to think this is a great way of getting top A-Level success rates - I can't believe other schools haven't cottoned on

[orlantina]

Simply don't let the pupils in Y12 who aren't going to get As not do year 13.

Then you are looking good for a high success rate and can market yourself as a great school.

www.theguardian.com/education/2017/aug/29/grammar-school-unlawfully-threw-out-students-who-failed-to-get-top-grades

Unbelievable the school did this...

We looked at peter symonds but felt the travelling was too much, for ds1 as i do know one or two people that have travelled from the village and have been very successful

The 6th form ds1 ended up at was much smaller as well, about 200 a year

Our PS bus leaves at 7:20 am and gets back at 5:50 pm
its a long day
but worth it

I dont think the bus stops here

And catching the bus to the train station was what was adding the time so about 90 minutes each way with lots of changes

Dd will be doing a similar trip to get to the college she has chosen so 7.30 and she should be back in the house by 5.45

Would possibly have looked again for ds2 but i was so impressed with ds1 6th form and the way they handled him....

Might still look again

they cant be so cautious that they dont fill up their intake or they might become financially un-viable. Surly?

I think we are mainly talking grammar schools, who are always considerably over subscribed

jjbutt
nope
all schools are funded per student
if there are not enough students for a course then they cannot afford the teachers
hence why small (selective) schools have much narrower choices
than the hundreds of options at a big 6th form college

DCs college offers around 50 A levels and 90 Btec NVQs
no school the size of my old one (40 in 6th form) could do that

Grammar schools (and many private schools) offer a narrow range of A levels and nowt else
In DDs year at college was a lad who'd been at Eton but they could not do the language combo he wanted
Also kids from Winch and Swithuns who could not do odd combinations in the schools
let alone mixed A levels and btecs

TalkinPeace
Honestly GS s like my DCs have no shortage of high achieveing students wanting to do the traditional 15 or so subjects - maths , further maths, biology, physics , chemistry, French German, Spanish, Geography,history , RE, Art and music, English,economics. High achievers don't want to do photography , catering and textiles and BTECs

Has this become more of a problem since the children have to stay in some form of education until they are 18? My DD was accepted on a 2 year linear A level course on the strength of her gcse results, she has now been told to leave or resit year 12 based on her AS level results. We were given no indication that this was normal practice. Her Year group has been cut by 16. She now has to stay in full time education until she is 19.

Surely the school would have told the pupils at some point? It can't have come as a surprise completely out of the blue?

What grades did she get?

Oh she has had a terrible year, she failed, as did nearly a third of her year group, but my point is that AS levels are not compulsory, but going to school is. Can't she go to school for another year and not pass? Is that not allowed anymore?

Dd failed one AS and got D and E in the others. They offered her the chance to repeat year 12 which I saw as a positive! Didn't occur to me this was a negative at all! What's the point of wasting another year doing subjects that you aren't going to do at all well in?? College was another, perfectly valid option.

showandtell

I may have mentioned it up thread, dh and I wanted ds1 to retake the year

He really didnt want to...it would have upset him dreadfully

The best thing for him to do was continue...i accept that

(He would have done better by repeating the year...i am fairly positive about this)

Sorry show

But ds1 wasnt a child who wasnt working or wasn't capable so that might be slightly different

Sorry I missed that. Dd worked hard too. But the subjects were just too much for her. She is repeating year 12 with slightly less academic subjects.

show

Ds1 got an E for maths

He dropped that subject like a shitty stick

But he also got an E in history which he wants to study at degree

Unfortunately i dont think his mental health would have stood up to him repeating the year but i do believe that it would be a better option rather than struggling through

dd got a D in history which she has dropped and an E in RS which she is determined to crack on with

anyway I thought her absolute best option was a BTEC at college but she point blank refused and would have been unhappy like your ds so in the end you have to do whats right for them.

dd has to reenrol tomorrow and I think she might find that difficult as we will see all the year 12 parents who will ask questions..but we'll see

Throwing them out mid way is very very unusual . I have never heard of it in any of my children's academic private schools, ever in the 30 years I have had a child at such schools. Suggesting someone who is not up to it might leave at 11+ or after GCSE where ti is clearly not the right school for them in fine in my view in an academically selective school. My sons' school had boys leaving after GCSE - most their choice actually some for state schools ( to save money etc) but would not do the mid way through sixth form exclusino.

Thankfully this state school in the papers has now backed down. I hope people who spend a lot of time criticising lawyers generally do realise that sometimes we do have our uses and are not dreadful people but there to help people when they have legal difficulties.

show

One of the girls i know who repeated the year got 3 As this year

So good luck to you both

Thanks rufus. If nothing else it's broadened my mind.

It's normal to throw some out mid-way. As I said, at one of my DC's school - comprehensive - the boundary was quite low - two at below an E grade. Mine was near to that boundary - got a U and and D - but the other two subjects were better. Dropped the U subject and ended up with A* and two As in the end - including the subject they'd got the D for the year before. A friend's son with a child at a different, high-performing comprehensive was booted out mid-way through A-levels a few years ago for not doing well enough - in the school's eyes - to continue. Ended up at the local college doing a Btec in something different instead. Got distinctions all around and still ended up at top-ten university, so it didn't matter in the end.

It's normal to throw some out mid-way
And illegal.

I don't think anyone realised it was illegal. And could it be illegal when the compulsory school leaving age was 16? It's only very recently that education/training was made compulsory to age 18.

it's the government itself that makes it necessary for students to leave, they do not fund students retaking a year, so if a student has to redo year 12, they have to change schools. In special circumstances, the school may take them unfunded, but no school can afford more than a handful of unfunded students. Normally 1% or less

Of course they realised it was illegal, the guidance is perfectly clear. They just reckoned they'd get away with it.

Its the govenrment that insists it happens, it can't also claim it is illegal

St Olave's isn't a "Kent grammar school". It is in the London Borough of Bromley and has its own test, different from the Kent Test.