Has Life at High School Improved Since The 1980s?

And are Ofted reports too eager to praise?

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

A few days ago, I heard Phil Redmond on BBC Radio 4 Today talking about Grange Hill, which is returning as a movie.

Cassie Buchanan was also on the show. She said schools are calmer now than they were years ago — but I’m not sure whether I agree with that. (She went on to say that her schools are calm, safe, focused places of learning.)

Hearing that discussion on the radio made me think about my children’s high school experiences, and how they compare to my own.

* * * * *

Open Evenings

A few years ago, when my children were nearing the end of primary school, we attended open evenings at three local high schools.

Here in the UK, Ofsted are responsible for inspecting schools, and we only looked at those which were highly rated.

During the open evenings, the schools all had very high opinions of themselves. That makes sense of course — after all, they wouldn’t want to tell potential newcomers how bad things are.

In one case, I found it almost comical how the headteacher strutted around on stage like a peacock, boasting about his school’s amazing achievements, and plans for expansion.

My experience of high school in the 80s was grim and gritty. So the glowing reports and positive viewpoints gave me high hopes that things would be better for my children.

It’s hard for a parent to know what it’s really like to be a pupil in school today. But from what my children have told me, and from what others have said, there is still a lot of room for improvement.

Also, when you consider that we only looked at schools with the highest Ofsted rating, I dread to think what the worst ones are like!

* * * * *

School Life

Things at my children’s high school still sound very similar to my old high school in certain ways.

Bullying

Despite being big on anti-bullying policies, anyone who is perceived as different gets targetted.

This could include race, disability, gender, neurodivergency and sexual orientation. Or it could be the brand of school bag they carry.

I know a child who goes to one of the schools we didn’t select, which is also highly rated. They wear anti-bullying hoodies at a certain point in the year. Unfortunately, the school updates the hoodie every year, which leads to a sad but ironic situation:

Children are bullied for not having the latest anti-bullying hoodie!

My eldest child has been a victim of bullying on a couple of occasions. During his first few weeks there, he came home with something sticky in his hair. The school’s response was minimal and ineffective. They couldn’t figure out who did it, despite knowing who sat behind him in the lessons where it probably happened.

On another occasion, I found some disgusting and insulting cartoon drawings which someone had given him about 12 months earlier. The cartoons implied that he was some sort of sexual pervert!

I felt so upset that my son had been subjected to such horrible abuse, and that he’d felt unable to tell me about it — rather like how I’d not told my parents when I was bullied. Unfortunately, the boy responsible had already left the school when I found the drawings, so he went unpunished.

Difficult Pupils

Some of the trouble-makers at my children’s school were expelled from other schools. I suppose they have to go somewhere, and it’s admirable that someone is trying to turn things around for them. But it certainly makes life miserable for the majority.

Uniform

The school uniform policies seem stricter than ever. Perhaps they think it improves discipline. But to me, such strictness rarely makes much sense.

Pupils are punished by staff for wearing a coat within the school grounds, no matter how cold or wet the weather is. It’s similar if they’re not wearing the correct shoes or jumper.

I’ve even heard of pupils being sent home because their school shoes do not comply with the school rules — despite being sold as school shoes in the shops.

But what does all this teach them? To follow petty bureaucratic rules, even when they make no sense? To never question authority? To think appearance is more important than behaviour?

It’s frustrating when well-behaved children are punished for very minor things, while badly-behaved children cause massive disruption — yet very little seems to be done about it.

Toilets

The toilets at my old school were not the nicest of places. But the situation at my children’s school is even worse.

Over the years they’ve described some disgusting things, such as finding excrement smeared all over the handwashing facilities.

The cubicles are virtually unusable, either because of the state they’re in, or because other children stand outside and force the door open when someone is in there for more than 30 seconds.

It makes me shudder to think of my youngest son trying to wash his hands at school, before injecting insulin for his type 1 diabetes.

Very often, he waits until he gets home, rather than using the facilities at school — which sounds just like me back in the 80s.

Staff Changes

When I was at school, I had the same teachers for years, whereas my children have experienced far more staff changes.

Sadly, it’s often the best teachers who leave. But no matter how skilled the replacements are, it still causes a lot of disruption.

* * * * *

Poor Administration

The vast majority of communication is now electronic, which is a big change from the 80s.

Most of the messages from my children’s school are incredibly verbose, and feel like a continuation of the sort of self-praise seen during the open evenings.

I don’t really mind lengthy newsletters, because I don’t have to find actionable information in them.

However, emails about specific events are another matter.

I find myself searching through numerous paragraphs, trying to find the one line which tells me what I need to know.

Ironically, key information is often missing from emails. For example, the one about prom did not say where children should be dropped off, or which building they should head to, despite it being held on a large and unfamiliar site.

The school office usually ignores emails, such as when I asked about gluten-free food because of coeliac disease. And phone calls tend to be met with a stern, abrupt tone.

After-school activities are frequently cancelled without any notice — as though this won’t cause any disruption.

My youngest was always marked as being ill when attending orthodontist appointments, despite the school’s system having a dental option when recording absences.

* * * * *

Final Thoughts

I could have gone on longer, and talked about poor equipment, slow computers, or drainage problems causing massive puddles. But the main thing I’m interested in is what it must feel like to be at a school today, compared to how I felt in the 1980s.

Even though many schools are reportedly outstanding today, I remain somewhat unconvinced.

Considering all the bullying still witnessed and experienced by children, have things really improved much? Or are we just better at making things appear good, for the purpose of ratings?

My gut feeling is that it’s a systemic problem, rather than being the fault of individual teachers, who no doubt work very hard.

* * * * *

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Related Articles

If you have about 50 minutes to spare, you can read about my high school years. (Yes, I probably should have split it into multiple parts…)

• Autistic and ADHD Without Knowing: The High School Years
  Teenage life during the 1980s, with no support for autism and ADHD

External References

Ofsted — at gov.uk
BBC Radio 4 Today on 7 January 2022, around 2:22:30 onwards
(Only available for a limited time after broadcast.)