As I've always said, the comments on this blog are usually better than the original posts and one of them recently made the point that there are excellent state schools out there but I never mention them.
This might well be true so let's do something about it. If you work at one then name it here and say why it deserves to be called great.
10 comments:
Is there a school called "Crickets chirping"?
Is that tumbleweed rolling by?
I think the school where I work is pretty good. Maybe not great but quite good. Sense myself digging a hole by damning with increasingly faint praise here. But as I'd probably be breaching all sorts of stupid rules and regs by naming it I shall refrain therefrom.
The state school where I work is first class. Of course, it is a grammar school...
Mine's great - not perfect but excellent results from a challenging bunch, some of whom are genuinely transformed characters when they leave compared to the abject nutters they were when they came in.
I honestly miss it when I'm not there (seriously!).
I recently made the very same point to all 4 readers of my blog. There are actually a lot of bloody good state schools in my experience but as your last post says Mr. Chalk, bad news sells -
perhaps good state schools could feature in your Jolly Times...?
I have just started exploring the world of 'education blogs'! Soo...am not an experienced blogger - yet.
I am Vice Chair of Governors in a small village school in a rural area. I think 'my' school' is really one of the good ones. Small classes, interested and involved children super environment, clean open spaces for all the games you could want and fairly uptodate technology! At least up todate enough to produce a hilarious cartoon for the Harvest Festival... yes it is a STATE primary school.
Ours does as well as it can with the sort of kids it gets, though would do much better imo with tighter harsher discipline.
But I would have home-schooled before I'd have sent my kids there.
my state school was good but that was 1950 so I guess it doesn't count.
I asked my wife—a head of department with more than 20 years teaching experience across eight schools.
Her first school? Used to be great, still clung to that image, but was a rundown shithole filled with murderers, rapists, drug dealers, thieves, robbers, and their victims.
Second? Portrayed as great by the New Labour head and his then cronies in Government, but a rundown shithole filled with murderers, rapists, drug dealers, thieves, robbers, and their victims.
Third? Comfortable and non-challenging for teachers and students alike, doing okay in the league tables. Could be great if anyone could be bothered. They can't.
Fourth? Students and parents wanted it to be great, but most of the non-management teachers were just cruising—and able to do so because the SMT constantly changed as they used the school as a stepping stone to bigger and better things.
Fifth? Great. Then the head left, then the deputes left, then a self-promoting git took over as head, then left, then some anonymous suit took over, then left. All in quick succession. Along the way, most of the best teachers left. Now failing dismally.
Sixth? Downright weird. Heavily staffed by very long-serving teachers from the same minority religious sect as much of the town's population. Not a place to stay if you want to retain your sanity—unless you convert!
Seventh? Good, with moments of greatness. Until the head and deputes moved on, and were replaced in quick succession by a mind-numbing array of thrusters, suits, and placemen. Going down the tubes fast.
Eighth? Run-of-the-mill. Could do better, could do worse, but the SMT likes it like that. It's well within their comfort zone. Same with the students and parents.
Anonymous, I have a feeling that school 6 the downright weird one, is in Brentwood, Essex?
There's a crazy religious sect up there. Martin Bell stood for Parliament againt their incombunt MP because many of the locals felt that the sect had the MP in their pocket. They have a school, which I am informed is very weird.
Interesting, I also have a friend who went to another school in Brentwood where she was a memeber of the "School Army". She was a corporal I think and they did maneouvers at lunch time and after school, preparing military stratgey etc. It wasn't even a military school... I think they are all just nutters in Brentwood.
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