Education rant

Wife and I went to for our annual meeting with CL1.1's teacher at school yesterday. I say school, I should say 'academy'.

I've had a few doubts for a while. Little things like atrocious grammar in letters from school, or 1.1 proudly telling me things he's learned that I know are blatantly wrong (best one, the lookout thing on top of a pirate ship is called a 'birds nest' according to his teacher, and is not a crow's nest).

Our area is currently a black hole for prospects, with the utter demise of our traditional local industries. Neighbouring areas have remanufactured themselves to capitalise on the demand for digital media, data processing and software. The nearest big town is rapidly catching up. So imagine my surprise to learn that the kids at 1.1's 'academy' are not being taught basic IT skills. The academy is ignoring that whole sectionof the national curriculum. The teacher was unaware of the national curriculum, knew nothing of the completely free online learning resources specifically built to teach these skills to young kids, and, wait for it, when they do use the computers the teacher asks 1.1 to switch them on and log them in because she doesn't know how to.

I did some research. Academies are exempt from the national curriculum so I haven't even got grounds to complain. I did anyway.

 

I got a phone call from the head of the 'academy' about the email I sent.

She was cool. We chatted for a good while.

In short, she agreed with me on every point I raised. Ofsted were satisfied at the last inspection but the school was not, and so they've been forging alliances with local businesses and the university, trying to create a sort of union of expertise. Next term they plan to implement the technical program they've been working on, so all the kids will start to learn some tech skills that is challenging and relevant, but in line with the kids abilities for their age.

I gave her the benefit of my accumulated wisdom on the matter, given my background as a techy, and we agreed that she can call me any time if they need my experience, and that I should call her if I have further input.

All in all, I'm satisfied with that for now.

 

What a great outcome