Don’t forget, Highcrest was once a failing school (From Bucks Free Press)

Very true, Hatters lane used to have a terrible reputation and now people are almost fighting to get their children there.

Anthony, of course we do not want to go back to the days when Highcrest was known as 'The Prison on the Hill' and it is somewhat ridiculous to suggest that anyone would wish to see those days return.

Highcrest has indeed made fantastic progress, this is due to, A: the vast amount of money injected into the school by BCC and, B: the hard work and dedication of the Teaching Staff.

If we look at the social demographics of Highcrests catchment area we can see that most children, obviously not all, will score in the C and D bands, these bands will quickly become over subscribed with SEN, Looked After and Local children with siblings.

Local underachieving children, maybe even those with a sibling at the school will be refused a placement and the lower scoring children in the D band will be pushed out.

Band A and possibly B will be under subscribed, any places remaining after the priority criteria have been applied will be offered to non-local, high scoring children from the more affluent areas outside the catchment area.

It is 'Cherry Picking' that is the only explanation for additional testing before admittance.

Filter out low achieving children whilst leaving placements available for any high ability child who wishes to apply.

The thinking behind this NVR test is along the lines of:-
How do I improve the exam results?
Answer...Remove the low ability students.

abizmal, Bands cannot be under subscribed as the total number of students will literally be divided by 4 giving an equal numbers in each band. Neither is it additional testing as this is not a test. Please just take the time to read all the information and if you are still not clear than ask the school but do not throw out false information.

It is a shame that even the Community Governor of Highcrest either fails to understand or is being deliberately misleading about the consequences of the so called banding tests and the proposed cancelling of the schools catchment area. It is the families within the current Highcrest catchment area who risk losing the opportunity of gaining admission. The School should abandon this ill thought out proposal. Highcrest is a school located within the Highcrest catchment area. It should continue to serve this community by providing the families who live in this locality the option of applying for a place without the need to undertake an additional examination. The Banding tests actively disadvantage families who live within the present catchment area.

It would be very interesting if Mr Mealing would actually explain precisely what his phrase: "Specialist advisers counselled the staff and Governors and looking at things as a whole it was found to be beneficial on an academic level, administrative and on a financial level to cast off the restrictive yoke of Bucks County Council." What is this restrictive Yoke?

It is a shame that even the Community Governor of Highcrest either fails to understand or is being deliberately misleading about the consequences of the so called banding tests and the proposed cancelling of the schools catchment area. It is the families within the current Highcrest catchment area who risk losing the opportunity of gaining admission. The School should abandon this ill thought out proposal. Highcrest is a school located within the Highcrest catchment area. It should continue to serve this community by providing the families who live in this locality the option of applying for a place without the need to undertake an additional examination. The Banding tests actively disadvantage families who live within the present catchment area.

It would be very interesting if Mr Mealing would actually explain precisely what his phrase: "Specialist advisers counselled the staff and Governors and looking at things as a whole it was found to be beneficial on an academic level, administrative and on a financial level to cast off the restrictive yoke of Bucks County Council." What is this restrictive Yoke?

In reply to Mr. Mealings letter. What a ridiculous statement to make, are you seriously saying that if we don’t have the selection tests then we will return to the bad old days! On what basis do you arrive at this assumption? Your reply, although very informative, does not answer the questions parents are asking. It appears that Governors & Head Staff alike duck the issue every time.
Let’s put a few points on the table.
1) No selection test does not mean that Highcrest will return to being ‘The prison on the hill’
2) Local children will pass & fail this test, no matter how many times you & Mr. Newton say it is a ‘no pass/no fail test’, you cannot get away from the fact that if you are not within the proposed banding then it is highly unlikely you will get a place.
3) The ‘all-ability’ reason has not been justified by the Head or Governors.
4) The ‘bad old days’ that Mr. Mealing was on about were not the fault of the children, however when he states ‘And let’s be brutally honest, in its latter years it had lost its way, the buildings were run down, site maintenance was under- funded and to an extent neglected. The standard of teaching was suffering terminal despair and the academic achievement of the pupils was low as was the self esteem of staff and students. In all a failing school aspiring parents avoided.’ Who suffered the most because of that? Local parents, & most importantly the local children! It was not their fault that government/BCC/schoo
l/staff could not get their act together. Because of them years of children lost their education.
5) Mr. Mealing then states ‘Let us review the present situation, the new school, or academy, has, with a lot of hard work from the new staff, the parents and students, under the leadership of a dedicated head and the senior teaching staff, moved forward” Not strictly true is it Anthony? You seem to have forgotten the astronomical sums of money given to the school (as a failing school) by the government. But now you want to impose ‘rights of admission reserved’ through your tests for local children, those same children whose parents probably had to put up with a sub-standard education at ‘Hatters Lane’, but who saw the changes you mentioned, who paid taxes towards the improvements, now to be told “We are now an academy, if you don’t take the test you’re not coming in, if you fail the test you’re not coming in” It is an absolute joke when Mr. Mealing states “with a lot of hard work from the….parents” , a case of we’ve got what we need from them, now let’s drop them!
6) “The NVR test will help establish an equal spread of ability of those that chose to apply to the Academy.” Let’s see the facts please, the school has always been ‘all-ability’, these tests will only aid you in you being able to choose more top students at the expense of the less able. The previous correspondent said it in a nutshell “The thinking behind this NVR test is along the lines of:- How do I improve the exam results? Answer...Remove the low ability students.” Highcrest is a school that in league tables is consistently in the lowest 20% in Bucks in exam results & the 2nd lowest in Wycombe. Hardly a good base to be setting out on selection tests! I think that is the key to these tests, exam results not good enough.
7)” This Academy is one of the jewels in our town’s crown and it deserves your support”. That statement is a bit over the top & egotistical, & I think it’s a bit of a cheek asking for support when it is one big thing you are not giving local parents, but then again you are probably not directing it at local parents as you have no need for them anymore, shame on you.
Some may think I am ‘anti’ Highcrest, this is not the case, it has become a very good school, however it is now in danger of becoming ‘too big for its boots’. It is not a community school anymore & is making this more & more obvious; it now shuns the very people that have supported it over the years. As someone put it in a reply in the Times Educational Supplement ‘Highcrest is NOT a grammar school, it is NOT a high school, it is NOT a comprehensive, it is not even an academy in any true sense of the word, it is a secondary school, nothing more, nothing less. If it carries on like this it will only succeed in becoming a 'laughing stock'.
Even though Mr. Mealing & Mr. Newton won’t admit to it & avoid the issue, the selection tests are about ‘cherry picking’ & exam results. Two other words spring to mind, ‘status’ & ‘symbol’!!!

its the principal,
again scaremongering amongst the community who stand to benefit from this. How can you say that pupils will not fall within the banding test. Please speak factually or don't speak at all.

Catflap wrote:
abizmal, Bands cannot be under subscribed as the total number of students will literally be divided by 4 giving an equal numbers in each band. Neither is it additional testing as this is not a test. Please just take the time to read all the information and if you are still not clear than ask the school but do not throw out false information.

Thank you, I have taken the time to read all the available information I could find, it would be somewhat stupid of me to make a comment or voice an opinion on any subject before gathering as much information from as many differing sources as I could. If my information is as you say 'false' then I suggest that you provide some facts that I may have miss and prove me wrong.

Enough with dodging the issue and blindly accepting what the SMT at the school tell you.

I am concerned with the lower band local children. It is obvious that bands C&D will be over subscribed as a greater percentage of the total applications for admission to the school will be from local children, these children will fall into these lower bands. It stands to reason that local low scoring children will have greater competition for fewer available spaces.

Do the maths, 140 spaces available, equal division by four gives 35 spaces in each band, I would suggest that after SEN and 'in care' children are allocated a space bands C&D will have less than the original 35 available spaces. As I mentioned previously, local children, and I do not mean all local children, will, due to the social and economic make-up of Highcrests catchment area, fall into the lower bands C&D. Thus, a greater number of children will competing for a fewer number of places. A local child who does not have a sibling at the school and scores low on the NVR test will have less chance of gaining admission than a non local child whose score is high. As fewer children from the local area will fall into one of the higher bands there will be less competition for the 70 placements in bands A&B.

I believe admittance to the school should be along the following lines...

1) Local SEN children.
2) Local children who are in the care of the local authority.

1 & 2 satisfy legal obligations

3) Local children (regardless of ability) with a sibling currently at the school.
4) Local Children (regardless of ability)
5) Any child that applies for a placement that does not fall into one of the above 4 bands and providing there are available spaces at the school, Should then asked to sit the NVR test, those children are then banded A,B,C and D and a selection is then made on availability within the appropriate band.

itstheprincipal wrote:
In reply to Mr. Mealings letter. What a ridiculous statement to make, are you seriously saying that if we don’t have the selection tests then we will return to the bad old days! On what basis do you arrive at this assumption? Your reply, although very informative, does not answer the questions parents are asking. It appears that Governors & Head Staff alike duck the issue every time.
Let’s put a few points on the table.
1) No selection test does not mean that Highcrest will return to being ‘The prison on the hill’
2) Local children will pass & fail this test, no matter how many times you & Mr. Newton say it is a ‘no pass/no fail test’, you cannot get away from the fact that if you are not within the proposed banding then it is highly unlikely you will get a place.
3) The ‘all-ability’ reason has not been justified by the Head or Governors.
4) The ‘bad old days’ that Mr. Mealing was on about were not the fault of the children, however when he states ‘And let’s be brutally honest, in its latter years it had lost its way, the buildings were run down, site maintenance was under- funded and to an extent neglected. The standard of teaching was suffering terminal despair and the academic achievement of the pupils was low as was the self esteem of staff and students. In all a failing school aspiring parents avoided.’ Who suffered the most because of that? Local parents, & most importantly the local children! It was not their fault that government/BCC/schoo

l/staff could not get their act together. Because of them years of children lost their education.
5) Mr. Mealing then states ‘Let us review the present situation, the new school, or academy, has, with a lot of hard work from the new staff, the parents and students, under the leadership of a dedicated head and the senior teaching staff, moved forward” Not strictly true is it Anthony? You seem to have forgotten the astronomical sums of money given to the school (as a failing school) by the government. But now you want to impose ‘rights of admission reserved’ through your tests for local children, those same children whose parents probably had to put up with a sub-standard education at ‘Hatters Lane’, but who saw the changes you mentioned, who paid taxes towards the improvements, now to be told “We are now an academy, if you don’t take the test you’re not coming in, if you fail the test you’re not coming in” It is an absolute joke when Mr. Mealing states “with a lot of hard work from the….parents” , a case of we’ve got what we need from them, now let’s drop them!
6) “The NVR test will help establish an equal spread of ability of those that chose to apply to the Academy.” Let’s see the facts please, the school has always been ‘all-ability’, these tests will only aid you in you being able to choose more top students at the expense of the less able. The previous correspondent said it in a nutshell “The thinking behind this NVR test is along the lines of:- How do I improve the exam results? Answer...Remove the low ability students.” Highcrest is a school that in league tables is consistently in the lowest 20% in Bucks in exam results & the 2nd lowest in Wycombe. Hardly a good base to be setting out on selection tests! I think that is the key to these tests, exam results not good enough.
7)” This Academy is one of the jewels in our town’s crown and it deserves your support”. That statement is a bit over the top & egotistical, & I think it’s a bit of a cheek asking for support when it is one big thing you are not giving local parents, but then again you are probably not directing it at local parents as you have no need for them anymore, shame on you.
Some may think I am ‘anti’ Highcrest, this is not the case, it has become a very good school, however it is now in danger of becoming ‘too big for its boots’. It is not a community school anymore & is making this more & more obvious; it now shuns the very people that have supported it over the years. As someone put it in a reply in the Times Educational Supplement ‘Highcrest is NOT a grammar school, it is NOT a high school, it is NOT a comprehensive, it is not even an academy in any true sense of the word, it is a secondary school, nothing more, nothing less. If it carries on like this it will only succeed in becoming a 'laughing stock'.
Even though Mr. Mealing & Mr. Newton won’t admit to it & avoid the issue, the selection tests are about ‘cherry picking’ & exam results. Two other words spring to mind, ‘status’ & ‘symbol’!!!

Point 6) I would agree that “The NVR test will help establish an equal spread of ability of those that chose to apply to the Academy.”

Unfortunately the local children do not have an equal spread of ability. In order to achieve this equal spread, Miss Moynihan demands that children sit through a filtration system that will push low scoring local children of the bottom of the ladder thus making spaces available for those high scoring non local children who choose to apply. It is an attempt to boost exam result, and so increase her status as a successful Academy Principal...this will be done at the expense of local low ability children who wish to attend their local school and "ASPIRE AND ACHIEVE!"

I ask that all parents whose children are not offered a place at Highcrest ex-community school allow our local paper "The Bucksfree Press" to publish results and reasons for refusal.

abizmal wrote:

itstheprincipal wrote:
In reply to Mr. Mealings letter. What a ridiculous statement to make, are you seriously saying that if we don’t have the selection tests then we will return to the bad old days! On what basis do you arrive at this assumption? Your reply, although very informative, does not answer the questions parents are asking. It appears that Governors & Head Staff alike duck the issue every time.
Let’s put a few points on the table.
1) No selection test does not mean that Highcrest will return to being ‘The prison on the hill’
2) Local children will pass & fail this test, no matter how many times you & Mr. Newton say it is a ‘no pass/no fail test’, you cannot get away from the fact that if you are not within the proposed banding then it is highly unlikely you will get a place.
3) The ‘all-ability’ reason has not been justified by the Head or Governors.
4) The ‘bad old days’ that Mr. Mealing was on about were not the fault of the children, however when he states ‘And let’s be brutally honest, in its latter years it had lost its way, the buildings were run down, site maintenance was under- funded and to an extent neglected. The standard of teaching was suffering terminal despair and the academic achievement of the pupils was low as was the self esteem of staff and students. In all a failing school aspiring parents avoided.’ Who suffered the most because of that? Local parents, & most importantly the local children! It was not their fault that government/BCC/schoo


l/staff could not get their act together. Because of them years of children lost their education.
5) Mr. Mealing then states ‘Let us review the present situation, the new school, or academy, has, with a lot of hard work from the new staff, the parents and students, under the leadership of a dedicated head and the senior teaching staff, moved forward” Not strictly true is it Anthony? You seem to have forgotten the astronomical sums of money given to the school (as a failing school) by the government. But now you want to impose ‘rights of admission reserved’ through your tests for local children, those same children whose parents probably had to put up with a sub-standard education at ‘Hatters Lane’, but who saw the changes you mentioned, who paid taxes towards the improvements, now to be told “We are now an academy, if you don’t take the test you’re not coming in, if you fail the test you’re not coming in” It is an absolute joke when Mr. Mealing states “with a lot of hard work from the….parents” , a case of we’ve got what we need from them, now let’s drop them!
6) “The NVR test will help establish an equal spread of ability of those that chose to apply to the Academy.” Let’s see the facts please, the school has always been ‘all-ability’, these tests will only aid you in you being able to choose more top students at the expense of the less able. The previous correspondent said it in a nutshell “The thinking behind this NVR test is along the lines of:- How do I improve the exam results? Answer...Remove the low ability students.” Highcrest is a school that in league tables is consistently in the lowest 20% in Bucks in exam results & the 2nd lowest in Wycombe. Hardly a good base to be setting out on selection tests! I think that is the key to these tests, exam results not good enough.
7)” This Academy is one of the jewels in our town’s crown and it deserves your support”. That statement is a bit over the top & egotistical, & I think it’s a bit of a cheek asking for support when it is one big thing you are not giving local parents, but then again you are probably not directing it at local parents as you have no need for them anymore, shame on you.
Some may think I am ‘anti’ Highcrest, this is not the case, it has become a very good school, however it is now in danger of becoming ‘too big for its boots’. It is not a community school anymore & is making this more & more obvious; it now shuns the very people that have supported it over the years. As someone put it in a reply in the Times Educational Supplement ‘Highcrest is NOT a grammar school, it is NOT a high school, it is NOT a comprehensive, it is not even an academy in any true sense of the word, it is a secondary school, nothing more, nothing less. If it carries on like this it will only succeed in becoming a 'laughing stock'.
Even though Mr. Mealing & Mr. Newton won’t admit to it & avoid the issue, the selection tests are about ‘cherry picking’ & exam results. Two other words spring to mind, ‘status’ & ‘symbol’!!!

Point 6) I would agree that “The NVR test will help establish an equal spread of ability of those that chose to apply to the Academy.”

Unfortunately the local children do not have an equal spread of ability. In order to achieve this equal spread, Miss Moynihan demands that children sit through a filtration system that will push low scoring local children of the bottom of the ladder thus making spaces available for those high scoring non local children who choose to apply. It is an attempt to boost exam result, and so increase her status as a successful Academy Principal...this will be done at the expense of local low ability children who wish to attend their local school and "ASPIRE AND ACHIEVE!"

Yes and she should not be doing this - it is the job of the grammar schools.

A low scoring student from say Hazlemere will have little to no chance of gaining a placement at Highcrest, the competition from the local students for a placement in bands C&D will be high. On the other hand, a high scoring student who is also from Hazlemere will be almost certain to gain a placement due to the lack of above average to high scoring local children. It is blatant 'Cherry Picking' A more able student from Hazlemere will be given a placement at the expense of a low achieving local child. What then will happen to that local child who fails to make the grade? What other local school will take that child? Not only has the child failed the 11+ well, to be truthful, we didn't really expect him/her to pass did we? But to now, be refused entry to his/her local school, a school where his/her mates go because they did make the grade, and now to see his/her place given to some other child who has never even heard of Hillary Road. What message does that give to the child? Sent to some other school half way across town branded as some Highcrest reject! That will of course teach him/her a very valuable life lesson "Tough luck, you should have tried harder"

Abizmal, your admittance suggestions are in fact what the school is following, SEN looked after children, siblings then distance. The closer you live to the school the better your chances of admittance. Kids in Hazlemere are not going to take priority over kids in Hilary Road just because they achieve a 'higher score'. That is just incorrect.

Catflap wrote:
Abizmal, your admittance suggestions are in fact what the school is following, SEN looked after children, siblings then distance. The closer you live to the school the better your chances of admittance. Kids in Hazlemere are not going to take priority over kids in Hilary Road just because they achieve a 'higher score'. That is just incorrect.

I suggest that you re-read my admittance suggestions and try doing the maths.

The school requires that all children sit the NVR test, I suggested that only those children who are not SEN, not, 'in care', do not have a sibling at the school and are not local be asked to sit the NVR test.

1) There are a limited number of spaces at the school.
2) Miss Moynihan wants a better mix of ability students at the school.
3) The local children do not provide the ability mix she needs to improve the exam results and thus her status as a successful leading Academy Principal.
4) If she opens the school gates to all local children nothing will change and all 140 limited available spaces will be quickly taken up by local C&D ability children.
5) The majority of the intake will be average to low ability children with a small number of above average and a smaller number of high ability children. This has been the 'normal' intake for the past few years.
6) In order to achieve the equal spread of ability she must look further afield for those more able A&B scoring children.
7) As there are a limited number of places at the school she must also reserve places for those more able children she wants to attract to the school, thus reducing the number of available places for the less able students.
8) The top 25% she hopes to attract to the school are not living in the local community, if they were living in the local community, then she would already have a mixed ability school.
9) She introduces a filter, NVR banding, all children wanting placement at Highcrest must sit this test.
10) Once all those who wish a placement have completed the NVR test all children be sorted into bands.
A, 35 places, above 75% score
B, 35 places, above 50% score
C, 35 places, above 25% score
D, 35 places, above 0% score

In previous years all local children, mostly C&D ability, would be competing for all 140 available places, with NVR banding we now see a situation where local low scoring children compete for 70 places.

There is my logic, there is my maths, that is my view and opinion of the situation and Miss Moynians motives.

Now your turn catflap, instead of just telling me to shut up, that I'm telling lies, that I'm wrong and that I am scaring, misinforming the local parents of which I am one by the way, can you try, if it is within your ability, to put forwards your own coherent argument?

Pupils do not have to score a certain percentage to be placed into a certain band. It is not a test with a pass mark. as you have said it is your view and opinion which you are entitled to hold, but views and opinions aren't always factual.

Catflap wrote:
Pupils do not have to score a certain percentage to be placed into a certain band. It is not a test with a pass mark. as you have said it is your view and opinion which you are entitled to hold, but views and opinions aren't always factual.

Facts, as published on the schools website.
I suggest that you read the schools admission policy.

ADMISSIONS POLICY – THE HIGHCREST ACADEMY
FOR ACADEMIC YEAR 2013/14

Page two.
After the closing date, all applicants will be evenly distributed across the following bands:

Band A the 25% of applicants with the highest scores.
Band B the 25% of applicants who fall above the median but below the 25% with the highest scores
Band C the 25% of applicants who fall below the median but above the 25% with the lowest scores
Band D the 25% of applicants with the lowest scores.

I believe that proves my point.

Yes percentage of applicants not score. You don't have to score over 75% to be placed in band A.
i will say no more until the outcome is given.

Catflap, whichever way you look at it percentage wise, for every band A student they accept outside of the area a local child WILL lose out. Let’s say for arguments sake that when the tests are sat that the top 25% of scores are from children living in Hazlemere & not one from a local child (highly unlikely I know, but not impossible, & it is what Miss Moynihan is hoping for!), that means that 35 local children will not get places. Highcrest have stated this… “Band A the 25% of applicants with the highest scores.”…
Your statement of…” The closer you live to the school the better your chances of admittance. Kids in Hazlemere are not going to take priority over kids in Hilary Road just because they achieve a 'higher score'. That is just incorrect.”… Highcrest state that it is you that are incorrect, & the only way you would have a better chance of admittance if you lived closer is if the school was under subscribed.
I hope as was said earlier that the Bucks Free Press follow up on this when the test results are known, I hope every local parent whose child is refused a place contacts the BFP, & that they also challenge it through the school & BCC quoting what Mr. Newton has stated , “ ALL THE “UNOFFERED” CHILDREN LIVING VERY CLOSE TO SCHOOL AND ALL THOSE WITH SIBLINGS WOULD HAVE BEEN OFFERED A PLACE (LAST YEAR) UNDER THE NEW BANDING PROPOSAL”.
This whole selective decision by Highcrest is scandalous, very little information to parents, disregard to the possibility of BCC making a challenge, & even less regard for the local community, I heard a joke the other day ‘Q : What do Highcrest ex-community school & Sid James both have in common? A : They both Carry On Regardless!”