Thursday 21 January 2010

Back to school

Parent/teachers meeting went well. Miss Sensible is predicted straight 'A's as long as she stays focused. If she gets the grades for her Maths & English this summer, next year she'll pick up Stats & Film Studies so in theory she should get 12 GCSEs, not to be sniffed at. However, with my other head on, i.e. helping the governors, I know that that is actually both a positive and a negative for the school as on the one hand they get a set of excellent results, but on the other they are unable to demonstrate that they have developed her potential from where she initially started. Talk about conflicting targets, yet both parameter's have an impact on funding!

The Work Experience meeting later was a farce. The careers teacher made it sound like one week with an employer would make a vital difference to whether the pupils got a job in later life - talk about 'bigging it up'! I wanted to heckle from the sidelines but Miss Sensible saw it coming and elbowed me in the ribs. Looking at the situation as a recruiter and employer I know how difficult it is to provide work experience placements due to Health & Safety, plus Criminal Record Checks, and if we can offer an opportunity, the chances of them doing anything which will really enlighten them about work is somewhat limited. My personal view is they'd be better learning more around career/Further Education options so that they are better equiped to make informed decisions about their future.

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