Kingsdale School Ofsted?

[Metallic]

Excuse me for trying to clarify something that actually wasn't clear, about a place that is not just in the ownership, so to speak, of current parents. I would also not describe a clarification statement as a PR message!

[Debster99]

Excuse me for trying to clarify something that actually wasn't clear

You summed it up Metallic , there is currently nothing clear to comment on ?

Would you suggest the school pays for editorial in the press to say the above just to appease you ? Or would you like the head to set up a speakers corner in the playground ?

If and when there is some news i am sure all of us will hear in the correct & professional way until then .....

Jog on, it is getting dull

[Metallic]

Debster99, "I'm all right Jack" comes to mind. And may I point out before doing as I'm told, that this is the only subject you have posted about on the EDF, maybe you are a staff member with an agenda to pursue.

But quite right, I will wait and see.

[westof]

Metallic Wrote:

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> Debster99, "I'm all right Jack" comes to mind.

> And may I point out before doing as I'm told, that

> this is the only subject you have posted about on

> the EDF, maybe you are a staff member with an

> agenda to pursue.

>

> But quite right, I will wait and see.

This is something you bring up quite a lot, it's an easy slur to make - I think it's fairly easy to recognise a parent from the way they post. Debster99 has already mentioned that she doesn't live in East Dulwich. I expect, like me, she only pops into the EDF now & again to have a look at what people are saying about Kingsdale this week.

Equally, I'm sure none of the posters here who stir things up, bring nothing positive to the discussion, and focus on what should have been done rather than what might be done to move things forward, are staff members with an agenda to pursue. Because that might rather make a mockery of the concerns expressed to the OFSTED inspectors.

I would actually rather believe there are some genuine concerns within the school that the inspection has brought out, and hope that these can dealt with positively.

[prickle]

"This is something you bring up quite a lot, it's an easy slur to make - I think it's fairly easy to recognise a parent from the way they post. Debster99 has already mentioned that she doesn't live in East Dulwich. I expect, like me, she only pops into the EDF now & again to have a look at what people are saying about Kingsdale this week. "

To be fair, this is a slur that has been made from both sides. Everyone has their own agenda and on this forum, you have to take it at face value. Not sure I like the increasingly personal angle this debate is taking ?

[Fuschia]

It's just odd when people joined the forum just in the last few weeks and have posted on no other topic but this, and in quite strident tones. Obviously everybody is entitled to an opinion, but most forum posters aren't fixated on this one topic. So it is a bit odd. Particularly when the discussion was about 'does the inspection report put the school into special measures' then, when that was far from the outcome, has shifted to 'but what DID the exam boards say'

It's all fuelled rATher by some sort of conspiracy theory ...

Leaves those of us who aren't 'in the know' and being tipped some sort of wink by insiders, no further forward in working out what is going on at the school, eh?!

[intexasatthe moment]

Personal attacks and conspiracy theories aside ,Kingsdale is a school on the rise .

I am very conscious that discussions like this can very easily damage a school's reputation .

I very much doubt whether parents and the public will ever be provided with information about the alleged exam misspractice last year .I don't know but think that such reports remain confidential .

I think it would be headline news if GCSEs and /or AS levels weren't awarded to a cohort because misspractice had been discovered .

I've never seen such headlines ,and none of us would want to .

However their absence doesn't make me think that there is never any misspractice . It makes me think that advice is given and followed .

I imagine the criticisms by some teachers will also be managed discreetly .

So ,unfortunately ,these issues will remain unclarified . I'm sure the school will move on and continue to build on it's success .

Personally I think the verocity of some of the responses on this thread to people who have the temerity to keep asking questions has given an impression of a rather extreme defensiveness which won't brook any suggestion of criticism . Again , personally I think that's prolonged the thread and added fuel to the fire ( of the rumour mill - sorry to mix my metaphors ) .

[prickle]

Well we all have our interests. For instance, you look at my history, you will see that I have an interest in schools and education. If there is something that you are passionate about then clearly you will post on these topics.

It *is* a conspiracy theory when you leap from that to the conclusion that the poster is posting with some other agenda in mind.

[Carbonara]

It is standard protocol that exam procedure investigations remain confidential - the JCQ require this. In the year the KD questions were riased the JCQ issued penalties to 106 examining centres, none of which were made public.

Parents of happy succesful children at KD are of course somewhat protective of confidentiality because the public fuss may throw suspicion on qualifications from the school, hardly fair on hardworking children once any investigation has sorted out any system errors. This is one reason why JCQ investigations are confidential.

It may well be that the somewhat forceful style of the Head has prompted some (ex) teachers to attempt whistleblowing that has backfired not on the Head, but on innocent parties: hard working and dedicated teachers and their pupils. The Ofsted inspection is a good thing - the things KD is valued for have been recognised as good and valid, while continued scrutiny will ensure that any problems are ironed out.

Will they just please sort out their admissions information, I am tearing my hair out before entering the fray next year.

[Dorothy]

I have a child on the waiting list for Kingsdale so am just as interested as Metallic in the exam results investigations, I just don't have his/her staying power! And am disappointed to see from Carbonara's helpful post above that the results of those investigations will not be made public.

[Curmudgeon]

oh FGS

There is nothing to be made public - the exams were awarded - the investigation is finished - end of subject, surely!

As Carbonara rightly says JCQ regulations insist on confidentiality - this moves away from FOI to individual right to privacy I expect as it impacts on individual teachers and their careers.

It is unusual in the extreme that any exam board investigation is in the public arena anyway and it certainly wouldn't have reached the press / forum from the school or exam bodies. This is probably why confidentiality is so very important - the continuing suspicion and speculation affects the reputation of the school and the students.

So, whilst I don't wish to stifle debate I think it behoves us all to stop discussing the subject now as we know that the exam results were awarded.

The comment made on the murky admissions process is apt though - it's an awful opaque system and should be addressed, possibly on another thread though?

[Metallic]

There are a lot of defensive comments on here and that suggests a great deal to me!

[Curmudgeon]

Metallic Wrote:

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> There are a lot of defensive comments on here and

> that suggests a great deal to me!

LOL - what an insidious and odd poster you are.

I'm rather bored of this little roundabout now so I think I'll step off.

[Debster99]

Apologies for being defensive. I am a parent of a yr 7 boy so pretty new to the great Kingsdale debates ! I am very conscious that any of our children can read these forums and some of the remarks that have previously been made could be devasting and also set off wild rumours thru the school.

I am also a teacher , NOT at Kingsdale but in vocational FE , which is another box of frogs entirely ! I know just how hard the majority of teachers work and again to have their reputations questioned constantly in a public forum again can be very demotivating and career damaging.

There are many questions that we would all like answered but i can honestly say at the moment i don't believe there is any more info out there to clarify ?

Again sorry if been a tad OTT in my responses , i have slapped myself on the wrist !

Have a chilled out sunday

[westof]

prickle Wrote:

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> To be fair, this is a slur that has been made from

> both sides. Everyone has their own agenda and on

> this forum, you have to take it at face value. Not

> sure I like the increasingly personal angle this

> debate is taking ?

I think you are right about this, and the value of being able to have an open forum where matters can be discussed anonymously (if people wish) and openly, outweighs the fact that not everyone may not be what they seem.

It's probably best for anyone reading to draw their own conclusions, though it's fair for posters to respond if they are personally questioned on their motives.

I personally will try not to comment further in this respect.

[Metallic]

ditto

[ydrmdy]

My son has just had his Physics exam results and every pupil that took A level Physics got a U. How can that be, i never even heard of a grade U. Is this examiners punishing Kingsdale at our childs expense?

[Dorothy]

A level results in March?

[ydrmdy]

Yep.

[Dorothy]

I always thought A level results came out in August.

U stands for unclassified, which is different to a fail. There's obviously a reason for this - what does the school say?

[Ruffler]

Could this be an AS result (i.e. after 1st year of sixth form)? Just asking, because everyone in my daughter's class at another local school did similarly badly after 1st year of applied science. They can still improve the overall A level result with better exam scores and good coursework in the final year.

[Fuschia]

A levels are now modular, and early units can be repeated, I believe, to affect the evantual overall A level grade

U falls below E

http://www.edexcel.com/i-am-a/student/results/Pages/results-ALevel.aspx

[eliza]

ydrmdy Wrote:

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> My son has just had his Physics exam results and

> every pupil that took A level Physics got a U. How

> can that be, i never even heard of a grade U. Is

> this examiners punishing Kingsdale at our childs

> expense?

As a parent with 2 children at Kingsdale, I contacted the school having read this post. The information is completely untrue. The top grade achieved in the modular unit Physics exam was a grade A. I really do wonder if ydrmdy is an actual parent or not. Odd to be so misinformed if he or she does have a son at Kingsdale. The school isn't going to be responding to any further misinformation published, in line with its usual policy.

[ydrmdy]

yes, i'm sure you did. But at this time the school do not know the reason for this, hence why you were fobbed off. Are your children in 6th form, no, i gathered not otherwise they would be telling you the same thing. PLEASE DON'T LECTURE ME ON SOMETHING YOU CLEARLY KNOW NOTHING ABOUT.

[prickle]

Eliza: "As a parent with 2 children at Kingsdale, I contacted the school having read this post. The information is completely untrue. The top grade achieved in the modular unit Physics exam was a grade A. I really do wonder if ydrmdy is an actual parent or not. Odd to be so misinformed if he or she does have a son at Kingsdale. The school isn't going to be responding to any further misinformation published, in line with its usual policy."

Quite surprised that the school is prepared to reveal results to you so readily - they have only just come out.