i am supposed to be looking into silverdale for a sixth form but i have heard quite a few bad things about it such as it is full of Edited and everyone is full of themselves! it looks quite a good school but if the people in it are no good then what is the point in it!! :?

RPG - edited out masked swearing

A colleague did her teaching practice there and absolutely hated it - she says it's just an exam factory. OK if the only thing you care about is good grades, I guess.

what exactly is meant by exam factory? i do care about good grades but i think that u need to have a good atmosphere to do it in! which department was your colleague working in?

She was in the maths dept. 'Exam Factory' means that the school isn't interested in turning out well-rounded individuals, just staying at the top of the league tables. She says the kids are just constantly pushed all the time - but not to actually learn the stuff or develop an interest in a subject (let alone anything extra-curricular!) just to memorise what you need to know to pass the exam. (there's a subtle difference between learning and memorising)

Of course that's only one person's opinion and there's nobody more idealistic than a student teacher...
Maybe if you can arrange to look round then you'll get some idea of the atmosphere of the place.

Originally posted by "gogojojo123"

i am supposed to be looking into silverdale for a sixth form but i have heard quite a few bad things about it such as it is full of Edited and everyone is full of themselves! it looks quite a good school but if the people in it are no good then what is the point in it!! :?

RPG - edited out masked swearing

If you get a place at Silverdale take my advice and grab it. One of the best state schools in Sheffield.

Hi gogojojo123,
I'm currently on the waiting list for Silverdale's sixth form :D I've heard quite a few bad things too like stephstellar, who had been told it was just an exam factory. The impression I got of the school is that they work hard to stay top of the league tables, but in a supportive and friendly atmosphere. I felt quite at home when I visited Silverdale, I wasn't looked down upon because I don't come from Dore/Totley areas, I was treat the same as everyone else and felt very much at ease.

The problem with Silverdale is that they don't have many places to offer to students who dont already go to their school. I think the number is around 40 places, and when I attended my interview I was around number 70, but was informed that others lower down on the list had already confirmed places at other 6th forms.

I would most certainly advise you to get a college place sorted, as a sort of safety net, incase Silverdale don't offer you a place. I have a place sorted for college, as a second choice incase Silverdale doesn't pull through. Fingers crossed that they do! :D

Update:

I received a letter a few days ago offering me a place so I snatched their hands off! Yay!

Originally posted by "caprice"

Update:

I received a letter a few days ago offering me a place so I snatched their hands off! Yay!

Good for you Caprice :lol: :lol:

you seriously think the school your in or the teachers your taught by has any bearing on your intelligence?

if you get the material you'll either learn it or you won't admittedly environmental factors can contribute both positively and negatively however if you are already an intelligent person which i like to think i am, i am very sure i would get the same grades no matter what school i went to...

edit:

i've just finished Y12 at eckington sixth form btw i start Y13 in june... currently on study leave... :)

Originally posted by "dave-"

you seriously think the school your in or the teachers your taught by has any bearing on your intelligence?

if you get the material you'll either learn it or you won't admittedly environmental factors can contribute both positively and negatively however if you are already an intelligent person which i like to think i am, i am very sure i would get the same grades no matter what school i went to...

edit:

i've just finished Y12 at eckington sixth form btw i start Y13 in june... currently on study leave... :)

No Dave I don't. You can't make a person intelligent but you can bring out the best in them and some schools are definitely better at doing this than others. For instance, if you are at a school where there is no discipline then forget about learning anything because the yobbo element will make sure that it is impossible for you to do so. The teachers time will be taken up by the kids who don't want to learn while you will be left on the back burner.

Teaching is no different to any other job in the sense that you do get bad teachers as you get bad doctors and bad lawyers. Your potential has really got to be held back if you get a teacher like this.

So I totally disagree with you dave.

as i said...

as long as you get the material needed then it doesnt matter...

admittedly some teachers can be better than others and some can bring ur learning skills into practice more but essentially its the student who dictates how much they learn eg.

if i was given all the notes needed for this year im sure i wud have managed just as well as not going to school

Originally posted by "dave-"

as i said...

as long as you get the material needed then it doesnt matter...

admittedly some teachers can be better than others and some can bring ur learning skills into practice more but essentially its the student who dictates how much they learn eg.

if i was given all the notes needed for this year im sure i wud have managed just as well as not going to school

Except perhaps in English grammar.

:D

this is the internet after all and what i said is understandable, as for your sentence, its hardly perfect :wink:

Now now boys save it til playtime, back to the issue about teachers and learning materials - well when I was a lad we didn't have all these revision guides etc like they have now, you revised from your notes in your exercise books and if they weren't up to scratch you struggled. Which brings me to a point about teachers, I remember my History teacher, he would mumble through continuous dictation every lesson, if you didn't hear what he was saying, never mind understand it, that was 'tough luck', needless to say I failed my O level History partly because the teacher sucked !

Exactly, I think that is why I do better in some subjects than others. I love english, but I haven't always been good at it. When I was around the age of 14, I was in one class when I was getting SATS grades of around level 5. The teacher was nice enough, but there was something missing. Around half way through year 9 I moved into a different English group and slowly that 5 moved up to a 6 and with a little more effort that 6 turned into a level 7. I ended up doing great by getting a level 7 in my exam. Just goes to show... doesn't it.

yes caprice it just goes to show u had the ability to get a level 7 all along...

people should give themselves more credit, admittedly some people have the gift of bringing the best out in people but if silverdale is an 'exam factory' and just work you to the bone that isnt the sort of teacher thats going to bring the good out in you, theres so much you can cram into your head but the same amount can be put in if you put it in correctly :)

pointe being if you can be arsed you'll do well :)

I understand what you are saying, but to be quite honest, I know that I would have still been on a level five, if it wasn't for the new way in which I was taught. I was challenged. I respond well to challenges, the give me something to aim for which I possibly wouldn't have aimed for previously. If Silverdale give challenges, then I know I'll do well.

I have to agree about the difference good teachers can make! I started 6th-form at a girls grammar (in the midlands - long story) but the teachers were absolutely awful. One Biology teacher would just stand at the front and read out of the textbook in a monotone. Of course, the school was selective so most girls got good results - but I wasn't used to the style and was predicted D, E, N for A-level.

I transferred to a local comp which had fantastic teachers, really brought their subjects alive (kind of tough to do in physics!) and came out with A, B, C and A in gen st.

I felt like the teachers at Queen Marys Grammar had pretty much written me off after the first half-term - having come from Foulstone Comp in Barnsley I really wasn't settling in too well!

Oh no! That must have been a nightmare, having a teacher that read out the text book in a monotone!

Admittedly, I haven't always been taught the way that I feel works for me, but I have dealt with it by speaking to the teacher. I try to build up a kind of rapport with the teacher, explaining to them what works for me and what doesn't.

I understand that they have to accomodate for all learning styles, but one teacher in particular was focussing far too much on a kinesthetic way of learning, so I brought it up. She soon noticed that I was struggling, with being a Visual learner, and so begun to vary what we did in class.

I've never had a teacher tell me not to interfere (hehe) , because usually they know that all I want to do is to do well, and by chatting with them it soon gets sorted out.

:lol:

I can say with first hand knowledge that Silverdale IS a good school, probably the best state school in Sheffield and one of the best nationally. Its also located in the Bents Green/ Ecclesall area, not in the Dore/Totley area as caprice wrongly stated. King Ecgberts is the local secondary for the Dore/Totley area.

Our teachers werent too great either but being a person with a bit of initiative i learnt things for myself by reading books and using the internet. People today want things handing to them on a plate. You can go to the worst school in Britain and if youve got a bit of initiative and the enthusiasm youll do well no matter if youre taught by a trained monkey or someone whos got a PhD in the subject. As long as youve got a list of whats on the exam (which you can obtain from the exam board either through their website or by writing to them) and access to good books and the internet you can do things for yourself. This is why i have no respect for people who go to private schools and get the same grades as i got - they were spoon fed. If you have the potential to do well inside and it needs dragging out of you by a good teacher then youll struggle in the real world when theres no-one to guide you and youre all alone to continue your learning which will be for important things rather than just grades on exams.

Exactly KittyKat!
I have always gone out of my way to do extra things for my school studies, because I know it works!!!! Infact right now I am gathering extra information about linguists for my English language studies. We haven't been told to do this, I just want to. It helps me have a better understanding of the subject aswell as better quality material to quote in my homework :) It's daft if you don't read around your subject me thinks! ;)