.. to think a mum is an idiot for putting her DD into a failing school?

[Pusheed]

At the start of Year 6 DC came home one day and said that x's mum was putting her down for a secondary school that was officially classed as 'Failing'.

At the next school gate huddle I made it my business to ask the mum why that school? Her reason? A close friend's daughter went there so the mum thought it would be cool if the daughters could go to school together.

Well, we bumped into the mum a few days ago for the first time since the summer and she was telling us how she is trying to get her daughter transferred coz vandalism was rife at the school, kids would be f-ing swearing at the teachers etc.

I nodded my head understandingly and churned out the usual supportive comments but inside I thought - what an idiot. The school was/is a joke to the local community yet she chose to send her daughter there coz a friend was at the school???

Is it an 'officially failing' school?

I wouldn't send my DC to a failing school but neither would I "make it my business" to ask another parent the reason for their decision to do so.

Maybe the other mother chose it as they teach children how to spell 'because' correctly?

Is it in special measures?

Maybe you should keep your beak out?

Well she might not have been such an idiot if the school was classed as failing and had been given notice to improve. If the will is there (and once they've been given notice to improve it usually is!) and the money is made available, amazing things can happen to a school.

Stranded

Hear! Hear!

Don't be too hard on her ...

All the sheep concerned parents in our village fake religion and stampede for the local RC school as it has more kudos attached than the catchment school which they all refer to as a sink school ( which it isn't ) Both DS's have been very happy there and I'm happy with their progress ...

It's always something of a gamble ... You pays your money and takes your choice. We went against the grain as it felt right and it worked out fine ... If not I'd have been in your mate's shoes wailing and trying to switch. You just make the best choice you can at the time and cross your fingers!

yabu.

At least they will probably teach them how to spell.

Strandedbear that's utter nonsense. If everyone had to send their child to school in catchment all you'd get is even more of the current trend of people moving out of 'bad catchments' before their child is school age i.e. basically economic selection for school places based on who can afford houses in posher areas. Forcing the one or two bright-but-poor kids from an estate to go to a school full of yobs will just mean they get bullied, it won't improve the school. Better to close failling schools altogether and send students to the next nearest imo.

oh dear my dds go to a rubbish school It isnt failing yet they thrive dd1 has left with good exmas results anyway why are you being so smug about it did you want to shout out i told you so , people pick schools for all sorts of reasons and they also make mistakes , we really dont have the school thing where i am , we dont all clamber for the good schools you go to your catchment school I dont understand the english and welsh school system of applying to schools ,

My DD school was classed as failing because they didn't write off the SN or lower ability children and gave then the opportunity to partake in allof the activities, rather than screening them first. She was in their inclusion unit for LD's.

They was also winning a hard fight against truancy and bad punctuality.

It depends on what the school is failing on and why.

My DD's school closed and now the pupils have gone elsewhere, but are being ignored and allowed not to follow the curriculum, or attend. So they are now being failed by the "system".

"If everyone sent their child to the school in their catchment and no-one 'fought' to get into a 'good' school then there would be no failing schools."

No, at best there'd just be a whole bunch of mediocre ones instead, StrandedBear.

Are you for real Pusheed?

I'm wondering if it's an actual 'failing' school..... Or just failing in op's eyes because there is grafitti/swearing at teachers, cos if so.....

Codandchops, Pusheed might be one of the number of new posters on MN over the past couple of days or so.

Not necessarily Graham, lots of projects in other countries showing this is not the case. There is no reason why all schools would then become "mediocre". I am not talking about doing away with Grammer schools btw, just saying the most schools do a more than passable job and far more than we sometimes give them credit for - same goes for the children.

Then she needs to wind her neck in and stop judging other parents - stupid, shallow and nasty.

I'm with strandedbear. There's a lot less of this in Scotland, you tend to just go to your catchment school primary and secondary. It's a much more sensible system and means your DC don't end up trekking across a city every day to go to the school they got into.

AFAIK there is far less of people moving into certain catchment areas too.

I think if a school is officially "failing", they get put into special measures.
which means they get shedloads of money and resources to put it right.
which means that it can actually be a better school than those "satisfactory" or "outstanding".
because it has something to prove, it will do.

She might be playing a very good hand there.

Pusheed is a name changer.

Pushed- I thought your children were at independent schools?

Yes he is, namechanged...