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Thread: Local high schools mentioned in "Daily Record" online today

  1. #1
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    Default Local high schools mentioned in "Daily Record" online today

    There is an article in the "Daily Record" online today titled "Scotland's schools ranked from best to worst by Higher results".

    Percentage of five higher passes shown in brackets.

    287. Wick High School, Highland (23)

    304. Thurso High School, Highland (22)

    Source:

    https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/s...worst-21981461

  2. #2

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    Wasn’t there a time not so long ago when Thurso High School was atop, or nearly atop, of the list? Maybe back in the heyday of Dounreay?

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    I don't know if it was at the top, but I believe it was a relatively good school. I was shocked that it now has such a low placing in the league table.

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    It is, unfortunately, an ongoing trend in the devolved countries of the UK. The following graphic from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-50642855 Pisa test result averages in science

    Scores of 15-year-old pupils, UK nations

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Where attainment, in this case in Science in the devolved nations has consistently fallen further than in England. Scotland used to be "well up there", but its very clear to see what devolution is doing to the education systems of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Of course, England is falling too, just not as much as the others. Perhaps an indication that modern education isn't cutting it, and there should be a return to some of the ways that we know worked.

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    Quote Originally Posted by orkneycadian View Post
    It is, unfortunately, an ongoing trend in the devolved countries of the UK. The following graphic from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-50642855 Pisa test result averages in science

    Scores of 15-year-old pupils, UK nations

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	download.png 
Views:	166 
Size:	44.5 KB 
ID:	35227

    Where attainment, in this case in Science in the devolved nations has consistently fallen further than in England. Scotland used to be "well up there", but its very clear to see what devolution is doing to the education systems of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Of course, England is falling too, just not as much as the others. Perhaps an indication that modern education isn't cutting it, and there should be a return to some of the ways that we know worked.
    I find it extremely sad when a Scot reacts with such joyous, indeed malicious, glee when s/he perceives a failing in something for which the SG has responsibility. What kind of mindset do you have to have to go trawling for stories so that you can then derive pleasure from denigrating your own country? It is particularly galling that the person in question hankers for a bygone age and "...a return to some of the ways that we know worked.", yet appears not to know when to use an apostrophe.

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    What is quite striking for Scotland in the above graphic is the steepest decline of any of the UK nations from 2012 onwards. This is of course after the SNP success in the 2011 election and their immediate shifting of focus to the independence referendum. But still they think they are doing a good job on education. Unfortunately, the statistics prove otherwise.

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    Quote Originally Posted by orkneycadian View Post
    What is quite striking for Scotland in the above graphic is the steepest decline of any of the UK nations from 2012 onwards. This is of course after the SNP success in the 2011 election and their immediate shifting of focus to the independence referendum. But still they think they are doing a good job on education. Unfortunately, the statistics prove otherwise.
    Schadenfreude is an unfortunate trait at the best of times but this obsession with finding ways to make Scots feels bad about their country really needs to end. To find some statistics that you feel shows the country in a bad light and then joyously publish them on a web forum really takes a particular kind of twisted thinking. I cannot think of another country in the world where such a sizeable proportion of the population constantly seek to demean the country of their birth and actually seem to want it to fail.

    The implication in both of the BritNat-in-Chief's previous posts is that he wants devolution to end and all power to be restored to Westminster. The mere prospect of every aspect of our lives being in the hands of that incompetent bunch doesn't bear thinking about. Evidence from recent events should be a warning to us all that they couldn't run a raffle.

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    The steep decline coincided with the introduction of the so-called Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland. All or most of the teachers I know blame the CfE.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ecb View Post
    I don't know if it was at the top, but I believe it was a relatively good school. I was shocked that it now has such a low placing in the league table.
    I’m fairly sure THS’s Higher results were amongst the best of all state schools in the country way back in the 1970s. Maybe a retired teacher could confirm this.

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    I was at THS in the mid to late 1970s, if I remember correctly, the school performed particularly well in Science and Engineering subjects then.

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    Quote Originally Posted by aqua View Post
    The steep decline coincided with the introduction of the so-called Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland. All or most of the teachers I know blame the CfE.

    I have heard the same about CfE. But the thing that dismayed me most, is the relatively poor placing of THS (three hundred and fourth out of a total of three hundred and forty four secondary schools) in the table.

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    Yes, it’s a staggering decline. Mind you, Wick, Golspie, Dornoch and Tain are all in pretty much the same lowly position in the table, surrounded by schools in some of the most deprived areas in the country, which sadly are expected to be down there. Dingwall isn’t a lot better at number 252. What’s gone wrong in the north?

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    Quote Originally Posted by aqua View Post
    The steep decline coincided with the introduction of the so-called Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland. All or most of the teachers I know blame the CfE.
    Thanks for the pointer - I didn't realise. I have tried to Google Curriculum for Excellence for the rest of the UK to see how that compares, but all I can find is Curriculum for Excellence for Scotland. I note its overseen by Education Scotland, an executive agency of the Scottish Government, and was implemented in 2010-2011, so just ahead of the SNP government gaining a majority in 2011. So why has nothing been done about it since then, when it so obviously does not work? It would be "normal" for the present Government to say they inherited this problem from the previous one, but why has the Government since 2011 done nothing?

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    CfE is a purely Scottish thing. IIRC, it was implemented by the SNP government despite warnings by just about everyone. The SNP have been in government since 2007.

    Orkneycadian schools performed a bit better:

    168. Kirkwall Grammar School, Orkney Islands (33)
    202. Stromness Academy, Orkney Islands (31)

    The best performing school north of (or in) Inverness was:

    31. Fortrose Academy, Highland (54)

    Last edited by aqua; 21-May-20 at 19:52.

  15. #15

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    Lets hope that they can all go back as if not, what then?

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    I worry that the lockdown is easing before the number of active cases is sufficiently low. I would have preferred to see the UK daily infection rate below a few hundred cases a day, which would likely be soon with strict lockdown conditions. If the numbers start going up again significantly, the schools won’t be opening fully in August, and children’s education will really suffer.

    No one has offered an explanation for THS’s dramatic decline in exam performance over the decades. I could speculate, but it wouldn’t help anyone.

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    Its concerning as well that teachers are reporting that they are setting online lessons for classes of 30, and only 2 even bother to log on from home to do them. Some kids haven't told their parents that they have online lessons to be doing. I spoke to 1 parent who has kids home from school and she says that will not get up before midday, and then only play computer games - They will not do online lessons. And to cap it all, many folk say they don't have a good enough internet connection to do home schooling or working. But yet, they can figure out a way to get online gaming working.

    anyone who is at school in 2020 is really going to struggle finding a job later on. They will be known as the Coronavirus Generation, who will blame Coronaviris for their lack of education, when in reality they, like so many of their furloughed parents are simply milking the system. Whilst there are of course some who get up and log onto lessons first thing in the morning, reports from teachers are that those amount to about 7% of the class. Employers will be avoiding the class of 2020 like the, well, virus.

  18. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by orkneycadian View Post
    Its concerning as well that teachers are reporting that they are setting online lessons for classes of 30, and only 2 even bother to log on from home to do them. Some kids haven't told their parents that they have online lessons to be doing. I spoke to 1 parent who has kids home from school and she says that will not get up before midday, and then only play computer games - They will not do online lessons. And to cap it all, many folk say they don't have a good enough internet connection to do home schooling or working. But yet, they can figure out a way to get online gaming working.

    anyone who is at school in 2020 is really going to struggle finding a job later on. They will be known as the Coronavirus Generation, who will blame Coronaviris for their lack of education, when in reality they, like so many of their furloughed parents are simply milking the system. Whilst there are of course some who get up and log onto lessons first thing in the morning, reports from teachers are that those amount to about 7% of the class. Employers will be avoiding the class of 2020 like the, well, virus.
    A while back it was folk from the central belt. The other day it was public transport workers. Today it's schoolchildren. It's always women. Just to save us all the problem of trying to work it out please could you tell us who occupies the small list of people who get the Orkneycadian seal of approval. I have a postage stamp here and can provide a broad-nibbed felt pen for you to write it out.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Fulmar View Post
    Lets hope that they can all go back as if not, what then?
    Seems like they are to go back after the holidays (holidays? From what? They have been on holiday for the last 2 months!) to a "blended model". So time at school, some time online (playing games them) and some time on homework (more computer gaming).

    Looks like we are going to need freedom of movement after all, so that Scottish employers will be able to recruit educated employees with a work ethic.

  20. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by ecb View Post
    I have heard the same about CfE. But the thing that dismayed me most, is the relatively poor placing of THS (three hundred and fourth out of a total of three hundred and forty four secondary schools) in the table.
    THS’s poor placing in the table dismayed me too. What has happened to the school? Is there a shortage of teachers? Has the culture in the school changed? Has the attitude towards education in Thurso changed? Surely the youth of Thurso hasn’t become much less intelligent over the years!?

    I suspect people with kids of school age would think twice before moving to Thurso if they saw that table.

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