Education condemn release of results
Wednesday 23rd February 2011, 2:58PM GMT.
Education Minister James Reed
EDUCATION Minister James Reed says that Jersey has a good school system and has criticised the JEP’s decision to publish information about school results.
This morning, the minister condemned the JEP’s report – based on information that his department released under the ‘freedom of information’ code – but would not say if he was concerned about school results other than repeating ‘we always acknowledge that there are improvements to make’.
He said that publishing the GCSE results could damage school performance and added that measuring how good a job schools were doing was a more complicated job than simply printing a table of results.
Deputy Reed said: ‘We have got a good education system in this Island that provides for all children, regardless of ability or social standing and that is extremely important.
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Sorry James but you got this one wrong. Everything in Jersey is not always rosy, but if we know what is wrong than we can fix it.
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This is exactly why the States should continue to support through subsidy the private school system. Had farmer Reed had his way all schools would be heading towards dunce-ville. Thankfully the brighter children can still go to schools such as Victoria College and the future of the island be continued.
Meanwhile, the poorer members of society can be rest assured that their Iceland pizza and income support be maintained by high end tax payers as produced by such fine institutions as above. Consequently our petrol will continue to be pumped and burgers flipped by those churned out of the sink schools.
This is life.
Some at the top, more at the bottom.
A vote of no confidence for farmer Reed should be forthcoming.
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Mr Reed says
Quote
We have got a good education system in this Island that provides for all children.
Unquote
There is nothing wrong then Deputy Reed in releasing results in order to backup what you say.
Islanders are spinned out, and want to see proof, if you do not think the public and parents are worthy or to stupid to understand them easy answer…….. resign.
Well done JEP, more of please.
Davey West
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Just please don’t knee jerk into changing the curriculum at the expense of the students.
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No Minister it is you who should be condemned for trying to cover this up. There will be many parents on the borderline of whether they can afford to send their children private, and these results are vital information that will help them decide. Results may not be everything (in my book they are) however they have to be one of the key performance indicators and for the Minister to try and play this down is disgraceful.
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@2 private school parent – I hope this is a deliberate wind up, and i am surprised the moderator let this through, it is insulting and deplorable even if it is a wind up,and not reflective of fee paying parents,of which i am one. states school parents please do not rise to the bait and ignore it.
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@PrivateSchool Parent
I went to a states school and I have 15 GCSEs all above C. Just because my mother couldn’t afford to send me to a private school does not mean I’m stupid.
Thanks
PS
I am now a high end tax payer
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No 2. Some of us cannot afford to send our children to private schools – this does not mean they are not bright – both of my children have attended one of the schools mentioned in this article and done very well indeed thank you. Neither do we eat endless pizza from Iceland!
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Well done JEP for producing a balanced story. I don’t agree with “farmer Reed”, but at least he was allowed a right of reply.
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The secondary schools should go back to basics (the 3 R’s) instead of concentrating on the vocational subjects that will not get you anywhere in life. Hautlieu has been around for many years and when I was at school in Jersey I didn’t go to Hautlieu yet we still did the main subjects. We were also told where we were failing and why. Because of societies reluctance to tell people now that they are failing a subject (too scared of hurting their feelings) how are the youths of today meant to learn how to cope in the real world and improve themselves. I blame political correctness for most of today’s problems in society!!!!
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Private School Parent.
Love the sentiment. It’s what modern society is all about. Hope you circumstances never change, doubt they will, you’re too ‘bright’.
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PRIVATE SCHOOL PARENT @ 2…..this is the second offering that I have read from this individual and both I have found very offensive.Maybe this is a troll in which case GET A LIFE. But if your hate culture is for real I hope for their sake that your well educated children are not blighted for life by inheriting your genes.
It is most probable that the highly paid civil servants who seek to hide the truth from the electorate such as their poor performance, incompetance and dishonesty, are themselves a product of the elite schools.Give me a burger-flipper any day.
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We all knew the truth and Deputy Reed tried to push through his rosie view of harmony in the garden of Satan that we currently live in.
I will not call for him to resign, as he will not do so like so many before him, this man as with so many of our states members are ignorant and ruining this island because they cannot see the wood through the trees – simply because they have their eyes SHUT.
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Never mind Mr Reed not long to go now then you can have a nice very long rest hopefully!!
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And they say the GCSE is easier than the old O’level.
Mr Reed seems to believe that Little Britain is a reality TV show and the characters something we should aspire to.
Now repeat after me class: “Woo Ya Lark Fries Wi Tha?”
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PrivateSchool Parent – Am I correct in thinking you believe that you want the private education system to be subsidised, yet you think that only the wealthy deserve the education that it provides? This seems a little hypocritical.
I also find your use of the term ‘sink schools’ very offensive. I attended Grainville before transferring to Hautlieu at 14 (not out of choice), and I found my education at Grainville was the reason I achieved highly in my GCSEs. I have now graduated from university and am shovelling popcorn for a living because there are no jobs, not because I’m unqualified.
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Are these comments for real? Maybe as educated people you should read carefully what they say and interpret them for what they mean.
JCG: pass rate 98.3 % 5 A*-C grades.
Victoria College: pass rate 97.7% A*-C grades.
Hautlieu: pass rate 96.6% A*-C grades
Surely these should be 100% with them creaming off students with high CAT scores (do you know what CAT’s are or do they need explaining?)
So the wonderful elitist system is working well! I think if I remember exactly, some of the ideals of Hitler were on a par with yours Privateschool Parent but obviously you would already know this.
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Jersey has a school system in which few of the students coming in to the system come from really deprived backgrounds like in parts of the UK.
Plus we spend a lot more per head in the 100% maintained schools so we should be getting better results than this.
Quite what Private School Parent thinks is achieved by adding their ill constructed and poisonous vitriol to the debate is open to conjecture.
Certainly any boy expressing views like that at Victoria College in the past would have had a lecture on privilege and responsibility and a spell of kit cleaning.
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@Davey West
Average pass rate A-C for Jersey and Uk is 69%. If Jersey is seen as a microcosm of the UK then it measures up pretty well OVERALL eg achieves the same average of 69%. What’s your point?
Simply highlighting the fact that non-selective schools in testing catchment areas with lots of non-English speaking students and extensive provision for Special Needs (who have the top 20% of their academic students removed at the end of Year 9)…I say, simply to state that these schools have a lower pass rate is like pointing to at the Earl of Granville pub and concluding that Jersey’s pubs are generally grottier than the UK’s. Bit silly.
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I take it that ‘Private School Parent’ didn’t go to a private school themselves. Such ignorance in implying that brighter students only go to private schools!
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Mr Reed
C- you have been caught with your trousers down, and your waffling to make a reply. you mentioned in the paper and i quote ” i think that it is totally wrong to try and measure a school’s performance on exam results”, you stupid man is all i can say. Isn’t it the results that an employer looks at when employing people? Just what is the point of going to school, turn up and get by, don’t worry about you result’s you’ll be ok.
This has to be the biggest case for a dismissal I have ever seen.
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No 2.
“Thankfully the brighter children can still go to schools such as Victoria College and the future of the island be continued.
Meanwhile, the poorer members of society can be rest assured that their Iceland pizza and income support be maintained by high end tax payers as produced by such fine institutions as above. Consequently our petrol will continue to be pumped and burgers flipped by those churned out of the sink schools.”
I am so relieved that you are not my parent. Does a private education also ensure this type of attitude? I will continue to work as a teacher in the States system – and send my kids to a non fee paying school. If for no reason then they will be spared meeting people like you!
Unbelievable.
If you come back saying i have no sense of humour and that the whole comment is tongue in cheek ………… you are right, when it comes to this, i do not have a sense of humour.
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James Reed was voted into the States by only 519 votes and then became a Minister with a huge budget. He seems to have this old and ingrained attitude of wanting all bad news swept under the carpet. He should be ashamed of himself and resign. Someone else should take these dismal figures as a reason to get a grip and improve Jersey education. Every child deserves it !
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@2 I hope your children learn at their school that arrogance is a cover for insecurity. You seemed to have missed this
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It is extremely worrying when breaking news of the 5A*-C exam league tables leads to knee jerk reactions about the quality of an education in the state sector 11-16 schools as if A*-C were the holy grail. The fact of the matter is that value-added scores within education are what matters. Simply hiding behind the A*-C measure is as bad as not having league tables. To judge all schools against a broad benchmark is flawed because it assumes a level playing field and all students should be judged as equal and all schools the same. It also does a great disservice to those students who do not achieve A*-C because they have a lower potential, but these same students try hard and do exceed their individual targets. The crude A*-C does not take into account vocational nature of courses in secondary schools or students engaged in Work Related Learning.
The discredited broad A*-C in the England has been replaced with league tables published every January based upon Contextual Value Added or CVA. This is seen as the important thing in the UK. Schools with apparent high A*-C on that single measure may appear to offer the best in terms of outcomes, but when CVA is taken into account they do not always occupy the same league position. The A*-C scale also hides underperformance. Let’s say a child gets a B instead of the expected A*. Is this underperformance reflected in the league tables, no! Clearly not, but in CVA terms it would.
So what is CVA ? It is a benchmark system that enables all schools to be compared. It takes into account influential factors such prior attainment, special needs, English as another language (EAL), date of birth, gender and social deprivation. When all of these factors are taken into account then you get see a fair set of scales on which you can measure how successful a school may be.
The A*-C tables do one thing today. They discredit the inclusive nature of the 11-16 schools and belittle the hard work of teachers, support staff and students in these schools. When the fee paying and private schools, and Hautlieu take away from the normal comprehensive system at KS3 and then again at KS4 the top 50% of ability, this will result in lower 5 A*-C , and below national figures. If only 7% of students enter fee paying – private in the UK compared to nearly 40 % in Jersey, add then to the mix another 15-20% of your students transferring to Hautlieu at 14+, with comparable system in the UK, it will come as no surprise there will be a big difference come GCSE performance. Therefore comparing schools on the simplistic A*-C is wrong and benchmarking to the UK on this scale is wrong too when a more accurate and sophisticated model for assessing school progress exists. Let’s be smart about this so that judgements made are in fact the right ones.
Schools must be accountable; there is argument on this point. But let’s take a balanced and detailed review of progress measures and not grab the first food item we see on the shelf now the larder door is open’. Before we jump to conclusions and read the many insults that will no doubt permeate the ether re the exam results published today, reflect for a moment and do not judge without the full picture. There may be something else in the larder more valuable and informative now the door has been opened. Our knee jerk judgements and reactions now based upon A*-C may be short lived? Some could also be very damaging to the moral in some schools, with students and parents and unduly so.
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“could damage school performance” did he say that wearing giant clown feet, red nose and a flower squirting water ? Education is a disgrace to this island – the minister must go.
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Is anyone really surprised that the minister has criticised this story? I mean really if one is doing not such a good job and that gets a beacon of light shinning on it, then it’s pretty obvious that one will not be happy!
Mr Reed, facts are facts and if they put Jersey where it doesn’t want to be than you and your department (and the lovely government we have) will need to roll up your sleeves and do some work!
1. Find out why this is
2. Set out a plan with actions with a view to improving this
3. Start implementing said actions
4. Review after next lot of exams
5. Continue to review and look for improvements in future
Basically do some work to improve this or in other words – do your job properly!
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As a parent with children in fee-paying education, I am both disappointed, but sadly not surprised, about the comments made by number 2: Privateschool parent.
There are 2 ways to view these comments:
1: it is a wind-up, designed to portray parents who choose to contribute towards the education of their children as ignorant, snobbish and aloof, with a “them and us” attitude, who feel superior to anybody whose children are educated in a non-fee paying school.
2. it is the view of a parent who, whilst financially contributing to their child’s education, has no understanding of the real value of being a parent: that of providing their child with a balanced, intelligent view of the environment in which they are being educated.
Unfortunately, the publishing by the JEP of the pass rates of 5 A-C at GCSE level, does little to add value to the debate which will, at some stage, reignite; that of the contribution paid by the States to fee-paying schools. There are members of the public who will claim that the “priveleged” are being subsidised by the States, at a time when economies have to be made, whilst others will say that those who send their children to fee-paying schools are both saving the Island money (by costing the taxpayer approximately half of what it would cost to have children in the non-fee paying sector) and also, on the back of this revelation, providing the Island with intelligent capital for the years ahead.
These views are totally diverse, and indeed reflect the difference between traditional Labour and traditional Conservative views in the UK. Jersey, moving forward, needs to fully investigate the options available to us for the education of our children: in a way that will provide our children with the best education, whilst still reflecting value for money for the taxpayer. I believe that we are lucky that approximately 40% of our children’s education has a contribution paid for by the parent: this could be my partisan views. I do believe however, that education is paramount to the future of the Island, and any decisions or judgements made about the future of education in the Island, need to be fully consulted with all stakeholders: primarily parents, children, and taxpayers. Snap decisions, short term balanced budget approaches and responses to media investigations or contributions need to be weighed up, properly balanced, and rationalised. Jersey’s future, based on our children’s education, depends on this.
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I see that all Deputy Reed would say when asked if he was concerned about school results was ‘we always acknowledge that there are improvements to make’.
Obviously there are lessons to be learned.
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Leaving aside for one moment the question of education (on which a great deal should be said) doesn’t this just demonstrate the contempt that we, the public, are held in by the States. Year on year on year we are fed nothing but LIES on this and almost every other subject under the sun. That is the truth of the matter. And they wonder why the electorate are apathetic when time and again we are not told the truth. What has now been revealed demonstrates what most of us have always suspected and explains exactly why so many Jersey families, not wealthy by any means, will tie themselves in knots to buy their children an education. This lamentable betrayal of children and parents has simply bred complacency – no need for teachers to teach, for headteachers to strive for improvement, for administrators to be held to account when the truth is hidden from the public. This lot simply get fat salaries and, no doubt, a big bonus on top for under-achieving (I struggle to find a suitable verb or printable phrase to describe this long-standing and continuing CRIMINAL debacle). And when they have failed for long enough many simply get promoted. What does the former head of Grainville have to say about that school’s results when hiding behind the grossly-misleading statements of the high rate of GCSE passes achieved in Jersey???? In any other society questions would have been asked and action taken but not in Jersey. Not when the truth is always hidden.
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How can we compare fee paying schools with states schools , when you have to past a test to gain entry.
Some of the children in our states secondry schools have english as there second language.
How many special needs children do we have at fee paying schools?
In my opinion these results should not of been published.
We have some amazing teachers in our states secondry schools and my children will continue to go to states schools.
I fully back the minister.
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Tates @19 a response.
Your figures are wrong because the spotlight is on secondary schools not all schools or the overall average, which in Jersey is uplifted by strong private school results. Wealthy Jersey does not have the massive ( how many asylum seekers live here ) language problem of inner city schools in the UK.
Schools are typical of a sick, cannot touch me, culture which needs to be ripped out of States departments. They will resist this of course that is why Mr Lundy, did not want statistical information in the public domain published. Obviously he had them to hand, as the release proves.
There are some excellent teachers, and some poor teachers that take the wage and cannot be removed, and teachers who are allowed to run businesses away from teaching. Some good parents who care about education others not at all. Teaching is not everyones vocation, for those that take up the job, then the public expect accoutability and results.
The schools in Jersey have the best facilities, brand new schools,rarely refurbished, rooms full of computers,good staffing levels, unlike run down areas in the UK, and yet our secondary schools results are amongst the bottom ten in the UK.
As another poster said, an employer would not be looking for excuses, just proof that you are capable of learning to do the work, indicated by your exam results.
The senior management of Jerseys education system needs updating by removal, they have not passed the test of competency and their poor results have been passed on down the line.
Davey West.
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We all know what will happen about this; just the same as for everything else in this, the best of all possible islands. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. No questions asked, no heads will roll, the Chief Minister will ignore the issue, and the far bigger picture – WHY ARE WE NEVER TOLD THE TRUTH??? In the meantime the civil servants responsible just carry on playing games with us(if they can truly be said to be responsible because as we all know, in Jersey, no one takes ownership of anything). If on the rare occasion when another substantial failing or loss comes to the attention of the public it’s usually followed by a long period of sick leave and then by retirement. Now that so many fat-cat civil servants have jumped ship (and lots with very fat redundancy payments) has anybody noticed a drop in the level of efficiency of States departments. No?? Well, what exactly were they doing if we can so easily manage without them. I s’pose the money saved (????) there is now spent on the likes of the new boss at the hospital. Does he have performance targets – i.e. increase efficiency, save costs by X times his salary, etc, etc? Will we see the proof? Is the figure published for his remuneration the total cost – what about perks and bonus????
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Justasmalltowngirl # 7. I couldn’t agree more. My parents sent me to a fee paying shcool and I left school with just one ‘O’ level GCE. Fortunately I am also a high end tax payer
Educational qualifications don’t always relate to the ability to succeed in business or indeed elsewhere.
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James, you can hardly blame the evening post..that’s what newspapers do,weed out that which is being obscured, it’s like saying “naughty Daily Telegraph” for revealing politicians spurious expenses claims….papaers report…nothing to hide = nothing to fear..
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Taxi for James Reed!!!!
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No you are right, good exam qualifications do not always mean a well paid job but they do indicate basic levels of knowledge. An A to C in English and Maths is not actually very difficult to achieve. I really would hope that most people were getting an A to C grade in order to do basic reading, writing and Maths. If you look on these sites it just proves how many people can not write to a basic level. Now that is a worry! I dread to think what will happen to our language in another couple of decades if this continues. It is about people caring to do well. So many parents don’t encourage so kids don’t care either! Why should they? If they can’t get a job the states will look after them! There is no incentive to work any more at all! I have members in my family who walk out on work because they don’t like it! And they have children to feed! They know they will be looked after. The benefit system is a large problem here too!
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“Taxi for James Reed!!!!”
Sadly not, he will not resign and the house will not push him.
He is one of Terry’s Heroes, incompetent but loyal.
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To the bottom of the class Deputy Reed – your end of term report will read ‘could do a lot better’.
This man is nothing short of useless.
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Deputy Reed stated yesterday that league tables are being phased out in the UK as an outdated and harmful practice.
Today the UK Education Ministry has advised that they are here to stay as all ministers, parents and the schools themselves LIKE the league tables.
Mr Reed telling porkies again.
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@Davey West
So long as you continue to say things like
‘and yet our secondary schools results are amongst the bottom ten in the UK.’
…I cannot take you seriously.
Read the article again. TWO of our schools are amongst the bottom ten in the UK. BOTH of these have their academic pupils creamed off at the onset of GCSE (unlike their UK counterparts), hence any comparison with the UK is unfair. As an ISLAND our secondary schools produce a result roughly on par with the UK figure – 69%.
Go over to the UK and ask each school to remove the top 20% of their academic achievers from the equation, and then let’s compare these schools against ours again. I am sure you will find that G and HV will now have moved substantially higher than the bottom 10.
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I employed a considerable number of young Saturday staff over the years I was in business. I have to say that most of them (from States schools) were bright and articulate, hard working, honest, reliable and generally a pleasure to employ. However a large number of failed applicants for the jobs were not able to string a sentence together properly and others couldn’t add or subtract without a calculator. Some had totally the wrong attitude to work and didn’t appreciate the importance of the correct approach.
Perhaps education has lost sight of the basic requirements for employment (also see article about unemployment in Jersey) and place too much stress on pupils being able to ‘express themselves’ as individuals before they have received a good basic education.
I honestly believe that most teachers are caring and have the wellbeing of their pupil’s education at heart but have also been turned into social workers, e.g. having to decide if a parent has given the child the correct items for lunch.
I agree that exam results are not the be all and end all and I am not against free thinking, but the mechanics for free thinking must be in place first. This means a good basic education.
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Education in Jersey is interesting and divided.
The overt snobbish attitude of VC and JCG, against the rabble I see leaving Le Rocquier Monday to Friday.
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34. Dungbeetle
Not sure of your age but your reference to ‘o’levels would suggest forties as a minimum. Todays employers and job markets, particularly in Jersey, are very different to when you were starting out. I recall people leaving school at 16 with poor o’levels and walking straight into job in financial services. That would be unheard of today.
You are in a VERY small minority who think poor eductational record does not impact career and earnings potential. I hope the release of this information results in major changes as they’re clearly needed.
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Well fancy that. The Government have been misinforming the plebs. Surprised? – well not really. They spin that Jersey is far better than the UK over everything, but, at least in this case, thanks to the freedom of information act, we now know the truth. This word ‘truth’ is one that our Politicians and Statistics Office should learn about. Why should we believe anything that the States tell us; in the past or the future? Roll on the elections; its now time for our revolution!
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The minister obviously thinks that we cannot handle the information released. I can say he has encouraged me to use my vote next time around and stop the patronising patrician getting elected
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So Deputy Reed says ”it’s inappropriate to make direct comparisons with the UK because our education system is so different”. Well Deputy, this spin does not work for me because at the ‘end of the day’ our students take the same GCSE and A Levels etc as the UK. Therefore comparisons published in the media are very accurate and indeed necessary as it would appear that our children are not receiving a proper education.
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No 2, there are a considerable number of what most people would call “thick” kids at your average private schools, a category ours on the rock fall into. Middle class parents will get little Ian and Samantha crammed into passing common entrance some how and send them off to schools that cater for this need for some parents to have their kids at private school and who will be kept on into the six form despite the kind of GCSE results that woudl mean they are better off getting a vocational qualification. There are loads of these schools on the mainland such as Ardingley and Wellington who get a lot of the “nice but dims” from Jersey parents as well.
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What’s a high end tax payer?? You all pay a flat rate of 20% don’t you?
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I condemn the people in charge. If this is the best they can do in a so called affluent society then God help them. If they had to run a deprived area in the UK they could well see it under performing schools in Haiti. What a shambles.
Alan they don’t want a direct comparision being made as it is so appalling. This just proves that you can’t trust the government to give it to you straight. What else are they not telling the plebs?
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Look at any London Borough, huge social deprivation living cheek by jowl with prosperity, selective grammar schools, grant maintained, private schools, high rates of ESOL (including refugees seeking political asylum) and still they can achieve respectable results.
While everyone’s on their soap box, children are being failed.
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Private Parent # 2
I hope your child obtains exactly what YOU want them to otherwise you have wasted your money.
A family member has proved that you don’t have to be privately educated to be head boy and then be accepted at one of the top London music colleges.
I know of a young lad privately educated from 5 years old and then asked not to return for his last year because of his grades – nice!
Your comments are shameful not everyone can afford to pay school fees so no doubt you can and you don’t shop at Iceland or are you one of those parents who have 3 jobs so you can afford to pay the school fees.
Did Mr Mills and the JEP not think how this would affect the teachers, children and parents of these schools- what are they trying to achieve?
I have a child at Haute Vallee and have nothing but praise for the school, it really is a fantastic school with dedicated teachers and good facilities. I don’t think the problem is with the secondary schools it’s the primary schools that give the base education so if the child doesn’t learn at primary level it follows through to secondary.
By the way there’s nothing wrong in shopping at Iceland but I don’t shop there.
Shame on you, shame on Mr Mills and shame on the JEP.
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“EDUCATION Minister James Reed says that Jersey has a good school system and has criticised the JEP’s decision to publish information about school results.”
How can he say it is a good system when it quite clearly fails pupils? And why shouldn’t parents know the results of the schools which we support through our taxes and in which we invest our children?
I remember trawling the internet trying to find info on school exam results in Jersey before we move here 4 years ago. Nothing was available but I took comfort from a statement that “Jersey results are significantly above those of the UK”
Now I find that even that was a lie, and that my kids have attended schools we would never have considered in the UK. I can honestly say that we would not have moved here if we had known that there are no good states schools until Hautlieu at 14+.
Read more: http://www.thisisjersey.com/2011/02/23/education-condemn-release-of-results/#ixzz1EznOUWH0
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I have just looked at the league tables and have easily found well over a hundred schools within 5 minutes of searching on google which peform worse that HV and Grainville. More inadequate reporting by the JEP.
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54 realitycheck – agree totally.
Reading Mario Lundy’s letter in the JEP explains things a bit more and it seems that the figures as reported were incorrect. Proves you should never believe what you read in the papers!
Shame Mr Mills and the JEP created all this hype in the first place.
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How sad this situation is. As a tax payer and a parent I feel that everyone is let down, but most of all the young of our island. The arguement over fee paying schools does not wash with me. If these schools set the bench mark then the states schools should drive on to achieve better. Our imported teachers are paid vastly more than the UK but seen to treat Jersey as some kind of “jolly”.
How many parents ensure their childrens homework is completed?, how many even take an interest! We sent our children to fee paying school, and afforded it by not having the luxuries and bling etc. We made sure that home work was completed and supported our children. Perhaps with a bit more from teachers and parents these young people may realise their full potential and not be also rans
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Have to say the JEP have proved themselves to be a lamentable collection of rank amateurs and third rate hacks on this one. Some of the printed discrepancies and factual inaccuracies as pointed out by Lundy’s letter in today’s edition defy belief.
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It is clear that many children fail because they are not encouraged at home. Answer is to take away the safety net of benefits, then if you dont work, you stave.
If Jersey people took more pride and were happy to do the jobs of immigrants, the overall cost of living would be cheaper, less taxation because a significantly reduced welfare bill. I believe that this would really work.
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what I find quite astonishing is the amount of tax payers money which has been invested into building schools like Haute Vallee and Le Rocquier and the superb facilities of most of the state schools in comparison with like for like in the UK and yet the results by comparison are poor.
Perhaps the funds should have been used to employ better teachers instead of giving each child laptops?
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May I recommend that readers look at the rather relevant post by “Hautlieu Student” #92 on the similar thread at:
http://www.thisisjersey.com/2011/02/23/school-exam-worries-revealed/#comment-96312
Educationalists and many posters here fail to appreciate the reality that mixing abilities (& commitment) only slightly raises the game of the lowly motivated.
OVERWHELMINGLY it dumbs down and spoils the life chances of those who can and want to learn, by providing an environment where learning is near impossible.
School becomes mind numbingly boring and bad behaviour spreads and becomes the culture.
THIS IS THE REALITY ! The rights of most of the children are being ruined by the few. You have the right to be educated but you do not have the right to ruin other people’s education. Schools and teachers need workable systems for managing bad behaviour.
Failing pupils are mostly not thick -they are generally being failed by their school and it’s management.
Keep similar abilities together and keep it dynamic so students can move up and down groups.
Turn these schools round – provide the teachers with circumstances in which they can teach, rather than just babysit and do rabble control – Educationalists tend to confuse equal chance with equal outcome – give everyone a chance, even if life is not equal !
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Frenchie your clueless mate,
We dont have laptops and have you know there is probably 2-3 teachers at Haute Vallee that arent up to scratch the rest are brilliant, constructive and positive people and people like you condemn them from your computer.
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# 60
“Failing pupils are mostly not thick, they are generally being failed by their school and it’s management”
Some children (even at primary level) have parents who take no interest whatsoever in their childs learning. Schools like to establish a partnership with the child and parents but if the parent is not interested in the childs education the child won’t be either so I don’t think you can lay the blame entirely with the school and it’s management as parents need to do play their part as well.
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Lets face it many find school boring and just switch off. Some know it is just a dry run for 40-50 years at the coal face.
It would be interesting to know the reality of things in education in Jersey. I’m sure it is’nt as bright as is being painted by Mario and co. Would anyone admit to not doing their job properly?
As for states schools you only have to go back to the 60′s and 70′s when different names occupied the bottom rung. Nothing really changes.
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Frenchie
Some primary schools have laptops in Year 5, you have to buy one, rent one or use a school laptop.
Now can you see where the problem is?
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