School admissions

[gembird]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7033607.stm#comments

Yeah, okay, so pretty much everyone here doesn't need to worry about it, but my mum works in a school (although not as a teacher) so I hear about this all the time. Basically, loads of parents want to get their kids into really good schools. Fair enough, but they go to really extreme measures, and a lot of the time they don't seem to be taking the child's opinion into account.

To some extent, I probably understand this less than most, as I went to the local school which was rough as arseholes. Everyone got bullied at some point, half the teachers were shit, but that didn't stop the kids who really wanted to learn from getting where they wanted to be.

So what do you lot reckon? Is it up to the parents to push their child to get into the best school possible, or should they let them be with their friends, or should they send them to the nearest school and see if the kid wants to do the work? After all, however much effort you put in for a place in an amazing school, if the kid doesn't want to sit down and work then they won't, simple as.

I'd like to hear from anyone who is a parent or is a fair bit older than me- gotta get perspective on these things. It just seems to me that people are becoming very snobby about schools that are less academic and more well-rounded (a bit rough, or specialising in the arts, or whatever) without even considering what type of environment will bring out their child's potential.

[Smartie]

I can only speak from my own experience, but my mum made me and my sister go to church & sunday school so we could get into the Church of England comprehensive, as it was the best non-fee school in the area.

To be fair it clearly was, and the students were on the whole very well behaved. People used to come from far and wide (for any one good with distances, Littleborough or Mossley to Oldham every day on the bus is no mean feat).

Parents want their best of course, but if it means lying and stuff that's just pathetic.

[Twatybollocks]

I remember when I was due to go to high school. All my mates who I went to Junior school with were going to the same school but my mum had been recommended one which was supposedly better. So I was sent there. I had to get two buses and was cacking myself on the first day as I didn't know anyone.

It turned out to be a good school and I did well, making lots of new friends. In hindsight it was a good choice and I'm thankful.

These days you can get much more information about the schools in your area so as a parent with a four year old son this is indeed on my mind.

He's doing well in school so far. We had to fill in a form, choose a primary choice plus three 'secondary' choices for primary school in case our main choice was not available. We had to do this a year in advance!

So no I'm a bit terrified of what we'll have to go through to get him into secondary school but I will not lie or use underhanded techniques. We'll simply have a look around, fill in the paperwork and hope for the best!

[argh]

Wow, thats a lot of concern for school. Here I think it's just divided up by area which school you go to, but if the school doesn't have something (like french immersion, not a bigger cafeteria) you can apply for a different school and you need to be accepted and provide own transportation.

Maybe thats jsut my experience, when I was a kid I had to be bussed 45 minutes to get to an english school, middle school was the one french immersion school in the area and high school was decided because of which side of the river you were on, not choice.

[Smokey]

When I was in Year 4 my parents moved house specifically so my brother and I could go to a better school. My Dad had to drive an extra half hour to get to work afterwards but despite this he was happy to do it. The school we would have gone to was just over the road and was a shit hole. If I had gone there my motivation to learn would have been much reduced and I would have got worse GCSE results, leading to worse A-Levels and I may not have ended up at university, certainly doing as well as I am.

I am very grateful for the change although it is a shame that some families will be unable to relocate to another area thus leaving potential to be wasted. It is a further sign of the wealth gap which says why generally the "rich" are smarter because the "poor" have fewer opportuinities.

I'm not rich, but fairly well off middle class

[feeshy]

I've been at a private school on a full scholarship since year 7 (now in year 12, the school has a 6th form), before that I went to two different public schools. My parents took me out of the first one before I started year 3 because it was appalling- the teachers seemed to have some kind of problem with higher intelligence (well, you know what I mean) and insisted that I was lazy etc. So I went to another one which was better, but still nowhere near the standard of the junior section of the school I'm at.

My sister, on the other hand, went to the first school I was at for 6 years, and is now at the comprehensive I'd be going to if I hadn't have got into my school. Boy, am I glad I don't go there... She can't spell, doesn't read unless you make her, speaks like a chav... When the local newspaper publishes the exam results tables things, we just have to laugh at how incredibly low their pass percentage is.

[gembird]

I've been at a private school on a full scholarship since year 7 (now in year 12, the school has a 6th form), before that I went to two different public schools. My parents took me out of the first one before I started year 3 because it was appalling- the teachers seemed to have some kind of problem with higher intelligence (well, you know what I mean) and insisted that I was lazy etc. So I went to another one which was better, but still nowhere near the standard of the junior section of the school I'm at.

My sister, on the other hand, went to the first school I was at for 6 years, and is now at the comprehensive I'd be going to if I hadn't have got into my school. Boy, am I glad I don't go there... She can't spell, doesn't read unless you make her, speaks like a chav... When the local newspaper publishes the exam results tables things, we just have to laugh at how incredibly low their pass percentage is.

Yeah, scholarships are different though, that's a case of the kid actually wanting to try and being smart enough to get that scholarship. And to be fair, if your sister didn't get into that school and you did, it's pretty likely that she was never that academically minded anyway. I know what you mean about some teachers having a problem with intelligence though.

[Ozzylator]

Heh, I wouldn't last five minutes in anything except fee-paying private schooling. Even at my school I'm largely reviled for being too intellectual.

[happy-go-lucky]

I went to the local primary school up untill year two, but it was really bad so me and my brother changed to the school my mum worked at. I went there untill I had to leave in year six, and I really liked it. When I left there I started at the local high school, but I got so badly bullied I started looking at other schools 2/3 weeks before the first half term. I left the school at half term and started at a small private school which my dad droped me off at on the way to work. It ment I had to get up about aan hour earlier, but at least I wasn't getting bullied. I left that school to start at my current school at the start of the summer term in year nine. I'm doing my GCSEs next year and am hoping for mostly A/A*s.
I'm certain that if I had stayed at either of my fist two high schools I would be expecting much lower GCSE grades, but some people wont work whatever school they're at. Some of my best friends are expecting mostly E to C grades, and a couple aren't planning on going to uni. Last year I was getting mainly A's (except French, which I'll never be the best at,) but last half term, mainly because of the people I spent most of my time with, I was getting a lot more C's and D's. This half term I'm doing better so far, because I've realised that I do need to work if I don't want to end up in a shit job, which I don't.
I think the school you go to will affect how well you do, but somebody really motivated could do well almost anywhere, and in the same way someone who doesn't care, even if they're quite intelligent, could do badly wherever they are.

[patch]

hope this isn't seen as a derivation from the topic, but here in the North of Ireland, there has been a very topical debate on the issue of "grannying" (whereby parents from the republic of Ireland who live a stonesthrow from the border give a false address in the north so as their kids can be accepted into the better schools).
Anyway, the school I attended was a grammar school, and seen as the best there was to offer in my area, although I odn't much like to admit it, it was, however, it is a very selective, almost elitist school!!
So, I guess my point would be, although certain schools which are believed to be the best, the attitude of those who run such establishments leave much to be desired!

[Aladdin Sane]

Speaking from personal experience, I definitely disagree with giving the child the choice of which school they go to. At the end of primary school I, like most kids that age do, wanted to go to the same secondary school that all my friends were going to. My parents said no, however, and instead put me in a a different school much further away, which took about 45 minutes to get to every day and where I didn't know anyone. It was also an all-boys school, and I remember at the time being distinctly unhappy. But I can look back on it now and see how it was clearly the best choice of place to go to; it was the best school (bar private places) in the town, I got a far better education there than I would have done if I had of gone to school I wanted to go to. I met some great people there too, who I still know (some of us ended up going to the same university). Basically my point is, if I had of gotten my way when I was younger I could see my life as turning out a lot worse than it has

As for the rush for parents to get their children into the best schools, I find this to be quite a sad state of affairs. Perhaps it's because I am still in the realms of academia that I feel more sympathetic to it, but the state of the education system in Britain isn't too great IMO. If more money was invested into schools, particularly those which are proven to be failing, then the gap between the 'good' and 'bad' schools could begin to be bridged, hopefully creating less of a panic amongst parents when it is time to pick a school for their child.

[gembird]

The thing is, I feel bad when people talk about how some schools don't give kids such a good education. I'm well aware that it happens, seeing as I used to go to a school that was on Special Measures when I was about ten. But people have to bear in mind that you get fantastic teachers (and bad ones too) in every school, so just because the school has a certain reputation doesn't mean you can't learn. I understand that parents are worried about their kids getting a good start, and bullying and so on, however I feel that you can go to a supposedly shitty school full of chavs and have a fucking brilliant time while you're there. And conversely, you could go to a very academic, high-achieving private school and get the shit kicked out of you every lunchtime, then leave having only just scraped through your exams.

[Smokey]

Although a school which isn't on special measures will have more good teachers (and less bad ones), better facilities and most people would perform better there. If a school is using ancient textbooks then they will be at a disadvantage.

[gembird]

Yeah, I know how special measures means the school is basically fail... but the schools which are just a bit rough can have some decent stuff going on is what I meant. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

[Soapie]

I went to private school. I wanted to go there, and my parents wanted me to go there to.

If I hadn't gone there I would've gone to a terrible school which I probably would not have been able to bear, wouldn't have been able to do some of the things I ended up doing (triple science, latin, school choir, school quiz team, ski trips etc. etc.). I am so grateful I was sent there.

But it is up to the parents really. I would want my children to go to a good school rather than be with their friends. I kept all my best friends from my primary school when I moved to going to school 17 miles from home.