Bac backs history but makes a martyr of RE

21st January 2011, 12:00am

Share

Bac backs history but makes a martyr of RE

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/bac-backs-history-makes-martyr-re-2

Yesterday I worked with 90 Year 9 students in a community secondary in Walthamstow, north-east London, as diverse as could be and serving a pretty economically deprived area. The headteacher showed me the findings of a recent Ofsted report in which the school was quite rightly graded “excellent” for community cohesion, ethos, student well-being, relationships etc.

Because of the kind of area it serves, the school only received a derisory “satisfactory” for results in English, maths and science and attendance (poor largely because of a plethora of religious holidays different from the preferred Christian ones).

Staff have just heard that its imminent Ofsted re-inspection would only concentrate on the English Baccalaureate and attendance. In a single stroke, the students and teachers there have had to change their conception of their school from one doing a demonstrably excellent job in difficult circumstances to one under serious threat of being deemed unsatisfactory.

Jonathan Barnes, Teacher educator and former headteacher, Kent.

Want to keep reading for free?

Register with Tes and you can read two free articles every month plus you'll have access to our range of award-winning newsletters.

Keep reading for just £1 per month

You've reached your limit of free articles this month. Subscribe for £1 per month for three months and get:

  • Unlimited access to all Tes magazine content
  • Exclusive subscriber-only stories
  • Award-winning email newsletters
Recent
Most read
Most shared