The School Lottery
The natural dread of an exam result is universal. Be it medical, academic or even the MOT, we all opt for omens of good luck to spur things along in our favour. But key to the result is that we had an element of material involvement in the result. Welcome then to the school lottery!
The vast majority of parents display a preference for their child to receive the best education possible. Most of this aspiration lies in the hands of third parties; schools, teachers, the National Curriculum and the DfES. Understandably, the thought of a place in the preferred local school being subject to a lottery is abhorrent to all parents.
Although the achievement of these key schools must be applauded, perhaps we should be asking more of the system by insisting that the majority of schools achieve this status rather offering lottery places to the few. History, however, would suggest that such utopian dreams take a few generations to achieve. What then is the alternative?
There are a finite number of schools and teachers, with an infinite range of achievement. Allowing for the massive “churn rate” of teachers leaving the profession after three years, the opportunity to establish skilled teachers occurs within a greatly reduced core sample. Add in the schools running without a Head teacher (some up to two years) and those facing a retiring Head in the next few years and the problem can only get worse in the short term.
The resultant high stress levels amongst teachers are well documented, but this situation is also endemic with parents. Ironically, the answer may lie more with the parents than the school.
Clearly the classroom teaching function is vital, but sadly the opportunity to practice the lesson content in a crowed classroom is generally very restricted. Compelling evidence shows that the largest learning retention rate of 75% is achieved by practice. In comparison the initial teaching lesson in class achieves around 5% retention.
The mobilisation of parents towards operating a lesson reinforcement programme at home would have a profound effect on the achievement of children. With 20% of parents supporting their child in this way represents a 300% increase in the teaching capacity of the UK. The development of modern teaching resources encompasses board games and teaching apparatus induces a huge element of fun and enjoyment into the lesson. That can be replicated at home. Computers alone have opened the door to a comprehensive range of resources unheard of 5-10 years ago.
These teaching resources are now available to the parent at home, where the active involvement of the parent in these educational games provides fantastic support for the child. Reinforcing the classroom lessons on a 1:1 relationship at the pace of the child pays dividends to the child and is welcomed by teachers at school. It also provides the parent with a dynamic involvement in the schooling progress of their child.
Witnessing a child struggling with conventional homework, yet unable to help, or hearing a subject described as boring because they don’t really understand can be a thing of the past. Alternatively we could leave it with to the odds of a school place lottery, or invest in a £60,000 premium on the house to move to an ideal catchment area or wait for a fundamental review of the educational system.
