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Original poster

Do you like your system?

60 replies

YesIReallyDoLikeRootBeer · 02/03/2022 17:53

I'm in America, so our system for school placement is very different to England (I believe Scotland is similar to here). Where ever you live, your DC go to the school for that address. You never apply for schools (Unless you choose to go to Private School). You never worry about where you will end up, or if siblings will be split. No being upset that you did not get the same school as a friend (unless you, or they, move out of district) or choosing a school just because friends are going there. Every year I watch on this board (and the Primary board) the anxiety parents and kids go through in the lead up to decision day. Then the upset so many feel when they dont get the school they want. Being put on waiting lists and maybe having your school change (maybe even more then once) as offers come from waiting list schools. As an outsider looking in I always have to wonder "why do it this way?" So I'm curious, do you like your system? Or would you rather a system (like in America and apparently Scotland) where you just go to your local school and never have to think about which school you would get? (this is only in regards to public school, not private)

OP posts:
TeenPlusCat · 02/03/2022 18:31

Oh OK, things I notice all high schools have:

  • PA systems
  • lockers in all the wide, spacious hallways
  • having to 'pass' PE to graduate (as you happened to mention it)
  • big emphasis on sports
  • 'letter' jackets for sports players who 'letter' in the sport
  • 'homecoming'
  • 'homecoming' kings & queens
Debroglie · 02/03/2022 18:30

Most people in England have no choice of school and just go to their local one. I suppose the overlapping catchments are in big cities? Where we live there’s one primary in our village and one secondary in the nearest town. No choices. But of course we knew when we bought our house what schools our dc would go to and that was a big factor in choosing where to live (like most people I know with dc) so I guess we did choose but not in the way you think.

SquirmOfEels · 02/03/2022 18:28

The English population densities are off the scale compared to Scotland, let alone US.

We don't have an 'everyone to the catchment school' system as the number of pupils just won't fit in, and the schools can't be expanded because there's literally no space.

Even in Scotland there are parts of the catchment system which are creaking because they just can't accommodate all the potential pupils, and like England are looking for the least worst way to fan everone out a bit.

Also when you have a dozen primary schools within a miie (none undersubscribed) it's nice to be able to say which you'd prefer

Though New York has higher population density level than London. Does the 'everyone to the catchment school' really work there. Or perhaps it works only with bussing?

Original poster
YesIReallyDoLikeRootBeer · 02/03/2022 18:23

@Aroundtheworldin80moves I'm not saying our system is the best, as you say all have good and bad points. I'm just trying to understand better.

@TeenPlusCat I think you would need to be more specific in your question. I mean like most things in TV and movies some bits are realistic and some are not (I grew up watching the TV Show Fame and would have loved if my school broke out in song and dance in the hallways all the time LOL). Your 3 choices were all set in different decades (not sure if that is what you were asking, if school stays the same over time). And really I could only answer for schools I know. America is very big and every State is in charge of what education looks like there. One example, I grew up in one state and had to pass PE all 4 years of High School (equivalent of your Year 10 - 13) , but my sons growing up in a different state only had to pass PE 2 years to graduate. Although most are some what similar in the most basic ways.

OP posts:
Whatwouldscullydo · 02/03/2022 18:22

Its one of those things where if it works for u it works well.

If you throw in poor schools, the grammar system amd faith schools you can be surrounded by schools you cant access and left with a small selection of poor schools to choose from.

You have to be fairly well off alot of the time to afford a house near a good school.

It perhaps wouldn't have been so bad a few years ago but with all the new houses being built it seems to get harder and harder each year.

TeenPlusCat · 02/03/2022 18:21

Yes, it isn't so much choice as the ability to express a preference

SleeplessWB · 02/03/2022 18:17

The thing is, in many areas, like mine, there is very little real choice. All the schools are full every year so you go to the catchment school, or go private, unless you are prepared to drive a long way to an undersubscribed school. For many the choice is an illusion but a lot of people only realise this when they don't get the place they wanted (and never had any chance of getting)

BooksAndHooks · 02/03/2022 18:13

No way I would want mine to go to our local school.

Different schools even very good ones suit different children they aren’t all the same. I much prefer to have some degree of choice.

TeenPlusCat · 02/03/2022 18:10

I think in areas where schools are generally good then it is nice to have the choice. You can pick the school whose 'ethos' you think bests fits your child. In our market town there are 2 good comps but it was clear to me which would suit our DDs better.

I think in areas where some of the schools are genuinely poor, or where there are potential 'black holes' where you don't qualify easily for any school then it is an issue.

I also think that the at times very convoluted admissions systems (GCHS I'm looking at you) and the grammar system in some areas makes the system unnecessarily complicated.

As you are in America though I have a question. Are all American high schools really as similar as TV programmes make out? (Grease to High School Musical, Goldbergs, and a bunch more. They just all seem so standardised )

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 02/03/2022 18:01

We are in South Yorkshire and have a Catchment and feeder school system.

The plus side is that your child has priority admission for the local school.
It does mean that house prices can be more in the better catchments (I presume this is true in Scotland and the US too). Also there is still oversubscription criteria, so if there is too many children in catchment they can be sent elsewhere.

The negative side is that people moving, even just a mile or so, can mean the child is separated from all their friends at the Secondary transition. Also moving can mean no longer having sibling priority.

The truth is, there is no perfect system.

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