A leading London private school has been downgraded by education watchdog Ofsted for placing more weight on teaching “social justice” than on learning “subject-specific knowledge and skills” while some pupils felt their views were “suppressed” in lessons. The Evening Standard has the story.
The American School in St John’s Wood, which charges £32,650 a year, was downgraded from “outstanding” in its previous inspection to “requires improvement”.
In a report from an inspection from December 2021, Ofsted noted that leaders of the school, which educates pupils from age four to 18, had high expectations and “gives strong importance to equality and inclusion”.
But it added: “Sometimes, however, teaching places much more weight on the school’s approach to social justice than on learning subject-specific knowledge and skills.”
The report said that the school provided opportunities for pupils with different characteristics to discuss issues affecting them.
“However, not everyone felt that they are able to express their views freely in class,” it added.
“A significant number felt that their voices are not encouraged, or in some cases, are suppressed.”
In November 2021, the Times reported that non-white pupils had been recruited to affinity groups for people of colour, which some parents felt was discriminatory towards their children.
Parents also expressed concern about the teaching of concepts such as “white fragility” to their children.
Former headteacher Robin Appleby left the school in January.
The report praised the school’s music curriculum, which it said was “broad and balanced” but added that “in other areas of the curriculum, the approach is not as balanced”.
“This is particularly where teaching places more emphasis on the school’s social justice programme than on the acquisition of specific subject content,” it added.
Ofsted said that in the school’s lower school curriculum for social studies, pupils “spend much time repeatedly considering identity (including analysing their own characteristics) rather than learning, for example, geographical knowledge”.
Makes a nice change to see the Blob doing something anti-woke and curbing some of the ideological excesses.
Worth reading in full.
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