Britain’s maths shame: Bright school children end up losing interest at secondary level

May 22nd, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

Nearly 90,000 early high achievers fail to repeat success at GCSE level
Students take maths exam early to ‘bank’ a C grade
Failure to stretch top pupils threatens future of scientists, mathematicians and engineers, says Chief Inspector

By
Laura Clark

PUBLISHED:

18:49 EST, 21 May 2012

|

UPDATED:

18:54 EST, 21 May 2012

Tens of thousands of bright pupils are under-achieving in maths as schools settle for ‘mediocrity’ that meets exam targets, school inspectors warn today.

Able children’s results – even in dumbed-down GCSEs – are a national concern, says an Ofsted report.

Almost 90,000 pupils who achieved ‘level five’ grades in their SATs at 11 failed to secure an A or A* at GCSE five years later, the report reveals.
Schools are content with Bs and Cs for these pupils in line with national targets, it is claimed.

Not reaching their potential: Tens of thousands of bright pupils are under-achieving in maths as schools settle for ¿mediocrity¿ that meets exam targets, school inspectors warn today

Not reaching their potential: Tens of thousands of bright pupils are under-achieving in maths as schools settle for ‘mediocrity’ that meets exam targets, school inspectors warn today

The report says: ‘A parent might legitimately ask, “How has my mathematically able child fallen back into mediocrity?”’

Secondary schools are judged by the Government on the proportion of youngsters gaining C grades or better in five GCSEs including maths and English.

They are also measured on the progress pupils make, with level five at 11 – one grade above the standard for the age group – expected to lead to grade B at GCSE.

Ofsted found that schools are increasingly putting pupils in for GCSE maths earlier than they need to in the hope of ‘banking’ a C grade so youngsters can concentrate on other subjects. This practice ‘hinders’ their ability to achieve top grades.

Concerned: Chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw said the extensive use of early GCSE entry puts too much emphasis on attaining a grade C

Chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw said: ‘The extensive use of early GCSE entry puts too much emphasis on attaining a grade C at the expense of adequate understanding and mastery of mathematics necessary to succeed at A-level and beyond.

‘Our failure to stretch some of our most able pupils threatens the future supply of well-qualified mathematicians, scientists and engineers.’

Ofsted’s report condemns ‘widespread use of early GCSE entry and repeated sitting of units’, which has encouraged ‘short-termism’ in teaching and ‘quick-fix’ booster classes to get pupils up to a C-grade level.

The watchdog declares it is a ‘grave concern that so many able pupils underachieve at GCSE’.

Following a survey of 160 primary and 160 secondary schools, it says that of 176,796 pupils who achieved level five in their maths SATs in 2006, about half – 89,125 – got no better than a B at GCSE in 2011. Some 37,600 achieved no better than a C.

‘This represents a waste of potential and should be a cause of national concern,’ the report says. ‘Too many schools were content with a grade B for their able pupils, speaking of them as “meeting their target” and “making expected progress.’

The report also concludes that GCSE maths is less demanding than it was just a few years ago, with pupils able to gain A grades despite having mastered barely any algebra.

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I very much agree with this article a few years ago i was told by my old maths teacher that when i learn maths i learn it in a different way to everyone else but when i began my gsces i was taught very differently and i ended up with a b when my target was an A*. School need understand not everyone learns in the same way and they should alter their teaching methods

– theboss, narnia, 22/5/2012 06:40

‘Our failure to stretch some of our most able pupils threatens the future supply of well-qualified mathematicians, scientists and engineers.’
There are just a multitude of problems associated with the above statement; many schools lack a competent maths teacher; one who can inspire actually ‘teach’ the work needed for math to be understood properly. Coaching to pass exams does not equate to good teaching …
An engineer does not have the same status when the title is pegged on to many ordinary (but neccessary) jobs like the various utilities rather than engineering specifically.
Years of dumbing down the system to the ‘one size fits all’ is now showing the results many warned of it is ironic that OFSTED (who loves uniformity tick-boxes) points this out!

– Dee, Midlands , 22/5/2012 06:33

Perhaps because once they get to secondary school they are tested and tested so constanlty that they get burnt out.

– annie, cheltenham, 22/5/2012 06:31

Teachers at my comprehensive school were unable to focus extra attention of bright children as they were so busy babysitting the unruly and often violent children. For this reason I have sent my child to the top public school in the UK….although I would have preferred him
to go to a comprehensive to get a taste of real life!

– ReadersMakeMeLaugh, Kidderminster, UK, 22/5/2012 06:12

I sent my son to private school for a short spell and he left at 13 to attend a local secondary school, OFSTED rated as outstanding, as a potentially straight “A” student. At that time he had a great enthusiasm for a number of subjects including Maths. He is now doing his GCSE’s and now seems to be happy just to achieve what the teachers seem to refer to consistently as “the Magic C” ( I thought it was a “Magic A” personally). He tells me that noone listens in some of classes and that there is a lot of talking whilst the teacher is trying to teach, so much so that he struggles to hear and therefore learn. My son will do fine because he is bright but won’t achieve his full potential. It seems a never ending struggle to elevate him from the attitude that seems to have been instilled in him that just scraping a pass is acceptable.

– Helen, Portsmouth, 22/5/2012 06:12

The UK puts no value on engineers. In North America an enginering degree in the electrical, civil, mechanical, computing disciplines is a very valued commodity, and the competition to get into these degree programs is fierce. The UK thinks an engineer is some low life that fixes their boiler. Not in other countries. The guy that fixes the boiler is NOT an engineer. He/she is a technician. If the UK insists that being an engineer is a sub class profession, because of your ridiculous class system, then you will never get incredibly gifted children to go into this profession or they will emigrate to get the recognition and pay scales they deserve.

– expat granny, cp ont, 22/5/2012 05:14

Well! What can we expect? After years of judgement by target and an irrational focus on the academically unable, of course students are taught to the test. Politicians of all parties obsessively focus on “achievement for all” and “every child to reach their full potential” when they mean “at least get most to the same mediocre place”. Much more money and time is spent on getting the less able students’ grades up than investing in the bright. We cannot do that, can we, because that would be elitism! It is about time poiliticians let teachers teach and stopped meddling in our schools.

– Michael, Herne Bay, 22/5/2012 05:04

I never did any GCSEs at all.In my school,we had to do entry level.If it’s that important to the future of our scientists,mathematicians and engineers,then they should change it.They should make it so that children are forced or made to practice using these “advanced maths” skills in school.Just like everyone is more or less forced to use arithmatic,just to get through the world.I’m sure there must be a way that you could bring some of this stuff into a lesson,but in an interesting way,rather than just study this or study that.If arfter they’ve been taught something,if children are then shown how they could use whatever it is hat they’ve been taught,I think that would make it alot more interesting.

– Matthew, London, 22/5/2012 04:59

Its not that simple. The infant school near us always inflates the grades their children get. The next school then looks bad and has to explain why on earth the children seem to go backwards!

– ciara, somerset, 22/5/2012 04:17

They don’t need maths their mothers teach them how to cont their benefits.

– Donald Merritt, Watford , 22/5/2012 01:25

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