Do you know what a grammar school is?

[chestonher]

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? ' 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've never been to one or lived near one but I know what it is. My DF grew up in a rough area of Glasgow and got into one - left at 14 though! Maybe that's why I know, but I think you'd have to be paying very little attention to the education system to not know that they existed historically and survive in some areas. Some people don't know what a "middle school" is/ was either. Do they know what a "secondary modern" was?

We have 3 in Plymouth, 2 for girls and 1 for boys.

Yes , I know what a grammar school is , so do all my family

The nearest one to where I'm from is about 400 miles away. I don't really have any need to know what differentiates a grammar school from any other school.

I went to one but now live in an area without them. I've noticed a lot of people on mumsnet are confused about what a state school is as they seem to use it to mean a comprehensive or secondary modern and they don't realise that a non fee paying grammar school is a state school too because it is state funded. Most private schools with grammar in the name are ex state funded grammar schools that turned private when the 11+ was got rid of in that area.

Yes, because I went to one.

Just to add, I see this when people are talking about the state 11+ system. They say eg. "would you send them to a grammar school or state school" when the grammar they are talking about is state funded too.

I know what it is but only because I grew up in Buckinghamshire and went to a co-ed grammar school. I could have gone to the same one that Amal Clooney went to, Dr Challoner's High, but decided an all-girls school wasn't the right one for me. In hindsight, I kind of wished I'd gone there, but I made the right decision for me at the time.

While I am grateful that I had the opportunity to go to a good school, I didn't enjoy it much. I found some of the people very immature, the boys in particular didn't want to learn and I was in the 'sad' crowd of uncool people. I studied hard and did well but I think I was considered a bit of a weirdo and swot 🤣😳🙄

I guess if I hadn't lived in the Home Counties, I might not have known what a grammar school was.

Locally we have six single sex grammar schools. Four use the LEA to co-ordinate entry via 11+ and the other two are Catholic faith grammars who have their own admission test.

None are "super selective" so if you reach the required standardised pass mark of 236 and live locally then you are usually guaranteed a place.

Why fortunately?

Yes, why fortunately?

I feel fortunate not to live in a grammar area, the local comprehensive schools are good and it means zero stress or angst like you see on MN re tutors etc.

My secondary school used to be a grammar school when my mother attended it. It's now a fairly shite comprehensive. Not sure when it changed.

There's no grammar schools in the area, so it wouldn't shock me too much if local people didn't know what they are. In fact, I'm not sure that I'm 100%. There's a few schools with 'grammar' in the name a little way away (not really doable from our area). Their websites say you have to do an entrance exam, but they are also all fee-paying schools. Do they still count as grammar schools? I get quite confused about this tbh.

My view is that grammar schools used to accept the brightest kids from primary, regardless of their family situation/financial situation.

Now they are tutored to the hilt, excluding families who can’t afford it.

Exactly this.
I lived in a high rise on a nasty council estate. I got to have the best education available locally to me (including the private schools) thanks to grammar school.
Alas, now it's the people with the sharpest elbows and the best tutors.

Of course!

My grandfather went to a Grammar school which, according to him, was his way out of the Salford slums in the 1920s.

My mum went in the 1950s along with lots of other working class girls in her area. She was able to go to teacher training college.

I went in the 1970s. By this time my very Socialist mum and grandparents moved to a Grammar school area so that I wouldn't have to go to a (rough) comp.

And finally both of my DC went to single sex Grammars and have done very well. We moved into this area for the schools (and my mum!). DH went to an excellent comp in the 1980s but really wanted DC to go single sex, Grammar if possible.

No I font know what they are. There are none around here .

What’s with your attitude?!
Plenty of areas have high schools - meaning 11-16 or 11-18, so secondary.
You’re disparaging about that, and disparaging that some people don’t know about grammars.
Yet Miss Know It All is still asking “does anyone know if you can take the 11+ and apply for grammar school if there isn't one in catchment?”

Shall we laugh at you for not knowing?

There’s a particular grammar school in North Yorkshire (Ripon Grammar school to be exact). Which is a proper state funded grammar school which also offers boarding. You pay for the boarding but get the education for free and they offer weekly or termly boarding.

I didn't know the 11 plus was a thing til I joined Mumsnet. I thought it was something that died out decades ago. My dad did the 11 plus and he's now 75. It just doesn't exist where I live.

There’s a few state comprehensives near me which offer boarding. Dd went to a state comprehensive with a boarding house. We don’t live in the wilds of Scotland either.

My grandmother (she'd be in her late 90's if she was still alive) got a scholarship to a secondary school when she was 12 or so (boarding I think). She got 2 years there. She was incredibly intelligent. Crosswords were a breeze to her. She was such a lovely woman but she died in her early 70's. She was so gentle, but so very shy. She died when I was 20. My last memory of being with her was before I moved away and shouting out clues to her from a crossword. We didn't have free education at that time where I'm from. She had such an incredibly hard life. Her husband died very young and she reared 4 children on her own by working 2 manual jobs. These days she would have had a brilliant career, but back then, girls didn't really work.

Academies just means the money goes direct to the school from central government
Academies can be good / bad / grammar / comprehensive etc - nothing to do with the quality of the education it provides

Re: grammar schools - I live in a 'grammar area' - yes they all have a catchment area but there are never enough children who pass the 11+ who live in them so students come from (much) further away

Some grammars are just ‘selective’ which means fairly local kids, others (around here) are ‘super selective’ which means creaming off the brightest kids from any distance.

And it’s not 11+, it’s a separate entrance exam.