So its that time of year and we're attending lots of secondary school open days. We're mainly interested in the independent sector for dd and have hit upon a surprising dilemma...
There are two 'frontrunners' - a busy independent school (400 pupils) which prides itself on 98% GCSE pass rate (A-C incl. English and Maths); and a much smaller school (175 pupils) that has moderately lower results (91%, though some of these are IGCSE so the official league table shows much lower (like 60%). Both are selective entry.
On paper, the busier school would seem better, but I must admit that I felt the smaller school (with much smaller class sizes) just 'felt' better when I looked around.
I couldn't work out why the smaller school gets worse results with smaller classes etc. I spoke with some of the parents and pupils and it seems the smaller school does have some children with additional needs - dyslexia etc, which I don't think the bigger school has. Also, I got the distinct impression at the bigger school (from talking to pupils) that they may be 'selective' about who gets to sit which GCSE exams...
Everyone I speak to tells me to follow the best academic results. Am I wrong to just go with my heart and send DD to the school that 'feels' right? She doesn't seem to mind which of them she goes to !
Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.
Secondary education
Secondary School Dilemma
yvette1971 · 28/02/2015 23:49
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