secondary education - not privates school choices

Then I full respect that lavolcan.

And you know, I do think the angst around education is funny and delciously absurd. This thread made me laugh !

Wordfactory - do I get an exemption, because our nearest comp, within walking distance, was closed and all the other catchment schools are a bus ride anyway?

and I'm not bitter about the fact the the nearest comp has now reopened. Not at all

Quite a lot of us do/did send our children to the nearest comp. And not just because we were in rural areas where there was only one anyway.

Slack mummy who couldn't be bothered to drive her children to the next town for the currently fashionable comprehensive, and let them walk/cycle instead to the local ones.

nit FWIW I think you are pretty cool.

You've always struck me as highly measured about education. You send your DC to a non leafy comprehensive, because it's where you live and you're happy with it. You admit it aint perfect (what school is? Certainly none that I know of) but are pragmatic...

You don't wear the whole thing like a badge of honour.

You have issues with independent schools whioch I fully respect and can understand.

But some of the other usual suspects are just hilarious...I cannot take them seriously. And I don't buy the faux ennui with the private school threads...cos they always pile up on them ...

I think there is a level of insincerity that grates.

Yeah , I could be all cool and laid back about sending MY kids to the nearest comp. and urge others to do the same, regardless of where they live.

But the truth is we bought our house specifically to be in catchment of 2 very good comps. So easy for me to be laid back and scornful ... But I'll resist.

What on earth does that mean? Whom do you suspect of pretending their children go to the nearest comprehensive school?

And who is going out of her way to avoid private schools? I think we are mainly saying not that we're 'cool' or more laidback than 'yummy mummies' (have no idea of the yumminess of any poster, other than when it is self-professed) - just really that it turns out our local schools are not failing our children.

And we can't all live in the same leafy suburb!

HSM shhhhhhhh....

you have to pretend you were offered and took your nearest comp on this thread...

nit though this is a humerous thread, it has gone further than you say.

There are posters trying to show that they are just so cool with their state schools (unlike those private school uptight yummy mummies)...who in fact went out of their way to avoid it or other local schools...drive past 'em in fact ...

So ya know, the self congratulatory back slapping is one of the funniest things here !!!

My 3 choices were all catchment schools and DD didn't get into any of them. We were offered a place at another catchment school, but she got an out of catchment offer, which we happily took and although she has a 10 mile bus ride, she has got to yr 10 and still loves it there.

I'm not 'scornful of parents trying decide' (though don't tell me they're all only after private in extremis because every state school is full!). As I say, this thread has largely been about the crap that gets spouted about state schools on mn.

Wow a person goes to give some lectures at one of the best universities and look what she misses ...

I thought I smelt the fragrant whiff of worthiness in their air...

martorana did you put your appeal against the secondary modern in on the way to buying your bell?

I didn't say anyway was putting down children at private school

I think the OPs post is scornful of parents who are trying to decide about private schools.

I don't think I've read any of the other threads so I don't know about the other stuff. I'm on the 'waiting for secondary places' thread but that seems to be a mix of anxious parents waiting for news rather than anything else.

I don't fully know whether Riversidemum's experience isn't the norm, certainly if you exclude the Greater London area. I could almost have written her post myself except that our choice is from 3 comprehensives. These schools won't appear in the top 500 because they are taking a fair band of ability by and large, but it doesn't mean that they are failing to give the children there a good education.

I too think that my children got a better education than either DH or I did at our grammar schools, which seemed to be quite long on pretence and only so-so on academic results.

My particular bugbear is the people who dismiss a school as not being 'good' when they have never set foot inside it to judge for themselves. There is often a time lag between the reputation of a school and how it really is. I sent DS to a primary school which I heard was 'tough', 'not sure my child could survive there', but in practice turned out to be an excellent, well run school. Meanwhile, the popular primary that people were fighting to get their children into was sliding into special measures.

I thought MN was full of "motivated" parent of all (both) political persuasions. State vs Private is just one axis containing all motivated parents.

Find me a MN poster that isn't "motivated" (whatever than means).

So many people with a chip on their shoulder, all on one thread!

I think you are much more like to see posters simply saying that a good school isn't available to them in their area rather than denying that they exist or promoting stereotypes.

I've mentioned our situation before but it doesn't seem to be that common. Ds, a delightful but very different child, with quirks that mark him out as autistic to even the most casual observer is at an independent secondary school.

The decision to send him there, for the best chance of happiness and safety, was not informed by me being unhappy, scared and bullied for being clever at my own very average comp, although I was. It was informed by the fact that dh and I currently/recently have worked in 3 of our local schools (a range of 'types') and were not in any way confident that ds would be safe and happy in any of them.

That's not ill-informed angst from pfb parents worried about their 'sensitive' child, it's our informed reality.

I think actually, stripes and others, if you read again, again, the posts are not targeting children who go to private school, or even really the parents who send them there: they are almost all about things which have been said about comprehensives and the children who go to them, and parodies of those posts.

It is, I guess, a thread about a lot of threads.

My area is like RiversideMums- my children have done very well from it- as have all my friend's children.

Since only about 7% of children go to private schools, there are only 164 grammar schools left in England and a tiny, tiny minority HE, about 90% go through state school comprehensives!
Even on MN the majority go to the local state school.
According to an article in the Times this week the middle classes are being priced out of private education- therefore even more will use state schools.

A representative of the Sutton Trust has just been on BBC Breakfast (talking about fair banding) and he mentioned that the top performing 500 comprehensives all have low proxy measures for deprivation.

Even in comprehensive areas, the schools may well not have representative intakes. Riversidemum's experience isn't the norm. But what might make it so?

Most people in the UK don't live in London. Most people are not in grammar school areas. We just don't talk loudly enough about being happy with our lot. Comprehensive education is great. Where I live you can choose from 4 secondary schools and most people get into their first choice. All the schools are "good" and all have mixed demographics. All of them get a few kids into Oxbridge, many more into Russell Group and significant numbers into apprenticeships and FE. I have been amazed by the quality of education my DCs have had compared to my experience at grammar school in the 70s-80s.

My son goes to rough local comp...Shock! Horror! He is studying for a levels now. Many friends have good offers for unis, including Oxford, Kings, Newcastle, Sheffield etc What's my point? I suppose that there are lots of hard working and extremely clever children AND teachers in bog standard schools too!

You are right, on another quick read most of the scorn is reserved for private school parents who are 'angst ' ridden. As I have said I am are not going down that route but it doesn't mean that I should mock those who have and are on mn expressing their concerns. It's a good example of the rampant reverse snobbery on here.

I have also seen threads slating 'pushy' wannabe grammar school parents on mn, my rant applies to that too. Most of us, wherever we live, have concerns about our children's secondary education. Whether it be the suitability of one good school or another. I just hate the bashing people get for being a parent who wants the best for their child.

I do think that concerns about schools are also often not voiced to RL friends because their concerns may be different so MN is a good anonymous place to do it. I wonder if separate threads for independent schools and state might actually be a good idea? Not to sort those who can pay and those who can't but they are two completely different worlds with different time lines and rules. It would be like mixing the arts and crafts board with the baking threads. Bakers are not interested in hearing about the latest colour available in stylecraft DK and equally knitters may not care if someone's fondant won't set.

Wow this thread degenerated fast.
Stripe I don't think it was common or garden concern for one's DCs education that was being satirized/pilloried.

What is the definition of a leafy comp? Is there a list somewhere? Or are there different levels of leafiness?