GCSE Results 2012 for Lewisham & Southwark

[Curmudgeon]

Re the channel 4 piece ... its on the website

theres actually a bit of a school statement at the bottom, I do agree that the independence of academies is deeply concerning

http://www.channel4.com/news/questions-over-london-school-cheating-inquiry

[EDmummy]

Didn't watch it on the news but read the link given by Curmudgeon. It all seems a little odd. Why, after the complaints were first made hasn't there been a transparent enquiry with public results. They receive public money so they should be accountable to the public. We owe it to current and future students to have the truth of what has or hasn't gone on be made public and the changes/actions taken by the school available for all to see. What doesn't help are unsubstantiated allegations and rumour.

More generally, if the Coalition does not offer better regulation of education (esp academies) then the future is indeed dark for our children.

[Bigwade12]

Kingsdale , the teachers sat the GCSEs , so they will be good results, see Channel 4 website.

ALLEDGEDLY

[Curmudgeon]

OMG the programme did not say that. That's libellous!

It reported statements from some staff and students on one side and also stated that in 15 months of investigation there had been no evidence of institutional malpractice uncovered

[whirly]

Bigwade has only made 3 posts on the EDF - all on this subject, today.

A disgruntled ex-member of staff, methinks.

Watch this thread disappear.

[Curmudgeon]

EDmummy Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Didn't watch it on the news but read the link

>

> More generally, if the Coalition does not offer

> better regulation of education (esp academies)

> then the future is indeed dark for our children.

Totally agree with this point

[Fuschia]

Curmudgeon Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> EDmummy Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > Didn't watch it on the news but read the link

> >

> > More generally, if the Coalition does not offer

> > better regulation of education (esp academies)

> > then the future is indeed dark for our

> children.

>

> Totally agree with this point

Thirded

[intexasatthe moment]

I thought that the outcome of enquiries of this kind - into alleged exam malpractice -always remained confidential .

Presumably to protect those students who have sat the exams under the system being investigated .

I thought the investigation was completed but this article from TES suggests otherwise

http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6243818

[blackcherry23]

Re: Kingsdale Exam Results 2012

All schools know their exam results the day before GCSE results are given out to students. Kingsdale know their results - so even if they are waiting for remarks they can publish current results. Staff all know the results as they can access them online via the exam boards but have been instructed not to discuss with parents, even when asked directly at Open Evening as we discovered.

I was considering Kingsdale as a school for my daughter but their secrecy about results only convinces me further that widespread cheating was happening last year, and now if it's been stamped out, the true achievement will be reflected in this year's results. I think people will be very shocked when the results are published if the rumours are to be believed but at least they will generate an immediate Ofsted inspection and hopefully give a more accurate picture of the school's actual achievements.

[prickle]

I have seen the Channel 4 piece and I think Kingsdale got off lightly in the coverage. The piece only featured what happened in the past and how it was unresolved, but did not mention what is going on now - ie the non-disclosure of this year's exam results and the alleged high turnover of staff (including most of the science department being NQT)

Given KD's track record of being litigation happy, I expect the Channel 4's lawyers have been all over the report and played safe.

[Curmudgeon]

I have seen the Channel 4 piece too. I think Kingsdale is unfortunate to be the perfect scapegoat for everything that is wrong with the 'Academy programme' - I think they are high profile and a great journalistic 'case study' because Cameron visited and called them 'brilliant' and because of inappropriate public whistleblowing.

I think interviewing a student and staff member made for good TV but wouldn't hold up in court or any appropriate official investigation as one should hear both sides and view evidence - however I believe that the PUBLIC ARENA (newspapers / fora) is not the place for these discussions

I think of the over 100 schools against whom complaints were made to the UK exam authorities in the same academic year it is horrendous to realise that only our local school's case is in the public arena

I don't see how the school can win - but more importantly I can only see how local families and children can lose out

[intexasatthe moment]

I think there are more issues at Kingsdale than the alleged problems with exams .

And I think the judgement that the public whistleblowing was inappropriate is a subjective one .

[Queenie23]

There was too much hype about Kingsdale - no school is that amazing. It was almost like a cult.

[Fuschia]

I am a bit shocked that the exam board hasn't interviewed the pupils who complained. Taken on top of ofqual's meddling in this year's gcse pass rates, it does look like political meddling

[whirly]

Good post Curmudgeon.

[prickle]

"I think interviewing a student and staff member made for good TV but wouldn't hold up in court or any appropriate official investigation as one should hear both sides and view evidence - however I believe that the PUBLIC ARENA (newspapers / fora) is not the place for these discussions"

The interviews would not hold up in court but they have all made statements which probably will. In a country with free speech, discussions in the public arena of any matter that concerns the community (and don't forget KD is a community, state funded school) is appropriate, indeed vital. If Kingsdale is not happy about what is discussed then they should take steps to communicate their standpoint - and not just by pulling threads from fora with threats of litigation.

"I don't see how the school can win - but more importantly I can only see how local families and children can lose out"

I agree with you here - but are you saying that the school is blameless?

[westof]

>

> "I don't see how the school can win - but more

> importantly I can only see how local families and

> children can lose out"

>

> I agree with you here - but are you saying that

> the school is blameless?

I'm in agreement with Curmudgeon's post, particularly the bit you've highlighted here.

It's perfectly possible to hold that view without thinking the school is 100% blameless with regard to exam malpractice. What we don't know is whether they were worse than the 100 or so other schools which were investigated quietly & told to clean their act, or guided towards better practice.

15 months after an investigation started, I would hope those schools were either modelling excellent exam practice, or deemed no longer fit to run exams.

What we do know is that in the case of Kingsdale, there are parties (whether or not these are the original whistleblowers) who are determined to bring this into public scrutiny again and again.

The tone of the Channel 4 report was very much a case of: This school is an academy: therefore unaccountable & this is the major problem. It's worth noting that if there was exam malpractice of any scale (however major or minor, without the full report we cannot tell), it was almost certainly also going on during the time before the school became an academy. If I am correct the school only moved towards becoming an academy in the months shortly before the initial public whistleblowing.

[intexasatthe moment]

I don't think that Kingsdale is any more high profile than say Pimlico Academy ( frequently visited by all colours - Balls latterly and now Gove ) .

And they too seem to be keeping their latest exam results close to their chest .

Pimlico seems to have managed being "scapegoated "

[westof]

Just like to add - I'm aware that threads discussing Kingsdale have a tendency to get hijacked & closed down.

I wonder if it would be possible to move the relevant discussion to a separate thread, as this thread on GCSE results is worth saving, including the speculation as to why Kingsdale hasn't released theirs.

[Oggy]

Here is the link to the full piece on C4 news http://www.channel4.com/news/questions-over-london-school-cheating-inquiry. As a parent with two children at Kingdale, I have to say this comes over as shrill C4 tabloid journalism. I watched this piece when it went out last night with my son who is in year 9, doing well academically, happy, feeling safe, and fiercely proud of his school. He was in tears by the end and I don't blame him. I was particularly unimpressed by Tessa Jowell's points scoring criticism of Nick Gibb's comments as to a lack of accountability inherent in the academies system. While Mr Gibb is indeed a Tory, let us not forget that the Blair administration established academies in 2000. The chief architect was Andrew Adonis in his capacity as education advisor to the Prime Minister in the late 1990s. I voted for Tessa Jowell, who is my local MP, and she should be ashamed. The crux of the matter is this .. Kingsdale is an excellent school, whose staff and senior managers are working extremely hard, in good faith, to serve the best interests of its pupils. Nobody, even Ms Jowell, is suggesting otherwise. If it turns out that there have been some irregularities along the way, which is not yet by any means proven, it is equally clear, even from this highly one sided C4 piece, that all parties are working hard to ensure that the exam system is working properly going forward. So for the sake of all its hard working pupils, including my two sons, their parents and teachers, please can all its detractors, whether politically motivated or otherwise, draw a line under this issue and let Kingsdale get back to concentrating on what it does best .. giving its pupils the best possible opportunity to be happy, secure, confident and successful

[prickle]

"I don't think that Kingsdale is any more high profile than say Pimlico Academy ( frequently visited by all colours - Balls latterly and now Gove ). And they too seem to be keeping their latest exam results close to their chest . "

I suppose if you are a high profile school (and that is the school's decision to court publicity), then you have more to lose if news is not so good.

I also agree that this thread is worth saving re: info about the results

[prickle]

Oggy, I am so sorry to hear about your son. He is right to be proud of the school and its his right to feel happy there.

But are you absolutely sure given what you have read in this thread and elsewhere that there is nothing to worry about at Kingsdale?

[Debi]

As another parent of two very happy children at the school, I agree 100% with Oggy's excellent post. I would also like to add that the school didn't invite Cameron to visit and it was not their choice to become the focus of a wider political debate.

[Oggy]

Prickle ... no I am not sure that there is nothing to worry about at Kingsdale. I am a concerned parent and no school is perfect. All I can say with certainty is that my sons are thriving in a positive educational environment created by a group of senior managers, including the head, Mr Morrison, who it is clear to me are motivated by the best of intentions. Is anybody suggesting otherwise?

[westof]

Oggy Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I watched

> this piece when it went out last night with my son

> who is in year 9, doing well academically, happy,

> feeling safe, and fiercely proud of his school.

> He was in tears by the end and I don't blame him.

You could be describing my daughter - I didn't have the heart to watch it with her last night, though I expect I will at some point.

Whether or not this years results reflect badly on past practice, I have no doubts that after this investigation, current exam practice is going to be good.

And if there's been staff instability, or staff under stress - without implying that management practices are blameless - I'm well aware that much of it may have been down the very public scrutiny that the school has been under.

Prickle - (sorry to answer a questin you've asked another person) - there is never nothing to worry about in any school.