Discovering Higher and Degree Apprenticeships with UWE Bristol, get free advice >>

What would your perfect school be like?

Sorry if this has been done before

I'm just curious as to what you guys would like your *ideal* work environment to be like. It doesn't matter if your "perfect school" wouldn't be realistic, just pretend you could set up your own. :smile:

Here are some aspects to consider:

-state, voluntary aided (faith) / trust or independent school; day school, boarding school or other?

-selective/non-selective (by grades or by other attributes, i.e. you could select students from low- or high-income households, from a specific class, or family situation (two-parents, single-parent, orphans etc.), religious faith, ...)

-how many students, how many teachers? administrative staff etc.? preferred class size? short terms/long terms?

-what curriculum/syllabuses? (GCSE/IGCSE; A-Level, IB, Pre-U; BTECs ; ... ?) Are there subjects you would/wouldn't offer? ("respected" vs "not respected" (etc.) subjects?)

-what extracurricular activities?

-other stuff?

Reply 1

Samsoonie

Here's my perfect one:

- International school.
- Selective (20% acceptance rate).
- Average class size (1 staff : 7 Students).
- IB.
- Almost everything.
- iMac desktops everywhere.

...which is my current school :biggrin:

Reply 2

Blue.China

- would like boarding school, but figure it'll be too intense/no privacy, so day school
- non-selective!
- big school with many students/teachers. big class size of 20-25. short terms!
- gcse and alevels (that's all i know). wouldn't not offer any subject, people can take what they want
- hockey and smimming for definite

Reply 3

Voldemort

Heres the perfect school I wouldl ike to teach in someday :biggrin:

-I would like it to be a day school though I definately wouldn't be against the idea of teaching in a boarding school.
-Non-Selective
-I would like it to be 25 pupils per class in the younger years and maybe 10 student in every class at A level.
- Any type of course that would suit the students in question.
- Any as long as it didn't interfere with class time.

Reply 4

tazarooni89

I want to go to Hogwarts :frown:

Reply 5

tazarooni89

Actually, my ideal school would be:

Huge. At least 4000 pupils, and occupying a very large area of land. If you felt like going on a scenic walk one day, you could do it without having to leave the grounds.

Single sex - although with a "sister school" next to it, occupying the same grounds, but for the other gender. Kind of like the school I actually used to go to. It was essentially a co-educational school, but the girls had their own buildings, with lessons separately, and their own teachers/headmistress. But the grounds, and extra-curricular activites were shared.

Selective, with entry requirements based on academic ability only. So an exam would be necessary - and possibly an interview for candidates on the borderline of the exam.

Both boarding and day. The ratio would be around 60% boarders and 40% day pupils.

Lot's of facilities. Huge library, Football pitches, Hockey astroturfs, tennis/squash courts, sports hall, a well maintained computer network, and everything you'd expect from a school with lots of money. Also a house system, for a bit of competition in sports and other activities.

The teaching would be tailored towards GCSEs and A-Levels, but the school wouldn't offer any "soft" subjects. You know the ones I'm talking about... All the others would be offered though. My school didn't offer Additional Maths GCSE which I wasn't too please about...

No particular "official" religion, but still providing facilities for people from the major religions.

Lots of teachers, but still fairly large class sizes. And the teachers would actually get paid well.

Reply 6

cpj1987

My perfect school exists in the form of Summerhill School:

http://www.summerhillschool.co.uk/

Reply 7

Tombola

cpj1987

My perfect school exists in the form of Summerhill School:

http://www.summerhillschool.co.uk/

Same. I'd be happy with a school where teachers could teach their own thing (As long as it's within reason) :biggrin:

Having said that I heard summerhill school was doing rather badly....

Reply 8

Angelil

Wouldn't mind what type as long as it wasn't boarding. Independent is fine as long as it's well-regulated.
I have always worked in relatively small schools (my current school only has c.300 students, from kindergarten up to Y13!) so I think that would factor into my ideal.
More IT rooms than my current school has, and a library like the secondary I went to, would also be a plus. Sports facilities on site, so that the kids don't have to be bussed out. Minimal additional costs e.g. not having to pay for overheads even if the kids aren't buying the school food.
Would offer multiple programmes (IB, vocational qualifications etc) and a wide range of subjects, particularly a good range of both ancient and modern languages. Affordable private music lessons available to all pupils.
Classes would be streamed, and AEAs would be offered. Teachers would be able to write their own reports (not just choose a selection from a list of 40 comment codes in a computer), and disciplinary procedures would follow through appropriately rather than just being empty threats.
Practical life skills would be taught as well - never mind all this Food Tech nonsense where all you do is mess up what was a perfectly good recipe. I mean cooking good, basic, healthy food, basic DIY and electronics, and needlework etc, for everyone, without these being segregated in terms of gender.
Every student would have a personal tutor who isn't their homeroom teacher that they could go to with academic or personal worries. There would also be a dedicated medical room with a nurse, and 'alternative sports' would be offered such as dance, gymnastics and trampolining. There would also be a fully equipped gym and swimming pool.

High standards? Moi? :biggrin:

Reply 9

KayleeLand

One where teachers were valued and respected by not only senior members of staff, but the children also.

Reply 10

letsdothetimewarpagain

To me exams and results don't make a perfect school. If I am happy, learning and beingsupported then it is perfect.

Reply 11

llys

I'm resurrecting this thread because I think it might be interesting to see replies from new people.

Here's mine, anyway:

state boarding school with some day pupils (year 7 - year 13)
non-selective (admissions based on need)
every pupil and his or her parent or guardian must sign a behavior contract

400 pupils, 60 teachers(?),
class size: 12-16,
3 terms x 12 weeks, with an optional fourth term (8 weeks) for pupils who have nowhere to go over the summer
three streams: Technology, Humanities, Sports
timetable: 8am-5pm MO-FR
no homework (work is done in school under supervision)

Curriculum: not the national curriculum, but nevertheless, some external qualifications.
Compulsory for all pupils (regardless of stream):
English Language, Mathematics, History, Double Science, 2 foreign languages
plus one additional subject from: Additional Mathematics, Literature, Geography, Latin, Astronomy or Economics

Compulsory curriculum that is not externally assessed, but internally assessed by projects:
1. Technology (D&T, Engineering, Computing)
2. Expressive Arts (Music, Art, Drama) (free instrumental lessons)
3. Sports
4. Extended School / Outreach (organising events)

6th form: Pre-Us in 3-4 of 12 subjects on offer, some of which can be fast-tracked (small sixth form, so more subject choice would probably not be viable) + a range of (paid) apprenticeship options (at the school or in local businesses) which can be combined with Pre-Us or not.

Reply 12

nikki_louise

i like the idea of this thread :smile:

would be a state day school (year 7-13), non-selective,

i would like a big school in big groups blocks for different sections of the cirriculum:
- humanities (history, geography, r.e
- arts (art, textiles, d&t, drama, music etc) with a proper theatre for drama and music products
-maths and ict block
-science block
- two sports halls, with swimming pool, gym and tennis courts etc

i would make sure that everyone did one language up to GCSE (i wish i had!) and also have to do one humanities subject as well.

school timtable would be 8.30-3.00 with the school open until 5 for students to do extra cirrculum activities and the chance to do homework with all the resources availble at school- the library would have a huge selection of resources and be central to student learning

the over all cirriculum would generally follow the national cirriculum although teachers would have more chance to express their own interests within what they teach and field trips would happen far more often.

GCSES would be on offer for ks4 but classes with student would find it hard with maths and english will a very low teacher to student ratio with lots of learning support help.

6th form students would have a huge choice of subjects and would be able to do a levels or the IB depending on what they wanted to do.

lastly i would make sure all students took proper life skill lessons such as managing money, setting up a bank account, getting a job, DIY, supporting yourself- including paying bills, feeding yourself etc.

Reply 13

boroboy88

I find it surprising that so many people want to work in boarding schools although this is maybe because I have no experience of them myself.

My ideal school would be a large primary school maybe part of an all through school, at least 2 or 3 form entry. I would like it to be in an economically deprived area with a real mixture of children. Well resourced to give the children all the best facilities to learn and develop in. I would like the school to have a flexible and creative curriculum. Having easy going and a fun loving staff is also important to me.