I just don’t know… Do you?

I have been thinking a lot lately about schools, and choices of schools. Location, what each one offers, how it is offered, how staff treat students – are they respectful? Do they let students have a voice? Is staff thinking done inside or outside the box? These are the thoughts that fill my mind. These are some of the key things I look for in a school. The uniform makes no difference to me. The outward appearance of buildings is not on my list of things to look at. I care little about NAPLAN results or the MySchool website. So, how do I know a school is the right fit for each of my children?

Next year is the Blue Eyed Boy’s last year of primary school. The search for a high school is beginning to get underway… very slowly. We need to get this right. He needs a school that will allow him to thrive, follow his interests, encourage him to think for himself, solve problems, and help him find his footing in the adult world. It’s a tall order. But one I expect staff to fulfil. I don’t expect them to do it alone, the line that it take a village to raise a child… it’s overused, but it’s true. For the Blue Eyed Boy that village consists of his parents, his sister, his extended family, his friends, the t.v, movies, books, popular culture, the man at the post office, the neighbours, his team mates and cricket coach to name a few… and his teachers.

The Green Eyed Girl will have three more years if primary school after this year. She has, along with her brother been to two other schools due to relocation interstate. But, I have a nagging unease with the school she is at currently. Thinking outside the box? Not much. Real, honest respect for children and their points of view? Not too sure about that… I know lip service in paid. The expectation that children can be autonomous, independent, self reliant learners choosing their own path with guidance and expert help from teachers? Am I asking too much?

Literacy, maths… the basics are covered. But there is so much more to education. So much more. When I think about the amount of technological change that occurs… the amount of information children have at their fingertips it is amazing. My kids think nothing of taking a USB wrist band to school to show the class photos from the weekend on an interactive whiteboard. I took Holly Hobby swap cards. And really, is it that difficult to think of an activity in the school garden other than spreading mulch for a child with hay fever… surely sweeping, weeding, taking cuttings… being the class documenter with the digital camera seems a better option than choosing a friend and heading indoors to just clean out your desk.

I know I sound like one of those difficult to please parents. But really, I am anything but. It’s just when a school continually lacks the willingness to take on new ideas, well researched, well documented research in the field of education with the old ‘we’ve been doing it this way for the past 15 years, no need to change’ adage I begin to wonder if this is the right school for my child. A child that will not be living in the ‘15 years ago good old days’ but in a world that changes and adapts at an alarming rate! A world where people will most likely change career paths and careers more than once. A world where flexibility, imagination, the ability to think on your feet and adapt will be the order of the day, do I need to look at a different school now? Or do I leave her with a safety net of friendship and familiarity? Will the rest of her village make up for the part the school plays?

I just don’t know…

So, dear readers, I’m asking you… what do you look for in a school? What is important to you? Because in our house, we’re at a cross roads…

Post Script -

Ok I should add a few things… our kids have been in both elite private school and the public system.

Also – I am a teacher as are both my sisters, between us we span from the first to the last year of formal education. I attend professional development through out each year, so the research I talk about, way education is heading nationally, I know about. I think for me, this has made the decision process all that much harder. I have an inside view of the schooling system. Not that it is all that much help all the time! Also there has been somewhat of an exodus from the primary school by other families. I have been reluctant to leave because I want to know if we do decide to move our daughter we do it for her, not because other families are. For our son, the choice of high school is less problematic, but still a hard choice.

Also, there are some wonderful staff at the school. Wonderful. But when they are outweighed by negatives… I wonder if it’s worth it.

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Tags: it takes a village, my school website, NAPLAN, never say never

My School – My opinion

Last week the Australian Government launched their new My School site.  The Government stated it will give parents and carers  information on their child’s school, as well as help parents and carers make decisions about which school to choose.  The results that have been published on this site for each public school are linked to NAPLAN testing.  This testing is carried out in grades 3, 5, 7 and 9 looking at the areas of literacy and maths.

My eldest child has taken part in this testing.  My youngest will do so this year.  Before I continue I need to point out I am a teacher.  I have taught from Kinder to grade 2, as well as taking on a role as a reading recovery teacher, and a role working with children on social skills.   My children attend a local government school. They have previously attended a private school.

While I understand parents want to arm themselves with as much information as possible when choosing schools for their children, I have a number of concerns about the way the information has been presented on the My School site.

The site shows each schools NAPLAN test results – so in essence the information in the site relates to literacy and numeracy.  In both primary and high school it relates to only two grade groups.  The results are from tests.  Tests in themselves hold a range of problems.  Testing is not always the best way to determine a child’s ability.

Tests are done in an artificial environment – some children work well to a test, others do not. Some children cope well with the stress of the relatively unknown situation, others do not.  Testing like this does not take into account factors such as (for example) whether or not a child has had a late night, is feeling unwell, has had a change in home circumstances that may be adding to anxiety levels. Tests such as this do not cater well for children that learn best through seeing and hearing someone explain a topic, or for children that will understand a question best through a hands on approach.  Tests such as this do not take into consideration multiple intelligences – that is the different ways people work to demonstrate their knowledge.  For example, some people do well with a written explanation, others do best visually, with diagrams or maps, others do best using concrete materials to solve a problem.

Testing such as this is only a small part of each child’s make up.  It is only a small part of each schools make up.  NAPLAN testing, and therefore the My School site take into consideration these literacy and numeracy results only.  Schools, however, are so much more than this.  Where in this comparison is any reference to The Arts? To Sports? To the way children with additional needs are catered for? Where is the reference to the way the school involves the community through shared partnerships, through the way families are (or are not) welcomed into the school.  Where is the reference to how staff work together? Where does this site show the way a range of cultures, including our own Indigenous cultures are catered for in a real, ongoing rather than tokenistic manner? The site does not reference how much professional development staff at the school participate in each year. Nor does it make reference to whether staff are aware of current policy, research and practice methods.  It does not indicate how behaviour problems are managed.  There is no reference to a change in school leadership, as new senior staff and principals can change the way a school operates.

All these factors, and more, go into making a school.  While literacy and numeracy are vital, so is knowing your child is respected, and that your child’s voice will be heard with in the school.

So, what am I saying in all this?  It would seem to me that the My School site smacks of tokenism.  It has simplified each school to a test score. It does not give a holistic picture of a school – no website ever could.  Schools by their very nature are complex, dynamic, ever changing places. Some schools have a wealth of resources at their fingertips.  Others do not.    Schools are not the sum result of a national testing scheme, and that is what bothers me about this site.

So, while I have looked at the site, and at the results of the school my children attend, I will be looking at these results in the broader picture of the school as a whole.  Taking into consideration local factors, and local knowledge.  I would urge everyone else to do the same.  Because it takes a village to raise a child, not a test result, or a web site.

Tags: children, it takes a village, my school website, NAPLAN, parenting, school