St Joseph’s
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Posts
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Seems to have slipped under the Forum radar but……..what an excellent set of Estyn results.
We have to remember that Estyn don’t evaluate outcomes as such but the way in which any school is setting out its’ stall to achieve outcomes. Hence when someone points to different catchments and so on, this tends to be irrelevant
These results will no doubt make more parents think about which school to send their child to in September– choice of two schools in Special Measures or one with a good report. Is there really any choice? The problem is that St Josephs will be over subscribed-we owe it to all children and young people to give them the best educational advantage.
What can the special measure schools learn from St. Joseph’s.
I hope the two Special Measures school can turn things around soon or another generation will be failed by an education system that has had them as a ‘captive’ group for 13 years – age 3 -16.When I taught there between 2005 and 2006 it was wonderful to see the way in which old school values still applied. Walking along corridors, ties tied, no makeup and so on.
This is a warm supportive but firm environment. A working school with a mission to get the best out of each child
It is good to see that St Josephs have managed to maintain standards at a time of significant change since you were teaching there. There has been the creation of a Catholic/Church in Wales partnership and a massive change of the cultural/ethnic demography of the children attending yet standards have been maintained. What ever they are doing to achieve this should be bottled and shipped to other secondary schools.
@99DylanJones 12263 wrote:
It is good to see that St Josephs have managed to maintain standards at a time of significant change since you were teaching there. There has been the creation of a Catholic/Church in Wales partnership and a massive change of the cultural/ethnic demography of the children attending yet standards have been maintained. What ever they are doing to achieve this should be bottled and shipped to other secondary schools.
Quite agree Dylan. What you will find is that they will do, as Estyn point out, what all successful schools should do. In this day and age there is a much more supportive and personalised system than of yore but this is fused with all those values that people of an older generation would identify. School discipline (where required). Regular homework. Setting as appropriate (but with some mixed approaches where feasible). Good teachers. top management. Uniforms. Emphasis on moral (and of course faith) values. Good teacher-management-parent-pupil interaction…….and so on
So how do you replicate this across the two failing secondary schools? Would one solution be to create another Faith School in the town?
@wrexview 12265 wrote:
So how do you replicate this across the two failing secondary schools? Would one solution be to create another Faith School in the town?
An interesting question. Personally, I would say no.
It is interesting, however, that both the Faith based school and the Welsh language based school seem to be thriving. Whilst appreciating that some cynics think that many secular parents have sent their children to St Joseph’s and many anglicised parents have repeated the logic with the Welsh school just to by pass the Comprehensive process, there is more.
Choice in Education is a wonderful thing. It allows parents to select a school that will dovetail in with the needs and abilities of their children. To an extent, The Butler Act tried to do this with the Grammar-Secondary-Technical schools but, of course, this was done by selection.
In England, the Blair reforms, now adapted by Gove, have allowed schools to open that have an offer that is at variance with other schools. As a consequence, parents can, in theory, pick the most suitable schools for their children.
The problem in Wrexham is that we are stuck in a time warp fighting the political arguments of the past about schools. The idea that a Through school approach might improve matters is, to be frank, ridiculous.
My response to your question, therefore is simple. Widen choice so that parents can pick things like Science and It flavoured schools, Arts and Drama flavoured schools, Language flavoured schools, Sports orientated schools and so on. Further, there is a crying need to develop a post Year 9 Vocational route for youngsters who have no yearning for the GCSE/Academic route but who might prefer Apprenticeships, technical education and so on
………and, of course, before everyone tells me that this can’t happen in Wales because of Welsh Assembly policies. Turf them out. Write to AM’s and MP’s demanding change. Get the Wrexham.Com and the Leader to campaign for real Education.
Don’t settle for second best.
Our children deserve better, so much better
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