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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

How did your DCs school do in the GCSE tables?

175 replies

LadyGlencoraPalliser · 15/01/2009 12:12

DD1's got a crummy 38% on the 5A-Cs including English and Maths.
This pisses me off for several reasons.
Results have been declining for several years and this is the first time the figure has dipped under 40%.
The school is utterly complacent about its results and doesn't see them as a problem - they explain them by pointing to the supposedly difficult intake.
This is entirely disingenous - there is only one local primary among their feeder schools that could be said to have a lower than average SATs score and they account for only 10% of the intake. Many of the primary schools in the area, including the one my children attend, have very, very good results, well over the national average.
I do not understand why the school feels it is acceptable to fail its pupils in this way.

OP posts:
mumto3boys · 15/01/2009 21:09

So it is. Just searched the BBC and the article I saw said they may not be out?

islandofsodor · 15/01/2009 21:14

If those are last years results that explains why our school wasn't as low as I was expecting.

SlartyBartFast · 15/01/2009 21:18

55%
same as local rivals.

SlartyBartFast · 15/01/2009 21:19

oops
that was last year

islandofsodor · 15/01/2009 21:20

According to local paper 97% was the true result but as IGCSE wan't counted the league tables say 67%.

The school say the IGCSE is better preparation for A Level.

islandofsodor · 15/01/2009 21:21

Wrong again, 67% was A or A*.

Think I'm going to give up. y maths is obviously not as good as the kids!!!!!!!

UnfortunatelyMe · 15/01/2009 21:26

oh sorry, I thought it was up to date

UnfortunatelyMe · 15/01/2009 21:26

oh sorry, I thought it was up to date

islandofsodor · 15/01/2009 21:27

Right this is now correct I promise.

The dc's school got 1% achieving 5 or more GCSE's at A*-C including maths & English and 98% achieving those Grades in any subject.

christywhisty · 15/01/2009 21:30

Ds's school got 62% 5 a-c inluding maths and english and 1007 cva

Milliways · 15/01/2009 23:14

DS: 100% GCSE, 1014.9 CVA

DD: 54% (bad year, has been 70+) 1002 CVA

Original poster
LadyGlencoraPalliser · 16/01/2009 00:09

Can I ask you all how you would feel if your DC's school had done as badly as my DD's school has? It is a bog-standard comprehensive with a perfectly straightforward intake of children from the surrounding area - which is a small town and a collection of villages. What I find so difficult is that the grades have been dropping year on year for several years now and there is no suggestion from the school that they view it as a problem or have any strategy to put in place to try to improve things.

OP posts:
Litchick · 16/01/2009 08:27

And therein lies the rub - the fact that standards are dropping!
Any school where this is happening must address it no?
Have you wrtten to the head and govs asking for an explanation?

islandofsodor · 16/01/2009 08:56

A lot of the schools dh works in have bad results of around 30 odd%, however it does in some cases reflect the intake of many students.

I would be very annoyed if it was a school where the majority of the feeder primaries got good results and chioldren were not progressing as they should according to their individual ability.

I would expect excellent results at the dc school as it is an independant selective school but do they do as good a job with clever kids as the local comp 40% does with a more varied ability intake?????.

These things have to be looked at in context.

GrapefruitMoon · 16/01/2009 09:53

LadyGP - several schools around here have had Ofsted inspections recently and Ofsted seem to be getting very fixated on schools where the children are coming in with above average results and then not progressing sufficiently in line with their perceived ability. How long is it since your dd's school has been inspected?

In our area, there is a huge range in the results - from a couple of single sex comprehensives getting above 80% to the undersubscribed schools getting in the low 30's. I guess if my dc was at a school which I knew was below-average right from the outset I would be less upset than if it was my first choice school which had seemed to be doing well and then started to slip...

Were you happy with the school when you were first allocated it?

TotalChaos · 16/01/2009 09:56

LadyGlencora - what's the % of pupils with SEN - 3 out of 4 of my local comps are in the mid thirties for the the GCSES - but then they have around 25% pupils with SEN, which will make some difference.

Rubyrubyrubyknittedknickers · 16/01/2009 09:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

FAQtothefuture · 16/01/2009 10:01

DS's not at secondary school yet

But the school I hope they'll go to got 80% (not in this town)

In our town the 3 state schools were ermm, not great lol

The main "feeder" school from DS1's (excellent) Junior school got ermm 25%

The other 2 got 37% and 42%

Our local independet got 99% (they're always at the top of the country table)

senua · 16/01/2009 10:19

LadyGP: what is your value added score?

MrsSnape · 16/01/2009 10:41

Our local secondary schools ranged between 18% to 21%

Even our "best" school, the most desired school in the city only managed 69%.

Poor DS is going to have to battle against the odds when he starts next year (probably at the 18% school).

Fennel · 16/01/2009 10:48

LadyGP, the school my dc are destined for (our local comp) got something like 42%, which doens't make me leap for joy. Though it's the best of a mediocre bunch in our (smart little cathedral) city where many children are creamed off to private schools, and to one school which selects by religion (and hypocracy, but that's probably another thread). But all the city comps have made dramatic improvements lately, and our school does very well on the value-added scores. So I suppose it's OK, but in your case I might be concerned, yes.

mumblechum · 16/01/2009 11:40

100%, and one of the top 50 state schools in the country according to the Times table yesterday.

We're vv lucky

Litchick · 16/01/2009 11:59

My local secondary got 29% which is so crap I'm speechless. I wouldn't send my kids if they paid me in bullion.
There is a school fairly nearby with 88% but we're not in catchment and it's a faith school so no hope there.

Original poster
LadyGlencoraPalliser · 16/01/2009 12:06

Value added is slightly above average, although how they manage that I cannot tell. Year 7 pupils are usually given ludicrously low targets for where they should be at the end of year 9 - I have heard numerous parents complaining about how this has frustrated and demoralised their children.
10% of pupils are SEN but that includes not just statemented children but all on school action plus too. National average for this is 17% I believe.
The last Ofsted was two years ago and the schools main target was to raise the number of pupils attaining 5 or more good GCSES including Maths and English. They had 44% that year. Instead of raising it, the number has dropped to 38%.
It is the ONLY local state school meaning that we have no choice but to send DD there, but also that they do not suffer from the creaming off problem that besets other comprehensives. I have tried to think of one plausible explanation for the school's failure to improve its results and I honestly cannot.

OP posts:
PrimulaVeris · 16/01/2009 12:25

That doesn't sound good LGP, I wouldn't be happy either. Sounds as though a lot could be to do with the leadership - a couple of the local mid-ranking schools here which are really coasting have just been given a kick up the backside by Ofsted followed by departure of head & senior staff.