How can state school parents try & bridge the educational gap that's rapidly forming?

[Kenthighst]

Following on from the excellent thread regarding the shambles of state education. What can us parents do to bridge the gap? Our state school children are being failed & we are being kept in the dark.
What can be done outside school to bridge the gap that has formed between state & private?

It’s not primary that’s the problem it’s secondary.

Live in the most middle class area you can afford and pay out large sums to tutors.

Personally, I don't think it is about emulating the private schools approach and don't see success or bridging an educational gap as moving from A (state school) to B (private school). We have a problem with the commercialisation of education that worsened during COVID and it shouldn't be another commodity with profits and losses. IMO If you reject that idea of education then you produce more thoughtful, intelligent adults so I would say it is about cultivating a creative environment for your young children, going with their curiosity and affording opportunities such as musical instruments, encouraging pretend role play, mini shows, the children leading the way, lots of character worlds so encouraging your children to use figures in their own evolving storylines, making some suggestions to spark the imagination. When they are teens or pre teens, peer pressure can start to limit their creativity so ensure that home is still a safe space to do that, somewhere they won't be mocked. Definitely take them to places that you know will be encourage new curiosities and questions about life. Debate all sorts of things, Art, Politics, music, philosophy etc.

Have you done this with your children or is it just based on how you grew up? I would be interested to know how it works in the contemporary world.

@thecatsthecats, our state primary easily raises 10k+ a year from the usual activities. 15k a year isn’t unheard of.

Our secondary school gets far higher than average GCSEs at grade 7 and above. Sends kids to Oxbridge each year and many more to RG universities.

@Kenthighst, the gap is not between state and private. It’s between high attaining state schools in affluent areas and those in areas of deprivation where staff are often on their knees. I live in the former and teach in the latter. The kids near me do well because they can mostly read when they start YR. They read regularly and widely at home. They have regular exposure to cultural experiences and interesting holidays. They eat together as a family and chat about the world. MOST IMPORTANTLY, they are told at home they can achieve whatever they want and therefore they grow up with the confidence to try. Of course, this is a generalisation but it’s the prevailing experience of these state educated kids and simply a world away from the kids I teach.

sadly I dont have children of my own. but we are doing this with my nephews (the oldest is three). No one uses their phones to watch anything around them at home even and there is no TV in the house. maybe the occasional animal video or video calling relatives. the adults wait until babies are in bed to watch anything.

the older one goes to a school where devices except pcs for learning are banned.

I grew up in the 1990s so all my classmates and cousins had full access to tvs/videogames and I definitely see and feel the benefit even today.

there is a big movement on this in the tech community. I know there are a couple of (private) primary schools in London and some in LA which are device free - including pcs.

@therealcookiemonster I think we’ll see a new ‘Harry Potter’ emerge, I can see our children banning screens for their own. At least until secondary.

I agree. tbh I am surprised there already isn't more legislation. especially around internet and social media access for children. it's essentially allowing everyone in the world including all the paedophiles, bullies and criminals the ability to communicate with children.

and that's before we even consider the effect on cognitive development, the addiction elements and the total distraction from learning.

however I realise its so easy for me to have an opinion and parenting in today's world is no picnic.

I think the difficulty comes when they are older and you can’t stop them doing things except by being super controlling about money, going out alone etc. Very similar to the problem of junk food. My friend was trying to limit her teenage daughter’s phone usage because it was clearly affecting her mental health. She thought she had it under control but it turned out her daughter had a secret phone which she had been using half the night after handing in her official one.

The problem we have had in my house is that the school uses iPads for learning, which we don’t have control over, and if we switched the WiFi off it would make it impossible for all the kids in the house to do their homework.

If I had the choice again I would not choose an iPad school , even though when the pandemic struck it did mean they moved seamlessly to online learning.

What do you mean by "gap"?

Kids don't do TV now.

It's much harder to stop a secondary kid to screen access when the homework is research on google, watch youtube video and hand in via Microsoft 365. I already put a bar on her devices to request for access after 3.30pm so she can concentrate on homework. But if the homework is to research a topic I have to allow Chrome and Youtube access. There's nothing to stop DC browsing random YouTube videos instead of looking for material for her music or RE homework. I have looked at her browsing history and I have talked to her about not wasting time on pointless videos. I can only explain to her why it's important not to waste time.

And this is a state secondary that actually sets around 1-2 hours of homework on an average evening. As I said in another post, the other secondary in the area doesn't at all.

@therealcookiemonster I agree too. I just got a email from Google telling me that since DC1 is turning 13, she will be taking control of her own Google account. Also that even if she agreed to keep parental control, she can revoke it at any time. Soon I won't even be able to see DC1's browsing history on YouTube. It's the same for all the social media. Once they are 13, they are allowed full access. (Because we lose parental control on the account).

that's just insane isn't it. 13, the age known for being mature and making good decisions lol.

I mean there is a huge amount of difference between what a private school child & a state school child learns in a given day. Many private schools also go away beyond the set curriculum, go on field trips or bring in guest speakers to explore relevant topics deeper.

My children's school barely cover the curriculum at all. Yet my children will be competing with these private school kids for uni places & jobs. As a parent I want to equip them as best I can.

@TheCountessofFitzdotterel very true. I mean kids will always find ways to rebel and/or do what they want. they also have to make mistakes to learn is it an option to speak to school re them putting time controls on their devices. eg can't be logged into after a certain time?

I am in similar position to OP, grammar area, but child not at grammar school. School attended is our local one and has a very mixed intake as a result, but as a whole, I live in an affluent area and the PP is around average although Sen and Sen support is higher. As someone else has said in KS3 I am struggling to get accurate information from the school in order to support DC so DC is getting worse and worse in the module tests as the terms go on and I am trying to stop that continuing.
I feel there are a lot of very flippant comments on this thread, but it is soul destroying trying to help plug the gaps with no useful information from the school.
I have paid for tutoring previously, but it is no longer viable and you would have to pay for a tutor for maths, science and English as a minimum so is not really doable.
We have tried online resources that do maths/English before but again at KS3 that may not align with the school.
We have tried KS3 revision books with the same outcome in the fact it doesn't necessarily align with the school.
I don't want to wait for the GCSE years for the school/exam board to give better information for support. I want to get DC solid in their knowledge at KS3 but without help from the school, this seems impossible.

Time & money for tutoring & extracurriculars

If I had money for all the tutors people suggest, I could afford to send them private

This is about deprivation rather than schooling.
Educational attainment follows affluence even out of private school. If anything systems such as the current grammar perpetuate this more so than private schools, as they cream off the top of affluent areas and those around and are no longer serving the poor as a means of bridging the gap. I've posted before but if in a (grammar) year of 140 you only have 5 on FSM your school is actually quite possibly more privileged than many private schools who have bursaries and scholarships and hardship grants.

@NotAPsycho I made the same comment about KS3. I'm in a comprehensive area and the modules do not align with revision books for us either. DH spends a lot of time creating module revision materials for DC1 but there's only so much a keen parent can do.

And we also have problems with supply teachers similar to another post mentioned. The head said everytime in the newsletters the school has a very low number of vacancies compared to average because we are a high achieving comprehensive in a leafy suburb. But DC has had a whole term of supply teachers in one of her subjects. Luckily it wasn't a core academic subject, but that could easily have happened. I can imagine that it must be bad for everyone in the state sector.

@Kenthighst Op is there a previous thread before this one that you can link to please? Dc at state secondary so I'm v interested to read the first thread you mention and start from the beginning, even if it's a separate thread?

If I had money for all the tutors people suggest, I could afford to send them private

Really? I don’t think you would spend 2k a month on tutors.

Can someone link to the thread mentioned please?

@NotAPsycho that sounds really difficult.

forgive me if this is not an appropriate option - but is kumon something that would help?

it is probably cheaper than private tutors...

is your local library any good? is it possible that instead of focusing on the curriculum, to just encourage breadth of learning? so reading books on the English lit reading list in advance, chat to you about it at home and then read some other books by similar authors.

also just browsing science/history books covering the broad ks3 topics but just as interesting things to learn. knowing a bit more information might help them make more sense of what is being taught at school?

I'm just spitballing ideas here, don't know if any of it will help.

Day pupil at local private is £1400 a month
£50 an hour x 8 subjects = £400 a week which is £1600 a month

And more if doing 9 or 10 subjects or had to tutor to pass Grammar school tests.