Does Your Child Go To A Proper School Or An Academy?

DecentLivingWage

Yes , over the last 10 years academies used to be beacons of excellence but that's changing Just keep an eye on it as this doesnt start til October ('teachers' no longer having to be qualified or pass their QTS exam in schools)

Easy really, just watch if any proper teachers are retiring and who is replacing them. Ask if the new 'teacher' has passed her QTS (has QT status.) Ask governors to see all new ads and check whether your child has the same standard of teachers as other pupils. Lots of you will only find out about your school turning into an 'academy' over the hols - esp if you've been away!

GobbledyGook

DecentLivingWage wrote: »

Yes , over the last 10 years academies used to be beacons of excellence but that's changing Just keep an eye on it as this doesnt start til October ('teachers' no longer having to be qualified or pass their QTS exam in schools)

Easy really, just watch if any proper teachers are retiring and who is replacing them. Ask if the new 'teacher' has passed her QTS (has QT status.) Ask governors to see all new ads and check whether your child has the same standard of teachers as other pupils. Lots of you will only find out about your school turning into an 'academy' over the hols - esp if you've been away!

Why not ask if the new teacher is a good teacher rather than what qualifications s/he has?

Here's a question DLW - who would you rather taught your child maths, a teacher who scraped through their QTS who has dubious grammar and spelling ability and a negative attitude OR an excellent mathematician without paper qualifications, but with a natural aptitude for teaching and a great manner/way with the children?

Paper qualifications are not the be all and end all.

Acc72

DecentLivingWage wrote: »

Yes , over the last 10 years academies used to be beacons of excellence but that's changing Just keep an eye on it as this doesnt start til October ('teachers' no longer having to be qualified or pass their QTS exam in schools)

Easy really, just watch if any proper teachers are retiring and who is replacing them. Ask if the new 'teacher' has passed her QTS (has QT status.) Ask governors to see all new ads and check whether your child has the same standard of teachers as other pupils. Lots of you will only find out about your school turning into an 'academy' over the hols - esp if you've been away!

Come on now, the repetition is getting boring.

There are 9 pages of comments - you have not repsonded to one single comment and are just regurgitating the same comment you made in your original post.

peachyprice

DecentLivingWage wrote: »

Yes , over the last 10 years academies used to be beacons of excellence but that's changing
!

No, it isn't.

thegirlintheattic

DecentLivingWage wrote: »

Yes , over the last 10 years academies used to be beacons of excellence but that's changing Just keep an eye on it as this doesnt start til October ('teachers' no longer having to be qualified or pass their QTS exam in schools)

Actually the change is immediate for all new academies. Academies that were academies before Friday will have to apply to be allowed to appoint teachers without QTS.

Mr_Toad

Acc72 wrote: »

Come on now, the repetition is getting boring.

There are 9 pages of comments - you have not repsonded to one single comment and are just regurgitating the same comment you made in your original post.

Perhaps she's one of those teachers not used to the people she's lecturing answering back and questioning her.

DecentLivingWage

i have made a particular point of answering the comments in two different posts now... and you want me to repeat myself.twice? You were just complaining about that very repetition... yes, i will keep repeating that i want parents (particularly the poor) to ask their school questions about the value for tax payers money the school represents and the 'value-added' factor per child., and add new questions as i see fit. Effective teachers need to prove they have passed their QTS. Would you go to a non-qualified surgeon?

SingleSue

kelloggs36 wrote: »

You would be surprised that the number of children who do not learn any spellings at home at all - it is evident from their spelling tests at the end of the week; many get 0/5 yes, only 5 spellings to learn and they still get zero. I'm talking about the high frequency words here too, such as girl. I now give the children (who don't have SEN) spellings detention if they don't reach a target. I have often heard the excuse that they don't have any time to learn their spellings, when in reality you don't need lots of time, just the odd few minutes here and there to keep writing the words - I strongly believe that writing the words down many times helps to seal it into the brain, it is no good being able to just read it, many children can read the words but can't write them down. Sadly for many children, their parents don't spend any time with them either, so they don't make progress as quickly as they may do otherwise.

Youngest was one of those who would fail his spelling test week after week....he spent the tests under the desk in complete meltdown and unable to cope!*

Oh god, he starts his GCSEs in September, I am not looking forward to that :rotfl:

*It was the noise of the pencils on paper and the words swimming about (he has since been diagnosed with Irlens on top of his autism) which freaked him out rather than not knowing how to spell the words.

JC9297

DecentLivingWage wrote: »

Thank you for that - I agree - the previous academies over the last 10 years have been absolute Beacons Of Excellence (my daughter went to one before she went to Uni) However Academies no longer have to employ Proper Qualified Teachers so all that is about to change as they turn into Bargain Bucket Schools for the poorest with the most trusting least educated parents.

(I even heard one mum in the car park say 'don't buy a house in an academy catchment-the prices will fall !!!!) Was totally shocked, but stands to reason.... the 'posh' cleverest parents vote with their feet and evacuate ... which is sad and unfair on the poorest kids who can't !

Unsure what to do? Easy - just ask on Sept 4th (or when choosing)

Are any of your teachers going off on maternity leave?(cheap pretend teachers for supply?)
Are any of your teachers retiring? (who/what wil replace?)
Are any of your GCSE options being taken off?
How many 'student' teachers will you have in school and in which class/subject?

There are lots more - when i have time i will post! Our kids will not get good GCSEs with 'pretend teachers' babysitting them! But the better-off schools will !

Not sure why you think the "'posh' cleverest parents" will abandon the school their children attend because it becomes an academy. In my city the top secondary school, rated outstanding, in the catchment of the most expensive, desirable areas to live, became an academy earlier this year. The school knows it has to maintain the standard it has been at for many years otherwise those parents will remove their children and go private, just like before it became an academy.

Mr_Toad

DecentLivingWage wrote: »

i have made a particular point of answering the comments in two different posts now... and you want me to repeat myself.twice? You were just complaining about that very repetition... yes, i will keep repeating that i want parents (particularly the poor) to ask their school questions about the value for tax payers money the school represents and the 'value-added' factor per child., and add new questions as i see fit. Effective teachers need to prove they have passed their QTS. Would you go to a non-qualified surgeon?

You have addressed the comments in two posts? How convenient to ignore the rest then.

Your comment "Effective teachers need to prove they they have passed the QTS" is surely contradictory. If they are an effective teacher then that's all that matters, whether they have passed their QTS is not relevant as it's effective teachers we need.

There's also a whiff of the pious Victorian know it all in your reference to "the poor" and your assertion that they need to be told what to do and say. It seems to infer that you have a black and white view that links poverty to stupidity.

I suspect that many well educated "poor" would resent your views.