Any Questions

Any questions?

 

Do you have things you’d like to ask about school, but don’t know who to ask

 

writes Robert Watts

 

1. What should we look for when visiting a school?

 

Most headteachers offer prospective parents a tour of their school. This can be a valuable opportunity to gather two kinds of information: the kind the school wants you to know, and the kind that it would rather you didn’t know.  

 

Try to observe the interaction between the headteacher, teachers and children as you move around the school.  Does everyone spring nervously to attention when the head walks into a classroom (teachers included)?  Or are children pleased to see the head and keen to share their work?  

Is the head warmly greeted by children in the corridor, or do they hide behind the nearest fire extinguisher?  

Does he or she seem to know every child by name, or avoid talking to them altogether?

Most importantly, can you imagine approaching the head if you had a problem with your child?  If the head is always too busy to even entertain the thought of showing you around the school, cross it off your list.

 

2. How seriously should I take league tables?

 

League tables are compiled from the results achieved in national tests in English, Maths and Science by 11-year-olds, so infant schools don’t feature in them. The tables are welcomed by some headteachers, particularly those who have succeeded in ‘turning around’ failing schools: in recent years the tables have included data on the ‘value added’ element of a school’s performance, meaning that the children’s ability at the start of their schooling is taken into consideration.  

 

But many in education remain sceptical of the value of league tables, arguing that they have led to a narrower curriculum and a ‘sausage factory’ culture that churns out children who spend too much time preparing for tests and not enough time enjoying their learning.  

 

Ofsted reports, available online, provide more detailed information on the overall character of a school.

 

3. Will my child be ‘streamed’ or grouped according to ability?

 

‘Streaming’ children into classes by ability is essentially a thing of the past. Children found it hard to shake off the label of underachiever and many experts believe that children who struggle to learn can benefit from working in mixed-ability classes.

 

Parents, on the other hand, often worry that high-fliers can become bored if teachers fail to challenge them. You should find that most children will be grouped by ability within each class for English and Maths and that most teachers are highly skilled in providing differentiated tasks for each group, while schools with two or more parallel classes in one year group will sometimes re-group classes for these lessons.  

 

4. Will class size affect my child?

 

Class size has long been a key concern for parents: not surprisingly, if you’re struggling with two or three at home, you find it hard to imagine coping with 20 or 30. According to recent research published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, pupils perform better in small classes, though it is apparently the lower-achievers who tend to benefit more.

 

But unless you’re considering private education, class size is unlikely to be a key factor in choosing a school for your child.  ‘All of my classes have been around 30,’ says teacher Lia Eldridge. ‘It can be hard to make sure that each individual gets the 1:1 attention they need. Though oddly enough, children can be harder to manage in smaller groups – they’re often a lot more confident and noisier!  

 

The growing number of teaching assistants in recent years, however, has really improved the adult–child ratio which means that all the children get that bit more attention.’

 

5. Are mainstream state schools equipped to deal with children with special educational needs?

 

The buzzword in special educational needs in recent years has been inclusion: children with learning or behavioural difficulties should, it is argued, be educated within the mainstream system rather than in special schools, and funding to provide extra teachers and support staff for these children has increased to almost £5 billion a year. The rationale is that children with special needs benefit from mainstream education.

 

However, recent research at Cambridge University suggests that relatively few children benefit from the inclusion process, while the education of other children has suffered and teachers have struggled to cope.  

 

6. Should I worry about my child being bullied?

 

Bullying is understandably a worry for all parents.  ‘It’s often brushed under the carpet,’ says parent Jane House. ‘Teachers don’t seem to appreciate the impact it can have on children’s learning.’ Jane suggests becoming more involved with school life to gain a clearer picture of what’s going on. ‘It’s natural to jump to your child’s defence, but school life is complex. My advice is to watch how your child interacts with other children and find out what really is happening.’  

 

Always approach the class teacher first and avoid tackling the problem head-on with the other child or parents: tensions between parents in the playground tend to last far longer than those between the children!  

 

7. How much dialogue should I expect from school? How can I best make it work?

 

Parent consultations tend to take place only two or three times a year, though many schools offer regular opportunities for parents to catch up with children’s work.  ‘At our school parents can go in and look at their children’s work every half term,’ says Jane. ‘Children are assessed in the core subjects every term and we get a mid-year report as well as one at the end of the year.’  

 

If you have a concern, try making an appointment with the class teacher a few days in advance - brief words snatched at the end of the day are rarely satisfactory. One advantage of sending your child to a one-form school is that it can be much easier to maintain contact in a smaller environment.  

 

8. Why do girls seem to do better than boys?

 

There’s a widespread acceptance that girls’ academic achievement throughout their school years is higher than that of boys. Research in the US suggests that girls achieve better grades when taught by female teachers while boys are more likely to succeed with male teachers.  

 

Recruiting and retaining male teachers is an ongoing issue for primary schools and educational consultant and author Dr Tony Sewell argues that boys consequently fall behind because of the ‘feminisation’ of primary education.  Schools tend to celebrate qualities typically associated with girls, such as neatness, quietness and attentiveness in class while downgrading ‘masculine’ values such as competitiveness and leadership.

 

May/June 2010

All information is correct at time of publishing