Comparative quality in the high school

Jonathan from the visiting LF cohort (Villiers school) raised a great point and it was this; The learning and feel of the place, as well as the quality of work we see in the Middle schools is very much like what we see in our own schools back home. The question he then raised was how is it that what we see in the high tech high schools is so much better quality and when does this shift happen?

I actually think we need to reframe the question and first I will explain why.  What struck me walking around the middle school was the Primary (or elementary) feel of the place, with ubiquitous wall display of kids' work and students who were without exception eager to show off their work and keen to please.

Upon entering the high schools, this culture was still present, and again to me apart from the maturity of the kids and their relationships with the teachers, it still felt primary. I think this is down in a large part to the continuation of the contact time teachers have with their students and their autonomy to design the curriculum rather than administer it.  As a result the aspirational, risk taking and innovative culture endures from middle to high and this is crucial.

So I don't think the question is what happens between HTH middle and HTH high that makes them different to our schools in the UK, I think the question is what happens in our schools in the UK that "educates children out of creativity" as Sir Ken would put it.