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?

I think the advantage with Michaela was it opened from scratch.

So it only had year 7 at first and it could set the standard from the off.

Much harder to change an existing ethos than to grow a new one from scratch.

It can take 840 students and currently has 709. The original year 7's who stayed for 6th form have only just left.

This is the mistake I think they made with forcing academisation on failing schools. They seemed to think it was like starting again and you could change a school in 2-3 years.

It just doesn't happen like that. And changing a uniform and becoming zero tolerance doesn't engage students and parents. In fact it alienates many.

Not that I know what the answer is

Some of the stuff on this thread is hilarious. How have we got to the point where you can slate a school, misinterpret statistics, take quotes out of context and not get questioned. Yet the minute someone says something positive, they must work there?
Some of you have no idea what classrooms behaviour teachers face daily. Yea she's marmite, you can dislike her but stop spreading lies to prove a point.
Also, big lol at the person thinking kids who are middle attainers at SATs go on to pass GCSEs at most schools. Wouldn't that be lovely.

There are a lot of schools that manage behaviour well and don't have rules as strict as her school.
I am all for strict schools and prefer them, but it seems like you are not allowed to critercise this school.
The reason i asked those two posters if they work there is because every negative criticism or scepticism poster was replied with how great the school is.

It's because it's like you're eager to prove how great the school is when people may think otherwise or have reservations about the school.
You could argue that I am doing the same thing by criticising the school.

I actually have no problem with the school existing and believe in parents having a choice of school. I don't believe the school should be shut down or anything silly like that. Clearly she is doing something right as the school gets amazing results. You would be an idiot to say otherwise. My problem is I don't believe any headteacher should be putting down other schools, labelling teachers and headteachers as 'lefties' and getting involved in culture war arguments on social media, and she does that routinely which is why I wonder if she deliberately does that for attention or perhaps she is paid by the Tory government? I don't see any other headteacher (those leading great schools) doing what she does.

If she truly cared she wouldn't be labelling headteachers and teachers all over the country as lefties and talking down on them. Instead she would be trying to work with them and see how they could come together. How does she know what political views of all the headteachers that exist in the UK?

Middle attainers whose parents are fully engaged, and DC are too, will get their GCSEs. It’s up to all schools to engage all children but the ones who are most likely to succeed from this area of London like the strict discipline of Michaela. So it suits everyone. They are a good match. The less engaged middle attainers won’t go there.

KB is a political animal. She stood up at the Conservatives Conference in 2011 and said our education system was broken. She’s a Tory. She was removed as Deputy Head from a school in Camberwell after using pictures of pupils as she attacked the quality of education there. Toby Young supported her in getting a school of her own. They are disruptors and you are either with them or against them.

And yet, in more than one post I have mentioned it obviously doesn’t suit all, I don’t agree with all the methods and raised concerns about the reduced number of GCSEs pupils sit. Challenging misrepresentations of statistics doesn’t equate to posting how great the school is. But clearly in your quest to accuse others you cherry pick parts of their posts that you can twist to fit the narrative you want to post.

I know exactly what classrooms are like nowadays.

But thanks for the generalisation you've accused other of!

I actually have no problem with the school existing and believe in parents having a choice of school. I don't believe the school should be shut down or anything silly like that. Clearly she is doing something right as the school gets amazing results. You would be an idiot to say otherwise. My problem is I don't believe any headteacher should be putting down other schools, labelling teachers and headteachers as 'lefties' and getting involved in culture war arguments on social media, and she does that routinely which is why I wonder if she deliberately does that for attention or perhaps she is paid by the Tory government? I don't see any other headteacher (those leading great schools) doing what she does.

This.

It's what I've been saying too.

My issue is T what she does and that some parents choose the school.

My issue is her politicalising the issue and being so narrow minded she cannot see why the same just wont work everywhere and how different her school is from other schools.

I'm also a fan of strict behaviour expectations.

I'm not a fan of unrealistic expectations because it increases anxiety.

There you go again with the accusations. Aren’t you patronising. I am not emotional, there’s nothing about my posts that are emotional. I’m not the one who has to stoop to accusing others of being connected to the school.

@Thatsnotmycar
The published stats for the school tell you what it’s like. A reduced diet of GCSEs but high progress 8. If you take 8 GCSEs of course! Very many don’t! Low number of send plans and strict behaviour. Not for everyone snd a self publicist as a head. Dame coming next probably!

Yes, and I have mentioned the low number of GCSEs pupils sit and that it isn’t for everyone more than once. While the % of EHCPs is below average it sits roughly in the middle of the schools in the LAs with 8 schools having a higher % (including 2 with ARPs) and 7 lower (including 1 new school whose % may not be representative), and the % on SEN support is above average. None of that means I am in any way connected to the school.

What helps a child get on in the world if they don't have money & connections to fall back on?

I would say:
Maths & English GCSE
knowing how to work hard & be organised / responsible
knowing how to communicate clearly and politely
5 GCSE passes gets you on to Level 3 courses
8 GCSE passes with good grades helps you towards university

It seems to me that that is what Michaela school is focusing on. To the detriment of a wide curriculum certainly which may well take some / a lot of the 'joy' out of learning and end up with less well rounded people. But they will have the certificates and attributes needed to get on in the world of work.

I can’t help thinking that we are a bit behind the curve with this current focus on passing exams and discipline above all else. I visited a local academy where the girls get great results and the progress scores are fantastic, but the history lesson I observed was so boring. It was an interesting topic but the teacher was spoon feeding the children on how to pass their exam rather than engaging them and having a discussion. It was constant repetition of key phrases and getting them to highlight certain bits of a source. None of the girls I spoke to had a favourite teacher or were enthused about education, I thought it was sad.

As more and more jobs are replaced with AI, surely we should be prioritising creativity, independence of thought, adaptability and people skills? Won’t that be what our children need to succeed in the world of work?

The curriculum and exam system is dire. As you observed - effective teaching g to pass papers can be boring as hell. History no longer promotes rigorous analysis, English no longer improves literacy, French can involve minimal spoken language on very restricted topics.

The tyranny of league tables and ofsted make this hard to challenge.

And yet, how often do we see parents on here comparing schools and looking at %9-7s or A star / A at A level. Schools will provide what parents and Ofsted reward.

Knowing how to work hard
By "work" you mean memorising quietly what the teacher/the textbook says without discussion and, consequently, without understanding?

Be organised/responsible
You mean "follow instructions without questioning". This is not being organised or responsible. To be organised or feel responsible, you need to be able to make your own decisions.

Knowing how to communicate clearly and politely
I think it is more like "knowing you place and not arguing"

Have you ever been in a Michaela lesson, NotQuiteHere or are you basing that memorising without understanding on hearsay?

No.
I mean focusing in lessons and going through work after school.
I mean answering politely in complete whole sentences.
I mean making sure they have all needed equipment at lessons and homework done.

How often do you see posts on MN saying that youngsters at work can't speak to customers, or turn up late, or do bare minimum work?

The answering in full whole sentences can sometimes be completely unnecessary and counter productive. To give an example, full sentences as the only appropriate way of answering has been so drummed into some of my GCSE students that they spend ages crafting a sentence for something worth one mark in their exam where a one word answer would gain the mark. I have needed to unteach this.

In class sometimes proper quickfire answering is held up by long sentences.

What teachers do need to learn to do is to stop being so in thrall of 'pace' that they interrupt student answers.

I observed that same rote learning some of you describe when I visited a Micheala style school. They won't even let student use their prior knowledge (much lauded word ironically) to work out what words mean in texts , for example, which is basic literacy.

They tell them what it means.

If found that soul destroying. Ad all the teaching to a script...

T : The adjective 'monotonous' is in line 8. 'Monotonous' is an adjective which means very dull and boring' . Underline 'monotonous'.

STUDENTS UNDERLINE

T : We now know that monotonous means dull and boring. What does 'monotonous' mean, class?

STUDENTS PUT HANDS UP. Teacher chooses Saurav

Saurav : 'Monotonous' is and adjective which means very dull and boring, Miss.

I am not making this up.

We have had students leave that school to come to ours. They suffer considerable culture shock at being asked to think for themselves and self regulate behaviour.

I did like some aspects of the school. The silent corridors were bliss. But the school was carpeted and small.

Really interested to hear some first hand visiting experience Piggy

I think that would be a dull way to learn.

But it would still be learning, and not a long discussion on why Bob, Mary and Sam think it means different things and why that's not quite right? Obviously that is learning too, but is it learning that helps get that grade 4?

My DD would have loved quiet corridors. And well behaved lessons. Probably not a lot of the other stuff though.

Yes, that would get grade 4 teen as that would be inference. It's hard to square the circle here of soul destroying teaching and excellent results . I guess many might argue the end justifies the means.

That's the problem isn't it. As someone whose DD is going through soul destroying retakes some more direct teaching to the test from the start of y7 in English might well have been to her benefit.
Or it might have switched her off completely.