to avoid a primary school that has a high proportion of traveller children

[APeePleaseBob]

I live in a catchment area for several primaries so when we were thinking about schools for my DS we started be looking at Ofsted reports for the closest ones.

One of them got a 'good with some outstanding features' report but in the school make-up section it said it had a high number of traveller children in the school. It is near a well-known traveller site so this makes sense.

I have to confess this put me off and I didn't even go to see it. We have since made our selections elsewhere.

I still think about it though - AIBU to be put off? Would you have felt the same?

Oooh, interesting Loopy- I would love to hear about your PhD. PM me if you have time

Fair point re outcomes for looked after children.

However...

I would have thought that children in care are spread quite widely across the school system (i.e not grouped geographically all together in one area and attending one school in particular), and therefore people are unlikely to encounter a situation where a significant number of children with these outcomes are potentially effecting a single school. You can't then offer them up as an example of where chldren with poor outcomes will have an impact on a school in the same way that the OP is fearing that traveller children may be.

Perhaps a school with a v high % of Bangladeshi students would a better comparision, as I believe they are one of the ethnic groups that have some of the poorest set of outcomes at the moment. (One of the other poorest achieving is white, poor and male...)

If I am brutally honest it would put me off a school. I went to two schools in the 80s that had a number of traveller kids. The kids often stayed for anything between a few months and a few years. They were OK, some were a bit rough but mostly they were quite nice. As their education had been disrupted though they did tend to have problems keeping up with the other kids in maths, english etc. Many of the kids ended up being quite disruptive in class because they were struggling with the work and became bored. The teachers obviously found it difficult to cope with some of them. I would avoid any school where I thought classes may be disrupted frequently for any reason and would therefore avoid a school that had a high number of traveller kids.

My poor DS2. He really is the bogey man on MN. Poor/ethnic/was LAC and has SEN. I believe I have seen threads like the OP's on all of these groups.

I suppose the one thing he has going for him is no gypsy blood. But I cant even be sure of that.

Still, not to worry, I took him out of MS it was totally full of normal kids. Not suitable at all

"Appletrees, I think you are wrong. Apart from children in care, as tethersend pointed out, outcomes are worst for black boys. We are perfectly able to talk about raising the achievement of boys who are black without making sweeping statements about not letting your precious white middle class children into school with them. The reason we can is because most of society perceives prejudice against black people to be entirely wrong. However, there appear to be quite a few seemingly intelligent people who think that showing outright racism to another sector of society is fine.""

You see, Loopy, I was all ready to think this was at last a reasoned response. ie at last it addresses the issue of good/bad outcomes, which is what the problem really is.

And then you went and spoilt it with your stupid comment about precious white middle class children.

It's not about racism, it's about outcomes. But you just can't have that can you? Spoils your own precious ideas.

I'm not going to be tempted into sharing my personal circumstances and personal ideals. Nuff to say -- you are certainly on the wrong track when talking about me, to put it mildly.

What did I say about private schools that relates to murder MrsDeVere? I honestly don't understand.

not so notyummy.

many inner city authorities find it very difficult to house LAC.
They then ship the children to seaside towns which have a larger number of childrens homes and foster homes.

They then get higher percentages of LAC in the local comps. And yes it does prove a challenge for the education authority to manage the academic and emotional needs of these children.

Why would we want to know your personal circumstances Appletrees?

notyummy some schools do have a higher than average number of LAC. A lot of london boroughs send their children out to Kent/Essex due to lack of foster carers. Some children need to be placed out of borough for safety reasons. Some small, almost rural schools have quite high numbers.

LAC would also likely to be concentrated in boroughs with high deprivation for obvious reasons. Not all LAC are with fcs all the time and I would assume that Children in Need (for reasons of neglect, on the edge of CP proceedings) have equally poor outcomes.

(I am using the term LAC for ease, I do realise not everyone likes it but I am not sure which one is prefered)

Haven't read the whole thread - or even most of it - but I have to say realeyes has made an excellent post.

In fact, my initial post on this thread spoke only of mobility and parental commitment. Mobility is obvious: parental commitment it's an issue, like it is with all families is it different with traveller families? Could well be -- and it's worth knowing and finding out.

Who cares about race? Does a settled, stable class have better outcomes? That's the issue, not race.

But race just stops this conversation dead.

Interesting Penelope - wasnt aware of that issue.

We had a childrens home that fed into my primary school, but % wise still only 2/3 children in each class. Don't remember it being an issue tbh, but I was a child so much of the stuff may have passed me by. I have no doubt that managing many of these children would be a huge challenge given their life experiences.

you've made an assumption about my precious white middle class children -- so I assume you think you do know something about my personal circumstances

you brought them into it

yeah I thought that too sandstorm

altinkum

15% of looked after children achieved at least 5 grades A*-C at GCSE
27% of Black Caribbean boys achieved at least 5 grades A*-C at GCSE

veloria sorry if I misunderstood but didnt you say that those of us who are objecting to the predjudice against travellers have our children 'safely' in private schools?

I object very strongly to prejudice against travellers and my children are most certainly NOT safely in private schools. I fear for my eldest son's safety every time he leaves the house. His friend was murdered last week. That is how rarified and sheltered my kids are.

Actually one of your ds1's school friends was murdered? , was being a bit dense and thought you were making a point.

Would be moving in that case.

There are lots of traveller children around about where I live.

The prejudice filters down to what the other kids think of them. Remember a girl who was convinced it was the bad friends of the traveller kids at her school who had burnt down the school buildings because "everyone knows"

The only actual quirk I remember from working in one, is that some children would get confused when they first started at the school about toilets, because a lot of travellers prefer to have seperate outdoor toilets. They'd go outside to look for the loos and get in trouble.

The teachers also found it very frustrating that once they'd found the best technique for each child they'd be off again.

If locals weren't constantly getting the police in to turf them off fields they wouldn't have to change schools.

There is nothing in my experiences that would put me off and even if there was - I have no intention of tarring a whole huge group of people with the same brush.

Heroine I reported your vile post.

what a vile post heroine
my friends 'traveller' daughter is polite, intelligent, and has better manners than most of her classmates - I wouldn't generalise from this, neither should you

Oh Appletrees, I meant to OP's children, not yours.

"If locals weren't constantly getting the police in to turf them off fields they wouldn't have to change schools."

This is the bit I don't get tbh. If they are not ethnically different, and they are not travelling, and if they apparently object to travelling, how are they different?