“Yes Minister 2011” Episode 1

Janet Downs's picture
 65
Scene: a Ministerial Office in Whitehall.

Minister: I’ve an important speech to make, Sir Humphrey. It’s to OMPS – the Organisation for Minor Private Schools. Its members are very keen to become free schools and be funded by the state instead of having to rely on cash-strapped parents.

Sir Humphrey: And their inclusion in the state sector will increase choice and push up standards as you say, Minister. It will also buy you votes from existing parents in the schools. As one of them said, “It was like winning the lottery,” when he learned that the taxpayer would be paying for his child’s school fees.

Minister: And it will give disadvantaged pupils the chance of a private education.

Sir Humphrey: Minister, I think you forget the advantage of a private education. It is so the pupils do not have to mix with the disadvantaged.

Minister: But the admission code applies to free schools…

Sir Humphrey: Minister, there are ways to circumvent the code.

Minister: But that’s outrageous! It’s a legal requirement.

Sir Humphrey:  I doubt that anyone is going to police free school admission policies. When there are several of them then no-one except a few fanatics will bother to read their admission criteria. No-one will complain. The parents will be happy to support a policy which sends out a message that discourages the disadvantaged. And their children will look impressive in their distinctive uniform, especially if it comes from the same supplier that provides uniforms for Eton.

Minister: “No ASDA blazers welcome, here,” you mean?

Sir Humphrey: Quite so, Minister. It’s sometimes important to make changes unobtrusively. If I may remind you, the Coalition’s free school policy is more than just making a few parents happy. It is the means by which English schools can eventually be run by profit-making firms. It’s a way of siphoning tax-payers’ money into shareholders’ pockets. I shall deny it, of course, if asked directly.

Minister: But we’ve said that free schools will not make a profit.

Sir Humphrey: That is true, Minister. But it isn’t the schools making the profit, just the firms that run them. However, it is wise not to draw attention to the matter. Might I suggest that we keep plugging synthetic phonics instead? It was a major coup to make its use mandatory. And international research backs you up: Eurydice has underlined the importance of phonics.

Minister: But didn’t Eurydice also find that the use of phonics was already widespread in the UK? That might prompt people to ask why we should make it a legal requirement.

Sir Humphrey: That should be of no concern, Minister. Both the Lib Dems and Labour support synthetic phonics. And the last US President said, “You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.”

Minister: And that’s what is important, isn’t it? Ensuring that as many pupils as possible pass their literacy test. But didn’t Eurydice also stress the importance of reading for pleasure, books in the home and so on?

Sir Humphrey: Indeed so, Minister, but that is the responsibility of parents. That is why the Secretary of State cancelled funding for Bookstart last year.

Minister: But there was a national outcry.

Sir Humphrey: That was unfortunate but the Government listened to the people and reinstated the funding.

Minister: But wasn’t it funded at only half its previous level for two years?

Sir Humphrey: The important thing, Minister, is that the Government listened to the people.

Minister: Sir Humphrey, what is your opinion about streaming children according to ability? The OECD has found that the best-performing schools systems in the world tend not to segregate pupils in this way. And on the ninth of December the TES published the results of research showing that setting could be causing more harm than good.

Sir Humphrey: The research was actually mixed, Minister. In which case, we can opt for the finding which most suits our policies. One mustn’t forget that your supporters in the media strongly back Grammar Schools. It’s common sense, Minister.

Minister: But the evidence?

Sir Humphrey: Common sense will always trounce evidence, Minister.

 
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Comments

Janet Downs's picture
Wed, 21/12/2011 - 11:15

Thank you, Rosemary. There will be further episodes of "Yes, Minister, 2011" shortly. I think it will possibly run and run, although I might change the title to "Yes, Minister, 2012."


Janet Lallysmith's picture
Fri, 30/12/2011 - 09:27

I'm really enjoying your 'Yes, Minister' episodes too.


Leonard James's picture
Thu, 22/12/2011 - 08:48

Rebecca,

"Did you know, Leonard, that West Lakes Academy used to be Wyndham, one of the most respected schools for maths in the country and that when it had that accolade it had mixed ability teaching to the end of Year 9?"

My understanding was that there was a merger between Wyndham and your old school to form West Lakes. I didn't know Wyndham was a 'respected' school for Maths. Was this a long time ago because the most recent Ofsted report doesn't seem to support this assertion?

"There is an upward trend of improvement and in 2005 the school exceeded its targets for English and science although targets were not met for mathematics."

The whole report can be found here - http://www.educationadviser.co.uk/ofsted-report/wyndham-school

So far the schools you've suggested as havens of great mixed ability teaching are in the bottom half of their local league table and both seem to have been in special measures at some point before their closures. You'll be praising William Tyndale School next.

Now whether the closures were political or not (my experience of Ofsted inspectors is that they favour progressive pedagogy) I'm afraid I'd only be interested in your input as a lesson in what not to do.

Rebecca Hanson's picture
Thu, 22/12/2011 - 09:09

Hmm, you're quoting poor and then recovering data from after mixed ability teaching was shut down to prove mixed ability teaching is a bad idea.

That's just sad Leonard.

As for your comment about the merger of Ehenside and Wydham, it strikes me, Leonard, that I might know rather more about this situation than you and that your attempt to try and assert greater insight is rather disturbing.

'We set in mathematics' is worn by intelligent schools as a label on their websites by schools to fend off Ofsted like we wear garlic to fend of the devil. It's a fairly recent phonemenon that schools a significant number of schools boast about this because they think it's actually best practice.

Being inspected if you're teaching mixed ability is a complete blooming nightmare. My observations results gave me no insight into my own practice but deep insight into my observers. Being externally inspected 7 times in year when you're in a non-standard situation teaches you a great deal about the inspection system.

Leonard James's picture
Thu, 22/12/2011 - 10:04

Rebecca,

You said 'When I was Head of Maths at a school which was heading for closure, we ended up with mixed ability maths sets.' - when did the mixed ability teaching begin and end at Edenside (which was getting worse results overall than Wydham right before the closure) and when did partial mixed ability teaching begin and end at Wydham?

I've read evidence that suggests the overall performance of both Wyndham and Edenside has been consistently low for several years but if you provide the clarifications at least we can try and find data from a time period you are satisfied with. This is far more productive way forward than having you continously blame Ofsted (I don't particularly care for them but a school really does have to be terrible to get into special measures) and making appeals to your own authority.

Rebecca Hanson's picture
Thu, 22/12/2011 - 13:02

There was mixed ability teaching for a long time at Wyndham - generally in year 7 and 8 but for a while in year 9 too. It ended when Wyndham was put into special measures for reasons unrelated to their results.

Most of my classes were mixed ability in my final year teaching at Ehenside as the students were setted for literacy with elements of setting for behaviour which was necessary in the circumstances.

What precisely am I blaming Ofsted for Leonard? It's horrific interacting with the inspection system when you're in a non-standard situation. Do you not know that?

Rebecca Hanson's picture
Thu, 22/12/2011 - 13:41

In a recent long discussion about Palestine and Israel Leonard, one highly intelligent participant was robustly defending the viewpoint that there had been far more Israeli casualties in recent years than Palestinian. He quoted figures from the UN offices which monitors the Palestinian territories to support his argument. http://www.ochaopt.org/

Looking at the figures I didn't really understand how he'd managed not to see the evidence in front of him and to sift and sift until he found one region in which there had been more Israeli deaths than Palestinian in one year and had then actually used those statistics to endorse his argument.

Look at the data on page 11 here: http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_the_humanitarian_monitor_2011_.... Don't you think it's a little startling that he managed to look at that data and conclude the his prior assumption of their being more Israeli casualties than Palestinian was true?

Similarly you are refusing to engage with the reality that is right in front of you here.

Leonard James's picture
Fri, 23/12/2011 - 04:27

Right if mixed ability teaching is as effective as you claim it to be we would hope to see a drop in the number of children getting good GCSE results at the school after it was abolished. In fact not much happened and Wyndham's results had been below the local average for several years.

There has been a considerable increase in the results since the school morped into West Lakes academy (who set from Year 7). Now I realise setting is but one variable that effects a school system and there may be some gaming going on but I'm afraid that the evidence I have seen so far isn't good news for your cause.

Regarding Ofsted you implied earlier that you school was 'forced' into special measures for 'political' reasons and that Ofsted were responsible for poor behaviour in your school.

Leonard James's picture
Fri, 23/12/2011 - 04:43

So then Rebecca what reality am I refusing to engage with then?

Are the schools you refer to really outstanding schools even though Ofsted, who are usually fooled very easily, put them both into special measures?

Or perhaps the toxic mix of fashionable teaching methods you described really had nothing to do with the schools persistent and below average results which are really much better than all the other schools in the local area?

PS Nice of you to pick such an emotive topic in your attempt to discredit me - it does make a change from the usual accusation that I hate the kids.

Rebecca Hanson's picture
Fri, 23/12/2011 - 08:48

Well let's have the 'reality' of the data you so confidently quote Leonard for a start.

I've started another thread on this topic so you may want to switch to that when it goes live.

Leonard James's picture
Fri, 23/12/2011 - 09:59

I would have thought the reality was obvious. You implied that both Wyndham and Edenside are schools that one should look at for evidence that mixed ability teaching works.

The league table data suggests that these schools were underperforming in comparison to the local average for several years which doesn't really support the idea that we should look to either of these schools for any sort of advice.

Of course, and for example, 18% 5 A-C inc English and Maths may be the very best that we could reasonably expect from Edenside but qualitative evidence from Ofsted suggests otherwise as the school was placed in special measures and eventually closed.

I'm actually not inclined to use Ofsted on the basis that I consider their assessments inaccurate but on this occasion I feel it is acceptable since the inaccuracy almost always leads to schools getting a higher rating than they deserve. If you could suggest an outstanding school that achieved excellent results and ran mixed ability classes at GCSE I might be more inclined to take your argument seriously.

Rebecca Hanson's picture
Fri, 23/12/2011 - 16:26

Israel and mixed ability teaching seem to be the online discussion topics in which people are totally incapable of interacting with reality and feel free to post in ways which totally ignore the evidence in order to justify their conclusions!

Ehenside went into special measures with maths as a stated causal factor when students were taught maths in ability sets. Results were dramatically transformed with all four year groups which were externally examined surpassing their FTTDs in maths at every level when we swapped to mainly mixed ability teaching and we rapidly came out of special measures.

The school close for reasons which were nothing to do with results Leonard.

I wish you would stop posting completely untrue assertions about schools. It does you no credit as a contributor to this forum. As I said - do feel free to publish the date you're using to justify you comments about Wyndham.

Leonard James's picture
Sat, 24/12/2011 - 08:02

Rebecca the only evidence you have presented so far to support 'reality' is your own word and can you please stop bringing up emotive topics such as Israel that have nothing to do with me or this discussion.

The local press said that Ehenside was placed in special measures because the teaching and learning was inadequate, students were being taught at 'one level' which caused a particular problem for the more able who were not being pushed. This isn't a problem caused by setting it is a problem caused by poor teaching and departmental leadership.

Your claims about surpassing your FTTD grades is the only evidence you have that supports your claims about mixed ability teaching but even here if you scratch the surface doubts remain - I was under the impression that Year 7 and 10 had transferred to Wyndale and according to the DfE Ehenside didn't have a sixth form - is this correct?Teaching and learning was only considered to be satisfactory (with pockets of good) in March 2008 when Ofsted moved Ehenside out of special measures - I have seen a PDF copy of this inspection report and if I remember correctly teaching and learning in Maths, unlike History, wasn't highlighted (although I don't have a copy to hand).

I don't recall saying that the school closed because of poor results and the data on both schools is widely available on the web.

Rebecca Hanson's picture
Sat, 24/12/2011 - 11:26

Oh Ehenside was in special measures because it had had an awful head who'd destroyed the school, blown the finances to bits and the like. The staff had got rid of that head and were setting about fixing things when I got there.

There were some exceptionally able teachers there who absolutely inspired me. Ofsted/HMI seemed unable to recognise that which was sad. They didn't come across as though they would have had a clue how to teach kids at Ehenside!

Rebecca Hanson's picture
Sat, 24/12/2011 - 11:22

I'm happy to substantiate the claims I've made Leonard - producing the details of the data and teachers planners and the like. The results I've quoted were for years 9 and 11 in 2007, 2008. 3 classes in year 11 in each case, I think it was 3 in year 9 in 2007 and 2 in year 9 in 2008. It's not more nor less than it is.

Inspection judgements when you're teaching mixed ability are extremely interesting. As I've said before in this forum they give you little insight into your own practice and a disturbing level of insight into that of the inspector.

The Hampton review and the associated legislation to which Ofsted is obliged demands they apply best practice in reporting on the quality of provision, which is defined of them using the practice of inspecting schools with a view to coming to understand high quality practice with which they do not yet have experience. Forensic exploration strategies are demanded.

Despite being obligated to that law (true only since late 2009 - so not when they were inspecting Ehenside), Ofsted use widely debunked practices where they are not obliged to communicate with the practitioners they are observing at all, save for their brief judgement. When you're teaching mixed ability this effectively means that you're going to get a strong grading if the inspector understands mixed ability teaching and you're not if they don't. (It's interesting to note how differently the same criteria work when there is a strong, established understanding and active communication between the inspector and the person being observed, as there is in teach training for example).

So the judgements on teaching/learning in my classroom were invariably outstanding or satisfactory. Mixed ability teaching simply doesn't tick the boxes specified for good or very good. The outstanding category was deliberately more loosely defined to ensure the high quality practice which didn't fit the standard mould was recognised, and in my early days in teaching the lead HMIs in maths were a great inspiration to me and the maths teaching community as they had such wide experience. But most of those who have been trained up under Ofsted don't have the experience to cope with this kind of pedagogy and you end up standing there with them saying things like - there isn't the evidence in every child's book of them working at their precise level in every lesson over the last two months therefore you can't get more than satisfactory. Now teaching every child at their correct level every lesson is not best practice (which is one of the reasons why the expert panel for the NC review have so strongly recommended against the over use of levelling). You have to be very, very strong and confident to focus on doing what is right for your students and there results and not get caught up in chasing your tail trying to tick boxes which will significantly get in the way of that.

It's all very interesting. I guess maybe you have to be on the receiving end of 7 inspections a year and have responsibility for other staff who are also going through it to really see this clearly.

By the way - please could you tell me where you can find the pdfs of the Inspection reports? It seemed they were all deleted from Ofsted's website. I've got a hard copy of the report where the HMI instructed that the withdrawal system for the year 10s with extreme behaviour issues be shut down somewhere which I keep carefully as a souvenir.

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