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Failing to make the grade
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| Alison Dean, front left, and Courtney Wellesley-Davies, front right, with fellow A-Level students at Peter Symonds College, Winchester. Echo picture by Chris Moorhouse. Order nos: 4235413 |
HUNDREDS of Hampshire pupils are leaving school without basic skills in maths and English, the Daily Echo can reveal.
Fewer than four in ten pupils (36.10 per cent) at Southampton's secondary schools scored at least five C grades in their GCSE subjects including maths and English.
Across Hampshire just over half of pupils (50.2 per cent) achieved the same benchmark, new figures released today reveal. Head teachers of some of the region's worst performing schools have pledged to do better with a greater focus on the two core subjects.
It is the first time the league tables have judged schools on their basic literacy and numeracy levels at GCSE.
Now all schools must show the proportion of pupils scoring at least five C grades in subjects including English and maths. Previously schools were able to include results for any five GCSEs or equivalent vocational subjects.
Click HERE for the full story and download the tables
10:45am Thursday 11th January 2007
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CommentPosted by: Wendy Harding on 1:11pm Thu 11 Jan 07
Hardly surprising when many primary schools are teaching children that even though a word is spelt incorrectly it is perfectly ok as long as it is spelt the way it is sounds phonetically or when maths is taught using a system called number line instead of good old fashion long division. How are we as parents supposed to assist our children with their education when they are being taught a completely different system.
Hardly surprising when many primary schools are teaching children that even though a word is spelt incorrectly it is perfectly ok as long as it is spelt the way it is sounds phonetically or when maths is taught using a system called number line instead of good old fashion long division. How are we as parents supposed to assist our children with their education when they are being taught a completely different system.
Posted by: tony on 1:54pm Thu 11 Jan 07
[quote][bold]Wendy Harding[/bold] wrote:
Hardly surprising when many primary schools are teaching children that even though a word is spelt incorrectly it is perfectly ok as long as it is spelt the way it is sounds phonetically or when maths is taught using a system called number line instead of good old fashion long division. How are we as parents supposed to assist our children with their education when they are being taught a completely different system.[/quote] Well Wendy, you could try learning the new system. I too found my son's maths homework confusing but getting him to explain how it worked also helped him to understand it better. I personally think that spelling is important but I can also see that it shouldn't necessarily attract penalties in subjects other than literacy if the child's meaning is clear. A little tolerance is a good thing so I won't point out the missing question mark in your last sentence.
Wendy Harding wrote:
Hardly surprising when many primary schools are teaching children that even though a word is spelt incorrectly it is perfectly ok as long as it is spelt the way it is sounds phonetically or when maths is taught using a system called number line instead of good old fashion long division. How are we as parents supposed to assist our children with their education when they are being taught a completely different system.
Well Wendy, you could try learning the new system. I too found my son's maths homework confusing but getting him to explain how it worked also helped him to understand it better. I personally think that spelling is important but I can also see that it shouldn't necessarily attract penalties in subjects other than literacy if the child's meaning is clear. A little tolerance is a good thing so I won't point out the missing question mark in your last sentence.
Posted by: Robert on 10:00am Sat 13 Jan 07
There's nothing bad about these findings if you look at the socio-economic profile of Southampton's school population and compare it with Hampshire as a whole. I doubt that the pupils and teachers in Southampton's schools are less worthy of merit than in Hampshire. You've got to compare like with like.
There's nothing bad about these findings if you look at the socio-economic profile of Southampton's school population and compare it with Hampshire as a whole. I doubt that the pupils and teachers in Southampton's schools are less worthy of merit than in Hampshire. You've got to compare like with like.
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