Kingsdale School Ofsted?

[Curmudgeon]

CHOOSE

excuse me while I laugh

people still think there's a choice

[Metallic]

You are right but I meant to at least go to look at.

[westof]

Metallic Wrote:

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> Westhof, when your kid comes home saying the

> inspectors are in, and you know there is trouble

> about why wouldn't you ask for some info. I

> really need to know what is going on in the school

> as I don't want to choose a school that isn't

> honest when it comes to it. Open days dont tell

> you anything because it all looks perfect.

I haven't said I wouldn't, but AFAIK no-one's kids have yet come home saying anything of the sort. At least, not that I could interpret from the post at the start of this thread.

And I have already said that a No Notice inspection wouldn't particularly surprise me, given that the school could reasonably be said to fall under the criteria of 'concerns raised' (whether or not there was any truth to the concerns, or why & how they were raised, being a separate issue).

[intexasatthe moment]

It's all a learning curve Metallic - good to be aware of "issues " at a school .

Forewarned is forearmed and all that .

Good Luck .

[Ondine]

yes my kids came home last night saying inspectors are in, and there has been an email to parents today with the usual Ofsted survey

[westof]

Thanks Ondine (& my apologies to Betterinthesun for sounding suspicious) mystery solved & I will wait for mine to bother telling me ;-)

[MGolden]

westof Wrote:

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> Thanks Ondine (& my apologies to Betterinthesun

> for sounding suspicious) mystery solved & I will

> wait for mine to bother telling me ;-)

My Y8 son hasn't told me either but that may be because he hasn't noticed which would make me think they aren't crawling all over the school. I did receive an email from the school today with the OFSTED questionnaire although I don't know which questions would indicate 'outstanding' teaching.

[betterinthesun]

Thanks for the apology. My sources were obviously right.

[bluemusic]

As much as I love the old Kingsdale chat, If anyone does have any relevant information that they would like to share with Ofsted then the email address you need is [email protected], they send it on to the correct team immediately!

[Metallic]

Sorry to go on about this but I watched Channel Four news tonight and the head of Ofsted quite clearly said no notice inspections do not start until September 2012, so I guess what ever is happening at Kingsdale is to do with something we don't know about and parents haven't been told.

[Debster99]

I am new to this forum and also from Lambeth which possibly puts local backs up straight away ?

My son is a yr 7 newbee , the choice of schools around my catchment is dire; our local being Stockwell High. This school also recieved an outstanding at last Ofsted yet has huge discipline issues and where a huge number of bright local boys are recruited into Stockwell gangs. To survive in this school especially as a boy you have to be very determined and risk the consequeces of gang bullying.

I am also a single parent who can't afford to rent locally next to a great school like Graveney where many of my contempories from Clapham Manor went. They literally rented for 2 months , got the place & are back in Stockwell. Those of you who constantly critisise Kingsdale's admissions need to look further at the issue.

We loved Kingsdale when touring schools and i subjected son to maths & music scholarship tests , we got neither. We were then lucky enough to get a place. I turned down a place a private school to take up. Since joining he gets free trumpet lessons and is on a math's trip to Paris.

We have never looked back , he simply loves it.

I simply don't understand this negativity about a school that seems to tick boxes on child satisfaction ?

I am totally aware of all news issues re dramas over summer as the school keeps us parents informed thru monthly forums.

Yes they are having an Ofsted revisit as will all schools that didn't recieve an outstanding in teaching , why is this so bad ? If they get down graded to a good school( as will most local London schs under same criteria ) then i believe they will work hard to improve?

I am a teacher in FE so totally understand this situation. My FE insitute is also undergoing an inspection , they are simply responding to Gov iniative. Gove will not be happy until schools reach a certain academic standard , what he fails to understand is some kids will never get there but still make successes of their futures by being confident , happy kids that can make a great contribution to society. Call me a fool but i think Kingsdale does a brilliant job at doing that ?

[Dorothy]

"I simply don't understand this negativity about a school that seems to tick boxes on child satisfaction ?"

Child satisfaction is great, but at the same time I think parents are quite right to think carefully about applying for a school where there are investigations into exam results and a completely unfathomable admissions policy.

[Carbonara]

Debster - that's great! People send kids all over London if they can get them into the school that suits that kid. Religious parents send kids to the Oratory or Caridnal Vaughan, lots of Southwark parents put children in for the Graveney test, or try and get into Lewisham schools. The ONLY point at which the Kingsdale lottery becomes an issue for Southwark parents is that there are so few co-ed options in the S of the borough.

I don't think any of the controversy around KD undermines the fact that from the pupils point of view, it delivers what it should. Just as the Charter does, even though it has been found to have highly suspect admission practices. The scholarship offer at KD is amazing.

But schools cannot and should not be let off scot free from scrutiny and criticism. If KD have been indulging in sharp practice to get results up and meet targets, it needs to be looked at, because as someone else said, it casts a shadow over the credibility of the results achieved by hard working children - and teachers!

[Debster99]

My parents wouldn't have had a clue whether my education was good or bad , they just wanted me to be happy & strive in my career ? I went to a grammar sch & struggled horribly. Brother failed 11Plus and was subjected to local sec comp , he is now a mutli ??.

Kid's are unique , each one needs considering - my son loves Kingsdale but i have a 4 yr old girl that may not feel the same ?

[Debster99]

I agree ?

If you were living in Lambeth am sure would be more angry , there are no decent boy's schools but if have a C of E leaning then if have a girl then loads of choice? I like you wanted a dual sex school , we have Stockwell as only option.Or Dunraven or Graveney where have to live on doorstep ?

There is no solution ....but this endless rant against a sch that is attempting to break the mould just makes our battle more futile ?

[Metallic]

As I said above, these no notice inspections havent started yet so whatever is going on at Kingsdale is nothing to do with the new way of inspecting.

[intexasatthe moment]

Article here http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/feb/09/ofsted-chief-scrapping-satisfactory-rating

quoting head of Ofsted saying reinspections of schools ranked as outstanding but with good teaching due to start in autumn .

[Carbonara]

Debster, I hear that Elm green is very good (but it's Co-ed, and does have some of Southwark in it's catchment) and the new Brixton school sounds promising, too. Only boys school in Lambeth is Archbishop Tennison, I think? That is very close to Southwark border, too.

[BB100]

"Ofsted already undertakes unannounced inspections in a number of circumstances, including where concerns are raised about a school and for some satisfactory schools that do not show enough capacity to improve.

Speaking about the plans, Sir Michael Wilshaw HMCI, said:

'Ofsted has been moving towards a position of unannounced school inspection over a period of years. I believe the time is now right for us to take that final step and make sure that for every school we visit inspectors are seeing schools as they really are in the corridors, classrooms and staff room.

'With our new Parent View online questionnaire we can now make this change and have confidence that we can still consider the views of parents during inspections. "

http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/news/ofsted-announces-plans-for-no-notice-inspection-for-schools

Edited to just add: if people complain about a school to Ofsted through their new parent website using the online questionnaire this can now trigger a no notice inspection.

[bluemusic]

This was not a normal inspection from what my teacher friends from inside the school tell me, it was only 2 days and focussed on the management of the school and interviewing staff about this element of the school. Two of the people I know that teach there were expecting the results yesterday but the Head Teacher said it was 'confidential' at this point. Now...this is pretty much unheard of...but it will be in the public domain soon enough on the Ofsted website. One can just hope that the truth be told and that staff that were spoken to by inspectors told enough of the truth so that there are changes made to a school which genuinely could be outstanding.

[Metallic]

People posting on here are happy about Kingsdale bluemusic, but maybe it is because their kids are lower down the school and not in the years affected by the stuff that came out about exam cheating because that must have been older children. If their children were in year 11 they might be more worried about this story, which if it turns out to be true is totally dreadful and especially for anyone doing exams last year. Hopefully the news of the inspection will come out soon especially if it does turn out to be about those stories.

[bluemusic]

Yes Metallic I totally agree. Parents with younger children at the school may not have had to deal with this yet, but I hope for the staff and the future of these younger students that these things are resolved quickly which can arguably only really happen if significant changes are made to the top layer of the hierarchy. I may be biased and too trusting of those who I know that work there. But I hate to think that so many staff are unhappy in the way my friends are.

[Metallic]

True. I worked somewhere years ago when I was sent to Coventry by my team for standing up to my manager. But in outing him to the senior managers I may have been lonely in my team but my integrity was intact and that is what mattered to me. It took months to be investigated and that is horrible but if you know you are right it doesn't matter how long it takes. He was sacked by the way. If this is what turns out to be happening at Kingsdale people can hold their heads up for being honest and having the belief in being publicly honest too. It may have felt scary but whoever has opened up about those exams being questionable can be proud if ofsted finds it has all been true. It is about the pupils at the school isn't it?

[westof]

bluemusic Wrote:

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>Two of the people I know

> that teach there were expecting the results

> yesterday but the Head Teacher said it was

> 'confidential' at this point. Now...this is pretty

> much unheard of...

Is it really normal for teachers to get the results of an inspection on the day? Inspection results don't seem to become public until a month or so later, but perhaps I'm thinking of the bigger inspections.

(Bit of an off-topic question) but would you really send your children to a school where you had friends teaching? My dad was friends with one of my least favourite teachers & I always found it annoying - even basing my O-level choices on avoiding that particular teacher - but perhaps that was just a personal quirk & it wouldn't bother most teenagers.

[FatherJack]

Usually a positive response from Ofsted is something to celebrate and you would want to share that with staff?? But perhaps they are waiting until published as I know Ofsted frown upon early disclosure on Facebook/internet forums etc......

Westof....where you child goes to school is not necessarily where you would choose to send you child, as has been mentioned previously.