Does Grammar School not exist to some people?

[tippytoesah]

Surely it must do?

I've never really discussed schooling before with DH as DC is still so young. But I did recently and mentioned that if he showed promise or wanting to take the 11+, we would support him in any way possible.

He looked at me as if I had two heads and said "What's an 11+? "

He really didn't know it was a thing and had never heard of it. I was shocked and mentioned it to SIL and her friend who also have 0 idea what it is!

I'm not from around here and I grew up in Essex. It was quite a big thing in that county, or at least the area I was in. You either went to a non Christian school which was absolutely terrible, went to a Christian school who were actually half decent or you did the 11+ if you were really bright. It was encouraged and supported.

Does it not even exist in some places then? I will look further into it but DH and close relatives/friends seem to be as clueless as him... maybe it isn't a thing in that part of the county

There was a ‘grammar’ in my local town in the nw but it was fee paying. And all boys.

Id say the norm here is comp or private.

No grammar schools in my area at all

Only comps here in surrey.

Plenty of SE England without grammar schools. None in Greater London, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Surrey, etc. Some selective state schools that have their own tests but they are not formal 11+s and plenty of people won’t ever come across those schools.

tippy It means that a certain number of spaces are allocated to those showing particular abilities, usually via an academic test, although perhaps also in music or sport. The rest of the spaces are allocated in the usual way based on distance, sibling rules etc.

Never been affected by the grammar school system myself (thank goodness) although many members of my close family went to them. It’s all down to geography.

There are a few in Lancashire, the Wirral and Manchester area. Lots in Lincolnshire and some in North Yorkshire. Not sure about the South.

One of mine went to a partially selective comprehensive. Schools can select a certain proportion of pupils on academic ability, or it could be musical ability or something else. It’s common where I am. There are all sorts of selections.

Couldn't believe it when I moved to a new county and found kids taking the 11+. Where I come from it was just an ancient memory my Dad talked about from the black and white days!

There are grammar schools here and were when I was a child. Many grammars were closed in the 70s or 80s though so if your husband was in a non grammar area and was at school after then, he probably missed the idea completely.

There have never been grammar schools in Basildon though! It would always have been a trek and ooc for a child to get from there into SHS or WHS.

Are there grammars in your current LEA? If not, this is all rather a moot point.

Non in the area I grew up and non (thank god) in the area i live in now for my kids.

I hate the system and worry that the Conservatives will stealthy bring them back.

According to the grammar school list there are 7 state grammar schools in the entirety of Yorkshire. None in South Yorkshire, 3 in North Yorkshire, and 4 in West Yorkshire.

Partially selective means that the so-called comp reserves some of it's places for kids scoring the highest marks in an 11+ type test. They get offered places regardless of distance. Round here it's 15% of places.

I sat 11+ in the late 70s and went to a grammar. This was a London borough that still operated the system, but even then I knew it wasn't something that happened in most places.

Kent still has them & some London boroughs do too.

I live in one of the London boroughs (albeit in another county!) that do offer grammar schools. The competiton is extremely fierce; parents pay for tuition to help thrur childtes pass the 11+ exam from about Year Two and there's fewer places for girls than boys. Additionally, the places have to be open to about six other boroughs to apply to. Thankfully, the non-selective schools are pretty good too.

There was one where I grew up in Reigate.

I'm surprised an adult wouldn't be familiar with the concept of grammar schools and the 11+, even if they thought they no longer existed.

There's none where we live and have lived, but I know my parents took the 11+ and I've read news stories/watched things about children in parts of England being prepped for the test to get into a grammar school.

double There are lots of grammars in London - Sutton, Kingston and Bromley certainly have them.

There are 148 grammar schools left in the country.

Lots of areas of the Uk dint have grammar schools. They dint exist in Scotland and lots of other regions too.

In Bedfordshire I believe you will also have a 3 tier school system with middle schools...

Some schools may be called Grammar in Scotland but actually we don't have any actual grammar schools that we hear of down south.

@JoxerGoesToStuttgart, in Scotland kids just go to their catchment secondary (or a few go to different ones, if they put in a placement request). We do have private schools but not that many compared to England

Reigate Grammar has been a private school for decades.

Some of the London boroughs have grammar schools but you have to specifically apply to them. Is that different to parts of Kent for example where everyone in year 6 takes a test and then gets told whether they can go to grammar or not?

They are very rare nowadays. A neighbouring borough to us still has them and the competition to get a place is fierce. Only the very brightest students who also perform well in exams get in.