Wrexham ‘Super Schools’
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Posts
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@GresfordGordon 12656 wrote:
The Council seem to have done nothing as yet apart from deciding against things. They seem to have no strategy for improving the mess that exists in 11-16 provision in Wrexham.
That’s because a particular brand of Welsh socialism can’t think beyond homogenous comprehensives. Schools have to make Educational sense not political sense. They have to equip youngsters to deal with the world as best possible. Some will go on to be Oxbridge graduates others will not. Some will take a vocational direction, others perhaps more academic. Equal education is not the same education and all youngsters need a tailored approach. Indeed, the real quest for those who want to advantage the disadvantaged should be the quest for additional resources to redress other inequalities
Does anyone find it odd that when the 3 Grammar schools (and 2 Secondary Moderns) were replaced by what has now become 2 ‘Superschools’ that the 2 ‘Superschools’ are on the 2 sites of the Secondary Moderns and their numbers are increasingly looking comparable.
Talk about squeezing a square peg into a round hole.
Does anyone find it strange that as the town has grown, and as new estates abound everywhere (since the early 1970’s), that we have less secondary school capacity in play in the 2 superschools?
Still, we did get rid of the Grammar schools, and after all, that was the real priority for a town like Wrexham.
Can’t work out though what happened to all those kids who filled 5 schools and where all those kids on the new estates have gone (lol)
Cheshire ? The local authority should be ashamed , as should the WAG. These kinds are not just fleeing education in WrexhAm but the disaster that is education in Wales.
I’m glad you made that point GresfordGordon………though it was set up nicely for you (lol)
The whole Welsh system stinks
Is this all the Councils fault — there are more children in Rhosnessi and Clywedog on free school meals than any other secondary school in Wrexham- this implies they are from families on low income or benefits only. May be a big jump and generalization but may also mean parents that are not particularly academic and therfire cant help their children with homework etc. Is the way to improve school performance to run parallel sessions for parents as well so that there is a holistic improvement of parent and child.
Why does Wrexham seem to neglect the fact that the parents of these children need massive support to raise aspirations in the family.@99DylanJones 12682 wrote:
Is this all the Councils fault — there are more children in Rhosnessi and Clywedog on free school meals than any other secondary school in Wrexham- this implies they are from families on low income or benefits only. May be a big jump and generalization but may also mean parents that are not particularly academic and therfire cant help their children with homework etc. Is the way to improve school performance to run parallel sessions for parents as well so that there is a holistic improvement of parent and child.
Why does Wrexham seem to neglect the fact that the parents of these children need massive support to raise aspirations in the family.You are completely missing the point here Dylan. You are quite right about the stats you cite and I trust that every possible assistance is given to the pupils and families that you mention to find their potential.
Such families exist in every town and Education is vital to offer a life turnaround. Every jot of support is vital.
What is also clear, however, is that Wrexham town based schools have been abandoned by many of the parents that do not perhaps fit so readily into the description that you offer (though of course Morgan Llwyd & St Joseph’s do well on numbers). Parents want their children to do well in life and Comprehensive schools organised in the way that Wrexham organises them (and indeed the rest of Wales) just don’t work.
Not so long ago, though it is changing, these two schools, which have no fundamental difference to each other, were offering a Mixed ability, child centred Education in a range of subjects. Have you any idea what this ACTUALLY means in practice. Classes of 30-40 11-14 year olds with children in them who vary in behavioural patterns, reading ages, academic ability, aptitudes and potential. Ofsted is now retraining its Inspectors but until recently teachers were criticised for ‘whole class’ teaching or providing any experiences which were not ‘child centred’. This means individual and group learning, the ‘teacher’ an organiser not a purveyor of knowledge.
Meanwhile, the classes, in many instances descend into chaos…….and along come the Inspectors.
Short or re-establishing the Grammar Schools, here is the formula for progress:
Strong Headship
Uniforms
Consistency in applying standards (discipline)
Homework on a regular basis
Parental participation
Inspiring Teachers
Setting
Tailoring of Education/Curriculum to student needs in 2014
Two-way respect
Expulsion of badly behaving Children
Teacher led as well as Child centred education and overall a mix of approaches
Reporting to parents and transparency
etcTo sum up: it is a disgrace that parents have to use every iota of creativity to get the type of Secondary Education that they pay their taxes to obtain. They should not have to go private, bus their kids to the villages, use the facilities of neighbouring Cheshire, Flintshire or the Wirral to get their children a chance in life
Most of us over a certain age would have been educated in a Grammar School/Secondary Modern environment. This was a system that worked and was dismantled by the establishment at the time who saw it as being elitist, and we subsequently ended up with the Comprehensive School system. This is all very well and good but it ignores the fact that not all of us have the same ability, and some of us are more suited to a vocational education than an academic one. Those families that can afford it now send their children to private schools, or if they have influence, send their children to the more successful schools in our community. The grand experiment in Comprehensive education has resulted in out education system being MORE elitist than previously, as those pupils from poor families have no chance of getting out of the Comprehensive system.
@johnhoppy 12685 wrote:
Most of us over a certain age would have been educated in a Grammar School/Secondary Modern environment. This was a system that worked and was dismantled by the establishment at the time who saw it as being elitist, and we subsequently ended up with the Comprehensive School system. This is all very well and good but it ignores the fact that not all of us have the same ability, and some of us are more suited to a vocational education than an academic one. Those families that can afford it now send their children to private schools, or if they have influence, send their children to the more successful schools in our community. The grand experiment in Comprehensive education has resulted in out education system being MORE elitist than previously, as those pupils from poor families have no chance of getting out of the Comprehensive system.
Double like
@Alunh 12683 wrote:
You are completely missing the point here Dylan. You are quite right about the stats you cite and I trust that every possible assistance is given to the pupils and families that you mention to find their potential.
Such families exist in every town and Education is vital to offer a life turnaround. Every jot of support is vital.
What is also clear, however, is that Wrexham town based schools have been abandoned by many of the parents that do not perhaps fit so readily into the description that you offer (though of course Morgan Llwyd & St Joseph’s do well on numbers). Parents want their children to do well in life and Comprehensive schools organised in the way that Wrexham organises them (and indeed the rest of Wales) just don’t work.
Not so long ago, though it is changing, these two schools, which have no fundamental difference to each other, were offering a Mixed ability, child centred Education in a range of subjects. Have you any idea what this ACTUALLY means in practice. Classes of 30-40 11-14 year olds with children in them who vary in behavioural patterns, reading ages, academic ability, aptitudes and potential. Ofsted is now retraining its Inspectors but until recently teachers were criticised for ‘whole class’ teaching or providing any experiences which were not ‘child centred’. This means individual and group learning, the ‘teacher’ an organiser not a purveyor of knowledge.
Meanwhile, the classes, in many instances descend into chaos…….and along come the Inspectors.
Short or re-establishing the Grammar Schools, here is the formula for progress:
Strong Headship
Uniforms
Consistency in applying standards (discipline)
Homework on a regular basis
Parental participation
Inspiring Teachers
Setting
Tailoring of Education/Curriculum to student needs in 2014
Two-way respect
Expulsion of badly behaving Children
Teacher led as well as Child centred education and overall a mix of approaches
Reporting to parents and transparency
etcI agree with your solutions, but add to that the need for Wrexham schools to look outward and not be parochial . That means an end to the obsession with the Welsh language and the massive subsidy that goes to prop it up. It would be much better for Wrexham kids if they were learning French, German , Spanish or even Mandarin.
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