What Makes a Good School?

Book excerpt: How much of what you hear about schools can you trust? Can you believe the marketing hype about unsurpassed facilities, genius teachers and stellar academic achievement? Do you listen to neighbourhood gossip about your local school? Are government statistics the answer? School choice has become one of the most agonising issues of parenthood. Chris Bonnor and Jane Caro have no magic formula, and agree that complex factors come together to make a good school. But drawing on their own experiences and knowledge as school principal, parents and advocates they give parents the tools to do homework about schools themselves. They compare talk about schools – public, Catholic, private, selective, comprehensive – against the reality. They examine how good schools respond to the recurring crises in the lives of kids. They help navigate NAPLAN tests and the My School website. And they place their analysis squarely in the middle of the national discussion about education. Schools have to be good for students, for parents and for the nation. What Makes a Good School? will help you to cover all bases.