Do you teach in a 'difficult' area? Please help!

[fedup21]

We have a very high level of social deprivation in the school I teach at; lots of FSM, EAL, traveller children, LAC, mobility etc We have been heavily criticised in a PMR sense that despite exceeding all teaching and learning PMR targets set, 'we' as a school are still 30th out of 30 in the LEA league tables.

How would you approach dealing with such criticisms? Surely, if the targets set by the managment are met (exceeded, actually!) then we should not be seen to have failed? :(

It depends who the criticism is from...

What are they criticizing you for, we're always criticized for attendance, even though its improved for the last 6 years! We have a core group of PAs from families who think school is an option not a necessity . And in the LEAs view that's something to constantly moan about.

What have your school got in place for countering the problems, what's on the development plan for the next three years, and what happens when an initiative fails to meet targets?
It's a PITA to be criticised by people who have got no idea what daily life is like for those children, and who have no practical ideas or solutions.