Open evenings- which departments?

[BurnTheBlackSuit]

Another open evening question I'm afraid.

I know how limited time is on open evenings, especially when schools put on fun stuff for children in their departments that keeps you in one place for ages. We definitely want to go to the Head's talk.

For a child without any specific interest ( i.e. Art or drama) which departments would you say we're most important to look at in a secondary school? Which ones would get you the best feel of the school? Maths and English?

I think it's as important to talk to the children, as much as to the teachers. e.g. if you ask about discipline, so are there clear structures/ is low level disruption tolerated, etc, etc, a teacher will give you the party line, but you'll find out far more by talking to the kids. I'd also ask how/ when they set for subjects and also when they choose GCSE options. Lots of schools near us have started choosing GCSE options in yr8, which means unless they opt for subjects such as Art, Music, History, Geography, etc, they won't study it at all after their second year. I think that's far too narrow too early, but I know not everyone agrees!

If you are trying to 'sell' the school to your child, the science departments tends to have whizz-bang stuff (literally) going on.

If you are trying to decide on the school I don't think it really matters where you go. If you are lucky there will be work on display, possibly books to look at, and teachers and pupils to talk to. It doesn't matter so much whether you talk with history or English or whoever, if you know what kind of questions you want to ask.

Generic questions for children:

• what is the behaviour like in school
• what about bullying
• what do you like best/least about the school
• how much homework do you get, what sort
• how fussy/strict are they on uniform

For teachers:

• when do they set for subjects and how often are they reviewed
• how do you stretch more able pupils
• how do you support struggling pupils
• how much homework do the pupils get set, what sort is it
• how would we contact you if we had a concern

Geography & history are good: they are always the tattiest rooms & give you a good feel for how the minority subjects fare.

I avoid science. We head to cookery, art, music, PE, English or Maths, geography or history. Head teachers speech.

I have also made appointments outside of open days to see the school and get a feel for it, how the kids move around in between lessons etc when I really couldn't decide.

Thank you everyone.

We looked round the school's last year too to try and give us a head start (hahahaha). Spend most of it in science classes watching the same "hold the bubbles and set the alight" experiment at every school. And going to the departments that offered food ;)

Would you expect all departments to be open/have a room on display? For example, is it a bit worrying if the maths department doesn't have a room open or a display or teachers anywhere?

I would be very put off if Maths weren't open, given it is one of the two most important subjects!

I was a bit put off. But then wondered if it was normal, after all there isn't much to see, not like art, music, drama, pe, science.

I asked about it too and got a bemused response.

But ....
What if you wanted to ask them how they stretch the most able, if the do the kangaroos, FM at GCSE?
What if you want to ask how they support those with weak skills or who are 'scared' of maths?
What if you wanted to ask 'how have you had to change teaching lower down the school to support the new maths GCSE?'

There might not be much to see, but there are things to ask!

(Our school had a probability based game, plus a height/shoe size thing that they take data from people coming in and plot it on a live graph displayed on the smartboard)

I used to love helping at open evenings, usually for food technology!

Maths and English definitely and I'd say science as well

Talk to the kids assuming they have pupils around, and encourage your DC to talk to them as well

So it is unusual and worrying then... hmmm.

What's Kangaroo FM?

The Kangaroos and Olympiads are a kind of competition for more able mathematicians that schools can enter. I'm only an interested bystander as my DDs are not able mathematicians.

FM is Further Maths, a harder 'GCSE' that may or may not continue now that the proper GCSE has been made harder.

Ah! I know what you mean now. In my day it was called the Sharpe Maths challenge. I will look out for kangeroo!

My kids both liked the science best. DS had to be dragged away from Bunsen burners. I always managed to get round all departments and all were open. I would try and get round as many as possible

A maths department should always be open on Open Day. United Kingdom Mathematics Trust (UKMT) run the annual Maths Challenge at Junior, Intermediate and Senior level. Candidates can win gold, silver or bronze awards and the most able are put forward to the Kangaroo/Olympiad contests. I believe schools may pay to take part so in the current climate some schools may not do them or only submit a few top maths students. I'd also ask how many GCSEs the school allows pupils to take and whether it will be reducing the number of subjects offered (can be a sign of very tight finances) and the current class sizes.