What are STATE schools in London like?

As a state school parent with lots of extra curricular contact with many schools I would say:

London state schools are massively underfunded. YES. AS ARE MOST SCHOOLS NATIONWIDE.
London state schools don’t play enough sport. MANY DO NOT HAVE THE FACILITIES,IT IS A PROBLEM FOR MANY
London state schools don’t produce good swimmers. WHAT A PP SAID. THOUGH SCHOOLS WITH POOLS CAN REFER PUPILS TO CLUBS
London state schools have language issues.DON’T KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS
London state schools find the middle ground for all pupils.THIS IS OUTDATED IN ALL THE SCHOOLS I KNOW OF, WHICH SUPPORT HIGH FLIERS AND THOSE NEEDING INTERVENTION AND ALL INBETWEEN. MANY ON MN DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT COMPREHENSIVE ED MEANS IN PRACTICE.
London state schools lack support for SEN. NO STATE SCHOOLS GET ENOUGH, AND IT WILL GET WORSE. BUT I HAVE SEEN SO MUCH GOOD PRACTICE AND SPECIALISM IN STATE SCHOOLS AND SOME TOTAL LACK OF RECOGNITION IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS
London state schools lack resources in IT and Science LESS SWISH EQUIPMENT BUT NOT ENOUGH TO UNDERMINE LEARNING
London state schools lack resources in art and drama DITTO. AND FOR KEEN OR TALENTED PERFORMING ARTS STUDENTS THE BEST HAPPENS IN PROJECTS RUN BY ARTS ORGANISATIONS OUT OF SCHOOL,
London state schools have many demotivated teachers THEY HAVE SOME, TRUE. WHO COULD BLAME THEM, GVT INTERFERNCE ETC, BUT THEY ALSO HAVE VISIONARY, COMMITTED PROFESSIONALS WITH WIDE AND AGILE SKILLS
London state schools have many motivated teachers
London state schools have a narrow curriculum NOPE, NOT IN MY EXPERIENCE WIDER CHOICE OF SUBJECTS BECAUSE OF SIZE OF BIG COMPS, OFFER OF MUSIC PRODUCTION BTEC ETC ETC
London state schools are losing good teachers THIS MAY WELL BE TRUE AND WILL HAPPEN ACROSS ALL SECTORS DUE TO HOUSE PRICES.

London state schools are massively underfunded.
London state schools don’t play enough sport.
London state schools don’t produce good swimmers.
London state schools have language issues.
London state schools find the middle ground for all pupils.
London state schools lack support for SEN.
London state schools lack resources in IT and Science
London state schools lack resources in art and drama
London state schools have many demotivated teachers
London state schools have many motivated teachers
London state schools have a narrow curriculum
London state schools are losing good teachers

Though saying this all is pretty pointless as I would not be able to afford private school in London, so will probably move out of London.

I don't know how these children behave in school admittedly, but I do know that the school has dedicated security personnel, and a police officer.

The behaviour I see outside school, which includes daily fighting, is enough to put me off. Even if these pupils are perfectly behaved at school, I wouldn't want my child to have to leave going through a gauntlet of fighting children daily. As an adult I find it intimidating, so I can only imagine how an 11 year old might feel.

As far as I know they don't band based on ability due to the 'sink effect' and abysmal behaviour that would happen as a result.

I can't comment on your local secondaries but before my DCs joined their state secondary I also used to be pretty horrified by the look/behaviour of some of the kids I saw leaving school . However once DCs were actually there it wasn't nearly as bad as I feared. And if a school has got banding based on ability and they can get into the higher bands your DCs may not have much contact with the more badly behaved kids who are usually -but not always-in the lower bands.

I live in one of the most deprived areas of London.

I wouldn't want the send my children to the local secondaries as there is a lot of gang involvement, fighting, knife carrying and drug use. My eldest child has said they are afraid to go to the local secondary from what they have seen of these children leaving school.

Also can we avoid naming schools unless parents actually volunteer the info? There are many reasons why a school and a child should not be publicly linked.

@Clavinova I don't think we are speaking about the same school or the same child..

I have more than one child!

And no - I did not apply to any private school as a "back-up". Backup for what? I was going to be happy with any of the schools on our list.

Which school is it Clavinova?

FanDabbyFloozy
not the state school my child attends.. Brilliant, funny, caring teachers who work so hard for the kids. If demotivated, they deserve an Oscar each!!

You forgot to mention that your child attends one of the most sought-after (super-selective, single sex) grammar schools in the country!

The school collects over £100,000 pa in voluntary contributions from parents by direct debit. Did you register your dc for any independent school entrance exams as a back-up?

I think London state schools are a more attractive choice than they have been for decades.

@stateschoolparent - I agree!

Unless they fall into the "I don't want my kids mixing with the masses" brigade, parents who have a choice (which most don't) will choose a school depending on whether its good or bad -not whether its private or state. There are London private schools whose facilities and/or academic results are so poor that I wouldn't send my DCs there even if I could afford it. Similarly I wouldn't want them going to a failing comp if I had the choice although there is evidence that middle class kids in state schools achieve similar results to those in private schools.(Parents get confused by the results of a few super selectives like Westminster, Eton, St Pauls etc ignoring the fact that the kids who get into those schools are already Oxbridge potential). In fact due to the rise in affordable private tuition and the massive improvement/investment in state schools in London in the last 15-20 years, I think London state schools are a more attractive choice than they have been for decades.

Almost all the children in my sons school go to private swimming lessons as well as school ones, bad behaviour is stamped on quickly and it is a very large diverse primary.
Houses are around 1m for a 3 bed and back on to council flats you would not know which children come from which as they are in clean, comfortable uniform.
Some of my eldest sons are off to private next year, some to church schools or selective, many are going to the same 3rd choice comp as my boy which has terrible offsted but a new headteacher and great facilities.
Should for some reason he not thrive there or turn out unhappy i wouldnt hesitate to look private, but a 20min bus ride at 11 is far more sensible imho than sending him across town. He could go further and fair worse.

@LordWalterTheCourageous - not the state school my child attends.. Brilliant, funny, caring teachers who work so hard for the kids. If demotivated, they deserve an Oscar each!!

My friend's daughter swims for her national team, and is in a London state school.

Lord Walter,

That is a frankly bizarre list.

Just for exam,ple:

The vast majority of truly good junior swimmers are club swimmers, not school swimmers. They train before school, after school, and at weekends, and the school they go to is frankly irrelevant.

SEN support is, IME, better in state than in private schools [as a state school, we receive a significant numbert of 'managed out' previously private school educated children with SEN]

the teachers we lost to private schools are ... not our best, and most state schools locally have a policy of simply not interviewing applicants who have taught at the private schools, as their skills, pedagogy and knowledge (at primary level at least) just aren't approppriate

The 'can't afford a Pritt stick' is, however, probably true. We buy cheap educational suppliers' Pritt stick lookalikes instead. it's glue, not a yardstick of a quality education.

Wow lord Walter what a massive list of generalisations.
Where’d you make that up from? Utter nonsense.
What authority do you have in knowing the funding of every state secondary in London? And the motivation of teachers across the board? Can’t believe you wasted time writing that list of BS

London state schools are massively underfunded.
London state schools don’t play enough sport.
London state schools don’t produce good swimmers.
London state schools have language issues.
London state schools find the middle ground for all pupils.
London state schools lack support for SEN.
London state schools lack resources in IT and Science
London state schools lack resources in art and drama
London state schools have many demotivated teachers
London state schools have many motivated teachers
London state schools have a narrow curriculum
London state schools are losing good teachers
London state schools can’t afford a Pritt stick.

Huge problems no wonder people send their kids to independents.

International School London v Ellen Wilkinson School

Two choices, high fees or free.

Although, your story reminds me, a friend of mine fell over in the street when heavily pregnant and several kids from the nearby top tier school went by without offering any help. When my friend was discharged from hospital, she called the school bursar to tell her about the experience as she was so upset and the school was addressed about the important of helping as a result.

The head of our primary told us 'never make your school decision based on behaviour you've seen on buses. They are all horrible on buses'.

My bus to work takes kids both to local inner-London secondaries and two top ranking public/private schools often mentioned on here. I've seen good and bad from both sides although nothing awful from anyone.

well I am not in London, so pardon me if this is irrelevant, but the main difference I have noticed is in the manners of pupils.

I was outside our local supermarket the other day, talking to a man who walked with a stick, some rugby boys from the public school over the mountain came running by...they actually pulled themselves up to a halt, so they didn't run between us, and muttered 'sorry sir'. They looked about 12 or 13.

Totally impressed!

From what I’ve seen, the kids in private and grammar schools do far more work than state school kids (generally speaking)
The private and grammar school kids get around 2 hrs hw per evening and more on the weekend with more focussed lessons in school.
My dc at an outstanding state school, gets about 4hrs per week and lessons are sometimes disrupted.

Every child has the right to visit Waitrose.
State schools are good and even outstanding.

I didn’t recognise that clue, so no