Dear Parents PARENTS’ NEWSLETTER – ISSUE 7 February 2012 In addition to the usual news there are several important information items in this issue: Safer Internet News (P4) All Things Prom (P6) Future Events in Theatre (P10) Spring Music Concert 28 March 2012 (P11) Eco-News (P11) World Book Day (P11) Article on Parent Governors: Role and Vacancy (P13) Area Board Voice Project (P14) Lots of news on Sport, Music, Drama, Food Technology, India Link etc. JOHN COOK We were extremely saddened to hear of the passing of John Cook who was a School Governor at Bradon Forest for over 25 years and a stalwart supporter of the school and the village. John‟s funeral was held on Monday 30 January 2012 and the school was represented by Mr Spiers (Headteacher), Sue Davies (Head of Key Stage 3), Caroline Cole (Head of Humanities) and a large number of our support staff. A number of retired staff and ex-governors also attended. St Mary‟s Church was literally packed to overflowing which showed the respect and affection in which John was held by many people. Generations of Bradon Forest students will remember the visits to Quarry Farm and sitting on the hay bales whilst John answered the many questions the youngsters had about farming. Over the last few years John had been a principal guest at a number of Awards Assemblies which he thoroughly enjoyed as he was so positive about young people. Many of us will remember John sat with his wife Sue in the front row of the gallery at all of the Awards Assemblies for his three grandchildren. Reverend Judith Wells, who conducted the lovely service, spoke warmly about John, and Ian Perkins, a previous Headteacher of Bradon Forest who also went to Commonweal school with John, gave a moving and humorous tribute to John and his fantastic support for Bradon Forest School. Our thoughts are with Sue, Emma (Hayden), and all of John‟s family and many friends. 2011 GCSE ACHIEVEMENT AND ATTAINMENT TABLES The annual Government GCSE Performance Tables were published at the end of last month (27 January 2012) As promised in the letter to parents (4 January 2012), which accompanied the Ofsted report, a booklet on the Performance Tables will be posted to all registered parents/carers. This booklet will provide details from the tables which will enable parents to compare Bradon Forests‟ 2011 Results with schools locally, and against national benchmarks. (Booklet scheduled for posting by 10 February 2012). A summary table of data regarding schools within 10 miles of Bradon Forest, (plus key) is included as part of this article, to provide a summary of the „League Tables‟ for our „wider Newsletter audience‟. It is very pleasing that this year, for the very first time, a number of measures in the National Performance Tables are now shown both with and without equivalences at all levels. (Continued) [1] As parents will be aware, we have resisted the temptation to inflate our „performance‟ for the National League Tables by running „equivalence‟ courses that attract „points‟. We firmly hold the belief that curriculum decisions must serve the interests of our students rather than the institution. At Bradon Forest we are firmly committed to „education rather than manipulation.‟ We do use some alternatives to GCSE where these are deemed to be the most appropriate learning vehicle for a particular student. However all our students are expected to take a minimum of 8 GCSEs - we choose not to reduce the number of subjects taken or to „inflate‟ our performance by running „equivalence‟ courses specifically to gain points for league tables as we feel this offers little value in terms of student progression. Our continued stance may not serve us well in terms of OFSTED outcomes but it does serve the needs of our students as evidenced by their examination results and the very high proportion of our students accessing Post 16 pathways. (2011 Year 11 Examination Results Day (August 2011) The shake-up in the performance tables is a result of the 2011 review of qualifications by Professor Alison Wolf, which suggested schools had been tempted to teach qualifications that attract the most points in school performance tables: "Students were doing lots of qualifications which were getting league points for their schools but which, when they went out into the labour market or when they went to college, they found actually nobody valued. So we were essentially lying to kids and that's a terrible thing to do." Professor Wolf The report establishes that over recent years the performance tables system has created „perverse incentives‟ for schools to enter students for equivalence courses (sometimes worth up to 4/6 GCSEs), to boost their places in the league tables. Government officials describe this as "gaming" the system. Government figures show that the use of „equivalence‟ courses has exploded in recent years – from 15,000 in 2004: to 575,000 in 2010: (The 2011 figure is expected to show another substantial rise.) Since the publication of the performance tables last month there have been a plethora of articles in the media providing details of the effect of equivalences on schools results, highlighting the extent of the „equivalences inflation‟ factor. As you will see from the summary table below „equivalence courses‟ have had very little impact on Bradon Forest results. The impact of the misuse of „equivalences‟ at a local and national level over recent years and the „equivalences inflation‟ on schools not running traditional GCSE broad / balanced curriculum can be clearly seen. The GCSE only measures give a more accurate and refined comparison of results and, perhaps put a number of schools‟ Ofsted judgements in perspective, including our own. However we are not complacent and believe any school has areas for development. Ofsted cited our „Self Evaluation‟ procedures as a strength and that leaders at all levels have robust plans in place to address any areas in need of improvement. Bradon Forest is fortunate to have a staff, both teaching and support, who continue to work hard to maintain and further improve all that we do. We are confident that Bradon Forest will continue to develop and be even more successful in the future. (2011 Year 11 Awards Winners (November 2011) Table and Key overleaf: [2] 2011 DFE Performance Tables Data for schools within 10 mile radius of Bradon Forest School The English Baccalaureate: Column 1: This is made up of the five GCSE A*-C (higher grade passes) which must be GCSEs in English, Mathematics, Science, Modern Foreign Languages and History or Geography. Points score - Best 8 : Column 2: The capped points score is the best 8 results which must include English and Mathematics. This is worked out by calculating the total number of points gained from the best 8 qualifications for each student which can be GCSEs and other eligible qualifications and dividing this figure with the total number of students in the Year 11 cohort. For GCSEs, points are allocated as follows: 58 for an A*, 52 – A, 46 – B, 40 – C, 34 – D, 28 – E, 22 – F and 16 – G. Non GCSE courses which are allowed in the tables are converted to equivalent GCSE points. However for the first time, this year‟s measure is also calculated and shown using GCSEs only thus providing a clear indication of the effect of a schools use of equivalences. Average Number of Qualifications Column 3: This is worked out by from the total number of all qualifications taken (which can be GCSEs and other eligible qualifications) and dividing this figure with the total number of students in the Year 11 cohort. % 5+ A*-C including English and Mathematics Column 4: This measure must include English and Mathematics plus three other qualifications (which can be GCSEs and other eligible qualifications). However for the first time, this year‟s measure is also calculated and shown using GCSEs only thus providing an indication of the use of equivalences. % 5+ A*-C Column 5: Unfortunately this measure is still only provided including all qualifications, (which can be GCSEs and other eligible qualifications), and the separate measure showing GCSEs only is not available. It is worth noting that an indication of the National figure is 81.2% when all qualifications are included. If the measure was based on GCSEs only this falls to approximately 55%. In the previous column (Column 4) the two measures for the average number of qualifications does provide an indication of the use of equivalences. If the %5+ A*- C measure was also provided using GCSESs only it would provide an even clearer picture of the extent of the use of equivalences. Summary table: 1 2 3 4 5 2011 DFE Performance English Point Score Average No of % 5+ A*-C % 5+ A* - C Tables Data for schools Bacc Best 8 Qualifications (inc EN and MA) within 10 mile radius of GCSEs Bradon Forest School. E/M/S/ With GCSEs With GCSEs With GCSEs With GCSEs H or G Equivs Only Equivs Only Equivs Only Equivs Only & MFL England Average n/a 15.4% 338.8 278.1 11.5 7.8 58.2% 52.4% 81.2% 54.9% Wiltshire Average W n/a 20.0% 334.7 298.1 10.9 8.4 60.5% 57.1% 75.1% n/a Swindon Average S n/a 11.8% 327.7 278.3 11.8 7.9 52.4% 48.2% 73.5% n/a Gloucester Average G n/a 21.7% 341.6 306.6 10.6 8.4 62.9% 59.5% 79.4% n/a Oxfordshire Average O n/a 18.8% 332.4 295.5 11.0 8.6 57.4% 54.9% 74.0% n/a Bradon Forest W 245 27% 327.1 319.3 10.8 9.9 57% 56% 69% 68% Greendown S 216 12% 322.8 308.6 11.3 9.3 53% 51% 67% n/a Nova Hreod S 292 9% 306.1 249.3 12.3 7.8 41% 35% 66% n/a Isambard S n/a No End of Key Stage 4 Students ie Y11 in 2011 Wootton Bassett W 229 22% 337.8 318.4