Quick Rant About LeagueTables..
Tomorrow is the deadline for applications to Birmingham Secondary Schools. Thousands of parents across Brum have been trying to decide on the best place to send their offspring for this next big part of their lives.
It's great to see how popular Open Evenings and days are - that so many of us aren't just sitting at home Googling local schools, checking last year's A* - C stats and following league tables.
Schools are so much more than any of these things; they're a massive part of our children, as our children are part of their schools.
I was really annoyed to hear some of my friends talking, saying they'd been 'studying league tables' and had decided not to send their kids where they wanted to go based purely on these facts and figures.
Our young people aren't defined by the certificates that they get in August. Forming judgements about a school based purely on some numbers printed in a paper is just as misguided.
Hopefully as well as having grades they can be proud of, children will have had a great experience and emerge as inspired, confident and forward thinking human beings. Shame there's no league tables to measure that.
Rant over now!
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Laura Yates
Brummie mum Laura Yates is a 27 year old mother of two from Kings Heath. She gives her take on family life in the city.
Well said! Couldn't agree more.
Hmm.
Kids will buckle down and do well if you put them in school A or school B. It's the kid that makes the difference.
However, if the school is correctly managed and resourced, the teachers are motivated and well trained, and the kids are well behaved, then this will affect the grades.
So theoretically, good grades can indicate a better run/resourced/staffed school than those with lower grades.
But it's a balance, isn't it. Don't trust the school's well-painted exterior and freshly decorated reception and corridors, but don't just look at the tables. Figures can be manipulated, as well as a building's exterior.
Absolutely right. Exams results are the quickest, easiest way to judge a school, but they can be interpreted, and presented in many different ways.
Kids will perform better when they are happy and supported both at home at school - whether this performance manifests itself in exam grades or in the development of other postive character traits is irrelevant (I think) therefore placing so much importance on grades (child's or school's) is not the best way of doing things.
This is a great topic to discuss and I'd like to write more about it. Would love to hear more of your views.