Three year sixth form at Colyton

Eleven Plus (11+) in Devon

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

11 Plus Mocks - Practise the real exam experience - Book Now
kenyancowgirl
Posts: 6738
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 8:59 pm

Re: Three year sixth form at Colyton

Post by kenyancowgirl »

My point here was that this thread seemed to have culminated in a "it's not outstanding" / "it is outstanding" argument based on a report that is over 6 years old.

With any school, I would first look at any publicly available information - results, prospectuses, Ofsted etc and then go in and speak to relevant people and ask questions directly about all aspects. Included in this would be talking to parents and pupils currently there and could also include asking feeder school staff. You can observe interaction in lessons - are children engaged and interested or bored, switched off and misbehaving? Do they have a respect for the environment and people around them? How do the school really handle pastoral issues? There are lots of other things to look at - you can see academic progress by looking at exam results etc but you can get a "feel" for the school by being there - and part of the Ofsted report is about this "feel". Obviously, if I am undertaking a consultancy project, it is relatively easy to wander around a school asking questions, however, as a mum, I have to say I have never felt any real difficulty in spending time with heads, deputies, pastoral heads, head of 6ths, staff, pupils etc etc asking questions to see whether my children would benefit/thrive in a particular setting. And most schools are quite willing to let you, either at an Open Day or an individual appointment, if you make them, with whomever you wish to speak.

Ofsted reports are a useful tool, but, like league tables, they are only one aspect and are only as uptodate as the time they are published. An inspection report that is three years old has allowed a cohort to move 50% of the way through a school - the cohort beneath them may be very different - behaviour, discipline, ability, teaching staff, the infrastructure...all these things may have changed - maybe for the better - a new science block may have opened, a new sports facility - they may have changed the day the report was written, admittedly, but relying on a report that is over 6 years old "without checking the current picture" to confirm that the report is still accurate, would be inadvisable. Ofsted come in for less than a week and make a judgement about a school in that week. They don't always get it wholly right. Sometimes schools are very strong in some areas but less strong in another and this then gives them an overall poorer rating. More often than not, outstanding schools tend to be very favourable of the Ofsted process but, if they then get a lower rating, identify the weaknesses in the system!!

Ofsted reports are a snapshot in time. This is fact. I wouldn't recommend anyone making decisions about schools based on a snapshot.
Loopyloulou
Posts: 878
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2008 5:20 pm

Re: Three year sixth form at Colyton

Post by Loopyloulou »

kenyancowgirl wrote: Ofsted reports are a useful tool, but, like league tables, they are only one aspect.
School reports say as much about the inspectors as about the school. I remember looking at a school inspection report some years ago (ISI not Ofsted, but the principle is the same). The school was considered "Outstanding" in all but two areas.

The problem areas - Music (not enough modern stuff) and Religious Education (not enough non-Christian stuff).
The school - Westminster Cathedral Choir School.

It does not surprise me that Ofsted approves of Colyton. Personally I'd say it is a good school in many ways, but it could be so much better. I hope Mr Evans continues to strive for excellence.
Loopy
spider
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri May 17, 2013 1:32 pm

Re: Three year sixth form at Colyton

Post by spider »

Thank you Kenyancowgirl. I agree whole-heartedly with you that those are the sorts of things that parents should look for when choosing a school.
I had a child in school when the last Ofsted report was current and I have a child there now.
Do I think it is a good school? Yes. Do I think it is a perfect school? No. I doubt that any are.
Has it changed since the last Ofsted? A little perhaps but not a great deal. It is suffering badly from cuts to its funding (in common with similar schools) which the Headteacher has been trying to bring to the attention of the government. It will have had a reduction of something in the region of £250,000 by 2017 due to changes to pupil premium, loss of funding for specialist schools, able children and sixth forms I think.
If you visit it appears relaxed and friendly and reasonably well resourced bearing in mind it is a state school. It has specialisms in science and possibly maths. As I said before although it is selective, it is not highly so and one in three applicants get in. The pupils are articulate and helpful and seem happy.
The results gained by the pupils are presented on the school website and I believe that since they have introduced the three year sixth form the results at GCSE have improved. G55 is determined that they must be worse than they could be and that the school will not be making the expected progress for each child. I don't know the level of the pupils on entry so have no way of making an assessment of progress (except for my child) but I suspect that a number of the posters here are parents who seem happy with the school. We only have the evidence from our children and our experience of the school to make our judgement on. Many of the posters who criticise Colyton do not seem to have a child there. Having said that no school is perfect for every child so there must be people out there who would be able to relate a poorer experience of the school but I think they would be relatively rare.
I have in my mind that Colyton has had four outstanding Ofsted inspections in a row but I don't know where to look that up to check. It is certain that Colyton will be given a new Ofsted inspection at some time in the future and no doubt if there are recommendations they will act on them as they have done in the past.
pooplechair
Posts: 27
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2013 6:29 pm

Re: Three year sixth form at Colyton

Post by pooplechair »

Loopyloulou wrote:
kenyancowgirl wrote: Ofsted reports are a useful tool, but, like league tables, they are only one aspect.
School reports say as much about the inspectors as about the school. I remember looking at a school inspection report some years ago (ISI not Ofsted, but the principle is the same). The school was considered "Outstanding" in all but two areas.

The problem areas - Music (not enough modern stuff) and Religious Education (not enough non-Christian stuff).
The school - Westminster Cathedral Choir School.

It does not surprise me that Ofsted approves of Colyton. Personally I'd say it is a good school in many ways, but it could be so much better. I hope Mr Evans continues to strive for excellence.
There are certainly things I'd change if I ruled the world. But the 3 year sixth form isn't one of them. I don't actually believe that ofsted reports are worth the paper they are written on, I work in a similar field in a different profession and their methods leave much to be desired. What I would say though is that it takes a lot of chutzpah for someone who doesn't know anything about the school except that (a) it's been there or thereabouts at the top of the league tables for at least 10 years and has been top for the last two years running and (b) the kids take their GCSEs in y10 to say the school would be well advised to change back to taking GCSEs in y11.
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Three year sixth form at Colyton

Post by Guest55 »

It's interesting that is wasn't top of ALL the League tables in 2013

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/le ... sults.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

How do you know whether I have direct knowledge of the school? I just find it strange that parents keep changing their minds about why it's the best.

If you actually read the previous Ofsted (before the 2007 one which was a reduced tariff) it wasn't outstanding across the board either ...
russet
Posts: 243
Joined: Sat Aug 10, 2013 12:46 pm

Re: Three year sixth form at Colyton

Post by russet »

I don't think anyone is arguing that Colyton is the best, but rather the current system of taking GCSEs early and spending three years on A level best suits the children going there.
southbucks3
Posts: 3579
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:59 am

Re: Three year sixth form at Colyton

Post by southbucks3 »

Reading this thread purely out of nosy parker trait.

The school has teenagers that are "articulate, polite and well mannered" who sit all their gcse exams a year earlier than the rest of the country, but still get mostly A's !

Has anyone here watched the lesser known sequel to the "stepford wives" called the "stepford children" ..... I'm just saying..........??
pooplechair
Posts: 27
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2013 6:29 pm

Re: Three year sixth form at Colyton

Post by pooplechair »

Guest55 wrote:It's interesting that is wasn't top of ALL the League tables in 2013

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/le ... sults.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

How do you know whether I have direct knowledge of the school? I just find it strange that parents keep changing their minds about why it's the best.

If you actually read the previous Ofsted (before the 2007 one which was a reduced tariff) it wasn't outstanding across the board either ...
I don't think anybody has said it's the best school have they? It was top of the DfE tables for 2013 and 2012 for GCSE which is what you are talking about. The telegraph does its own tables as do other newspapers. They all come out with different top schools. The official tables though are official. You originally said that the school would be well advised to change its policy on GCSEs. Since it has topped the official tables for GCSEs for the last two years running that's a statement that needs to be backed up, and you haven't even remotely backed it up.

It's quite clear you don't have current direct knowledge of the school. If you did you wouldn't be saying they need to change the GCSE policy.

Southbucks - yes, you are right. All our children are zombies. Clearly. Robot zombies. Alien robot zombies. Coming to take over the world.
Kit
Posts: 132
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2007 11:58 am

Re: Three year sixth form at Colyton

Post by Kit »

.
Last edited by Kit on Thu Jul 09, 2015 3:28 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Loopyloulou
Posts: 878
Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2008 5:20 pm

Re: Three year sixth form at Colyton

Post by Loopyloulou »

yes, but...

The best "local comp" to Colyton is probably Richard Huish in Taunton. I see from another thread that in 2012 Colyton had 16 applicants to Cambridge, and Richard Huish had 19. Both schools had 9 acceptances, which to me suggests comparable success rates.

It is true of course that Colyton has far fewer pupils, but equally it is true that Richard Huish is not selective. Can one really know which school is "better"?
Ah yes, of course - the one producing alien robot zombies which are coming to take over the world :lol: .
Loopy
Post Reply
11 Plus Mocks - Practise the real exam experience - Book Now