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?

I can’t speak for other schools but honestly this is not the case for Ds (four A levels, engineering RG to give context)

He’s been the opposite of failed, he’s thriving at university, alongside private and o/s students

No tutors, state comp

Our state educated kids will be competing for uni places & in the job market with children who have been to grammar, public & private schools.

this has always been the case but most dc don’t go to private’s for a start & not all privates offer an excellent education.

@CarrieCardigan Totally agree that the situation must be much worse in a challenging school. I can believe the school you work in can't find an English teacher. My DC goes to a very high performing school and it struggled with recruitment. It's no longer a poor people only problem, unless your definition of poor includes everyone who can't afford independent school fees.

I work with dc who went to private schools same as DH & also some of our uni peers were privately educated. I really don’t see a huge difference in their education vs me but they tend to have more confidence!

Anyone discussing their own experience of education, or the education of kids who are no longer in school is way out of date.

my point was what I see as bridging the gap between my MC kids at a very high achieving state school in an affluent area and those at our local private school. But that’s not the real gap IMO. The real gap is between schools like my local school and schools like the one in which I teach

Agree

I have DC in both junior and secondary. I can see how quickly the funding problem is affecting the primary school in a very short period of time. For example, DC1 had a foreign language teacher from a local secondary came in to teach the kids. (MFL is in the KS2 curriculum). They got rid of it this year and DC2 is taught by her class teacher learning the language using the same computer program as the kids. The teacher told the kids she can't speak the language at all.

@twingiraffes ,

The gap is much bigger!

Look at school budgets in state and private. Private school fees went up about 6% in the bad inflation year, state school income decreased as they had to self fund the teachers’ pay settlement. This was drastically bad.

If you pull up a chart of private school fees vs standard pupil income at state, the gap has been exponentially increasing. This clearly has an impact.

The best teacher at a state school is the talented ECT2, who has learned the syllabus but is cheap. Schools just cannot afford to have too many good experienced teachers.

I am not sure it is generally as bad as @noblegiraffe makes out, but state schools are managing on fumes right now. And there is no meaningful plan to improve things (from either of the main parties).

DutchAirFryer My DH and I have a few GCSEs between us .DS has a MSC from RG uni .Works as an industrial chemist . We have always encouraged him though and read books ,visited libraries museums and so on

Computing and IT GCSEs and Politics A level at our school. It was touch and go whether they would get anyone in time to submit the IT coursework.

My only hope is that university admissions tutors understand the problem. Oxford certainly did with DD’s friend who was affected by the politics issue- they gave her a low offer and when she failed to meet it they took her anyway.
My guess is that contextual offers will become increasingly important. Universities don’t want to miss out on talent. However it might be that Oxford is actually better about this than other places as they are under a lot of pressure when it comes to equality.

@noblegiraffe not naive and a teacher myself. We are very, very lucky with my children’s school but as an academy chain they offer a lot in the way of recruitment and retention. Things like Bupa and teachers getting one bookable day off each term really help. I would love those incentives and they’d definitely make me more likely to stay. We are also an academy but ours take a very different approach. I’ve seen very little in the way of improvement and much to lament.

@twingiraffes, it really, really is worse than ever before.

Re ‘way out of date’ I wouldn’t say this if they’ve just left and in first year university.

Plus someone with a dc who has just left can speak from a different perspective - ie are they really behind compared with private and o/s? Ime not at all

State comp did not fail them, the opposite they are ahead in some cases and imo talk of tutors could be ££. Pp should check they’re really needed, we didn’t fork out for any. But obviously if people feel it’s helpful

Primary - imo class sizes could go down in size. Keep private dc where they are, and use falling rolls to reduce numbers but not budget

All of this plus eating meals together and gently guiding them in semi-educational conversations during them.

Yes, @CarrieCardigan I said naive, or lucky.

I know quite a few teachers around the country and the general situation in schools seems to be appalling.

I was just talking to someone who works for one of the largest academy chains, recently in the news for a good deal they're giving their teachers. Recruitment struggles came up as to why.

I've started getting my 14 yr old to do daily handwriting, maths fillers and diagrams with labels - on top of the usual online homework which gives them no opportunity to use an actual pen.

I've also just got him a fortnightly tutor and will forego my fortnightly takeaway for a few years instead.

We shouldn't have to bloody do this.
Lack of school funding and the loss of teachers is a disgrace in this country.

My son has had a stand in maths teacher for this entire school year - someone different every week, and it's GCSE's next year.

Our children are being failed by the government in a big way.

Buy all the study guides - which adds up and see if any good online sites paid or unpaid - and then try and make sure they sit down and do them.

Child that liked sitting with us and working though past papers and study guide did really well and continues to do so at A-level - eldest who resisted did much less well though got to uni and youngest bit in-between am worried about.

If you have choice get in good catchment - if not if there are private tutors look at them - ( not easy to find where we are) - failing that talk to kids find out which subjects don't have teachers and have time and money to plug gaps and emphasise it doesn't matter if mates aren't working they need good marks.

How on earth do you persuade a 14 year old to do handwriting practice?! I need tips!

@TheCountessofFitzdotterel me too my DC hates writing/spelling or English in general 😂

It sounds awful but I'll be hoping mine might stand a chance at a scholarship for private secondary.

There's some amazing state schools but an awful lot are just ok, students come out with decent enough grades but they're not stretched to reach their potential (either because the school doesn't offer a broad curriculum, or they don't offer a range of enrichment, or because the school is focusing their energy on what makes progress 8 look good and not what is best for each child), or they look good on paper but aren't inclusive and their policies make it very easy for them to exclude children with SEN.

I'm not bothered about academics super-selection but I want DC to have a secondary education where they have broad opportunities and a nurturing environment where the teachers can focus on teaching.

Not voting Tory, offering a range of broad experiences, and modelling the value in learning are the best I can do.

My son has had a stand in maths teacher for this entire school year - someone different every week, and it's GCSE's next year.

Yep - Y10 and Y11 all have had this - DN as well.

Been a few big gaps that felt we were basically teaching syllabus at home just before exams as so much missed with teacher absences or swaps - or being taught in huge classes - DS English 6 half course no teacher rest 60 kids in various halls - also teachers clearly not qualified in subject area both had this year.

Straight after school - no xbox, no phone and no foody treats until it's done

It's non-negotiable. He's in a routine now so it's sticking.

I give him loads of praise afterwards and a few tips to improve. He can choose any paragraph and diagram he likes from the D&K visual dictionary. The maths is simple Ks3 catch-up - fractions etc.

His handwriting and diagram drawing has come on loads since we started 6 weeks ago and it's interesting to see what he chooses to write and draw - so far lots of body parts and plants!

Mine actually likes English and enjoys writing stories but his handwriting has deteriorated from being excellent to absolutely illegible due to everything being done on the bloody iPad. I am really pleased he has chosen art GCSE because at least that will force him to continue holding pencils so his pen muscles won’t waste away completely.

. . . and we get slammed/interrogated if our kids are (genuinely) off sick.

That really gets my goat - the irony of it

Thank you.

I don’t fret too much about the handwriting as most companies these days are paperless but my dc do extra art/craft classes.