Priority admissions to grammar for free school meals

[polycomfort]

I'm pretty much not a person to start hand-wringing over low income families getting breaks. Happy for people less fortunate to get the odd leg up. Fine.

But I'm really angry to have just read that the local grammar school has just started giving priority admission to children claiming free school meals. I understand they get an extra £900 per child so I get that there is probably a financial benefit for the schools themselves. But I've been practicing with my daughter every evening (can't afford a tutor) using books I've bought cheap on Amazon and was thinking she might be just about good to go after lots of effort from both of us and now I'm just thinking what's the point? There are 20 applications per space as it is, and now just because I'm not poor she has even less of a chance. We don't have a high income but I work full time and so she doesn't get free school meals. For my efforts I may end up having to send my really rather bright daughter to the crappy (and it is crap) local comp even though she may be brighter than a child whose parent doesn't bust a gut to work every day of the week.

I don't think it's okay for grammar schools to be crammed full of wealthy kids who could go to private school, but couldn't they do a household income cut off rather than using a free school meal as the criteria? Then all the kids who can't afford to go to private school could be assessed for grammar school. I don't see why kids from the middle income should be penalised.

• We will never ever achieve anything close to equal opportunities in (state) education until we abolish all grammars

There are few grammars in the Uk and in areas where there are non comps are still shite, sometimes.

But don't worry, OP, very few disadvantaged children even get near the pass mark, so your child should be OK

and why not, as a country do we have to rely soley on parents to educate and motivate our dc?

meile

We are somewhat lucky in having a fantastic dynamic primary head that uses the PP in DC school in a very targeted way to help each individual child reach their best potential.

Thats brilliant and so heartening to hear, but you shouldnt have to be lucky to get such a head, all state primaries should by LAW have heads like this.

The problem is the 11+ isn't it? If you have a test that everyone knows can be gamed by tutors, private preps, dedicated obsessive parents who can afford books and test papers etc then its a shit test of 'innate' ability.
There isn't (of course) any such thing as the perfect psychometric to test 'innate ability' even the highly validated and widely used WISC (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children) is not without it's critiques and there is a vigerous debate surrounding IQ and whether its innate or socialy constructed.
The solution is to get rid of grammer schools and invest in an individuased state education system. But the chance of that happening is slim becasue it woul prevent rich folks from buying there children an advantage. If I stood on an election platform of banning all private and grammer schools the privately owned press, governing elite and vested intersts would do there best to bury me- it's not in there interests is it?

Children on FSM are massively disadvantaged even before they start school . A bit of tutoring in year 5 is not going to dress the balance.

I agree with Hakluyt. I applaud any initiative to try and redress the balance.

"Why do children who are succeeding academically FOR WHATEVER REASON need special resources, better teachers and better schools than children who are struggling to achieve?"

Because otherwise they might meet a FSM child in the lunch queue and catch oik.

The best step for all would be to abolish grammar schools. A highly unfair system where people effectively 'buy' their place.

Help - don't say "buy" Mehitabel- we'll have all the "Well, what about house prices" brigade piling in...........

If I stood on an election platform of banning all private and grammer schools the privately owned press, governing elite and vested intersts would do there best to bury me- it's not in there interests is it?

I don't think banning private schools is in anybody's interest at the moment because an extra 7% being state educated is a huge sum of money that as a country we just don't have right now. What would you be prepared to spend less on in order that 100% of children are educated in state schools?

ptolemy agree with your posts.

Smokepole, as one of the 'usual suspects ' yourself you should recognise the OP's anguish as exactly the reason many people say the problem is not with the detail of which ever bit of tinkering is devised to make grammar school opportunity more equitable but with the grammar system in the first place.

OP, while ever your LA persists with 'crappy comps' that educate the ones who didn't make it past the post, I hope that your DC nevertheless gets her grammar place. Presumably they are adjusting the pass threshold for FSM pupils rather than simply prioritizing all places for them?

Incidentally, your DC is already poised to succeed at whatever scho she goes to, firstly because you care about her education and secondly because you work and provide an aspirational role model.

Super: 10 years before all those families who leave big bequests and endowments for their alma mater start to do the same for their d state school!

"OP, while ever your LA persists with 'crappy comps' that educate the ones who didn't make it past the post,"

Sighs, and points out again that where a grammar exists, the 'other school' is not a comprehensive, because it does not have a comprehensive intake - its high attainers have been removed. It is a secondary modern, whatever it now chooses to call itself.

And it may well be 'crappy' in terms of absolute results simply because those who would get the higher results are not in that school, they are in the grammar....

It is very, very hard to work out what the results of the 'true' comprehensive, the one that the 'other school' would be if it had its high attainers back, would be.

DD1 was denied this chance of a grammar school by a 'pillock' of a headmaster who thought grammar schools were ' the equivelent of the death penalty' so he actively refused to help with an appeal

Smoke he should be shot or sued to the high heavans how can such a man be a teacher in a school with POWER.

I hope you went to your MP and kicked up an almighty stink.

So we are coming to one child being disadvantaged by their head, and one having a brilliant head and getting advantaged by it.

That is crazy, disgsuting.

Exactly teacherwith2kids.
I just think it is sad that it has taken the grammar schools so long to try and make it fairer- they should have taken that step years ago- at the point where people started tutoring children.

I can't understand why it is not allowed for bright children with Pupil Premium money to have that spent on Bond books or tutoring for 11+ exams.

This at least would be a start in trying to readress the issue of the small numbers of poor children in grammar schools. This use of funding should be allowed in area that has selective education. The money should also be allowed to be used in a similar way if a 'poor' child stands a chance of a 'scholorship' to a private school. This would be a correct way of using funding to help a bright child fufill their academic potential

Just shows why the whole system stinks- BeyondRepair.

Thanks Beyond repair DD1 has done 'fine' despite his refusal to appeal !. There is also a long back story about DD1s education read by many on Mumsnet....

People shouldn't be tutoring for grammar schools. A few practice papers is all it needs. Grammar schools don't want all these tutored children. The FSM ones would still be at a disadvantage with the tutoring. The idea is to redress the balance.