Posted: Jul 28, 2011 10:42 am
No, not really! I expect that the headteacher of the school is working on getting a knightship.
What annoys me most about this school is the remarkable opportunity they have missed. With 3 'schools within schools' they could have set up real 'house' competition between them - academic, sporting and artistic. I have no issue with setting kids by ability per subject or awarding 'special' ties / badges to kids for exceptional attainment in subjects. I do believe that is important to be honest with kids regarding their attainment and grades - this is vital in guiding them into suitable qualifications (academic or otherwise) etc..( I think in the recent past, the education system has shied away from allowing kids to 'fail' (the subject of a whole different thread)). However, this guidance is based on multiple sources of data. What this headteacher seems to be doing is narrowing the future pathways of his pupils on ks2 data (which is often flawed) and a 'cognitive' test.
If I had gone into such a system at the age of 11, I would have been deemed 'non-academic' (I was in middle ability at junior school and I failed the 11+ 'cognitive' test). I would have then been placed on a path which may have excluded some academic subjects and most probably pushed toward vocational qualifications. In reality, I didn't really mature (educationally!) until I was older. Fortunately, in my school I had the opportunity to study 'academic' subjects (O levels) which allowed me to study A levels, do a degree in physics and then go onto do my PGCE and become eventually a head of science in a school. It upsets me to think that their could be a number of kids like 'me' who this school has binned (academically that is) at the age of 11.
