We Did it Fair and Square

Wednesday was a big day.

Not only did we receive early entry results for English and Maths (brilliant, by the way) , but the government also published the performance league tables for secondary schools for 2010.

Now if you're a regular reader of these ramblings, you'll be thinking, here we go - this week’s edition is going to be another Morris bragfest about the Moorside GCSE scores last year.

Well,OK.

Point taken.

I promise to try to tone it down because I know that some of you get annoyed.

But can I just give you a couple of headlines?

Here we go.

First of all, 5+ A*- C GCSE grades (including English and Maths) - previously the gold standard for schools in this country. Our proportion of 62% ( we think it's 63, but that's for another blog) places us 11th out of 36 County Durham schools. Nearly all of the schools above us serve much more prosperous areas like Durham City, so that's a very good result and is our best ever.

Now the controversial bit - the English Baccalaureate. This is the new gold standard and has been imposed retrospectively by the coalition government. So schools are now judged according the percentage of leavers who gain A*- C in GCSE English, Maths, Science, History or Geography and a language. Believe it or not, the government has ranked schools according to this measure according to 2010 results, even though the EB was only introduced a few weeks ago. So we were preparing kids for a measure we didn't know existed!
Well, as it happens, we've done pretty well. Not surprisingly, the national average for the EB is only 16%. Our figure is 18% which a places us 7th out of 36 Durham schools. This time ALL of the schools above us serve much wealthier catchments. So, once again, we've done well. This wasn’t accidental, although I admit that during the process of designing our curriculum and deciding what subjects to offer we did not see the EB coming. Our EB figure is good because we have not sacrificed academic rigour in the race to gain high exam scores. The EB has been brought in because many secondary schools have sought to raise standards by using GCSE equivalents like BTEC. Frankly, these courses are easier and less reliant on formal exams and they can be used to give your league table placing a massive boost.

They are also much more interesting for certain youngsters. They’re often more relevant because they teach skills which can be applied in the work place and also can give a sense of achievement which can' t be gained for these students from traditional academic subjects like those in the EB.

And we do use them for certain classes, but we do so strategically so that we can ensure that all individuals are on the curriculum and career pathway which suits them. It's called differentiation which has been a watchword in effective schooling for many years now.

So we've done well in the EB because we think that students on course for university should experience the intellectual challenge of studying a modern language. This means that if you're in the top set, you have to take French. Sounds a bit heavy handed but they gain very high grades. We're also fortunate in having a strong Humanities faculty in which History and Geography are popular option subjects with some bright students choosing both. And I think you know how good our English, Maths and Science are.

In other words, Moorside 's results are not massaged upwards by choosing easy courses across the board. We've done it fairly and with the best interests of all of the students in mind so that they are prepared for their next career stage, whatever that might be. We could have taught courses which would have brought us over 90% 5 A*-C (although without English and Maths) but that wasn't right for us.

Now just in case you think I'm being smug, can I venture an opinion?

I'm completely opposed to the EB.

Given the rich wealth of the curriculum to choose from I don't agree that History, Geography and a language are essential or even appropriate for most young people. Design Technology, Art, Music, PE, RE, Drama, Sociology, Psychology... Where do I stop? ...are all equally important. All of them can be fascinating for students of all abilities and all can be intellectually challenging. Yes, even PE before you say anything at the back.

So what would I do?

First of all choose one measure and stick to it, giving schools advance warning. Then assess schools according to students' scores in their best 8 subjects with added weighting for English, Maths, Science and ICT all of which should be compulsory for obvious reasons in the 21st century. That 's a no less rigorous solution, but would allow schools to offer inclusive curriculum offers, tailored to the needs of their own students.

Sounds a bit like what we do already at Moorside to me.

See you next week.