By Gavin Mackintosh-
A south London grammar school which forced pupils out at the end of year 12 because of their AS-level grades has been condemned by an independent inquiry. The inquiry said the grammar school had “put the institution above the pupils”.
The independent inquiry commissioned by Bromley Council concluded that St Olave’s in Orpington unlawfully prevented pupils from continuing into their second year of sixth form for several years. The inquiry detailed how a move to toughen the entry criteria for year 13 last year left pupils crying in the school car park.
The inquiry concluded that Year 12 pupils were being forced out of the school as long ago as 2011, after existing admissions rules were misinterpreted, the inquiry found. Overall, 16 year 12 pupils had their places withdrawn last year, on the grounds that they did not perform well enough in their AS-level exams. This followed a move by the school to change its policy to require three B grades at AS-level, rather than three C-grades, to justify continued study.
Last summer an investigation by the Guardian exposed the bullish state of the top grammar schools that left teenage pupils were left in tears after being told to leave, after the end-of-year exams. Legal action which ultimately prompted an immediate U turn of their policy.
Aydin Önaç, the school’s former headteacher, who resigned last November, was not told his actions were illegal, the inquiry heard. However, the duty is on all head teachers to know the law and act on it. It is beyond belief that a grammar head teacher did not know the law.
Statutory school exclusion guidance makes it clear that it is “unlawful to exclude a pupil for a reason such as academic attainment or ability”. There are good schools in England that can and do exclude pupils for not complying with academic training like doing assignments or homework, where this can be put down to defiance or laziness. Schools like that should be commended since pupils need that level of discipline to ensure they attain a good education.
St Olave’s grammar school admissions code also insists schools “must not withdraw a place once a child has started at the school unless it was fraudulently obtained”. However, The Eye Of Media.Com has heard that this provision relates to admission based on academic ability and does not prevent a school from expelling a pupil who does not co-operate with academic discipline like instructions to read material and enhance their academic knowledge base by doing assignments or coursework. Pupils may be expelled from various schools for violent behaviour too, but not for failing to attain desirable grades.
The report also heavily criticised the way the school communicated with pupils who were told they couldn’t stay on. It describes “distraught pupils, both boys and girls, crying in the car park”, with angry parents “who had not been invited in to support their children being given the bad news”.It has also emerged that governors “were not involved in or kept up to date” with events at the end of the summer last year. Upon receiving a briefing on September 13, “they had discovered they were being taken to court without having been informed”.
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Paul Wright, the school’s new chair of governors, said: “We welcome the report and fully accept its findings and recommendations. We have already
taken a number of proactive steps to address many of the issues raised, particularly around governance and student welfare.
“Listening and working with you as parents and carers, together with staff and students, has been key in making these improvements. We know there is still work to be done and so we will continue to work with you, the borough and the Diocese of Rochester as we seek to address any remaining actions.”
St Olaves grammar school is home to very intelligent and academic pupils, all of whom passed their eleven plus exams in addition to an entrance exam to gain admission in the first place.
It is unarguably one of the very best secondary schools in the Uk with a 96% A level results at A*/B grades and 90% of GCSE results at A*/A. Listed as the Sunday Times 2nd best State school for 2017, over 200 of its students have been offered Oxbridge places.
One staff teacher told the Eye Of Media.Com that the standard of education in the school was so high that many of their students were close to A level standards during their G.C.S.E preparations. ”Our pupils are put through a very rigid academic development that puts them on an academic level higher than G.C.S.E’s even before they have taken their G.C.S.E’s. That’s one of the reasons most pupils are expected to be top class by the time pupils are taking their AS or A levels”, the staff member who insisted on anonymity said. Exclusion for falling short of required grades may have been a bit too strict, and the school will learn from that.
Pupils in this school are trained to work very hard and are tested regularly and encouraged to read broadly right from their first year and including holiday periods where many of them are continuously guided by tutors who prepare them in advance for the year ahead. The Sunday Times rewarded St. Olave’s grammar school as the “State Secondary School of the Year” 2009. It was also listed by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools as “An outstanding provider of education.”
The very high achieving school is only for very serious pupils with supporting parents, but its one weakness was in failing to realise that not all students will be able to adjust well to those very high standards.
Pic Credit: St Olaves.net