The grass looks greener...should I change my children’s school?
I have taught my children that their school is a valuable community of which they are a part: "When things go wrong in a family, you don’t just up and leave – you pull together and work out how to fix those issues." In my opinion schools thrive when their school community is committed and that means instead of moaning to everyone about your school’s faults, you get proactive and get involved in making positive changes. In the process you are modelling self-responsibility to your children instead of teaching them the blame game.
However I would consider changing my children’s school if:
· My school had serious performance issues in a wide range of areas
· Despite my attempts to make positive changes I could see no progress
· My children’s education was seriously suffering
I would like to elaborate on each of these:
1. School has serious performance issues in a wide range of areas
Before making the decision to shift your children you need to think carefully about how you are judging your school’s performance. Take care not to be overly influenced by school gate gossip and not to simply follow the pack– sometimes one influential family can move and others start to lose confidence in a school and do the same without thinking it through. Sometimes a particular school will become ‘trendy’ and again people will move there in flocks without good reason. Make sure you look carefully at your own circumstances before making a decision. Will your child really be better off moving school if this school has maxed out class sizes as a consequence of their new found popularity?
Schools in New Zealand are reviewed every three or four years by the Education Review Office and you can access their reports here. However, in my opinion there is a fair bit of educational waffle in such reports and it can still be difficult to get an idea of how well your school is performing. In saying that it will be clear if your school is very seriously under-performing. Visiting the school and knowing how your own children are doing will often give you a good gut feeling about whether you need to take a closer look.
A school’s National Standards (implemented from 2010) results may well lead to the media ranking schools based on these (league tables) but I would not recommend giving much weight to rankings based on National Standards data simply because it is so difficult to make fair comparisions using it. As an example, to compare the National Standards results of School A and School B fairly...
* each school would have to make their National Standards judgements at the same time of the year (they are not like an NCEA exam held in November for everyone, primary/intermediate schools can choose when they make their assessments as long as it's twice a year)
* each school interpreted 'Reaching the Standard' in the same way and used the same assessments to make this judgement
(schools just have to use a range of assessments, there is no single universal 'test' as such)
* each school had the same number of special needs children?
* each school had the same number of ESOL (English is a second language) students?
* each school had roughly the same number of students - very small groups are more susceptible to 'one off' poor results effecting their overall average
* each school would have to be of a similar decile rating
* each school would have to be of the same sex
* each school would have to be compared over several years to work out if the results were a "one off" or not.
If you take all of the above into account and are still convinced that your school’s National Standards results are consistently not as good as other comparable schools, don’t forget that:
National Standards only measure Literacy and Numeracy. The school curriculum is much wider and you need to think about these other areas because they are also very beneficial to our children. While I value the teaching of literacy and numeracy there are other things at my children’s school that are also important to me – for example, I love the cultural diversity and I like the emphasis put on values.
2. School showing no progress towards positive change
A school’s ERO report will give them areas for improvement, so schools are always looking at making positive changes. You can stand for your school’s Board of Trustees if you want to have a role in policy making or you can get involved at the coal face as a volunteer to help in a wide range of areas. Don’t be afraid to approach your school if you can see a way the parent community can help.
If you have problems make sure you are proactive and approach your child’s teacher, their superiors if necessary and if it’s still unresolved after meeting the principal then write to your school’s Board of Trustees. In my experience parents will often complain among themselves but no-one gets it on paper and brings the issues to the Board – never assume someone else will do it for you. If you are a bit nervous about ‘rocking the boat’ get a group of you together to make your concerns known.
Give your school time to make changes, but hold them accountable. Make sure you know what the Board of Trustees targets are for your school and if they are being reached.
3. My child’s education is seriously suffering
This is a tricky one as it’s often difficult to know whether the problem lies with your child, the school or a combination of both.
As a secondary teacher I’ve experienced the 'sigh' after parents have come in angry blaming the school for little Johnny’s lack of progress despite telling them that little Johnny is forever mucking around in class, rude to his teachers and completes no homework. I’ve also felt tempted as a parent to blame my own children’s problems on the school. It’s the easier option as otherwise we actually have to say we have a role to play in the issue. It’s easy to moan to the school that my child isn’t reading well but more difficult to unplug the Playstation and get a book in his hands at home. Bullying is another example – you have to ask yourself: “Will my child really not be bullied anymore if we change school?” and “Do we need to teach him some strategies to deal with it?” or “Have we encouraged behaviours in him that are actually making him more of a target?”
To sum up, my message is not that you shouldn't change your child's school but simply that you should think it through thoroughly before doing so.
