullying now. Looking at 2018 or 2019.
Thank you kknd mums!