From Anne Southern

Anne Southern, JDA Secretary  

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JOHN MILLS IS WRONG ABOUT OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM

I have been fascinated by the interest shown in the examination results of four of our secondary schools by Mr. John Mills, the former chief executive of the States of Jersey. He argues that by comparing our examination results with the UK statistics , it is clear to him that two of our schools have much worse results than those at the very bottom of the English league.

He goes on to claim that Jersey is in denial of these facts and that many school children are being badly served by our education system.

There is a huge hole in his argument, which is that most English State schools are virtually fully comprehensive, which means that they do not select by academic ability . Only 7% are in fee paying schools which may or may not be selective. As a result, these schools mix those with high academic ability with those who are less able or disaffected. Exam results reflect the mixed abilities of students in these schools.

Jersey is totally different. 41% of students are in fee-paying schools. Victoria College and JCG select only those students with above average ability.

 Anne Southern

JDA Secretary and president of the Jersey Teachers Association

Beaulieu and De La Salle do not select by academic ability, but nevertheless the average CAT scores in these schools are at the higher end of the ability range. (CAT stands for Cognitive Ability Tests - in verbal and non-verbal reasoning, which all students take at different stages of their education.) At the age of 14, those with high CAT scores are eligible to apply for Hautlieu, and about 15% of the most ale transfer.

Although some brighter students opt to remain in the 11-16 schools (particularly at Les Quennevais, due in part to its distance from Hautlieu) and transfer to Hautlieu at 16, on the whole, the majority of those remaining in the 11-16 schools have lower than average CAT scores, and would not expect to continue with an academic education.

To compare the A* to C grades between schools is therefore misleading. The attainment of students in the system as a whole compares well with the UK. Maybe it should be higher due to Jersey’s social profile, but CAT scores in Jersey are not higher than those in the UK.

To label certain schools as ‘failing’ on such narrow criteria is wrong. By looking at Value Added scores, which measure pupils’ progress, and attainment in relation to their CAT scores, schools such as Grainville are highly successful. It is also successful in terms of keeping children in school (avoiding truancy and suspensions) and helping them to continue into work or further education. The 11-16 schools also specialise in dealing with Special Needs – in the case of Grainville, students with dyslexia, autism and Asperger’s syndrome. These achievements are ignored by John Mills who considers the A* to C measure as the only valid one.

John Mills was not aware that GCSEs are not an absolute measure of attainment, but are normalised in order to award grades above a C level to the top 50% (approximately) of the cohort in any one year. It would be impossible for all students to achieve the higher grades in an exam designed to select the more academically able. He does not mention that the pass grade in these exams is a grade G, and attainment at this level will allow students to proceed to certain vocational courses at Highlands.

He also comments on A level achievement and says that the average A level achievement for a Jersey student is 3 grade Bs. This is well above achievement in the UK as an average ‘A’ level pass is a C. John Mills says the Jersey results are not good enough because 3 Bs would not allow a student to enter a Russell Group university. These are the universities that select the very brightest students, so it is illogical to expect all students to have the ability or the desire to attend these universities. However it is certainly not the case that suitable students are not encouraged to aspire to the best universities and given detailed advice about the ‘A’ level choices that will enable them to do so. He also says that ‘A’ level achievement does not compare across subjects. He does not seem to be aware that entry criteria for ‘A’ level courses will vary from school to school and subject to subject.

Those embarking on ‘A’ level maths may be required to have an ‘A’ at GCSE, whereas it may be possible to enter another ‘A’ level course, such as music, without a GCSE pass in the subject. He also ignores the fact that students take an intermediate AS exam and those without a good enough grade will not be allowed to proceed to A2. As students tend to get either very high or very low results in maths the weaker students are likely to drop the subject before going into their final year which would account for the high proportion of grade As. Weaker students in arts subjects tend to get more average grades at AS and therefore proceed to A2.

Much has been made in the current debate about the fitness of students for employment. Most children can read, write and handle numbers when they leave primary school. It is not realised that the GCSEs have a much wider brief. (Only about 20% of the marks in GCSE English are awarded for spelling, grammar and punctuation). They represent a cultural entitlement for all students, rather than vocational training. (For example English GCSE requires students to respond to literature, including a play by Shakespeare and a novel written before 1914. In maths, students do a lot of algebra, including quadratic equations.). Though I’m sure John Mills knows better, many have interpreted the published results to mean that many students leave our 11-16 schools unable to read and write, and unfit for employment, which is certainly not the case.

John Mills is not an educationalist and has based his comments on a limited understanding of the system. Openness is generally to be welcomed, but this is a complex issue and has led to schools being labelled, unfairly, as failing schools. Where this occurs in the UK, this has the effect of lowering morale and sending these schools into a downward spiral which is in no-one’s best interest. League tables have been shown to have a negative effect on achievement, resulting in a teaching to the test, and a focus on nudging students over the C/D borderline. Also, competition between schools will have a negative effect on the co-operation between schools and the sharing of good practice that is a feature of our system.

Standards are constantly and rigorously monitored in our schools and teachers are held accountable for, and their progression up the pay scales depends on, their pupils’ progress. No-one is complacent.

John Mills’ publication of the results, for whatever reason, has done nothing but damage. He may be right in saying that a more comprehensive system would be educationally better, but education is an emotive issue in Jersey, with family tradition playing a large part in what parents want for their children, and tampering with our system will be a perilous undertaking.

TAKE THAT MR DIX

JDA Secretary and president of the Jersey Teachers Association, Anne Southern, has been particularly angered by a letter to the Jersey Evening Post, by Mr. John Dix, who persistently shows his ignorance on many matters, and decided to have a dig at the island’s pupils and teachers.  The message is very clear—with respect to education in Jersey Mr. Dix is, as usual, totally out of his depth and in denial of the facts.  Well done Anne - he deserves all he gets

Anne’s  letter reads: 

Your political correspondent, among others, has claimed that the exam results for Jersey schools should be in the public domain. Whilst agreeing that openness is generally to be welcomed, it is regrettable that in this case the issues are complex and have led to much ill-informed comment and illogical conclusions. John Dix’s letter (9^th March) is an extreme example. I don’t know whether he accepts that overall, students’ achievement in Jersey compares favourably with that in the UK. However, he does appear to assume that any students not achieving the benchmark grades are ‘unable to read, express themselves and understand simple mathematics’ and are not equipped for life. This is patently not the case.

The  5 A* - C grades (including English and Maths) are used as a benchmark figure, because that is the level which students need to reach in order be considered suitable for ‘A’ level study. When I was at school, this was the equivalent of 5 ‘O’ levels, and only 20% of students were expected to achieve this. The fact that over 50% of students do so now must say much for the efforts of teachers and pupils.

Though exams are marked according to certain criteria, the marks needed to achieve a particular grade are norm referenced – ie the exam boards set the mark needed to achieve a grade C so that only the top 53% (approximately) can reach it. If not reaching a C grade is to fail, then this is the destiny of about 47% of pupils across the jurisdictions served by that exam board.

However, students who do not get a grade C have still achieved something positive. Grade G is the official pass grade. With GCSEs at this grade it is possible to go to Highlands and study an Entry Level BTEC Diploma in Vocational Studies. A student needs an average Grade E for a BTEC Diploma in Business Administration. A Diploma in Beauty Therapy  requires 4 D grades (including English and Maths).

To achieve a notional grade D in English, according to the AQA mark schemes, students must be able do such things as make a structured response to their reading and make a ‘clear and effective attempt to engage with the task’. They must also be able to produce a range of comment supported by evidence. (Something Mr Dix appears unable to do.) Their writing must show a clear identification with purpose and audience, use a range of organisational devices, and demonstrate a clear selection of vocabulary for effect. It can be seen that those students who, with their teachers’ encouragement, reach this level, have achieved skills beyond a basic ability to read and write.

Teachers at all Jersey schools work long hours to raise the aspirations of young people and help them to make progress to achieve their objectives, whatever these may be. Their performance is closely monitored. To conclude that teachers do not deserve to maintain their pay levels is simply offensive.

Anne Southern

President Jersey Teachers’ Association

La Rochelle, St Helier.

*2000-2006 Treasurer’s Report p.xi. Financial Report & Accounts, 2006

  2007-2008 Treasurer’s Report Table 2, p.7. Financial Report & Accounts, 2008

  2009 Treasurer’s Report Table 4, p.8. Financial Report & Accounts, 2009

 (E) Estimates Draft Budget Statement 2011 Summary Table B p.74

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