The Politics of Grammar Schools

"I disagree.

There are posters with SEN. There are posters with a poor education. There are posters who do not speak English as their first language.

Their views are valid."

Absolutely. I agree with you. Completely. That is why this is the first time I have ever made a point about someone's grammar or English. Had you seen the poster concerned on other recent threads, you would see what I am saying.

(Sorry- that was in reply to "One school was so bad I made my excuses and left the building as ds felt unsafe". DS entered that grammar school thinking he wanted to attend it - he passed the exam - but by the end of the first corridor he was really scared.)

opalfire King Edward foundation was forced to put it's plans back 12 months, when it will admit an extra class of 25 to Y7 in each of the 5 schools, who will be PP pupils that have passed the entrance examination, but likely at a lower mark than the other 100 gaining a place.

DS refused to consider a local grammar, because he felt unsafe walking down the corridor on an open day.

Miele,

I suppose it depends what criteria you use to judge schools by.

I was once enthusing to another parent about DC's primary school. 'Oh, we thought it was terrible,' came the reply. i asked why. 'Because the children weren't always sitting at their desks in silence to do their work.' I enquired a little further about which year group this was. 'Reception.'

That parent, themselves educated in a particular way, was looking for a very particular type of schooling for their own child - and rejected an extraordinarily good school (results much, much, much better than the one she chose and paid for) because it didn't match their idea of what 'good schools' looked like.

I know that in DC's comp - a honeypot school - there are a couple of pupils whose out of school behaviour has been poor. Even though said pupils are in DS's year, he is utterly unaware of their existence, let alone affected by their behaviour and attitude to learning in school. However, if saw those few pupils in the street, the judgement I might form of the school on that snapshot [unjustifiably, especially since the multi-agency team the school has pulled together to help the pupils involved is really impressive] could be poor - and wrong.

Sooooooo she visited several schools and was allowed to reject any of them as long as she didn't pick the grammar.

Madness,I visited several and rejected the all singing,all dancing comp loads appeal to get into.It seems to be ok to reject schools if you're going to another comp(good or outstanding obviously).

So what do you define as "crap" then?

I disagree.

There are posters with SEN. There are posters with a poor education. There are posters who do not speak English as their first language.

Their views are valid.

Tell us what you saw.

"Hak. Didn't read the ofsted reports. Didn't look at university places."

So how do you know the schools are "crap", then?

Word. Yes, I agree. In 99.99999 % of cases. This is the .00001%

Talkin exercising your choice is the same whether an exam,selective housing or picking one school over another is involved.

It is all parental choice.

Ps, I will use my laptop instead of my phone.

Apologies Hak.

Apologies Hal. I will type more slowly, and I will also sense check posts before posting. Genuinely, I am not being flippant.

So you know very little about the "crap" schools? You didn't read the OFSTED reports or visit them?

So your while argument is based on what exactly? Gossip? Uninformed views of a handful of people?

hak pulling people up on their grammar and spelling is really shitty!

Talkinpeace

I was a governor in a school that was in special measures, when I joined. I was part of a great team of students, teachers, parents and governors that turned it around. So I do care.

But given the choice, I would not inflict the local comps on my children. We have come across the unpleasant language and actions of a small but influential feral bunch to know that we should not their school with a barge pole.

Hakluyt. Before you go any further I do not equate comprehensives and crap as synonyms. I just equate it for my local ones.

Miele - that's unfortunate for your son, but it doesn't mean that the school is completely crap. Unless you can prove that every child failed.

Portico, maybe you should sort out your possessive apostrophes and the difference between dis- and un- interested before you launch your 11+ tutoring material!

As I said, Miele- so all the comprehensives in your area are OFSTED rated 4? And no one goes to university?

Hakluyt

It is not always that clear cut. There are shades of grey. Scratch the surface and ofsted results don't mean anything to anyone beyond school staff and league perceptions. If Miele72 feels that the core hygiene factors of respect or behaviour are not met, then why should see send her child there.

Sorry Miele72. I purposely sought grammar, but two of my local comps are in special measures. It was also a no brainer for me to choose an out of county super se.ective grammar for my child.