EDUCAT ION
start off with, so children do better than you’d have expected them to. How much better can vary substantially, but good teaching that challenges children and inspires a real love of learning can make an enormous difference. Seeing where that learning takes place can also give families a nice, warm feeling. Nothing beats seeing just where the school is investing its money, from high-tech science labs (clinical white with splashes of primary colours is a wish list must-have for many a department head
up as 100% – but tell you almost nothing about how strong modern languages teaching is at the school. Again, seek comparisons with previous years. That side-by-side column will tell it like it is. Ask about progress, too. Many schools assess pupils – state schools are required to do so – at regular intervals. Most schools now measure ‘value added’ – aka the way pupils perform against others of similar raw ability, so ask whether and how this is done, says John Attwater. Their goal is to improve on the raw material they
99
C A M B S E D I T I O N . C O . U K
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9
Powered by FlippingBook