Secondary school places – it’s a lottery not a choice

I had to go way back to find a convo related to Academies . Great trumpeting by HMG on the delight and benefits of academies schools in England issued forth at the time using the same propaganda as the privatisation of the NHS , well surprise-surprise after years of this new educational facility learning all is not well in English academies . Do not confuse academies in England with those in Scotland totally different laws & regulations the major one and crucial one being all Scottish academies are still under local authority and control BUT they have a wide leeway on the type of education supplied . I have been contacted because all is not so “rosy ” now in English academies which there are ( very approx ) 2000 in England quote-Two years ago this happened to our school – Longshaw Primary. It was forced by the Department for Education into becoming an academy. Us parents were given no say in how this may affect our children. A slew of financial irregularities have been uncovered, dozens of teachers have left and almost 100 children too. Because there is no legal route to return our schools, we fear these failures could lead to our children not getting the education they deserve or need for their futures. Schools are being shut down across the country.Teacher morale has been at a low. We have had much loved teachers replaced by agency staff and discovered the Trust had employed unqualified
family members to teach. Some children have experienced as many as 7 different teachers in 2 years and in the academic year of 2017/2018, only 4 out of the 14 classes did not experience a change of teacher.This isn’t just a one off case. Since speaking out, we’ve had parents across the country tell us the same thing is happening to their children’s schools. Why is this being allowed to happen?

There are too many stories like ours. Trusts are not held accountable. When schools fail under academies rife with cronyism, nepotism and financial self-interest -they need to be rebuilt-end quote. This is from a London mum who wants a return to local authority control, I am sure this will engender differences of opinion based on probably political dogma but shouldn’t it be about good education for children in England ?

Duncan, with your references to “Longshaw Primary”, are you talking from your experience as a parent – or are you “speaking in tongues” again?

This topic could run to thousands of comments. What is more worrying is that there are no solutions to a vexatious problem which has dogged state education provision in the UK since the late ’50s.

It’s nothing new. In the ’50s the choice was about which Grammar school to choose, if you even passed the 11+ (most didn’t). Now, it’s simply which Secondary school your child is likely to get less bullied at / be able to walk home from / rates best on the supermarket telegraphy / has friends going to. The real question we ought to be asking is why?

Why are schools still teaching a syllabus determined largely by Tory ideology and derived from public schools?
Why are schools so varying in quality?
Why does a child spend less time in lessons than at registration / assembly / break / lunch / moving from room to room / travelling / sitting in subbed lessons?
Why are up to 25% of all lessons in Secondary schools spoiled by disruptive pupils?
Why can some staff not put together correct English sentences?
Why are pupils still being forced into School uniforms?
Why is Arts provision so patchy across the UK?

Moving to a new Secondary school can be traumatic; not as bad as it used to be, in the days when you were often the only child in the new school from your old primary but still a potentially worrying time for parents. But parents should remember that children are resilient, and often do well despite their parents and their school. But we could do better – and we should.

The secondary can be considered an outmoded institution. More importantly, it can also be considered irrelevant providing there are good parents who are determined to put their children’s interests first. And remember: the law states all children between the ages of 4 and 18 must receive an education. Nowhere does it state that education must be at a school.