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Original poster

Do you know what a grammar school is?

185 replies

chestonher · 21/09/2022 11:09

Seems a silly question but here me out

DH didn't know. Not really, some vague idea but that was it.

My SIL didn't have a clue, I asked her out of interest in passing about any local ones. She said 'what's that? Confused' a friend of hers was there at the time and agreed she didn't know either that such a thing existed - that you could take a test to her into a school you don't pay for with fees.

None of them knew what the 11+ is.

So that's 3 people.

They are all from and live in Bedfordshire. I am from somewhere else in the South East - and where I'm from, if you're bright, you take the 11+.

These aren't people without anything about them either, my H has a professional job. The other two people are fairly well paid

OP posts:
BeyondApproach · 21/09/2022 15:18

Care to guess who the top three nationalities who earn the most in London are?

Gingernaut · 21/09/2022 15:20

Yes.

Grammar schools are allowed to restrict intake of pupils to those who achieve high scores in exams at 11

Round my way, we all took aptitude, general comprehension, maths and English exams, applied to grammar schools and then ended up in comprehensives who streamed quotas of pupils according to the results

I was 'banded' in one of two 'top' classes in my intake, there were two 'middle' classes and three 'low' class bands

As the girls truanted, got statemented, ended up in special units and were jailed, by the time we got to 5th year, there five not seven classes

BeyondApproach · 21/09/2022 15:20

chestonher · 21/09/2022 11:09

Seems a silly question but here me out

DH didn't know. Not really, some vague idea but that was it.

My SIL didn't have a clue, I asked her out of interest in passing about any local ones. She said 'what's that? Confused' a friend of hers was there at the time and agreed she didn't know either that such a thing existed - that you could take a test to her into a school you don't pay for with fees.

None of them knew what the 11+ is.

So that's 3 people.

They are all from and live in Bedfordshire. I am from somewhere else in the South East - and where I'm from, if you're bright, you take the 11+.

These aren't people without anything about them either, my H has a professional job. The other two people are fairly well paid

I suspect 'here me out' isn't taught at grammar schools?

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General education
BeyondApproach · 21/09/2022 15:22

I can guarantee you that the top earners in London will never have gone to a grammar school.

x2boys · 21/09/2022 15:23

BeyondApproach · 21/09/2022 15:10

No idea what they are but from thread titles on here which I skim over and occasionally click into, I suspect they're geared at students good at English or Maths? That's my presumption. I've never googled because they sound horrendous and were never on my radar. I have dated British men who say that you need to get the child into the right kindergarten, then the right school, then the right grammar school. Feeder schools or something? Is Eton a grammar school?
It sounds like pretentious hothousing for the Conservative party and toffs.

No Eton is a very prestigious public school ,s are fee paying school ,s
A grammar school is/was a state school whereby academic pupils passed an entrance exam 11+,despite what mumsnet would have you believe there are very few Grammar schools still available and only in certain areas of the UK, the Grammar system for most was phased outin the 70,s .

Idratherbepaddleboarding · 21/09/2022 15:26

I do as our city has 2 (one for boys and one for girls). DS goes to the boys’ and my niece goes to the girls’. There’s another one further away but it’s a private school that calls itself Grammar School.

HaveringWavering · 21/09/2022 15:30

On the basis of "here me out" (sic) and your seeming inability to research the entry/catchment criteria for grammar schools on the internet, I'm guessing you didn't attend one yourself?

Caspianberg · 21/09/2022 15:31

All a grammar school is, is a state school that has a test you have to pass to get into at 10/11. Hence 11+. It means that in general, those who attend will be higher grades. You don’t tend to get many who struggle to read, or with additional needs as they are filtered out by the tests. So they don’t need to band higher and lower.

Ie things like at gcse. Everyone at my grammar did triple science. Everyone was put in for higher maths. Everyone did a language. 10+ GCSEs were standard, 4+ A levels were standard. It’s assumed everyone will apply and go to uni.

BeyondApproach · 21/09/2022 15:32

HaveringWavering · 21/09/2022 15:30

On the basis of "here me out" (sic) and your seeming inability to research the entry/catchment criteria for grammar schools on the internet, I'm guessing you didn't attend one yourself?

I'm not the only one who noticed the misplaced pomposity then?

hairycabbage · 21/09/2022 15:33

Yes.
Both my dc attend grammar schools. One is great, one not so much (they're single sex grammars)

Pretty sure I knew about them before going through the process of applying.

mathanxiety · 21/09/2022 15:35

Bonkers, the lot of it.

frozenorangejuice · 21/09/2022 15:37

Yes. I went to one. My mum missed out on going to her local grammar and wanted me to have the opportunity to go. I was a bright kid and passed the test, but I would have done just as well had I had attended the local comp, which was 20 minutes walk from home and not 20 miles in the car. It was pretty miserable for a few years as I went to school with only one other girl from my primary school. She was a bully and a complete pain in the arse. Believe it or not she’s a deputy head now and in charge of pastoral care(!) People change though, I know.

frozenorangejuice · 21/09/2022 15:40

Caspianberg · 21/09/2022 15:31

All a grammar school is, is a state school that has a test you have to pass to get into at 10/11. Hence 11+. It means that in general, those who attend will be higher grades. You don’t tend to get many who struggle to read, or with additional needs as they are filtered out by the tests. So they don’t need to band higher and lower.

Ie things like at gcse. Everyone at my grammar did triple science. Everyone was put in for higher maths. Everyone did a language. 10+ GCSEs were standard, 4+ A levels were standard. It’s assumed everyone will apply and go to uni.

We had sets at school but the lowest set would be a B at GCSE and no lower. It is definitely assumed everyone will go to Uni. Our headmaster chose which Oxbridge colleges for pupils to look around on their open days. Sadly not Oxbridge material myself but it was lovely to visit!

TattiePants · 21/09/2022 15:40

I know what they are but don't have grammar schools in my county or any neighbouring counties.

implantsandaDyson · 21/09/2022 15:46

Yes but I'm in NI where transfer tests are still routinely sat. They're coming up in November/December. I've three kids - all three of them are at grammar schools. Two at a Catholic one and the third has just started a state one.

MintJulia · 21/09/2022 15:51

BeyondApproach · 21/09/2022 15:16

Care to enlighten us uneducated masses as to what they are then?

Grammar schools were created to educate bright children from families who could not afford private education.

You took an entrance exam at the end of primary school. If you were clever (or good at exams) you passed and would go to the grammar school. It was a way to allow poor children to progress.

Then parents spotted that if they could get their children a place, they could avoid school fees. Suddenly affluent parents were coaching 10yos to win the grammar places and it stopped being an opportunity for poor children, and became a scam for sharp elbowed middle class families.

I'm so old, I got a place before tutoring was widespread, but even then, we (me & siblings) were the only free school meals family in the whole school. It wasn't much fun but the quality of teaching was good.

Generally a good idea, that went wrong over time.

IrisVersicolor · 21/09/2022 15:51

x2boys · 21/09/2022 14:53

Why on earth would it be ?
There have Been no Grammar schools in my town or surrounding towns since the 1970,s

Show quote history

Do you only know about the world in and around your town though?

Presumably you’re aware public schools exist even if there aren’t any in your area?

BeyondApproach · 21/09/2022 15:52

This is the education which lands you into the top earners in London.

Snozzlemaid · 21/09/2022 15:53

Vaguely. But not much.
There aren't any in Cornwall so not widely known about here.

BeyondApproach · 21/09/2022 15:54

BeyondApproach · 21/09/2022 15:52

This is the education which lands you into the top earners in London.

And I was in A2! 😆

BeyondApproach · 21/09/2022 15:56

MintJulia · 21/09/2022 15:51

Grammar schools were created to educate bright children from families who could not afford private education.

You took an entrance exam at the end of primary school. If you were clever (or good at exams) you passed and would go to the grammar school. It was a way to allow poor children to progress.

Then parents spotted that if they could get their children a place, they could avoid school fees. Suddenly affluent parents were coaching 10yos to win the grammar places and it stopped being an opportunity for poor children, and became a scam for sharp elbowed middle class families.

I'm so old, I got a place before tutoring was widespread, but even then, we (me & siblings) were the only free school meals family in the whole school. It wasn't much fun but the quality of teaching was good.

Generally a good idea, that went wrong over time.

Show quote history

I know that Truss is either banning them or reintroducing them? I've seen headlines but it's not my field of interest.

Pharos · 21/09/2022 15:58

Yes because we live in Bucks, all 4 dcs went to/are at grammars - single sex and mixed.

HorribleHerstory · 21/09/2022 15:58

I know what a grammar school is supposed to be. But I’d call it a selective grammar school, or just a selective school, if it has any kind of entrance exam, including the 11+. I know about the 11+ as I’ve read books, but assumed it a thing of the past, as it didn’t happen in my area when I was at school, or when my parents were, and all the comprehensives in the area were simply referred to as secondary school. So it is a thing of the past, here at least. To totally confound you, many schools are still called grammar schools. My DC attend one called a grammar school - it is in fact comprehensive. Other children in the family also attend a called a grammar school, which is also comprehensive. And my nephew goes to a private school which is ALSO called a grammar school. It is not selective, merely private based on your ability to pay rather than an entrance exam.

we also have primary and secondary schools but some in the area have a third way - not first, middle and high schools but instead, infant, junior and high.

infant, junior and high systems have evolved here in areas where the amount of children outweighs the space in the primary schools, so they will attend one school for infants yrR-yr2 then another for juniors yr3-yr6. Did you know about that way OP? And if not why not?

troppibambini6 · 21/09/2022 16:00

Yes I do. I
Live in Trafford and 2 of my kids go to one and the other 2 will be sitting for them over the next couple of years.

Toddlerteaplease · 21/09/2022 16:05

Grammar schools round here are all independent schools. I didn't even know the grammar system still existed until I came to Mumsnet. It needs to be scrapped.