Grammar or not?!

[LucasNorthsTwiglets]

Really bright child but very lazy and is a 'bare minimum' sort of kid. Excellent grammar nearby, other choice is pretty poor. What the heck do I do? Ability-wise would probably be fine for the grammar but if said child is lazy then surely they'll just be miserable? If we had a good alternative then I wouldn't consider the grammar (I'm not keen on the pressure) but as the alternative isn't great it's making me rethink... GAH.

[crazycrofter]

I have a lazy 'bare minimum' son in year 7 at a grammar school. So far the high expectations and very clear system of rewards and punishments is working wonders with him. It's also helpful for him to see peers completing homework in the day it's set.

This could all be in place at a comprehensive school today - but the local one we'd have opted for tends to molly coddle and expect too little.

I thought my son might be miserable with the workload but he's really got into it, is much less resistant to homework now and is motivated to get merits. I think at the comprehensive he would have coasted -rather like at primary.

[EugenieG]

I had a "bare minimum" a child too, when they were in primary school. But they were keen to go to the grammar and has thrived since.

The pace of learning suits them better, they're swept along with the rest of the kids so the bare minimum is actually quite a high achieving level. It's working well for us.

There is a lot of pressure, but I would say it's more from the parents than from school. School is keen on managing stress, enjoying your school years, educating the whole person not just focusing on the highest grades.

But I think pressure to do well is endemic in every school these days - kids know their levels and learning objectives etc. even in primary school so how could they not be aware and feel pressured in secondary, especially come exam times?

How old is your child OP? And how confident are you of getting a place at the grammar? Have you gone to open days for the grammar and alternative school(s)?

[karriecreamer]

I think a grammar is an excellent place for a "bright but lazy" child. My son was the same, and still is. He does the bare minimum homework and exam revision, in fact if it's not set as a formal homework, he won't do it. He has no real interest in most of his subjects. As Eugenie said, my son also just gets swept along with the rest of the class. There's little classroom disruption, so little wasted teaching time, so not really that much need to do lots of homework etc outside lessons. As it is, he's in the top 15 in his year in a top grammar school, doing far better than we'd ever have imagined and expected to achieve grade 9 in most of his GCSEs. I really don't think he'd have done anywhere near as well in a more mixed ability environment as he'd probably just float around the middle doing the bare minimum.

[Teddygirlonce]

Hmmm, I'd disagree with PP. I have a bright but lazy DS who passed all his super-selective 11+ exams. Came out with decidedly mediocre GCSE grades (although to be fair so did some 25% of his school cohort)! The issue was that the school seemed to expect them to be self-motivated learners (which until this past year DS wasn't). I have no doubt that in one of the good local comps (where he would have been really pushed as one of the bright ones) he would have done far better. And, aside from not doing more than the minimum study-wise (until Year 11), he was otherwise a well behaved and rules obeying pupil with no issues to peg so-so results on.

[LucasNorthsTwiglets]

Thanks everyone. Very interesting to hear that some of your lazy children worked well at grammars! To answer Eugenie's questions, I'm fairly confident of him getting in and yes I've been to the open days. I wasn't really feeling it at the grammar, tbh - it seemed very... staid? I did like that there isn't that culture of 'you're clever so you must be a nerd' that there is at some schools though. Your school sounds lovely - I think that's what bothered me about this grammar, that it was only about the grades and not about the whole-child education.

[AtiaoftheJulii]

I guess only you know about that particular school, unless you wanted to name it, but I was really impressed with the pastoral care at my dc's school when it was needed. One teacher said to me that getting the grades was the easy bit, the hard bit was getting the students through it happy and in one piece.

My older dc is definitely a coaster and the grammar school was imo the right place to be, as others have said above!

[LucasNorthsTwiglets]

I definitely feel more positive about the idea than I did before, so thanks for your input, everyone.

I'm talking about CRGS, btw.