Dr Nicola Preston’s Post

Have you previously read our blog about how people find the current performance measures meaningless for a special school or a PRU and our proposal? Its here if you want to.... https://lnkd.in/e2_n-Rhw Well, if you work in/with a Special School or PRU look out in FFT Aspire special reports archive for the Progress 5 report for your school. With it you may compare your outcomes in context with other Alternative Provision organisations or other Special Schools, giving you a sounder benchmark to evaluate performance. Review 1.      the basics, 2.      entries to qualifications, 3.      the attainment 5 headline, 4.      a value-added Progress 5 headline 5.      a breakdown by literacy, numeracy and open slots 6.      outcomes by gender 7.      outcomes by disadvantaged status Across your subject slots and pupil groups you can instantly identify strong or low progress, all benchmarked to a similar school type.

I often get feedback from the parents and external agencies that at times mainstream schools will use Alternative Provision as a threat, that if you don’t stop this you will end up at ………. The perception that pupils who attend alternative provision (AP) are "bad" is a common but deeply flawed stereotype. This misconception often arises from a lack of understanding of what alternative provision actually is and why students might be placed in such settings. Here’s why this perception is incorrect: Many pupils attend alternative provision not because they are "bad," but because they have complex needs that mainstream schools may not be equipped to address. Some pupils may face challenging life circumstances, such as family issues, trauma, that affect their ability to thrive in a traditional school environment. While some pupils may have behavioral issues, these behaviors often stem from underlying issues such as emotional distress or unmet needs, not from a lack of character. Many pupils in alternative provision go on to achieve academic success, gaining qualifications and skills that set them up for future opportunities in education, employment. It’s important to challenge the stereotype that AP pupils are "bad." These students are often resilient individuals who have faced significant challenges and are working hard to overcome them. They deserve understanding, support, and respect, not judgment. Educating the public, educators, and policymakers about the true purpose and benefits of alternative provision is crucial. By sharing success stories and highlighting the positive impact of AP, we can shift the narrative away from stigma and toward recognition of these pupils' potential. Pupils in alternative provision are not "bad" students; they are individuals with unique needs and potential. They often thrive in the supportive, flexible environments that alternative provision offers, and many go on to achieve great things. It’s time to change the narrative and recognise the strengths and resilience of these young people, rather than labeling them based on outdated stereotypes. Fact - 86% of my pupils achieved five GCSE’s or more during 2023/24 including Maths and English. #ap #belive #challenge #alternativeprovision

New from Vladimir Kogan: In the 1990 standardized tests became entrenched in American K–12 schools as nearly every state, and later the federawl government, adopted policies that mandated annual testing and held schools accountable for the results. In the ensuing decades, however, educators and policymakers began to recognize that high-stakes testing was not living up to its promise and that the single-minded focus on test scores had produced unintended (although, in retrospect, entirely predictable) consequences. Increasingly, school districts across the country are now turning to an alternative evaluation tool—surveys that ask students to rate their teachers and their schools on various metrics of quality and effectiveness. This growing use of evaluative surveys in K–12 reflects a rare consensus among education policy wonks and activists, bringing together strange ideological bedfellows who all believe surveys can help achieve their goals and priorities. Unfortunately, there is a risk that education leaders will make the same mistakes with surveys that they did with standardized tests—overpromising and not thinking through perverse incentives. Fortunately, it’s not too late to consider carefully both the promise and the likely pitfalls of using student surveys as a measure of teacher and school performance. Keep reading: https://lnkd.in/gNaS4uyA

The decision of whether a school rated as "acceptable" is a good choice for parents depends on various factors, including the specific needs and priorities of the family, the available alternatives, and the context of the school's rating. While a school may have an "acceptable" rating, it's essential for parents to consider what that rating entails. They should look into the criteria used for evaluation, such as academic performance, student-teacher ratios, extracurricular offerings, and student support services. Additionally, parents should visit the school, talk to teachers and administrators, and gather information from current students and families to get a comprehensive understanding of the school's strengths and areas for improvement. Ultimately, what constitutes a "good choice" for parents can vary greatly from one family to another. Some may prioritize academic rigor, while others may prioritize a supportive and inclusive environment or specific extracurricular opportunities. It's important for parents to assess their options thoughtfully and choose the school that aligns best with their values, goals, and their child's needs.

This insightful study reveals that teachers have a significant impact on students' motivation and engagement during adolescence, a time when these often decline. By providing emotional, instrumental, and management support, teachers can help students stay on track. This is why we've built our program - so educators can uncover new insights into their students’ learning experiences and maximise teaching impact during this critical stage of their education.

Thank you Rebecca Collie for sharing this Australian research that further supports the work we do in the middle years which is grounded in our vision and mission, and outlined in our Position Paper. We advocate: "The middle years, from around age ten to fifteen, span the years from childhood to adolescence. Young adolescents in the middle years experience a range of significant physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and moral changes. During puberty, young adolescents experience more rapid and dramatic hormonal and structural changes than at any other period in their life. The sequence of physical change is generally similar from one person to another, although the onset, rate, and timing of these changes are highly individual, often creating stress and feelings of insecurity for the adolescent. Changes to brain and cognitive development peak during this period. Apart from the first five years of life, at no other time does the capacity and functioning of the brain undergo such an overhaul. This affects the learning ability of young adolescents and their success in managing the emotional, social and moral challenges of this stage. Disengagement, alienation and boredom in school often peak in the middle years and this may lead to a decline in achievement. Hence the middle years, particularly with respect to the productive engagement of young people in schooling and other contexts, is a priority for educators".   https://lnkd.in/gjwiZGCK #motivation #studentengagement #achievement #teachers #students #middleyears #research

75% of teachers have seen students with mental health problems relating to anxiety around GCSEs in the last academic year. I believe there needs to be an urgent review of how young people are assessed academically. It is clear that the current model, assessment based on high stakes, end of course exams, is not working for many students. Much of this stress is as a result of Conservative school reforms, which decreased the amount of coursework and put much more pressure on exams. This is unfair on so many levels. There are so many things that effect how children perform on a certain day, meaning that exams are not a level playing field and do not reflect student's academic ability. There needs to be a better balance between what is right for children's mental health, whilst keeping the integrity of exams. I would like to see more modular exams throughout the course, as well as more vocational courses available. #education #educationreform #mentalhealth #gcse #politics Source: https://lnkd.in/etjF_bnQ

We've covered two pieces of research Tes over the last week that highlight the vital importance of getting the transition from primary to secondary right, particularly for disadvantaged pupils, and then ensuring engagement is maintained during KS3 to ensure successful KS4 outcomes. In the first piece FFT Education Datalab found poorer students' absence worsened significantly during Year 7 compared to their peers, while today John Jerrim at IOE - UCL's Faculty of Education and Society found that engagement during key stage 3 is critical to GCSE success. From a parent's perspective of a young person just coming to the end of Year 9 at a fantastic school, I wonder if part of the answer could be doing more to harness and sustain the accountability and engagement parents have with each other and school during primary, as students move into year 7 and beyond? https://lnkd.in/dQp2zF_E https://lnkd.in/edHp6VPj

Why is all the focus and debate on what is or is not happening in the schools, when schools are having to deal with all the issues and societal and family failings that occur before children start school and continue to occur when children are not at school? Everyone knows our education system is in trouble - we get lots of students coming to university who can't read or write to a tertiary level standard, and they have succeeded at school. But the real issue is societal, including parental and family and community attitudes regarding education, the quality - or lack- of preschool education, and the type of parenting undertaken, including what we can term middle class neglect. Education is our societal, cultural and economic future, but it doesn't exist separate from our societal, cultural and economic present- and is undertaken on the crumbling foundations of our societal, cultural and economic past. If you are going to test, and there are strong arguments to do do, you also need to address the issues outside the schools. If you don't, then all you are doing is reinforcing societal failure.

Reflecting on "A Nation at Risk" four decades later and I'm struck by how its urgent call for educational reform still echoes in today's challenges. The journey since then has been a roller coaster of initiatives, each with its victories and setbacks. As we face the aftermath of a pandemic and the ongoing quest for educational excellence, I'm reminded that progress takes support and consistency by a group effort. Yes, strategic, context-sensitive approaches to reform can make a real difference...but at the heart of the solution is the system's treatment of teachers. Teachers are at the heart of the solution. But we cannot get "quality" teachers if they are churning in and out of the education system. If we don't train and mentor them, support them, and create better learning environments for both teachers and students it won't matter who we recruit...we have to give them a viable path to stay in teaching. That's what creates an exceptional teacher - someone who is allotted the opportunity to grow and learn in their role. However, most new teachers are burnt out by the end of their first year...creating a revolving door because so many educational setting have this mentality of "sink or swim" for new teachers. What other job asks a person to sacrifice so much, barely trains them, undervalues them with low pay and long hours, then makes them prove their worth before they even understand the insurmountable odds stacked against them? #TeachersDeserveBetter #TeachersServeToo #TeacherShortage https://lnkd.in/e_bD_RYF