Michaela school - experiences?

[teathyme]

This is purely out of curiosity as I live nowhere near it. I saw an interview with the HT and whilst I didn't agree with everything she said the results are very impressive. I know sometimes on paper things are very different to on the ground so just wondered if anyone had experience of it and what they thought?

But I didn't criticise for that at all.

I just quoted what information I had and said it doesn't equate to what she says.

She also has ignored any FOI requests about data relating to send etc.

But to claim it will work everywhere means you need to have comparable data which from what I've read they don't.

Your posts came across as though you were criticising her for that.

@itsgettingweird - agree that it’s unlikely that the michaela way would replicate success in other settings.
Kids are individuals so I wouldn’t expect any approach to be the optimum for everyone. It would be bad if it was the only school in an area (in U.K.) - as I think it could be very negative for certain kids (thus negating the positives for others).

But - as @ancientgran mentioned - perhaps the balance would shift in a different setting with low resources and 48 kids in a class. Not advocating corporal punishment - but I think a more authoritarian approach would enable kids to learn more (fortunately this is unlikely in U.K. nowadays).

Personally I (E Asian) see a lot of logic in KB-style approach for my kids (as that was how I was brought up). But DH (white British) is wary of the authoritarian nature and petty rules.

They have slightly odd data in that some DC don’t to 8 GCSEs as the average number taken is lower than 8.(7.7 and 7 for lower attainers). Plus they all do double science. Others might know more, but this looks strange. None do 3 sciences. Their EAL pupils is 84/120. This is very very high. It might tell you quite a lot about the parents and what they value. There are also no entries for drama, music, computing or technology for GCSE so there are subject limitations. SEN is 1.72%. That’s small. Well below borough average. Fsm nearly 30% though.

It’s marmite but from the data you would not get a rounded set of subjects and nearly 70% are EAL. You need to share their ethos to go there. Lots of good results but it would fail the brightest scientists and drama/music Dc. Even technology and computing is missing as a gcse.

SEN is 1.72%. That’s small. Well below borough average.

1.72% is the percentage with an EHCP, that doesn’t include all pupils with SEN. The percentage of pupils at SEN support level is 15.76% which is above both the LA and national average. The percentage of pupils with an EHCP is below the LA and national average, but as I posted above when you look at the LA’s statistics for state funded secondary schools 8 schools in the LA have a higher percent and 7 (although my pp says 6 it is actually 7) lower so hardly a complete outlier.

Michaela is due to open another school in Stevenage. Watch this space.

Are you a teacher at the school or something?

No, I have never even visited and I don’t know anyone that has attends or works there. But I have looked at their statistics and some posters on this thread are misrepresenting them.

I am the second person on this thread you have incorrectly accused of working there, why do you think anyone who doesn’t agree with you must work for them?

I think it is fabulous, this is exactly what this country needs free schooling to a very high standard that truly changes lives...the effect of very good fee paying schools but for the most disadvantaged and no fees.

If you actually listen to the Head she truly cares, but is convinced that in school as in life, success if achieved by discipline and hard work old fashioned as that may be.

Complaints of inequality are constant in the UK relating to the wealth gap/access to top jobs/ability for the poorest children to become anything they wish....yet here is a clear sucess story so why the negativity...... baffles me..

Their gcse overall results are actually elevated by the EAL students.

They had something like 8 take Arabic, 1 Persian, 1 Portuguese, 1 Spanish and a few others where 1 pupil took a language.

These pupils are clearly taking a mother tongue GCSE and therefore are likely to need any teaching in the subject because their ability will be way above gcse level if completely fluent!

I'm still interested in what pupils with EHCPs have needs in. There is no response to the FOI request about the number of autistic students. I wonder why not?

I can imagine for dyslexic students it has its benefits as it does a lot of drilling. I can't imagine pupils with autism or adhd manage very well with the tracking, stance and eye contact due to the nature of their needs. I also get the impression there would be no excuses or allowances for uniform or organisation and motor planning for these students who again - by nature if their diagnosis - will struggle with these things.

What about VI or HI students. I imagine HI students achieve well there because of the silence.

My ds failed at his original placement in a small secondary school because they wouldn't make allowances for things such as eye contact or movement breaks or time out. He moved to another school twice the size and did amazingly. Better than I imagined after he ended up so ill with his MH due to their practice.

But I agree - as I've said numerous times - for me the current issue is the data doesn't seem to add up to the narrative.

I do think it's great that newly every student gets a 5 or above in English and maths but I do have concerns they aren't taking GCSEs in stem subjects when employment in these areas is increasing.

Did anyone else ever watch the documentary called Class Divide: School Swap where pupils from a deprived area in Derby swapped with pupils from private school Warminster in Wiltshire? There was a boy called Brett who had a very difficult home life, poverty, overcrowding etc and he was described as being 'at risk' with regards his education. He had no aspirations and wasn't engaged in schooling. During the swap he became engaged as the strict rules and lack of disruption were what he needed. Warminster offered him a full scholarship to go there.
I just looked him up and he's now at university. This was a boy who wasn't supposed to get any GCSE's. He has thanked the school for the support, saying it changed his life and he would never have achieved this had he stayed at his Derby school. It really makes you wonder....

I didn’t mean to imply EAL students are not a good thing. They undoubtedly are and often have very engaged parents. I too was really surprised at the lack of depth of subjects taken and no triple science at all. For anyone. That’s surely not the best for some students. The curriculum looks very narrow and possibly the small number of choices plays to the strengths of the DC. Maybe few are technology minded? I agree about SEND. They also have a cohort of 120 with 24 low, 56 middle and 29 high achievers. Not sure who or where the missing 11 are? I assume no prior attainment.

@itsgettingweird - gcses can be ‘elevated’ by students taking mother tongue languages, but then a high proportion of students with English as a 2nd language makes the high proportion of 5 and above for English gcse more impressive.

I suppose the narrow spread of subjects for gcse might reflect focusing on getting good marks in the ‘important’ subjects. For many people this can ‘open doors’ to stem or other courses in further education - more so than doing computing gcse or even separate sciences. The drawback is for those kids who are disengaged from the gcse English or maths curriculum - who find these additional subjects inspiring/motivating. I suppose it would be particularly problematic if parents and child were at odds with their preferences (eg child prefers more broad, vocational path whereas parents prefer narrow, academic path).

@teathyme
I have visited a number of private schools and know Dc who went to quite a few including Rugby, Harrow, Queenswood, Eton, Heathfield, Wycombe Abbey, CLC, Guildford G, Stowe, St Edwards, Wellington (and lots more), and they are not remotely like Michaela. Talking and listening to peers is encouraged. The art of conversation is valued. DC are expected to behave but there are not quiet corridors. In fact they are lively and purposeful. There is not slavish adherence to rules. There is generally respect snd a decent work ethic but the opportunities far outweigh Michaela.

@TizerorFizz I'm not saying things need to be taken to Michaela level (I'm still not terribly aware of the exact rules) but there must be something very beneficial for some 'failing' pupils who have never experienced strict rules, high expectations and peers who are engaged. A few pages back I asked if Michaela would produce the same results if the students were all working class, underperforming boys. Maybe it's not the school itself but the type of pupils who attend?
I went to a 'good' secondary modern and then transferred to a grammar for A levels. The difference was like day and night, I was rather perplexed as to why none of the grammar girls spoke back to the teachers or smoked in the toilets. Being studious was the norm, rather than something to be bullied about. High expectations and strict rules with fairly harsh consequences was the differentiating factor.

It can name.

However it's very dependent if they've been born and raised in Britain or come here at a young age or started learning at 9/10yo.

And actually it makes sense (lots of schools do it) to allow someone to get a gcse in their second or main family language. Especially with regards getting the grades for HE.

A few pages back I asked if Michaela would produce the same results if the students were all working class, underperforming boys. Maybe it's not the school itself but the type of pupils who attend?

This is what I think and why I'm also against KB putting other HTs down calling them lefties etc.

Until she's been in a completely different type of setting and replicated it she shouldn't be judging others for running their schools the way they need to.

I think it is fabulous, this is exactly what this country needs free schooling to a very high standard that truly changes lives...the effect of very good fee paying schools but for the most disadvantaged and no fees.

If you actually listen to the Head she truly cares, but is convinced that in school as in life, success if achieved by discipline and hard work old fashioned as that may be.

Complaints of inequality are constant in the UK relating to the wealth gap/access to top jobs/ability for the poorest children to become anything they wish....yet here is a clear sucess story so why the negativity...... baffles me..

The problem is that it is tinkering around the edges, and there is a bigger problem too - the narrative being pushed here is that those who truly want to succeed will make it while the rest are by definition slackers and deadweights.

The fundamental inequalities that lead to hopelessness and lack of engagement with education remain deeply embedded.

Where do children go after receiving a free education on a par with that offered in expensive schools? Everyone does medicine and law and engineering? What part of themselves and their family identities are these children asked to leave behind? What institutional barriers to career progression are in place that they know nothing of as they sail blithely off to Oxbridge?

If hard work and discipline was all it took to ensure success, as the saying goes, the women of Africa would all be gazillionaires. Or the miners of the Victorian era, or the women and children who toiled in mills.

There is a lack of realistic routes to qualifications that offer solid jobs and trades to school leavers from ordinary British schools.

Here are courses available at an Institute of Technology in SW Ireland:
www.findacourse.ie/courses-ireland/cao-courses-it-tralee/

And in Dublin:
www.findacourse.ie/courses-ireland/cao-courses-dit-tu-dublin/

Yes, but school-specific classroom behaviour rules don't necessarily apply when being interviewed for TV.

Either the school asked them to follow the crossed-arms rule when being interviewed, or the documentary-makers did, or the children themselves carried across their understanding of appropriate behaviour.

If the children chose to, that means they're carrying across that strange behaviour from school to their lives in general and not realising that that's inappropriate body language for an interview, which isn't a great sign when it comes to the school's ability to prepare them for the outside world. If the school asked them to, that means the school want it to look like their students are being trained into complying with odd Michaela behaviour norms in non-school areas of life. So my guess and my hope would be that the documentary-makers asked them to, in order to send a subtle message about Michaela.

@teathyme
I don’t think private schools necessarily have strict rules. What they have is an ethos most sign up to whilst in school. Parents and DC. As a result the school body pulls together and it’s a strength. Yes: you do get the odd “characters” who push boundaries but they are low in number and don’t upset the equilibrium. Most children will thrive in smaller schools (Warminster is) and they will be nurtured if needed. Silence isn’t the norm though or robotic behaviour.

I am also aware the low number of SEND are those with plans. It is quite low for that area. It corresponds to leafy lane areas here! Maybe Brent are mean on plans! Or DC go elsewhere and are put off by the ethos of the school.

Yes, the % of pupils with EHCPs is 0.4% below the LA average, but if you ranked the schools in the LA 7 schools have a lower % and 8 higher, so it’s fairly average in that sense. It certainly not out of the ordinary in that LA.

I just watched the documentary, I can very much see why the school attracts parents from Asian and African backgrounds, as they are likely to be more "old school" as Angelo's mum explained. Many of the pupils will have a more traditionalist approach at home, where parents are supporting the school's rules rather than going against them.
Corliss was interesting in that he chose not to go to Michaela and lost values, according to his Mum. With a bit of patience he managed to get back on track, which was a good thing.
I don't know much about KB and I don't agree with everything she says, but she does seem passionate about her pupils doing well and I'd say that with a consistent message from both home and school, disadvantaged students can do very well. After watching the programme I really don't think it would have the same effect in the same socio-economic demograph of white boys.

@TizerorFizz I'd strongly argue that most private schools will have stricter rules and higher expectations than a failing comp.

I think the school would have stamped that out pretty quickly. I would assume the kids were coached on how to sit in the interview, or just presumed they should take the ‘formal’ stance they take in class.

@teathyme
They might but all have behaviour policies and not that many comps are truly awful. Many comps do have quite strict rules but weak leadership. They must have behaviour policies by law but implementing them is another matter. Private schools are not always wonderful but parents support them. DC are largely are supported whilst there. Failing comps have groups where neither is true and far more difficult issues to deal with.