prickle

What HollandforLife and Gwendolen1 said, particularly about the actions that define bold leadership.

My daughter is 11 and is still using hers! She is small for her age and it still helps her to be the right height at the table.

It seems that the missing thread is now back up - is that right Admin? Is it so that we can redact our comments? Would be helpful if you could say which bit the school complained about. And what authorities will you be passing our details on to?

Yes I think it was taken down. This is a common occurance. The school regularly polices the forums and if they don't like what they see they get the offending thread or post deleted by claiming libel and threatening legal action.

"The school has boasted about its ever improving cohort and even if this was a bit of a weaker year group, it would have been weak when it started, hence why the Value Added Score is so incredibly low. There is no excuse for it being so low, the school has failed very many low achieving students which is unacceptable. " Agree that the score was unacceptably low. If you look at Southwark's results, 11 out of 15 schools achieved a score over 1000 (which is the baseline above which the school is adding value). Of the 4 that has lower scores, Kingsdale is the lowest. Also two of the four have GCSE A*-C on or above 60%. What I can't work out is how this disasterous results tie in with the 'good' outcome for the attainment section of the very recent results. Looks like there is a discrepancy there?

BB100 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > prickle Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > > Some Yr 11s this year are having to take 2 > English > > GCSE exams for 2 different boards for the same > > exam period. It seems that the school's > strategy > > is to spread the risk - let them take both and > > choose the best result as 'the one'. Robust and > > bold, maybe but educationally sound? > > What's that got to do with last year's students? > > Anyway, schools up and down the country have been > doing this for ages. There was an article in TES > magazine recently about it and how the government > are planning to have one exam board per subject to > stamp it out. I didn't say that it was anything to do with last year's students. Also the fact that other schools are doing this does not make it right. What struck me was that if this was true, the lengths the school was prepared to go for good results regardless of what the actual education benefits are to the students themselves. Given the track record of the school (being investigated for exam cheating), I was surprised to hear that the school was still using rather questionable (but probably legal) means to pursue good results (but not very successfully!) Its all desperate really. I feel really sorry for these Yr 11 students.

Quote from ofsted: "In tackling these issues robustly, bold decisions were made to switch the courses being followed by some Year 11 students." I've heard that some Yr 11s this year are having to take 2 English GCSE exams for 2 different boards for the same exam period. It seems that the school's strategy is to spread the risk - let them take both and choose the best result as 'the one'. Robust and bold, maybe but educationally sound?

Oh dear indeed. Is this the first set of results after the cheating debacle, ie the first set of 'straight' results?

Ms Boyer is still listed as headteacher for DKH. She left 4-5 years ago! I hope the rest of the data are more accurate!

Yes, agreed. Thank you Renata.

Kingsdale is banding and lottery not distance.

James Barber Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi Chillaxed, > I have actively supported the Judith Kerr > bilingual German/English school. I've alerted them > to the Dulwich Hopsital site ...isn't the Dulwich Hospital site earmarked for the Harris Primary? Exactly how many schools are going to be on this site?

There's also smaller selection in stationary shop in Dulwich Village. Take the 37.

Another point of info is that Charter is about the only school in the area that doesn't use fair-banding. It uses proximity instead. Does that make a different to you argument?

LondonMix, a point of info, Charter (and ALL Southwark secondaries) are academies not LA

Apparently Dulwich Hamlet school and Dulwich Infants has been asked to look into permanent extended provision.

Sorry James, I take your point - no Coalition in local politics. The rest of my concerns remain though.

Thanks but I have already read the other thread. TBH the whole free school system stinks but I think it makes me even more uncomfortable when I know that the person leading the organisation (ie Lord Harris) is a significant figure in the coalition (yes I know he is a Tory and not a LibDem but is a member of the coalition all the same) and a coalition councillor is proposing to offer the organisation a multi-million pound contract to build 2 schools without any tendering. I am not saying there is anything dodgy involved but it does give plenty of room for doubt. I feel uncomfortable that this is being offered up as a great solution to the dire lack of primary places in the area without any consultation. Presumably the expectation is that the grateful local parents will accept this with few questions asked and who can blame them? What happened to accountability and democracy or am I missing something? For the record I think the English-German free school is another vanity project. They can't decide whether to locate in ED or Rotherhithe - how can that be a solution to the shortage of school places in this area? There is absolutely NO strategic thinking behind all this! (and yes I am cross!)

James Barber Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi prickle, > Why Harris? > Because they have an amazing track record of > producing outstanding local schools in Southwark. > So have they undergone a tendering process with the local authority? How does the procurement process work for establishing a new school? Shouldn't we be looking at a variety of option before deciding on the final provider? No matter how wonderful they are, I am uncomfortable that Harris will run so many schools in the local community. And will pupils from Harris primary schools take priority when applying to Harris secondaries?

intexasatthe moment Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > James - can't the LA sponsor a school ? Any why Harris? Has there been a tender system where different service providers have tendered for this job? Was Harris chosen because of its links with the coalition?

What Fuschia said. Also agree with intexas that we don't want a fragmented education system. All southwark secondary schools are academies now, each with their own admissions system. Many of them use fair banding including Harris. Each school uses a different banding assessment test so the year 6 pupils have to sit many tests at this time of the year. It is disruptive and not fair to the children who may have to sit up to 6 different tests depending on which schools they are applying for. This is an example of the lack of central coordination that a fragmented system brings. The people who pay for it are the children and the parents. Why isn't there one fair banding test that all schools use? Not possible as all the secondaries are academies and are independent from each other. Also the reason we are in this predicament is that at last the politicians have woken up to the fact that we are going through a baby boom. James, you say that it takes 5 to 7 years to set up a school. Well, stats should have been available 4-5 years ago on the numbers of children starting reception this year. It is not rocket science. If the birth rate goes up, then all these children will need educating. The reason we are in this predicament now is that the powers that be (and which party was in power in Southwark 5 years ago?) did not have the strategic nouse to think ahead. Please do not dress up your Harris initiative as something wonderful. It is yet another short term solution for a long term problem. Please think ahead. These children will be starting secondary in 6 years time. Get the secondary school places sorted now.

Interesting article Fuschia. Whether you believe everything or not it certainly gives food for thought. For instance I always thought Lord Harris was a Labour peer. Silly me, probably because he's from Peckham and not the Home Counties or something. Sounds like Harris's rapid expansion of late were rather helped by his Tory party political connections... James are you sure that your keeness for Harris is not anything to do with the Coalition politics? Is Harris the prefered educational provider of choice for Gove?

Don't get me wrong, I am not knocking Harris as an organisation. I agree that they have an excellent strategy for bringing on children of all abilities and those that are socially/economically deprived. Yes, Lord Harris has links to this area but the Federation are spreading far and wide now. What I am critical of is the apparent lack of strategic thinking for the future of education in this area. Now is the time to look ahead to 2020 and beyond to make sure that the provision is robust and balanced. James, it alarms me that you say that Harris may give preference to children from their own primaries for entrance into their secondaries. That would be wrong and would be deeply unpopular in the community. The fact that James is recruiting interest to Harris schools on this forum in a somewhat piecemeal fashion suggests that nothing has been thought through from the centre. What is Southwark's view of this?

Harris Federation is a rapidly growing education service provider. This link shows you the extent of their current empire. http://www.harrisfederation.org.uk/118/harris-academies I have no issue with Harris per se, in fact I think it is very focussed and have had very good results with some of the failing schools that it has taken over. I do worry though that more and more schools in this area are being run by Harris and I think we need to look at possible repercussions before blythely offering up two more primaries to add to their network. Presumably these new schools will be either free schools or academies so independent of local authority control. I worry about this in the primary sector. I want my children to attend schools that are rooted in the community and not run by organisations that may have other agenda that may conflict with this. I know that most of you reading this are worried about the primary provision in the area. I think we need to also think ahead a few years to when these children transfer to secondary. I can tell you from experience that it is as much a bunfight for secondary as for primary. I worry that if Harris primaries are given preference into Harris secondaries (as I think the Peckham academy does) then this will seriously affect the availability of secondary places for non Harris parents. I feel disappointed that schools are contracted out in this way without much consultation.

Harris is taking over! No real issues about the organisation but feel that there are too many schools now locally wearing the Harris badge. What's wrong with giving this money to the council for them to set up new schools? Why do they have to be free schools? Or won't Gove let you do that? Pls can people consider the repercussion up the line if this goes ahead. What about secondary transfer? Would Harris primary pupils get priority getting into Harris secondaries? Really unhappy about this contract going to Harris.