How are Grammar schools so much better than comprehensives if they get the same funding?

DS1 wasnt academically gifted and went to a regular secondary school. However we didnt tolerate any bullshit from him and kept a close eye on his behaviour. The teachers saw us as being supportive and supported Ds1 a lot and us. So much to the point he really thrived and achieved really good academic results which allowed him to do what he wanted.

A year or so later I visited the school a lot through my work. I was working with kids who had very low attendance( 20% in some cases) and poor behaviour issues.
It was interesting because I could see the teachers weren't over invested in the children whose parents didn't value education or positive behaviour. Me and dh got a lot of support when ds was being a dick head because they knew we cared, put in consequences and supported them.

What im saying in a round about way, is i feel you get out what you put in with schools. Show up, show you support them and support your child in his home life and they will help your child to achieve, regardless of the type of school.
In your shoes I would be near family.

I went to a comprehensive school but I would have loved the opportunity to go to a grammar school. We didn't have them where I grew up.

I'm so split on this issue. I'd be fine with comprehensives if they were all of a high standard, and poor behaviour and feckless parents were managed.

But it's a lottery, isn't it?

So, if you have the opportunity to send them to a grammar, then do it. There's obviously the barrier of the 11+, but of course you'll support them throughout.

Good luck.

In the grammar that my daughter went to some parents actually moved in from the next county once their daughter had been offered a place.

What are your reasons for wanting to homeschool and keep your children out of the school system @Karma1387

I went to a state grammar school and we got very good exam results but at a cost.

• they are ruthlessly selective so only the most academically capable go.
• The focus is relentlessly on grades and passing exams - we had exams at the end of every year. If anyone was struggling academically conversations would be had with parents about whether the school was the right one for their child - essentially you could be asked to leave for not being academic enough.
• A narrow academic curriculum is followed and if you were danger of getting mediocre grades you will be encouraged to drop certain subjects before exams.

We are in a grammar area. Within the area there are also very good and very bad comps. I would move for good comprehensives (the house prices will match though) but not for grammar as there is no guarantee they will get in.

One of my children has got into a super selective and aged 2 was the age we noticed she was different. She could speak like she was in primary school and could read and write before preschool. I'm not sure all kids at the super selective will have been like that but I also know she will not be the brightest there. Our other child is not like that and it is early days at primary school but we hope she'll get into grammar but doubt it will be a super selective one. Luckily we live in catchment for a good comprehensive too.

I went to two different grammar schools (second was for A Levels). It’s quite simple really - the kids are very bright (top 3% of 11+ in those days, 30 odd years ago). Also, parental support was so much higher as the parental cohort generally had good careers, high educational capital and valued “doing well” at school abd going off to university (which about 95% of us did.) However, it didn’t suit everyone. Those who had been coached to within an inch of their lives for admission definitely struggled by Y9 and generally were miserable by the end of GCSEs. Your children will need to be both naturally bright and also academically keen. Even in DHs family (all bright with great careers now) only 2/4 got into the local grammars as thresholds are very high.

My daughter goes to a grammar and we wanted to because of smaller classes and more of a family feel. She’s averagely academic but doing well in her exams. Don’t regret our decision once to send her there.

Oh god, don’t home educate. Even a bad comp - of which there are many - would be better than the disastrous effect of trying to teach your own children.

If a comprehensive streams and uses explicit teaching at all levels those in the top streams should achieve as well as in a grammar school and those of lesser ability will do as well as good students elsewhere. The problems to look for are schools that go for 'relevance', 'the skills curriculum' (though doing that has been more difficult since Grove pushed for a knowledge rich curriculum), and mixed ability teaching (less fashionable now, and really hard for teachers to manage as are constant demands for 'differentiation').

We are in North London and kids travel for hours to get to the grammar schools near here. Thousands apply. Only the best get in. Its incredibly tough i hear - we will try but i very much doubt will get in!

Homeschooling can be amazing for some children. But what children learn from both primary and secondary is how to function in society. Attendance, making friends, being on time, working in groups etc. You might be able to get that from homeschool groups, but the social side of school has been hugely important for my DC.
Do you have the ability to cover nine or more subjects tona good standard at GCSE? Are you and your children motivated to do that without the framework of school?

I work in education, specifically secondary grammar schools.

In a nutshell (and generalising), students are very bright and usually taken from a fairly large catchment area (example: one grammar I worked for would take students as long as they were within 10 kilometres, comprehensives in the same area would rarely have students from more than a mile away). Broadly there are less students with SEN and less behavioural issues which means less disruption in class time. The teaching style is different to a comprehensive (in my experience) as it is tailored to these unusually high achieving students.

I have seen many students really struggle both academically and with their mental health - the child has to be hugely committed and motivated AND be able to cope with the expectations (of the school and that they put on themselves). Many bright students would do as well academically in a good comprehensive.

They are academically selective and most children have to work quite hard to get in. The 'don't give a shit about education' parents don't get involved in that process so their kids don't go to grammar schools.

@TorroFerney Hence why I didn’t say all schools…

I grew up in a grammar school/secondary midterm system and went to a grammar school. I now live in an area with excellent comprehensive schools and no grammar schools. There's absolutely no way I would move to a grammar system instead of a good comprehensive one.

You’re projecting here. Lots of kids move school with only short-term upheaval.
The fact you had a hard time doesn’t mean they will if it’s handled properly.

Wait until you know what your kids needs are before making a hasty decision then having to revisit it a few years down the line anyway.

I definitely wouldn’t want to live in Bourne but I guess it depends where you live now. It’s a small town with not great facilities not near anywhere lovely (sorry to anyone in Bourne but reasonable I think).

Grantham at least is a decent size town and not too far from big cities for a culture fix.

Also iirc there are more non grammar options there, as in, it’s not 11plys or sec mod. I’m not an expert tho as I am from further east in Lincs.

What do you do? Can you easily move jobs? Do you live in a rural area now?

Not sure how flexible you are in terms of where you can move to but I think you're right to be concerned and do some research into other local schools if they don't get in to the grammar. We're in a non-grammar county on the border of a grammar county. DC got into grammar school in neighbouring county and was very happy there, but if they hadn't (either by failing 11+ or due to distance) would have definitely got a place at a very good, close by comp.

Are you really asking this question? Students have to sit an entrance exam to get into a Grammar School, then they take the top students. There is no catchment area for those students. Parents tend to be wealthier and more engaged in ensuring their child gets into a Grammar School, by paying for tuition. Meanwhile comprehensives are all inclusive and have to take a wide range of pupils, including much less able students, those with learning difficulties and those who have been excluded from other schools. But it doesn’t mean bright children cannot get straight 9s at a Comprehensive, there will just be far fewer.

If you move, then make sure the non grammars are also good.

However I'm sure there are vast swathes of the country with a bunch of 'good' comprehensives (and no grammars) so you could do research and move to one of those areas?

I think you need to prove your assertion that grammar schools are 'so much better'. Better in terms of what? They will of course get better results, but don't forget things such as all round education, and student mental health (both in the preparation to take the 11+ and ongoing through the school).

And if your children are only nursery age now, any one school can go up or down quite a lot in 8 years.

Just interested but why home schooling? I think it's yhe worst kind of education and also very isolating for the child . Do you have 11+ in your prefered area that there are Grammer schools .