
One leaf in the corner of the garden. It definitely has a story to tell.
I was looking at a Social Media exchange about a secondary school in another part of the country. Parents were discussing how good the place was or wasn’t. Clearly it was quite a heated exchange. On one side you had comments like
It’s a great school…
Look at the grades the kids get…
It gets fantastic OFSTED ratings…
My daughter is likely to get straight A’s thanks to the teaching…
I love the school. It has discipline and look at the results it gets…
My daughter won an award for Drama because the school pushed her…
Fantastic teachers,
You always get a minority who are never happy…
Well if your not happy take your child to another school…
Well homeschool then, miss out on the special treatment you son gets then…
And on the other hand you got comments like…
My child has just been dumped in the bottom class,
The teachers don’t care,
My daughter is getting no help, just left to fall behind,
My son keeps quiet and doesn’t cause any trouble in class. Wish he did as the teacher might start spending some time with him,
I’m not sure the teachers even want to know that he has ADHD,
School is not bothered that my son is scheduled to get no grades,
It is useless at helping kids out who have special needs.
That last line gives the basis of the argument away. The English School System provides one model of teaching for all pupils. It works for some kids but unfortunately a few too many are left behind. Increasingly special education is seen as a distraction to the main school function. An unnecessary drain on resources. You see articles in the Press basically talking about those children getting funding to cover additional needs as a gravy train for parents. That approach mirrors government thinking. Yes schools are given some targets for educational need but a school that fail in this area can still be seen as Excellent. The key is hitting the limited exam, performance management, how well they stick to the curriculum and the financial targets set for them.
I bet you can guess what side of the argument I would have been on. But I would add one important thing. All schools have good, dedicated teachers. Teachers who care. But they can’t provide for those children with additional educational needs when they are hamstrung by government. Where they are undervalued and trying to teach classes with up to 30 children crammed into them. With a set and unwieldy curriculum which must be strictly followed. I remember a conversation with school about computing. The teachers shared my frustration at having to teach Hawklad so much coding. Coding is a nightmare for dyslexics and some on the spectrum to learn. But they had to teach him that because it was a key part of the national curriculum set by government. Surely we can find a way of teaching all kids which offers the change to offer different learning routes depending on the individual.
A school can be excellent and at the same time fail to many of the next generation.