Prospectus

A friend of mine brought me the prospectus of a school that she was considering for her daughter. The appearance of the publication was impressive. It was printed on high quality paper, and had plenty of photographs.My friend’s daughter is mixed race, and my friend was anxious that she went to a school which celebrated multi-culturalism.We were heartened by the choice of photographs, revealing a diverse school communityCommunity schools are the standard type of maintained, state school.,engaged in a variety of activities, academic, vocationalNormally found at key stages 4 and 5*, a vocational course has a strong work related focus. and extra-curricularExtra-curricular activities take place outside of lesson times, for example, at lunchtime or after school.. We appreciated the Head teacher’s address. It was friendly and mentioned how much the school celebrated and valued the diverse needs of its student cohort. My friend was anxious that the school was ‘strict’ so was pleased to see how the enforcement of uniform rules was mentioned, along with a clear behaviour code, and high expectations of politeness. As her daughter is musical,my friend was encouraged to find that the school was an Arts and Media SpecialistSpecialist Schools specialise in a particular curriculum area. In the past, they had to apply to the DfES* to be designated as specialist, and they were given extra money to develop resources in their specialist area. These schools can also prioritise 10% of their places for students with a particular aptitude in the specialism, although few do. Specialist schools are often called colleges, for example, Science and Technology Colleges. college, and was impressed by the regular school productions staged. We both felt it was a promising touch that the prospectus included a  glowing review from the local paper of the latest production,‘The Little Shop of Horrors’. However, the enclosed data told a potentially different story to the one narrated in the text of the prospectus. In the results from the current year, there were no ‘A*’ or ‘A’ grades in Art, Music or Drama, which suggested that the gifted and talentedGifted and talented students are those considered to be the most academically able in the school. All schools should have a gifted and talented programme. in these areas were being short changed, even though the school was an Arts and Media College. It was also a cause for concern that over half of the cohort for BTECA BTEC is a vocational* qualification which is usually completed at Key Stage 4* or 5* and can be equivalent to GCSEs or 'A' levelsAt key stage 2* and key stage 3* students are awarded National Curriculum levels to measure academic progressSchools are measured nationally according to attainment and progress. Progress is how well pupils have done given their starting points. For example, pupils' progress from key stage 2 to key stage 4 is measured.. The levels go from level 1 to level 8. In Year 9*, level 5 is the average nationally.. Performing Arts did not pass. In Science the number of students at grade ‘D’ was twice as many as at ‘C’, which suggested that this subject was not good at moving students up from the ‘C/D’ borderline, and did not add enough value, particularly because this pattern was not reflected in English and Maths. My friend and I were concerned about sending her daughter to a school where the child apparently did not have an equal chance of reaching her potential in all three core subjectsCore subjects at secondary school are those which must be studied by all students, for example, English, Maths and Science.. It was also noticeable that compared to the Arts subjects, the Humanities appeared to do much better. For example, in History, a quarter of all students achieved ‘A’ grades. This again suggested that the school’s Arts and Media specialistSpecialist Schools specialise in a particular curriculum area. In the past, they had to apply to the DfES* to be designated as specialist, and they were given extra money to develop resources in their specialist area. These schools can also prioritise 10% of their places for students with a particular aptitude in the specialism, although few do. Specialist schools are often called colleges, for example, Science and Technology Colleges. status was misleading.