Time to map out a plan for Villa's future
- Says blogger Matthew Turvey
School hit by new crisis
Thursday 17th January 2008, 4:29PM GMT.
Poor teaching, disruptive pupils and too many children skipping lessons has put Darlaston’s only secondary school into special measures, it emerged today.
Darlaston Science College, which has 1,100 pupils, is set to be replaced by a new academy – the Express & Star revealed this week.
But a damning Ofsted report means it has been placed in special measures in the interim.
The Herberts Park Road school has been given an overall rating of inadequate, the lowest possible, by the Ofsted team of Government inspectors following a two-day visit at the end of 2007.
Inspector Frank Knowles said: “Darlaston Community Science College is not providing its pupils with the education they deserve.
“There is too much inadequate teaching and not enough good teaching to accelerate students’ progress to the point where they reach higher standards.
“Students’ learning is also slowed by too much off-task behaviour in lessons, that is not adequately managed by teachers, and a much smaller number of incidents of bad behaviour that sometimes disrupt lessons.
“These fundamental issues are deep seated and the school is not currently able to move forward without significant external support.”
Under plans drawn up by Education Walsall and Walsall Council both Darlaston Science College and Shelfield Sports College will be replaced by academies which can select their own pupils.
Under the proposals Darlaston Community Science College would be completely bulldozed and rebuilt. Some buildings at Shelfield Community Sports College, in Broad Way, Pelsall, would be refurbished although some would be torn down and replaced.
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First paragraph says it all. Everything that is wrong in schools points to this. Youngsters are unemployable, why, the softly, softly approach, instead of discipline, the poor teaching standards, due to teachers too being poorly educated, or don’t give a damn due to the inability to control these monsters in school.
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I know you shouldn’t stereotype but you only have to look at your typical “Darolite”.
The whole place needs some serious investment but the people also need to take a pride in themselves.
The place has never recovered from the destruction that Thatcher brought upon it, but there are other work places than Rubery Owen!
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Who should we really blame for Britains outstanding achievement of being the undisputed yob capitol of the universe ??
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I used to go to that school in the 60′s when it was a grammar school, no disruptive behavoir then – the cane/slipper was always lying in wait. It was a fantastic school then, good facilities, good teaching – what happened?
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Socialism and the welfare state are destructive, and the schools are full of socialists who work to produce ‘equality’, which means ‘equally bad for everyone’, and then there is surprise when they succeed!
People are not equal, you can’t make them equal, and it is wrong to try.
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Re 5
We haven’t had a Socialist government in over 30 years so you can’t place the failings there.
Perhaps if a certain M.H Thatcher had never been born, we wouldn’t be living in a selfish, buy now pay later society.
What we have now is her legacy and more shame on “New” Labour for not challenging the falsehood of it.
Bevan and Wilson must be turning in their graves!
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Darlo Comp is a great school and schould not have been given that title of school crisis, so what a few kids are out of place, its their fault not the schools!
so all you lot better watch wat ya sayin!
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I’m a pupil at that school and the story is true. the teachers are useless and we learn hardly noththing in lessons. The school site is a discrace litter evrey where, the water towers leaking, the swimming pools broke, the changing room are discusting, The list could go on.I’m only in the first year and i think the school should be an academy and get rid of the pupils who don’t eant to learn.
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Darlo is a white ghetto
in a ghetto everyone looks out for number one, they live for the day as tomorrow is another fight!
there is no concept of possible positive futures for themselves; therefore no comprehension of consequences!
without tackling the depressed and negative attitude of these sad future adults this problem will still exist and follow them into adulthood; where they will pass on this inheritance to their offspring
the streets are quicksand! the more they struggle the more they are sucked in, darlaston needs someone to hold out a branch or two before its too late.
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R.E-Zak no.8
I totally support Zak; the school is a total tip there are so many problems! the teachers are absolutely rubbish. Some of the children are very disruptive towards the lesson and other students. Even though u are sitting in a classroom with books in front of you, you are not actualy learning anything.
And the head teacher does nothing about it!! Nobody cares!!
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the kids at the school have been let down by all their old focks /police /coucil members no money has been spent in darlston for the kids all the good paying jods have dsiapeared if you give wallsal council a map off darlaston thay may think it is in 3rd world conutry all the people off darlaston get ripped off thay get only hartack
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i went to darlaston comp in the 80′s when it was an ace school, ive done quite well for myself, now my own daughter goes there, what a mess its in, when i pick her up its scary, security guards, police on the gates???? whats goin on? i will be movin my kid as soon as i can get her somewhere safer.
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the skool is a total dump theres all writing on the walls the police are always outside and god nos how many fights lots of the teachers dont teach u nuthin aspecially for one lesson i have had a teacher hasent been there 4 months and all we do is copy out ov books and we cant even understand them they accpect us now 2 wear a blazer and tie frm year 7 up 2 year 11 could you see a year 10 or 11 in a blazer and tie the teacher dosent care about the students we dont get a say we may have a skool council but none ov our points get put into action basically the skool is in debt and in trouble the headmaster dont care the skool site itself is a disgrace and most teachers dont teach you nuthin the skool moto is “A new and improving skool” but at the moment they dont seem 2 be doing anything 2 be doing that!
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I am a teacher myself, and it makes me laugh how it seems we always get blamed for what’s wrong at schools. No mention of the fact that in the Darlaston area, a lot of parents have little or no respect for education and/ or authority, and there are TOO MANY kids being brought up to feel the same way. This results in a constant battle when you finally get these kids into a classroom.
I know teachers at that school, and they WANT to do their job properly, but are fighting against apathy from a lot of the kids (and parents) and horrendous working conditions. Yes, the school isn’t fantastic, but the attitude of some of the kids on here shows what the staff are up against. For what it’s worth, I went to a school not dissimilar to Darlaston and I am of the opinion that you will learn anywhere if you want to. A lot of pupils are of the opinion that it’s everybody else’s fault but their own. I mean, the teachers don’t drop the litter and vandalise the place do they? We should stop damning everybody as that is likely to make matters worse in the short term. With the support of the community, this school can and will get better! Without, it will just get worse.
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SOME OF THE PROBLEM LIES IN THE TEACHERS IT SEEMS TODAY YOU CAN GET A DEGREE IN ALMOST ANYTHING AND TEACH WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OLD FASHIONED METHODS – SOME TEACHERS LACK BASICS OF LITERACY AND NUMERACY MY DAUGTHER CAM HOME A FEW WEEKS AGO AND THEY HAVE SPELLINGS EACH WEEK TWO OF WHICH THE TEACHER HAD SPELT INCORRECTLY THIS SAYS IT ALL
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Went to this school myself from 1982-1987. It was, in my opinion, starting to go downhill then but this is unbelievable. I have to say I am glad I got out of Darlo when I did and made a new life for myself and family in Nantwich Cheshire. Having said that though my heart is always Darlo. I just feel The hard working and law abiding locals have been driven out.
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My young daughter was doing a project on her family and wanted to include were I was born and grew up, especially the schools I went to, so I got on the internet to get her some background, I was completley shocked at what I have read, it was a great school, great location and facilities,some great teachers, the school was the centre of life in the old town, back in the 80′s, I moved to London and now live in Kent, i’m glad I did. Like Ryan, quote: my heart is always Darlo. I just feel The hard working and law abiding locals have been driven out. I so agree, but just to add, we were charge of our destiny, however when we lost our own town hall/council and we were absorbed into the West Midlands-Walsall, losing our Staffs indentity and the personal identity of Darlaston and then Thatcher kicked us in the teeth we had no chance. Thank god I still have great memories of a great place to grow up and some great and generous people.
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I went to darlo comp and it wasn`t a great school then!! My children go there now and even though they are doing well and are achieving good results the majority of teachers don`t care and have been there since before i started and i`m 32. They need to bring in new teachers who want to teach and let the ones who have been there for ever and are just waiting for thier pension go maybe then the school might improve all round. New Teachers bring in fresh ideas and a new uptodate approach to teaching.And as for kids not having anything to do is an old excuse we didn’t have as much as the kids today and we didn’t cause trouble.i think darlo is great and its about time we had millions invested in it;
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i`m in year 7 and already i`v been put through a hell of a-lot of torture!!!!! the teachers in assembly say that it`s got nuffin to do with the teachers and that i`ts th kids not them!! wat a load of bull!! the teachers don`t care about anything, for example the other day a teacher told me i wasn`t going to acheive a high level in that subject!! the old teachers who have been there ages don`t really want to help you!! you could sit there with a text book and a white board full of writing and you still won`t learn anything!!! the teachers attitudes need to change NOT our`s!!!!!!!!!
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the skwl is a total tip the police am outside everyday there are fights all da time. teachers dont
teach u anyfin there is writin on all da walls. we am 4eva havin supply teachers n all the
teachers blame da kids 4 us gettin level 4 (lowest u can get) in ofsted. its a load of bull.
da ofa day we didnt have a teacher 4 art lmao it wuz funny
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So the pupils are blaming the teachers and not taking responsbility for their own actions and behaviour andan, it is so easy to blame! I do not have any personal experience with the area or the school however I
have worked in various schools and understand the environment plays a very important part to how
children learn and how they value a school. We need a collective understanding that it takes parents
that are enthusiatic about their childrens learning and behavior in schools, teachers that are supported
d by various parties and pupils that are willing.
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I visited the school in 2007 for the first time in 10 yrs and was shocked and saddened at the state of the place. My guide who had taught in the place for 15 yrs said that there had been little to no investment in many years. The grant given when the school achieved science college status was money frankly too little too late. I remember saying to him the only time you ll get the money you need is when an election is coming… and it looks like it now!
Darlo comp was never great… just look at the poverty in the surrounding areas…. Darlo has been on the downward trend for 30 years. Its just that it seems to be at the bottom now. It is the responsibility of parents to instil discipline…
Without a good education… the majority of these kids sadly wont amount to much… harsh but true!
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