my son is going to the local bog standard comp

I suspect even if I wanted to get DS1 , and (god forbid) DS2 into a top university I'd be pissing in the wind Even if I sent him to the very bestest most selective school in the UK.

Perhaps we aren't all aiming for our DC to get into a top Uni or get a top Grad job. It isn't the be all and end all.

I went to a big rough comp, loved it, did well.

I'm SO glad I had a comprehensive education instead of a selective one!!

I'm going to make sure my DD also has what I consider to be a good social (and socialist!) education. Hurrah for comps!!

If celebrating the fact that you are sending your child to the local school is 'inverse snobbery,' does it then follow that celebrating the fact yours is going to a private school actual snobbery-?'

(have to ask as we didn't cover it at my big-standard comp)

All three of mine will be at the school down the road - the one which has some mummies clutching their pearls with horror -

MNetters can post as many Comps success stories that they want but various studies have shown that the intake for the top Uni and top Grad jobs heavily favour GS and Indie students.

Sure, there are lots of stories about kids from council estates/comps getting to Oxford and Co but statistically they are in the minority.

And no, I am not putting down Comps. There are some very good ones but, unfortunately for my early retirement fund, there are none within my catchment area :(

OP is this a bad thing or good thing for you My son is going to the bog standard comp [hurray and proud/boo and saddened]

Sorry Orm, I don't see the sneering either.

But where's the sneering? It just sounds to me like lots of positive stories.

I don't see the inverted snobbery.

basildonbond is right. But inverse snobbery seems to be the norm these days .

seeker not W, starts with H and is full of trees!!!!

No sneering basildon. Just people stating how they feel about their local school. And it's a good thing that so many people are OK about it isn't it?

I don't see any ire being vented, basildon, just a list of people who are using the school near them. If you don't see the point that's fine.

Not a fan of bog standard as a term, but my dd2 will join her sister at comprehensive round the corner in september. It has its flaws but dd1 seems ok.

I think 'bog standard', just means the local comprehensive up the road where all of the local children go. Well it does in my case anyway.

I hate the phrase 'bog standard comprhensive' - what on earth does it mean? FWIW my elsdest dd went to a comp in special measures when she did her GCSEs and she and her friends did very well - all 'A' for dd and most of her friends. She is now at university in her final year and doing well there.

I am a governor at another comp which I think is doing very well and my youngest dd is there.

I know kids who have gone to both grammar and independant schools and haven't done so well . Not sure what the moral of all this is but involved and supportive parents who communicate with the school go a long way to kids being able to focus and learn.

Theresa, Snap. DS2 in second year in one of the top 5 UK economics departments at university after attending local bog standard comp.
DS1 left the same university after doing a 4 year masters engineering degree. He got a first.
They took the opportunities that were offered to them at this school, and 6th form colleges and never looked back.
My neighbour is sending her young daughter to this school partly because of the achievements of my sons.
There was a time when a lot of local people would do anything to avoid this school, including the time mine were there, but I'm pleased to say that results are getting better and the school has more applications than places.
DS2 once told me that one of his university friends (who went to the private school next door) said to him, 'My mum and dad paid a lot more than your mum and dad for us both to end up in the same place (university course).'
Both have great friends from school that they are still very much in contact with.

erm.... I can't really see the point of this thread

Educational provision in this country is so patchy and variable that if you live near a decent school, then you're lucky and why would you get sucked into angst about secondary transfer? But most of the people on here who are anxious about where their dc are going to go don't have that luxury. If some of the schools round here were my only realistic option, I would be selling my kidney to get my child a route out.

Why sneer at parents who don't want their child to go somewhere with a permanent police presence and where there's a culture of violence and low achievement - and believe me, there are plenty of schools like that around, just as there are plenty with fantastic pastoral care and good teaching and decent facilities and a good mix of abilities and kids. It's just inverted snobbery and that's as unpleasant to witness as the normal kind ....

The real outrage is that state education isn't all decent/good/bog-standard - why don't you vent your ire on the system that produces and tolerates such huge variations in standards, rather than the parents who are left to navigate their way through it?

My DCs school is massive (10 form entry) but I can't praise enough the opportunities that have been provided. My DCs like sport, but equally there is masses to do for those interested in musical/arty things (or both!). Great pastoral care too, due to a very strong house system. I overheard a conversation DD had a couple of weeks ago with some girls from an independent school that they were playing sport with - and was very proud when she explained very eloquently why most people on her team would not be skiing this year!

My DS is in his last year at a bog standard comp - then he's off to one off the best universities in the country to study economics. Yes, I think they've done a good job.

Parental pride aside - it is a good school. Small enough that the teachers know all the pupils, even if they don't teach them, but it still has great facilities, lots of extra-curricular clubs and activities, a good relationship with parents, and lots of male teachers - I think that makes a big difference to teenage boys.

And I'm secretly worried too!

Ingles- it doesn't begin with a W, does it?

Ds will be starting at the local comp in September. DD1 is currently in y9 and is very happy there. DD2 will follow next year (hopefully)

yep, ds2 is going. He can't wait, but I'm secretly a little worried.
Ds1 is at a grammar and doing really well... I would have liked them both to have the same opportunities but they are very different children and in my heart I know they are at the best school for them.
Our comp has a farm though, so it's not that bog standard

yes.

Probably. DS1 and DD are there. At present he is at a bog standard primary. It's a very nice bog though. We count ourselves lucky.

Mine went to bog standard local primary as well as I did not put their names down for a prep school when they were 2 hours old which I gather from certain threads is the norm :)