to be pissed off at how school catchments have shaped towns and villages

[southeastastra]

round here the school catchment has caused a great change of house prices, shoving locals out of the area etc

how did we come to this? when i was younger in the 70s all kids went to the local schools irrelevant of religion/ability etc

Did they...? I started school in 1980, and my brother in 1978. Neither of us attended our catchment school, because it was rubbish. Instead we went to the next school across, because my mum thought it was a better school. About half the children in our street went to our catchment school, and the other half went to our out of catchment school.

In 1985, my parents moved house to get us into a better secondary school. Again, most children in my road did not attend the catchment school. Instead, one family went to the Catholic school (despite not being Catholic), one family made their children walk three miles (and past the catchment school) to attend a different school.

Don't get me wrong, people choosing schools is far more prevalent in today's society. But I don't think everyone went to their catchment school without question in the 70s and 80s. Certainly, I didn't as did many of my friends.

I went to my catchment school, as did most of my friends. Perhaps it depended where you lived back then.

As an aside, we are in Scotland, where we have catchments but parents can put in a placement request for a school outwith the catchment. It isn't without issues, as some schools are over-subscribed, and others struggling to keep numbers up. My DD's school is likely to close next year because of this.

No that's true. My secondary was oversubscribed in the 80s and I recall the parents of a boy in my year buying a tiny house close to the school for its address. I think they let it out.

I and many friends went to a primary close to our parents' place of work but further from our homes than another, perfectly good, school.

It certainly happened then but, not everywhere, not as much.