Parents’ Forum 4 th December 2018
Focus: Curriculum Staff: Mr Briggs
The Educational Context – what are the big issues facing Baysgarth at the moment?
Oversubscribed - Reduction in support from Changes to the curriculum how do we fit external agencies such as make it even more difficult social services as these are for our students to be everyone in who cut back successful wants to come? Challenges The pressure on us and our Moving from a Good partner primaries to be part Facing school to an of a multi-academy trust Outstanding school Baysgarth (MAT) Rivalry over exam results Increasing mental and league tables leads to Dealing with very health issues facing competition rather than tight budgets collaboration between students and staff schools
Oversubscribed - Reduction in support from Changes to the curriculum how do we fit external agencies such as make it even more difficult social services as these are for our students to be everyone in who cut back successful wants to come? A good The pressure on us and our Moving from a Good partner primaries to be part curriculum will school to an of a multi-academy trust Outstanding school help us solve: (MAT) Rivalry over exam results Increasing mental and league tables leads to Dealing with very health issues facing competition rather than tight budgets collaboration between students and staff schools
For this reason we spend a great deal of time each year planning our future curriculum. Tonight’s Parents’ Forum is an opportunity for you to support the school by helping us listen to and understand your perspective on what’s important for your children when it comes to their education and curriculum. So how has our curriculum developed over the last few years? The first point to note is that we have designed a curriculum to maximise our position in the Progress 8 league tables so that we can quickly improve the reputation of the school.
Choosing Between Schools At the moment, parents have three pieces of evidence to choose from when deciding on a secondary school for their child: •The school’s position in the national league tables •The school’s Ofsted report •The school’s reputation locally How would you rank these in order of importance? 30 seconds. Think about it, talk to the person next to you and then we’ll have a show of hands and record the results
At the moment Baysgarth is the top school locally in all three of these areas: • We have the highest three-year average for progress of all the local schools and are in the top 5% of schools nationally for the value we add to our students • Our Ofsted report said we are well on the way to being Outstanding and confirmed us as one of the top 10% of schools in the country • We have an excellent reputation in the community and with our partner primaries which has led to us being oversubscribed in Year 7 for the last two years , a trend set to continue for the foreseeable future However, our position in the league tables is under threat and we have to decide how we respond to this challenge. So what are the league tables and why is our position under threat?
League Tables There are two big issues with league tables that are having a massive impact on the education system. 1. They measure the progress that students make in only eight subjects, and in these subjects only a small number of courses count in the league tables. English and Maths count twice so that scores are worked out from a total of 10: • Basket 1 – English GCSE and Maths GCSE. The score students achieve in these subjects is doubled – 40% • Basket 2 – Science (students achieve 2 grades); History or Geography; MFL – 30% • Basket 3 – All other subjects – a student’s top three highest scoring other subjects count here – 30%
Progress 8 - this is the way every school is judged by the league tables. Every student is judged by the progress made in their baskets from Y6 to Y11, compared to their peers in the same school year across the whole country Basket 3 - Open Basket 2 - EBacc Basket One All other option subjects Science (2 or 3 plus any from Baskets 1 English & Maths qualifications) and 2 that don’t count in History those baskets Geography Count double so French Top 3 subjects count 10% 40% of total German each score Top 3 subjects count 10% each
How have schools responded? • As English and Maths count for 40% between them, schools have increased the amount of time students are taught these subjects from three hours per week to four or even five hours each per week • To fill Basket 2, every student has to study History or Geography and are strongly encouraged to study a MFL (the EBacc) • Many schools have switched to completing GCSEs over three years rather than two, meaning students pick their options in Year 8 and narrow their curriculum down earlier in their school career • As a result, many schools have reduced the amount of time available to other subjects, at both KS3 and KS4. This narrowing of the curriculum means less time for students to learn Sport, Technology subjects such as Food and Engineering, Art, Music and Drama. There are often very few choices available to students when they complete their options – in some schools students only have one or two free choices (at Baysgarth we offer one more option choice than the vast majority of other schools). • Due to very tight budgets, option subjects where less than a dozen or so students want to study the subject are more often than not cut from the curriculum
What’s the impact on students? • Often students with a particular skill or talent in a subject such as Music, Drama, Computer Science etc find that there are not enough students who pick this subject for it to run at KS4. This causes frustration when students can’t study subjects they are skilled in and passionate about. • Students are pushed down a very academic route with English, Maths, Science, History/Geography and MFL taking up at least 75% of their lesson time. This leaves precious little time for other subjects. • When combined with the fact that the exams are far more rigorous now and coursework has been abolished in most subjects, this creates a huge amount of stress for students. We are seeing a big increase in mental health issues amongst students year on year and part of this is due to the extra pressure of following a very academic, narrow curriculum • For students who struggle with literacy and numeracy skills and have had many years of struggling in classrooms, this curriculum reinforces their feelings of low self-esteem.
League Tables There are two big issues with league tables that are having a massive impact on the education system. The league tables are calculated by measuring the progress that 2. every student makes from Year 6 to Year 11 in the subjects that count in these buckets. • Basket 1 – English GCSE and Maths GCSE. The score students achieve in these subjects is doubled – 40% • Basket 2 – Science (students achieve 2 grades); History or Geography; MFL – 30% • Basket 3 – All other subjects – a student’s top three highest scoring other subjects count here – 30%
How have schools responded? • Through their tracking data, schools can see which students are not making good progress. They only count towards the school’s league table position if they are on the school’s census in January of Year 11. Therefore, some schools make sure that those students making the least progress are not on the school roll by January of Year 11. This is known as off-rolling and has been in the news a lot – some academy chains off-roll 7% of students nationally, meaning thousands of vulnerable students end up being permanently excluded or sent to alternative provision. • Some schools make it very difficult for students who are likely to make very little progress to come to their school. These are usually students with complex needs who are on the special needs register.
What’s the impact on students? • Some students with complex and special needs can’t attend their local school. Some of the most vulnerable students are having to travel the furthest for an education • A significant number of students are not completing Year 11 in mainstream schools. They are leaving school with few qualifications which limits their chances of being successful for the rest of their lives. This in turn impacts negatively on society in regards to antisocial behaviour, unemployment etc.
To make matters worse . . . • New GCSE syllabi have been rolled out in every subject • There is no longer the option to do coursework in mosts GCSE subjects • The exams require students to learn topics that were previously on ‘A’ Level exams • The exams require students to retain huge amounts of knowledge and repeat it under timed conditions with no books to help them • Many students will sit up to 30 exams - there are nine in Triple Science alone! • As a result the pressure and stress on students is increasing all the time, adding to the mental health problems that are already on the increase in society • Students who struggle with retaining knowledge and sitting exams find it increasingly difficult to find parts of school life where they can be successful
Recommend
More recommend
