Some stats behind the hype re academy chains like Harris

[Fuschia]

Supports the suggestions made here that their results rely heavily on 'gcse equivalents' and taking pupils off roll before the exams to improve their stats

http://www.localschoolsnetwork.org.uk/2014/01/academy-chains-seriously-under-performing/

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jan/21/gcse-pupils-disappearing-from-school-rolls

Disappointing stuff when you bear in mind that Harris selects pupils via 'fair banding' that should mean results align with the national average

Scary stuff if you regret the creeping reduction in alternatives to Harris

http://www.localschoolsnetwork.org.uk/2013/03/why-always-the-harris-federation-who-decides-and-is-this-monopoly-legitimate/

[hellosailor]

Yes unpleasant reading Fuschia, it is well known among teachers that this is how Harris Academies operate and how they appear to have 'improved' all of a sudden. My partner is a teacher and it's well known in the profession that this is what's going on, it's a pretty ugly business.

[intexasatthe moment]

So it's not philanthropic spirit and business acumen that have turned failing schools around ? I'm disillusioned .

[hellosailor]

Apparently that twinkly eyed altruist Harris sprinkles magic dust on the pupils and they all get higher grades. That's what I've heard anyway.

[bornagain]

Thanks Fuschia for posting the links. Depressing reading but not totally surprising. As I tell my kids, if something looks too good to be true then it generally is.

So the question is what are we/Southwark/Harris/Gove going to do about it?

[hellosailor]

Gove's in cahoots with Harris, that's why the situation is so depressingly f***ed

[Audrey]

AND the "we need a school any old school will do" mentality.

[EDmummy]

Do any of the posters so far have experience of sending their child to a Harris school? I'm no apologist but after having my son at Harris Boys East Dulwich I've seen nothing but care and support given to my child. I'm given many opportunities to talk to teachers and senior management team and am listened to. I certainly don't agree with any dishonest practice but I think it's important for people to hear about the positives as well.

[TE44]

Theres a south london education question time being held in Brixton, not sure this is the right thread, it may have already been posted,

http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2014/01/the-national-campaign-for-education-brings-south-london-education-question-time-comes-to-brixton-on-thursday/

[????]

So. Let,s just stick with what we,ve got and close ranks eh and ....quite a lot of us aren,t actually that impressed with what the monopolisttic LEAs offers or certainly offered to be frank.....politics and propaganda works both ways and vested interests are at both end of this debate. I tend to question the agenda of those that constantly attack any attempt at reform by nature.

[appollo440]

I have personal experience of Harris Academies and they are full of hard working staff genuinely trying to turn around under-performing schools and do the best for the children

Your attitude is very negative and it is sad that you don't quote some actual facts

5 A*-Cs included english and maths (pure GCSE's)

Harris - 60%, national average 51%

5 A*-Cs included english and maths (including GCSE equivalents)

Harris - 72%, national average 59%

5 A*-Cs included english and maths for children on free school meals

Harris - 67%, national average 36%

So while its true that GCSE equivalent's boost the percentages for Harris the same is true nationally. Most important is that the Harris schools achieve such high results for kids that have free school meals how are often the ones with the most disadvantage

Please open your mind

[????]

Well said. The entrenched won,t have change, which is ironic as i expect to a man and woman they'd say they have 'progressive' political views......

[intexasatthe moment]

"It is now possible to use the Department for Education's official school census data, completed in January each year, to track the size of individual year groups in 2,785 state schools across England over the years 2010-13.

The January census data is particularly crucial for schools in relation to pupils who turn 16 during the academic year, as the number recorded as on the roll at this time is the number whose results are counted against the school in league tables."

Two of England's largest academy chains, the Harris Federation and Oasis Community Learning, have several schools each on the list of those whose 2013 GCSE year group shrank the most over the period 2010-2013, and especially during 2012-13.

At Harris academy South Norwood, in south London, pupil numbers in the year group that took GCSEs last summer dropped by 22% between the time they were 12- to 13-year-olds and last January, with the year group's roll falling from 197 in January 2012 to 169 a year later, in the lead-up to GCSEs.

Overall, six Harris academies feature in the list of the 50 schools with the largest drop in pupil numbers for the 2013 GCSE year group between 2010 and 2013, with all shrinking in size by at least 10% "

www.theguardian.com

[intexasatthe moment]

"NUT/NASUWT issues first strike notice at a HARRIS Academy (Harris Boys? Academy East Dulwich)

Posted on January 29, 2014 by mwdavern

If there is no progress in negotiations over ?the unreasonable frequency of full scale external observations, workload and the failure of the head to meet with unions to try and resolve? then the first day of joint strike action will be on Thursday 6th Feb, with other dates to follow should no progress be made ."

[bornagain]

appollo440, does your 'facts' refer to the entire Harris chain's average or to a specific school, if so which one? Given that you have only posted twice, both times strongly in favour of Harris, it would be good to put context to your comments. Who knows you may be the Harris PR department, or Sir Dan or even Lord Harris himself!?

BTW I don't think anyone is denigrating the work of the Harris teachers themselves. I am sure that most of them are genuine, hardworking and dedicated. It is the Harris system that people are querying. Judging by the call of strikes at Harris Boys, it is these very same hardworking teachers that are calling Harris to account for making their jobs harder.

[????]

People aren,t querying it per se, the teachers unions, and the left wing establishmenta re querying it....as they do anything that challenges the status quo, a status quo that many of us believe has been failing for years...and not just in education.

[bornagain]

???? Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> So. Let,s just stick with what we,ve got and close

> ranks eh and ....quite a lot of us aren,t actually

> that impressed with what the monopolisttic LEAs

> offers or certainly offered to be

> frank.....politics and propaganda works both ways

> and vested interests are at both end of this

> debate. I tend to question the agenda of those

> that constantly attack any attempt at reform by

> nature.

Clearly you have a political agenda yourself. Just to clarify your point, there are NO secondary schools in Southwark run by 'the monopolistic LEAs', all are academies or free schools. It seems me also that vested interests locally are the academy chains who run a large proportion of the local state secondaries.

[????]

No i don't I just like some choice as a parent...or a user of anything. So if defending choice is a political agenda then i have a political agenda.

[simonethebeaver]

Move a few miles away and every secondary school is now Harris. Children in Norwood/Beckenham can now only attend their schools unless they can get into the Langley Schools. Two local schools were taken over by Harris with significant opposition. That's what worries many people. We want to preserve choice.

[TE44]

http://mancunianmatters.co.uk/content/210611166-atten-tion-controversial-oldham-military-school-will-instil-courage-discipline-and

heres a link to the first ex military run school planned for Manchester. Consultation ends

the end of this month, consultation is merely a legal stage to saunter through.

Coaition plan for network of military schools.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10020710/Coalition-plan-for-network-of-military-style-state-schools.html

yes the goverment have agendas, of course, to look or question

Does not equal an attempt to stop reform.

[appollo440]

The statistics are for the entire chain

My other post was to congratulate the Harris academy East Dulwich for an outstanding judgement from OFSTED. I am friends with a teacher at the school and was pleased for her. In any case, I can post whatever I want and as often as I want - its a public forum

Noticeable that you don't address the data which invalidates your original argument

[Fuschia]

Not at all

If there were 200 approx pupils in a year group and 30 pupils weren't included in the gcse stats, it could have a huge effect

So let's say 129 pupils of 170 got 5a*-c with en/ma -76%

But add back in the missing pupils and say they didn't reach the benchmark

129/200 -that's only 64%

It doesn't even really matter how the gap occurred (pupils hived off to alternative provision, told they needed to leave and find a new school, or just actual wastage but the school declined to take on any of the lae arrivals into ks4, often with little English, that most schools contend with

When you bear in mind that Harris schools select their intake to match national split if different abilities (so their intake will be skewed upwards compared with other London schools) then they should be able to reach national averages without having to play games like that

[bornagain]

Ok, the figures are for the entire chain, so an average. The figures include those from the highly academic Harris Crystal Palace to others less academic.

Also these figures do not address the allegation that Harris school help to massage their results by disappearing students in KS4. In fact these 'good' results could be argued a result of this practice.

Another statistic is the English Bacc percentage. i.e. those students taking the hard academic subjects (English, Maths, 2 x Science, 1 x Language, History or Geography)

The national average is 23%. Only 4 Harris schools achieve better than that.

http://www.education.gov.uk/cgi-bin/schools/performance/group.pl?qtype=GR&f=t1tBSNlqyr&superview=sec&view=aat&set=1&tab=149&no=998&sort=ks4_13.ptebacc&ord=desc

But the thing that depresses me is that these statistics are not that important. A good school is much much more than just a set of percentages. It is worrying that Harris et al put such store by their 'good' results. The cynic in me thinks that the reason for this is that statistics are so easy to massage and manipulate.

[sophiesofa]

My top tip for parents/kids looking round potential schools is to ask what the staff turnover is like. Don't just rely on ofsted and results.

I would never work for a Harris personally. Children are children, not data!

Edited to remove the part referred to below by James. I've been trying so hard not to get involved in the Harris monopoly debate, but hearing they're going to run the primary on the police station site tipped me over the edge! I just wish Harris would stop...

[James Barber]

hi Sophiesofa,

Your friend should make an official complaint to the examining boady or OFsted. They can do this anonymously. But it isn't very fair to raise such an alligation which can't be denied or substantiated.

I found this website which seems to suggesT Harris were doing really well:

http://www.harrisfederation.org.uk/47/latest-news/article/111/gcse-results-further-analysis

Since then:

- 72% of Harris students achieved 5 good GCSE's including Maths and English, 11% points higher than the national average of 61%. We can see the ED Girls are rapidly improving and the ED Harris Boys will have their first GCSE results this year from memory.

- Without equivalents included, 61% of Harris students achieved at least 5 good GCSEs including English and Maths, versus the national average of 53%.

- Ebacc scores, 18% of Harris students achieved the English Baccalaureate 2013, up from 8.8% in 2012.

- 69% of Harris students on Free School Meals/in care achieved five good GCSEs including English and Maths, 28% points higher than the national average of 41%.

I'd encourage any parent who feels their child has been excluded, or pidgeon holed in some way to boost exam scores or percentages to contact me or their local councillor. I've not had any such complaints or casework for a Harris school. I have had such casework for other local secondary schools - thankfully the last was two years ago.