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

Mr_Toad

thegirlintheattic wrote: »

It really gets tiring when you refer to academies as second-rate. Your child neither goes to one nor do you work in one. So I have to question how much experience you actually have of academies or if your opinions are just formed from your 'research' in The Guardian.

The school I work in is a good school that became an academy by choice as the local authority wanted to get rid of a range of vocational subjects that really appeal to and benefit our students. By becoming an academy our school can continue to serve the needs of our students not the government of the day. Most of the recent conversions have been similarly good schools who chose to become academies to make changes for the benefit of the students. Schools don't suddenly become bad because they convert to academy status. Similarly I don't believe that bad schools under LEA control will become good under academy control unless major changes are made.

Whilst I am against the removal of the QTS requirement for reasons I've stated earlier, you do seem to have some sort of ulterior motive and are looking simply for a way to bash academies. Parents of transition students should ask questions of ALL schools not just academies.

I bet they're dancing round the tables in the committee rooms down at the NUT knowing they have DecentLivingWage fighting their corner so eloquently for them.

I'm not sure what to make of our original poster any more. She's only posted in three threads, two of which she started. The other thread she started was titled 'Petrol price hike could mean £3.62 per litre' which is clearly fantasy and like this thread the OP failed to answer other peoples questions and ignored them when asked where the £3.62 per litre came from and went off at a tangent.

Then she posted in another thread something about Torbay council cutting £250k from bus routes to council estates and how were "The poor", that wonderful condescending phrase again, going to get to hospital.

As far as I'm aware bus routes are in private hands and nothing to do with councils anymore.

I'm not sure if she's being serious or trolling or has other issues.

DecentLivingWage

It is other posters who require me to repeat myself (they dont appear to read the whole thread) so yet again......

I have already posted many times that previously Academies Were Beacons Of Excellence !! They are becoming second-rate when allowed to hire non qualified teachers,hire cheap minders instead of proper supply teachers or shorten the school day and charge parents for the difference.

I think we should flag this up and get every parent asking questions, that's all!

thegirlintheattic

Academies (and I believe maintained schools) could always hire non-qualified teachers AS LONG as they were working towards QTS.

ALL schools not just academies can, and do, hire cover supervisors instead of supply teachers. This is because of the Rarely Cover rules introduced many years ago. I'm pretty sure that Rarely Cover does not apply to academies if their staff are not TUPE'd over, so some academies will not need to hire cover supervisors.

Even maintained schools can change the school day timings (although it's rare). I've never heard of a school shortening the school day by more than 20 mins, most have lengthened the school day reducing child care costs (I'm assuming this is the charge you are talking about).

There are issues with academies and educational policy, I agree with you on QTS, but you are never going to seriously flag up the issues if you just make false or poorly thought out sensational claims. What you want to do is commendable but you need to think through how you are going about it. Every parent needs to ask questions about all schools, the way you are going about this, if you get your way, will result in parents only questioning academies or avoiding them outright.

Mr_Toad

DecentLivingWage wrote: »

It is other posters who require me to repeat myself (they dont appear to read the whole thread) so yet again......

You seem to be having a problem with your comprehension.

We don't want you to repeat yourself, you've done nothing but repeat yourself. :eek:

What we want is for you to back up your claims and assertions with some credible evidence.

Which part of the above statement do you not understand?

KiKi

I really wish the OP was a troll. Because I find it absolutely gobsmacking that a 'qualified' teacher, who posts with poor standards of grammar and English, demonstrates little comprehension in the arguments and debate of others, refuses to provide any evidence for their arguments and chooses which comments suit their point of view.

Even more so that s/he is apparently a freelance journalist who can only see one side of a situation.

If the OP is not a troll (and I suspect they may be), then I desperately hope s/he never teaches my children. I'd rather have an unqualified person who is able to demonstrate excellent comprehension and interpersonal skills and teach and share knowledge than one who insists s/he is right, regardless of any evidence to the contrary.

KiKi

DecentLivingWage

Here is a perfectly executed post:

I just heard from my daughter in law that a poster has gone up near the station trawling for business for the new Free School! (It has many empty places at huge taxpayer expense in dire economic times.What an utter waste and shambles!)

More 'info' here as I can't post links yet:

telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9602703/One-in-four-free-schools-suffering-shortage-of-pupils

(PS Only courteous, well-mannered posters are replied to.)

ViolaLass

You'd rather they didn't advertise the empty spaces?

suki1001

When my children's State Run Primary School was struggling with class sizes and only getting half the number of pupils, it too advertised spaces. Fortunately for me they did advertise, because that's how my children ended up at the school.

The statistics make sense, just like when some of our local school changed from a 3 tiered system to a 2 tiered system, they were half empty (or half full) for a couple of years.

If they're new free school that have been set up I'd say actually those statiistics weren't bad at all and that it makes sense - they won't all be full straight away - it's impossible.

peachyprice

Here we go again.



(Why ever did they take that rolleyes smiley away from us, it had it's uses)