Brits defend school against Polish teen's criticism - Daily Mail

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Created on Friday, 26 October 2007 14:42

Daily Mail 26 October 2007

An education authority today defended a high-achieving school criticised by a
Polish teenager.
North Tyneside Council said St Thomas More High School in North Shields was an
"outstanding school" and had been praised by the independent education
watchdog Ofsted.
Aleksander Kucharski, 16, criticised the school and his former classmates
saying they were only interested in shopping and partying.
The teenager has returned to Poland to live with his grandmother after two
years studying at the Roman Catholic state school.
"I was treading water within the British education system," the 16-year-old
told the Daily Mail.
"The boys were childish, they didn't read papers and weren't interested in
anything.
"And the girls only talked about shopping and what they were going to do on
Friday night.
"In Poland you have to know the names of all countries, even the rivers. But
in England hardly anyone could place Kenya or Poland on the map. The teachers
didn't test knowledge, only effort."
Aleksander enrolled at St Thomas More High School after his parents, who are
both doctors, came to England.
It boasts one of the best academic records in the country and is recognised by
Ofsted as outstanding.
In June Aleksander told his mother Anja, a psychiatrist, and father Robert, a
medical consultant, that he was returning home to continue his schooling.
While they remained here, he went back to Lodz in Poland, where he has moved in
with his grandmother and enrolled at III Liceum Ogolnoksztalcace, a state
school.
Although he received glowing praise from his Tyneside teachers, Aleksander
claims he was being held back by other pupils, whom he accused of having no
interest in learning new things.
"In Poland, I only ever got average marks in maths, yet in the UK teachers
said I was a genius," he said.
"After a year I was top of the class in everything, and that includes
English."
St Thomas More is one of the best performing schools in the country. A total of
1,700 students aged between 11 and 18 attend the school which was established in
1988 following amalgamation and has won several national awards for excellence.
A spokeswoman for North Tyneside Council said: "Every child and parent has the
right to choose the education they wish.
"While we are disappointed that the pupil had decided to move away, only weeks
ago St Thomas More was recognised by Ofsted as being an outstanding school with
82% of students achieving five or more A* to C grades in their GCSE exams.
"Among those, 16 came out with nine or more A* or A grades."