A fine new vintage

A British head’s visit to Prague has given headteacher Martina Tumova a rewarding glimpse of UK school life

The other day I was at a wine exhibition in Prague when by chance I was asked by a Czech radio journalist to compare Czech and foreign red wines. I had to admit that even though Czech wines are of a high quality, there are better wines in the world – and sooner or later, we will learn to distinguish which is the right choice for us. It also struck me that it is the same with schools. We have a lot of new opportunities now to shine more sun on to our grapes.

My school, Fakultni Zakladni Skola, is situated in the centre of Prague, and is focused on gifted children. We provide extended language teaching for pupils aged 8-15, all of whom have to pass entrance exams to prove their ability for a demanding learning programme. We follow the national curriculum, and 100% of our school leavers are successful in entering further and higher education.

Established in 1966, the school now has 600 pupils, with approximately 10% coming from Bulgaria, Russia, the Ukraine and Vietnam. Our school ethos is based on 3 ‘C’s – confidence,consequentiality and concentration – and (as I always stress) 1‘H’, namely humour!

In January, I hosted Susan John, headteacher of Lampton School in London, as part of the International Placement for Headteachers (IPH) scheme. I was impressed by the huge complexity of her school, and how well she copes with it.

Lampton School is a multicultural, inclusive school which takes care to foster a genuine sense of respect for the individual, alongside an appreciation of the cultures and beliefs of others. Here in the Czech Republic, new strategies are changing our educational institutions, but the system is still based on differentiation according to learning abilities. Our small Czech schools are not able to include as wide a range of educational programmes as English ones.

What’s more, my school budget does not allow for mentors, counsellors or a big administrative team. The school is half the size of Lampton, but only has two support staff compared with the 44 at Lampton. Everything begins and finishes with money. Our school year budget is about £400,000, which is about a sixth of the budget that I guess is usual in Britain. This affects not only the number of staff but also the actual school budget.

We don‘t have any discipline committees – in fact, no Czech school can exclude a pupil from school for a single day. We do not track behaviour to any great extent, but inform parents immediately if their child misbehaves. Evaluation and testing of pupils are more frequent than in Britain, though. Teachers check feedback after each item of the curriculum, and every step is tested.

Both educational systems are rooted in the history of their country, and have of course been formed by social needs for centuries. This new century has brought broader integration, and that‘s why I think the most important change we need to make is the provision of inclusive education for children of multicultural backgrounds. This would mean that we could proudly express the same ethos as Lampton School, and that we fostered a genuine sense of respect for the individual – alongside an appreciation of the cultures and beliefs of others.