How school standards can be improved (From Hampshire Chronicle)
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How Southampton 's poor school results can be improved
2:41pm Thursday 3rd December 2009 in Education
Teacher and pupil (posed by models)
DESPITE slight improvements in the number of Southampton children making the Government’s required grade in science and English compared to last year, the city has slid further down the national rankings.
In 2008, results placed Southampton as the sixth worst performing in England, but this year’s results revealed only two authorities – Hackney and Medway Towns – recorded lower levels of pupils achieving the expected standards.
But what is the reason for the city’s slide down the tables?
Do we blame teachers, lack of spending on facilities, or is it down to social, economic or cultural reasons?
City MP and Cabinet minister John Denham, a former Secretary of State for Skills and Universities, believes one reason is a lack of willingness to accept the extent of the problem.
“There has been an acceptance of poor performance in the city’s education for far too long,” said the Southampton Itchen MP.
“If you go back ten years we were around about the national average in both primary and secondaries.
“While it’s quite true that schools have got better and our performances have improved, they have simply not improved as fast as the national average.
“This needs a clear and single- minded absolute focus on raising standards, working with the schools to see why people are doing better than us with the same sort of children we’ve got.
“Bring all the schools together – primary and secondary – and get everybody to face up to the facts and accept there’s no reason why the school performance should be as bad as it is.
But he believes raising standards isn’t just down to teachers.
“The whole community has got to recognise it’s got a part to play,” he said.
See today's Daily Echo for the full investigation into the problems harming education in Southampton.
Comments(11)
hulla baloo
says...
3:55pm Thu 3 Dec 09
Condor Man wrote:Also, and dare I say it, many children coming from other countries, have limited or no knowledge of English and teachers having to spend more time with them, to the detriment of other pupils.
the biggest problem is the huge difference in the ability of young children coming in at reception. Some can read, write and count- others can barely speak. Sure Start should have resolved these issues but these services have been hijacked by the middle-classes looking for cheap child care.
Condor Man
says...
4:07pm Thu 3 Dec 09
hulla baloo wrote:you'll find the biggest burden on teachers comes from home grown kids who come in totally unprepared to be educated.
Condor Man wrote: the biggest problem is the huge difference in the ability of young children coming in at reception. Some can read, write and count- others can barely speak. Sure Start should have resolved these issues but these services have been hijacked by the middle-classes looking for cheap child care.Also, and dare I say it, many children coming from other countries, have limited or no knowledge of English and teachers having to spend more time with them, to the detriment of other pupils.
freemantlegirl2
says...
4:57pm Thu 3 Dec 09
Duncan Disorderly
says...
5:04pm Thu 3 Dec 09
stickymcglue
says...
5:07pm Thu 3 Dec 09
driverbelcher
says...
7:39pm Thu 3 Dec 09
stickymcglue wrote:Many teachers do the job they are paid to do. The "extra mile" you refer to is time that the teachers are not paid for, nor given time in lieu during their teaching day, and scarcely offered thanks for their extra time and efforts.
many teachers effectively "work to rule" , the schools where they dont and all strive for high standards clearly stick out , but too many teachers just will not go the extra mile to get standard to rise... Also , the government clearly needs to exclude children from the statistics whose 1st language is not english for the first three years of their education
Why go the extra mile when there is no gain for doing do- would you work overtime without payment just to keep management happy? Because thats what you're expecting teachers to do.
If you would work this extra unpaid overtime than more fool you!
Bassettbadger
says...
7:52pm Thu 3 Dec 09
I went to state schools and was hoping to send my children to a good, honest state school, we're not rich but we prioritise our children's education above all else.
Condor Man
says...
8:57pm Thu 3 Dec 09
Labour have ruined the schools in Southampton by dumbing down so much. I'm so glad I went to school during the Maggie era. The buildings weren't up to much but at least I learned something.
southy
says...
11:32pm Thu 3 Dec 09
Condor Man
says...
8:09am Fri 4 Dec 09
southy wrote:sadly I'm inclined to agree. At Bitterne Park classes were rigidly streamed so everyone was taught at their level. I hear that some city schools like Oaklands taught in mixed ability groups.
this is what you get after 30 years of right wing politic's,, need to go back to before then and start agin and look at where it went wrong, people like condor saw the last of the years of good teaching before the big changes where implemented by thatcher.
Far too much money has been wasted on unnecessary school rebuilds and over purchasing IT.
Condor Man says...
3:35pm Thu 3 Dec 09