Parents Against ChangeMeeting 5th February

Caring About Today and Tomorrow

Who are PAC?

Formed to express the views of parents opposed to the change to a two-tier system, who feel they were not consulted in the ‘robust’ way that is claimed

Improvement not reorganisation

We are not anti two-tier or anti change if it is proven to deliver real benefits

We are not convinced that the massive upheaval of this change would deliver any benefits but believe it would certainly cause disruption and potential damage

Why are we here today?

• To share information about what reorganisation could mean for our children

• To consider the advantages and benefits of middle school education

• To raise some common misconceptions

• To advise how we can make our views known, and to whom

• To identify how you can show support

What do we want?• To protect middle schools

• To inform councillors of our views

• To make sure that children do not have their education and development damaged – whatever the decision

• To make sure that (our) public money is spent effectively to benefit children and their schools – now and in the future

Today’s Situation

• The SCC Policy Development Panel has recommended to change the current system (3 tiers in the North and West of Suffolk, 2 tiers in the South) to 2 tier cross-county

• SCC “Cabinet” voted on 16th January and has announced its intention to cease the 3 tier system of education

• Final vote on the decision to move to 2 tier to be taken at meeting of full Council on 22nd March

Why should we want to keep middle schools?

• Research has shown that transfer is particularly well done in 3 tier system as schools work together in pyramids to plan the curriculum and to share information

• Middle schools offer extensive opportunities and facilities to younger pupils who would not have access until aged 11 in the two tier system

• Achievement at the end of Year 6 can be followed up and built on by the same staff as the child moves into Key Stage 3

• Middle school pupils make particularly good progress in Year 7 and 8

• More able children are enriched and given challenges by specialist staff early on, giving an excellent preparation for upper school

Specialist facilities & teachers in middle schools

• Science – labs & practical experiments • ICT – extensive facilities• Sports – specialist facilities and trained teachers • Music – instruments and trained teachers• Art and Drama – facilities and training• Languages – specialist teachers• Design Technology – workshops and training• Food Technology – facilities

How do our children benefit?

• Middle schools offer specialised education and support for the crucial middle years

• Middle schools are renowned for the outstanding personal development and well being of their pupils

• Strong middle school ethos and opportunities for creative activities and public performance helps our children to thrive rapidly and gain confidence

• Children feel safe and secure because it is a gradual development in their education

What could the proposed change to 2 tiers mean?

• The benefits of the middle school system would be lost• Staffing vacancies as teachers leave• Effect on staff morale during change• Unsettled children – unsure of where they will be taught

and for how long• Children taught by teachers doing a different job to the

one they were trained and employed to do• Lots of building work – some children will spend most of

their school years being taught in temporary classrooms on building sites (which are likely to be on the playing fields / playgrounds!)

• Smaller schools could be closed and children bussed to larger, more remote schools

• Class sizes could be larger• 4 year old children at school with 11 year olds• 11 year old children at school with 18 year olds –

potential of bullying, drugs etc.• The proportion of permanent and fixed term

exclusions in 2005/6 is significantly higher in the 2 tier than the 3 tier system

• Greater difficulty for parents accessing services

What could the proposed change to 2 tiers mean?

5 Common Misconceptions

Most of Suffolk’s children are in two tier so why shouldn’t ours be?

45,000 45%

55,000 55% 2 Tier

3 Tier

How many children would this affect?

55000, 80%

14000, 20%

2 Tier

3 Tier

How many children would this affect?

If Ipswich becomes a unitary authority...

5 Common Misconceptions

This isn’t going to happen for years so it won’t affect my child

5 Common Misconceptions

The two tier system produces better exam results

Fact – It’s not as simple as that!

Statistical Spin

• Suffolk CC claim that 2 Tier vs 3 Tier produces a 3% difference between GCSE 5+ A-C Results

• Suffolk CC have ignored the advice of their own academic review which tells them to ignore the 10% of pupils who transferred into the 3 Tier system at 11+ as they don’t reflect performance of 3 Tier schools

• Taking this advice reduces the gap to only 1% (40 pupils) which is not statistically significant and could be due to any number of factors not related to the school structure– The difference equates to 40 children getting five “C”s instead of “four

Cs and one D” at GCSE.• 3 Tier schools outperform 2 Tier in GCSE 5+ A-G results• Overall points per student in both systems are the same• Research shows that there has been no significant difference in

rates of improvement within 2 tier and 3 tier areas

Statistical Spin

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

w ealthy achiever urban prosperity comfortably of f moderate means hard pressed

2-tier

3-tier

5+ A-C GCSEs among “Hard-pressed” pupils

Statistical Spin

• There is a big statistical problem with SCC’s GCSE analysis, highlighted by a leading academic in their own Annexe document, and apparently ignored by the PDP.

• They have glossed over the benefits of three-tier schooling for the most economically disadvantaged people in society

• PAC have come to the conclusion that Councillors have been misled over the figures and that there is actually very little difference in results

Statistical Spin

Pupils gaining five or more A*-C grades at GCSE

Two-tier switch 1997 2006 Change

Doncaster 33.8% 51.9% 18.1

Sheffield 38.3% 48.5% 10.2

Buckinghamshire 59.7% 68.8% 9.1

Warwickshire 44.5% 58.5% 14

Southampton 40.9% 48.4% 7.9

Average 11.86

Kept three-tier

Suffolk 47.4% 59.2% 15.1

Northumberland 43.2% 61.7% 20.4

Bedfordshire 44.3% 56.1% 15.8

Average 17.1

National averages 45.1% 58.5% 13.4

Suffolk CC’s “Myths & Facts” leaflet lies about the success of other education authorities who have switched to two-tier. It says they are doing better. They are not.

Statistical Spin Suffolk CC has completely ignored, for its own ends, the difference in achievement between different areas of Suffolk. A direct comparison of the DfES’ two largest urban groupings, Bury and Ipswich, shows 3-tier Bury 9.5 percentage points ahead of two-tier Ipswich in GCSE performance.

2006 GCSE results by Suffolk area

Town or nearest town

Rank System total pupils in GCSE year

Pupils with 5 or more A-C grades at GCSE

Debenham 1 2-tier 92 83.0% Woodbridge 2 2-tier 421 73.2% Bury St Edmunds 3 3-tier 1,341 69.5% Ipswich 4 2-tier 2,257 60.0% Bungay 5 3-tier 237 60.0% Beccles 6 3-tier 353 59.0% Eye 7 2-tier 199 59.0% Sudbury 8 3-tier 506 57.2% Leiston 9 3-tier 175 57.0% Stowmarket 10 3-tier 445 55.5% Felixstowe 11 2-tier 331 51.2% Newmarket 12 3-tier 180 51.0% Lowestoft 13 3-tier 798 48.3% Haverhill 14 3-tier 320 47.6%

Suffolk – A ‘Failing’ System?Suffolk's Position Nationally based on Contextual Value Added Score

20th out of 148 Local Authorities

Suffolk's Position Nationally based on GCSE (English Maths included)

55th out of 148 Local Authorities

Suffolk's Position Nationally based on A Level Average Points Score

52nd out of 148 Local Authorities

This shows we can improve but are far from as bad as suggested by the report

5 Common Misconceptions

This isn’t going to cost us taxpayers anything!

The Growing Gap in the Reorganisation / BSF timings

5 Common Misconceptions

We can’t change anything so why bother?

Bedfordshire give us a model to follow

What can we do?

• Write to local and county councillors (letter and contact details available at end of this meeting)

• Write to your MP – contact details available • Sign the paper Petition – currently over 7,000

signatures• Petition the Prime Minister -

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Suffolk-Schools/ • Local Parent reps at each school co-ordinating

and communicating action

What PAC aims to do

• Make councillors and MP’s aware of the importance of this matter to their voters and their concerns

• Raise public awareness through the media• Co-ordinate events and demos to inform the public and

get signatures on the petition against change• Provide information and communication via a parents’

website www.parentsagainstchange.org • Encourage councillors and MP’s to fully understand the

true impact of their decision before they vote on22nd March

• Present the petition to Council on 22nd March

We want Suffolk County Council to

• Keep the current structures and work on improving results within them

• Invest in the teachers and facilities – it’s the teachers that make the difference not the system

• Take more time to look at the 2 year KS3 test which is being piloted across the country

• Not waste the BSF money by sacrificing the education of a generation

• Keep our Middle Schools and a system that works

Quotes About Middle Schools• “Middle schools in Suffolk have an atmosphere which is exciting and

unique”• “Both educationally and socially pupils benefit from the unique

opportunities provided by middle schools” • “Middle schools have been acknowledged as presenting one of the

most enriching and formative environments in which it is possible to learn”

• “They provide for their pupils a positive influence, which has been seen to continue long after they have left, not only in knowledge, but also in motivation, self-confidence, teamwork and the capacity for independent study”

• “… an environment which is stimulating and challenging to the children and one in which they are encouraged to believe that they can achieve”

• “Suffolk middle schools are at the heart of learning”

Not our words – all taken from Suffolk County Council Website!!

We can make a difference• Bedfordshire successfully fought to keep

middle schools from the same position we now find ourselves in

• It was the parents who were able to persuade the local politicians

It’s in our hands